Σκέφτομαι τις σπουδές μου και το πώς θα πάρω το πτυχίο μου.

I am thinking about my studies and how I will get my degree.

Breakdown of Σκέφτομαι τις σπουδές μου και το πώς θα πάρω το πτυχίο μου.

• και: and
• μου: my
• θα: will
• σκέφτομαι: to think
• παίρνω: to get
• η σπουδή: the study
• το πώς: how
• το πτυχίο: the degree

Questions & Answers about Σκέφτομαι τις σπουδές μου και το πώς θα πάρω το πτυχίο μου.

Why is it σκέφτομαι and not something like σκέφτω for “I think”?

In modern Greek, the verb is σκέφτομαι, not σκέφτω.

• σκέφτομαι is a so‑called deponent (or middle‑voice) verb: it has middle/passive endings but an active meaning, “I think / I am thinking”.
• There is no commonly used active form σκέφτω in standard modern Greek.

So you must always say:

• σκέφτομαι – I think / I am thinking
• σκέφτεσαι – you think
• σκέφτεται – he/she/it thinks, etc.

In this sentence, Σκέφτομαι simply means “I am thinking / I think”.

Does σκέφτομαι mean “I think” or “I am thinking”? How is aspect shown here?

In Greek, the present tense usually covers both English simple and continuous:

• Σκέφτομαι τις σπουδές μου.
  = “I think about my studies” or “I am thinking about my studies.”

Context decides which English tense is better. There is no separate form in Greek to distinguish “I think” from “I am thinking”; the one form σκέφτομαι covers both.

Why is there no preposition like “about” before τις σπουδές μου?

English needs a preposition: “think about my studies”.

Greek can work differently. The verb σκέφτομαι can take a direct object in the accusative without a preposition:

• Σκέφτομαι τις σπουδές μου. = “I think about my studies.”

You can also hear σκέφτομαι για τις σπουδές μου, but:

• σκέφτομαι τις σπουδές μου is perfectly correct and a bit more standard/neutral.
• σκέφτομαι για τις σπουδές μου is more colloquial or informal, but also very common.

What is the form τις σπουδές? Why τις and not τα?

Σπουδές is the plural of σπουδή (feminine noun: “study/studies (at university)”).

• η σπουδή – the study (singular)
• οι σπουδές – the studies (plural)

In this sentence we have:

• τις σπουδές = feminine accusative plural
  
  • τις – definite article, feminine, accusative, plural
  • σπουδές – noun, feminine, accusative, plural

We use τις because σπουδές is feminine plural in the accusative case.
Τα would be for neuter plural (e.g. τα βιβλία – the books).

What exactly does σπουδές mean? Is it the same as “studying” or “homework”?

Σπουδές usually means academic studies in a formal sense – your course of study, your university education, your degree program.

Some contrasts:

• σπουδές – your studies (as a program):
  
  • Κάνω σπουδές στην ιατρική. – I study medicine (at university).
• διάβασμα – “studying” in the sense of “the act of studying / reading”:
  
  • Έχω πολύ διάβασμα. – I have a lot of studying to do.
• μελέτη – study (more formal or specific, also “a study” as a piece of research).

In this sentence, τις σπουδές μου = my (university/college) studies, the overall course leading to a degree.

How does the possessive μου work in τις σπουδές μου and το πτυχίο μου? Why is it after the noun?

In Greek, unstressed possessive pronouns like μου (my), σου (your), του/της/του (his/her/its) usually come after the noun:

• το βιβλίο μου – my book
• η μητέρα σου – your mother
• τις σπουδές μου – my studies
• το πτυχίο μου – my degree

Key points:

• μου is an enclitic: it is unstressed and attaches to the word before it.
• It doesn’t change form for gender, number, or case. Context + the article show those.
• It corresponds to “my”, but the position is reversed (noun + μου, not μου
  • noun).

So τις σπουδές μου literally feels like “the studies of me” in Greek.

Why is μου repeated? Could you say Σκέφτομαι τις σπουδές και το πτυχίο μου instead?

If you say:

• Σκέφτομαι τις σπουδές και το πτυχίο μου.

this most naturally means:

• “I am thinking about the studies and my degree.”

Only πτυχίο is clearly marked as “mine”; σπουδές could be anyone’s (in context it might be understood, but grammatically it’s not marked as “my”).

By repeating μου:

• Σκέφτομαι τις σπουδές μου και το πώς θα πάρω το πτυχίο μου.

you make it explicit that both the studies and the degree are yours:

• my studies
• my degree

Greek tends to repeat the possessive when it matters for clarity.

Why do we have το πώς (article + “how”)? Could we just say και πώς θα πάρω το πτυχίο μου?

Yes, both are possible, but there is a nuance:

1. Σκέφτομαι τις σπουδές μου και πώς θα πάρω το πτυχίο μου.

   • Literally: “I think about my studies and how I will get my degree.”
   • Here πώς θα πάρω… is just an indirect question, a clause directly after και.

2. Σκέφτομαι τις σπουδές μου και το πώς θα πάρω το πτυχίο μου.

   • Literally: “I think about my studies and the how I will get my degree,” i.e. “the way/how I will get my degree.”
   • The article το turns the whole clause πώς θα πάρω το πτυχίο μου into a noun-like phrase (“the how / the way that…”).

Meaning in everyday English is almost the same, but:

• With το πώς, the “how” is treated more like a thing, a specific issue or aspect.
• Without το, it is a more straightforward indirect question.

Both are correct; το πώς can sound a bit more “structured” or slightly more formal.

If there is an article το before πώς, why is πώς still accented and not written as πως?

In modern Greek:

• πώς (with accent) = “how” (interrogative/exclamative)
• πως (without accent) = “that” (conjunction, similar to “that” in “I think that…”)

In this sentence we clearly mean “how”, even though it’s an indirect question:

• το πώς θα πάρω το πτυχίο μου – “the how I will get my degree / the way I will get my degree.”

Because it means “how”, it must be written πώς with an accent, even after an article.

If it were πως without accent, it would mean “that”, which would not fit here.

What is the structure of πώς θα πάρω το πτυχίο μου? How does this clause work in the sentence?

The clause πώς θα πάρω το πτυχίο μου means “how I will get my degree” and functions as an indirect question (a subordinate clause).

With the article, το πώς θα πάρω το πτυχίο μου functions as a noun phrase:

• Whole sentence:
  
  • Σκέφτομαι [τις σπουδές μου] και [το πώς θα πάρω το πτυχίο μου].
  • The verb σκέφτομαι has two objects:
    1. τις σπουδές μου – my studies
    2. το πώς θα πάρω το πτυχίο μου – the way/how I will get my degree

Inside the clause:

• θα πάρω – “I will get / I will take”
• το πτυχίο μου – “my degree” (direct object of πάρω)

So structurally, πώς θα πάρω το πτυχίο μου is just like “how I will get my degree” in English.

Why is it θα πάρω and not θα παίρνω? What is the difference?

Greek distinguishes two aspects in the future:

1. θα πάρω – perfective future

   • Focus on a single, complete event: “I will get (once) / I will obtain.”
   • This is about the result: at some point, you will have the degree.

2. θα παίρνω – imperfective future

   • Focus on ongoing / repeated action: “I will be taking / I will keep taking.”
   • Used for habits or repeated processes over time.

In this context, the speaker is thinking about actually obtaining the degree at the end of their studies, a one‑time result. That is why θα πάρω (perfective) is used, not θα παίρνω.

I learned that future is “θα + present tense”. But here we have θα πάρω (aorist stem), not θα παίρνω. How does that work?

In modern Greek, the future is formed with θα + subjunctive form, and Greek has two aspects for most verbs:

• Imperfective stem → θα παίρνω
• Perfective (aorist) stem → θα πάρω

Both are “future”, but they emphasize different things:

• θα παίρνω – future ongoing/repeated action (“I will be taking” regularly).
• θα πάρω – future single/complete action (“I will take/get” once).

So θα does not combine only with “present tense” forms; it combines with imperfective or perfective subjunctive forms, giving you a continuous or simple future.

Here, θα πάρω is the natural choice because getting a degree is seen as a single completed achievement.

Why do we say το πτυχίο μου with the definite article το? In English we just say “get a degree / my degree” and often omit “the”.

Greek uses definite articles more frequently than English, especially with possessives and with specific known items.

• το πτυχίο μου literally: “the degree of mine” → “my degree.”

When the degree is clearly specific (the one you’ll earn at the end of your studies), Greek almost always uses the article:

• Πήρα το πτυχίο μου. – I got my degree.
• Θέλω να πάρω το πτυχίο μου. – I want to get my degree.

Leaving out the article (πτυχίο μου) is possible in some fixed phrases (e.g. έχω πτυχίο – “I have a degree”), but here the definite article is the natural choice.

Can the word order be changed, for example Σκέφτομαι πώς θα πάρω το πτυχίο μου και τις σπουδές μου?

Greek word order is relatively flexible, but not all permutations sound equally natural.

These are all possible, with slightly different emphasis:

• Σκέφτομαι τις σπουδές μου και το πώς θα πάρω το πτυχίο μου.
  – Neutral order, very natural.

• Σκέφτομαι το πώς θα πάρω το πτυχίο μου και τις σπουδές μου.
  – Puts a bit more emphasis first on “how I will get my degree”.

• Σκέφτομαι πώς θα πάρω το πτυχίο μου και τις σπουδές μου.
  – Grammatically possible, but sounds less balanced; usually, you would keep τις σπουδές μου closer to σκέφτομαι as a simpler direct object.

The original sentence has a nice rhythm and clarity, so it is probably the most natural version in everyday usage.