Questions & Answers about Μου αρέσει πολύ να περπατάω στο πάρκο το βράδυ.
What exactly does μου mean here, and why isn’t it εγώ (I)?
Μου is the weak (clitic) form of εγώ (I) in the genitive case, and in this structure it means “to me / for me.”
The verb αρέσει in Greek works the opposite way from English “I like.”
- English: I like walking. (subject = I)
- Greek: Μου αρέσει να περπατάω.
- literally: “It pleases me to walk.”
- μου = to me (the person who experiences the liking)
- the thing that “pleases” is the action να περπατάω στο πάρκο το βράδυ
So you don’t say εγώ αρέσω το περπάτημα, you say μου αρέσει … = X pleases me / I like X.
Why is it αρέσει and not αρέσω?
Αρέσει is the 3rd person singular form of the verb αρέσω.
- αρέσω = I am pleasing (to someone)
- αρέσει = he/she/it is pleasing
In the sentence Μου αρέσει πολύ να περπατάω στο πάρκο το βράδυ, the subject of αρέσει is the whole action να περπατάω στο πάρκο το βράδυ (treated as a single thing in grammar, so: singular).
So:
- Subject: να περπατάω στο πάρκο το βράδυ
- Verb: αρέσει (3rd singular, because the subject is “it” = the activity)
- Indirect object / experiencer: μου (to me)
That’s why you get μου αρέσει, not εγώ αρέσω.
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