Breakdown of Η μαμά μου λέει ότι η φροντίδα της οικογένειας δεν σταματάει ποτέ, ακόμα κι αν ζούμε μακριά.
Questions & Answers about Η μαμά μου λέει ότι η φροντίδα της οικογένειας δεν σταματάει ποτέ, ακόμα κι αν ζούμε μακριά.
In Greek, possessive pronouns (my, your, his, etc.) normally come after the noun as clitics (short unstressed forms):
- η μαμά μου = literally the mom my = my mom
- το σπίτι σου = your house
- ο φίλος μας = our friend
Also, Greek usually uses the definite article with nouns, even when English does not, especially with:
- family members: η μαμά μου, ο πατέρας μου
- people you know: η φίλη μου, ο δάσκαλός μου
So η μαμά μου (article + noun + possessive) is the normal, natural structure for my mom.
Both mean mother, but they differ in register and tone:
μαμά – informal, affectionate, like mom / mum / mommy
- Very common in everyday speech.
- Used within the family, or when talking casually.
μητέρα – more formal, like mother
- Used in more formal contexts, official documents, or when you want to sound more distant or respectful.
- Also in some set expressions: μητρική γλώσσα (mother tongue).
In your sentence, η μαμά μου sounds natural and warm; η μητέρα μου would sound more formal or distant.
λέει ότι = she says that.
- λέει – she says (3rd person singular of λέω)
- ότι – that (introduces a reported/embedded clause)
Example:
- Η μαμά μου λέει ότι… = My mom says that…
Important: ότι (that) is not the same as γιατί (because).
ότι = that (for reported speech/thought):
- Μου είπε ότι θα έρθει. – He told me that he will come.
γιατί = because or why, depending on context:
- Δεν έρχεται γιατί είναι άρρωστος. – He’s not coming because he’s sick.
- Γιατί κλαις; – Why are you crying?
There is also πως which can often replace ότι in this meaning of that:
- Η μαμά μου λέει πως η φροντίδα… (spoken style)
Greek uses the definite article much more often than English, including with abstract nouns in a general sense:
- η αγάπη – (the) love
- η ελευθερία – (the) freedom
- η φροντίδα – (the) care
In your sentence, η φροντίδα της οικογένειας refers to care for the family in a general, timeless way, not one specific act of care, but Greek still likes the article.
So:
- η φροντίδα της οικογένειας δεν σταματάει ποτέ
literally: the care of the family never stops
natural English: care for the family never stops
Leaving out the article (φροντίδα της οικογένειας) is usually less natural here.
της οικογένειας is in the genitive case, used among other things to show possession or relationship.
- η οικογένεια (nominative, basic form) – the family
- της οικογένειας (genitive) – of the family / the family’s
In this phrase:
- η φροντίδα της οικογένειας = the care of the family / the family’s care
Formally:
- Article:
- η (nom.) → της (gen.)
- Noun:
- οικογένεια (nom.) → οικογένειας (gen.)
You must repeat the article in the genitive:
- ✔ η φροντίδα της οικογένειας
- ✘ η φροντίδα οικογένειας (wrong/unnatural here)
You could also say:
- η φροντίδα για την οικογένεια – care for the family
This uses για + accusative instead of genitive, and sounds slightly more like “care directed toward the family,” but both are grammatically fine.
Greek negative structure is different from English. To say never with a verb, you generally must use both:
- δεν
- verb + ποτέ
- Δεν έρχεται ποτέ. – He never comes.
- Δεν τρώω ποτέ κρέας. – I never eat meat.
- verb + ποτέ
So:
- δεν σταματάει ποτέ = it never stops
This is normal in Greek and is not considered incorrect double negation the way it might be in formal English. δεν negates the verb, and ποτέ (ever) becomes never when used with δεν.
Compare:
- Σταματάει ποτέ; – Does it ever stop? (question, no δεν)
- Δεν σταματάει ποτέ. – It never stops. (with δεν)
The verb σταματάω / σταματώ (to stop) belongs to a group of verbs that have two equivalent present forms:
- σταματάω or σταματώ – I stop
- σταματάς – you stop
- σταματάει or σταματά – he/she/it stops
So:
- δεν σταματάει ποτέ and δεν σταματά ποτέ are both correct.
Differences:
- Forms in -άει and -άω are often felt as a bit more informal/spoken.
- Forms in -ά and -ώ can sound a bit more formal/literary, depending on the verb and context.
In everyday speech, people mix them quite freely.
ακόμα κι αν = even if.
Breakdown:
- ακόμα – usually still / yet, but in this fixed combination it contributes the even idea.
- και – and / even.
- κι is just και before a vowel (see next question).
- αν – if.
So:
- ακόμα κι αν ζούμε μακριά = even if we live far away
Other similar expressions:
- ακόμα και αν – same meaning, a bit more “spelled-out”
- έστω κι αν – even if / even though
- παρόλο που ζούμε μακριά – even though we live far away (more like although)
κι is a phonetic variant of και. It’s used:
- before a vowel sound, for smoother pronunciation:
- κι αν (instead of και αν)
- κι εγώ (instead of και εγώ)
- κι έτσι, κι έτσι έγινε etc.
Spoken Greek prefers κι in these positions because it is easier to say quickly. The meaning is exactly the same as και:
- και αν = κι αν = and if / even if (here: part of ακόμα κι αν)
So ακόμα κι αν is just the natural spoken form; ακόμα και αν is perfectly correct but sounds a bit more careful or written.
Yes, ζούμε is the 1st person plural of ζω (to live – in the sense of being alive / living life / living somewhere).
- ζω – I live
- ζει – he/she/it lives
- ζούμε – we live
In your sentence:
- ακόμα κι αν ζούμε μακριά = even if we live far away
About ζω vs μένω:
ζω – to live (exist, be alive, or live somewhere as a general state)
- Ζω στην Ελλάδα. – I live in Greece.
- Ζούμε ευτυχισμένοι. – We live happily.
μένω – to stay / reside
- Μένω στην Αθήνα. – I live / I reside in Athens.
- Emphasis more on where you reside or are staying.
In many contexts about where someone lives, both ζω and μένω can be used, with a small nuance difference (ζω = overall life, μένω = address/residence).
In ζούμε μακριά, μακριά is an adverb meaning far / far away.
- ζούμε μακριά – we live far away
No preposition is needed in this basic use. If you want to say far from X, you add από:
- ζούμε μακριά από την οικογένειά μας. – We live far from our family.
- Είναι μακριά από εδώ; – Is it far from here?
Related forms:
- μακριά – adverb/adjectival form: far / far away
- μακρινός, -ή, -ό – adjective: distant
- μακρινή χώρα – a distant country
Here, μακριά simply modifies ζούμε (how do we live? → far away).
Yes. Greek word order is relatively flexible, especially with clauses like these.
Both are fine:
- Η μαμά μου λέει ότι η φροντίδα της οικογένειας δεν σταματάει ποτέ, ακόμα κι αν ζούμε μακριά.
- Η μαμά μου λέει ότι, ακόμα κι αν ζούμε μακριά, η φροντίδα της οικογένειας δεν σταματάει ποτέ.
The meaning is the same:
- The main idea: η φροντίδα της οικογένειας δεν σταματάει ποτέ
- The condition: ακόμα κι αν ζούμε μακριά
Moving ακόμα κι αν ζούμε μακριά earlier gives it a little more emphasis, but both orders are natural.
You can also move ποτέ:
- δεν σταματάει ποτέ (most common)
- ποτέ δεν σταματάει (also correct, adds emphasis to ποτέ)
μαμά is pronounced:
- [ma-MA] – stress on the second syllable.
The written accent (´) in Modern Greek:
- Shows which syllable is stressed in words of two or more syllables.
- There is exactly one accent mark in words with more than one syllable (except some special cases like enclitics).
So:
- μαμά – stress on -μά
- οικογένεια – οι-κο-ΓΕ-νει-α (stress on ΓΕ)
- φροντίδα – φρον-ΤΙ-δα (stress on ΤΙ)
Stress is important in Greek: putting the stress on the wrong syllable can make a word hard to understand or sometimes even change the word.