Learn Hardcore Greek: Αυτή η ταινία μου θυμίζει τις διακοπές μας στην Ελλάδα. - This movie reminds me of our vacation in Greece.

θυμάμαι = to remember (reflexive/medium)
- Θυμάμαι τις διακοπές μας. = I remember our holidays.
θυμίζω = to remind (someone) of (something)
- Αυτή η ταινία μου θυμίζει τις διακοπές μας.
  = This movie reminds me of our holidays.

So:

If you do the remembering → use θυμάμαι.
If something/someone causes you to remember → use θυμίζω
- μου/σου/του...

Why is it Αυτή η ταινία and not just Αυτή ταινία?

In Greek, when you say “this + noun”, you usually need both:

The demonstrative: αυτή (this)
The definite article: η (the)

So the pattern is:

αυτή η ταινία = this movie
αυτό το βιβλίο = this book
αυτός ο άνθρωπος = this person

Leaving out the article (Αυτή ταινία) is generally wrong in standard modern Greek (it might appear only in special, non‑standard or poetic contexts).

Why Αυτή and η ταινία both feminine? Is that agreement necessary?

Yes, Greek requires agreement in gender, number, and case between:

the demonstrative (αυτή)
the article (η)
the noun (ταινία)

Here:

ταινία is feminine, singular, nominative
So:
- demonstrative: αυτή (fem. sg. nom.)
- article: η (fem. sg. nom.)

If the noun were masculine or neuter, all three would change:

Αυτός ο άντρας (this man, masc.)
Αυτό το παιδί (this child, neut.)

What is the role of μου exactly in this sentence?

μου is a weak (clitic) pronoun in the genitive case, and here it means “to me”.

In this sentence:

Αυτή η ταινία = this movie (subject)
μου = to me (indirect object)
θυμίζει = reminds
τις διακοπές μας = our holidays (direct object)

So the structure is:

This movie to me reminds our holidays.

Why is μου placed before θυμίζει and not after?

Greek weak pronouns (like μου, σου, του, της, μας, σας, τους) generally go:

before a simple verb form:
- μου θυμίζει, σου λέω, του δίνω
between the auxiliary and the participle for compound tenses:
- μου έχει θυμίσει, σου είχε πει

So Μου θυμίζει is the normal word order.
Putting it after the verb (Θυμίζει μου) is wrong in standard modern Greek.

Why is it τις διακοπές and not τη διακοπή?

διακοπή (singular) usually means interruption (e.g. power cut, pause).
διακοπές (plural) means holidays, vacation.

In modern Greek, “holidays/vacation” is almost always plural:

Πάω διακοπές. = I’m going on vacation.
Πέρασα ωραίες διακοπές. = I had a nice holiday.

So τις διακοπές = the holidays (accusative feminine plural).

Why do we say τις διακοπές with τις? What case is this?

τις διακοπές is accusative feminine plural:

η διακοπή / οι διακοπές (nom.)
της διακοπής / των διακοπών (gen.)
τη(ν) διακοπή / τις διακοπές (acc.)

Here, τις διακοπές is the direct object of θυμίζει, so it must be in the accusative case with the matching plural article τις.

Why is μας after τις διακοπές and not before, like μας διακοπές?

There are two forms of μας:

Weak (clitic) pronoun = our, to us, us
- Usually before the verb: μας θυμίζει, μας λέει
- OR attached to a noun/possessive use: οι διακοπές μας
As a possessive, it normally follows the noun:
- οι φίλοι μας = our friends
- το σπίτι μας = our house
- τις διακοπές μας = our holidays

Μας διακοπές is ungrammatical; possessive pronouns in Greek generally go after the noun they modify.

What exactly does στην Ελλάδα consist of? Why not just σε Ελλάδα?

στην is a contraction of:

σε (in, at, to)
την (the, feminine singular accusative)

So:

σε + την Ελλάδα → στην Ελλάδα

Many countries in Greek normally take the article:

η Ελλάδα = Greece → στην Ελλάδα (in Greece)
η Ιταλία = Italy → στην Ιταλία
η Γαλλία = France → στην Γαλλία / στη Γαλλία

So σε Ελλάδα is incorrect in standard Greek; you must use the article: στην Ελλάδα.

Why is Ελλάδα in the accusative case after σε/στην?

The preposition σε in modern Greek is most often followed by the accusative case.

So:

σε + η Ελλάδα (nom.) → στην Ελλάδα (acc.)
σε + ο δρόμος → στον δρόμο
σε + το σπίτι → στο σπίτι

Even though “in Greece” in English doesn’t show case, in Greek the noun after σε normally becomes accusative.

Can the word order change? For example, can I say Αυτή η ταινία θυμίζει μου τις διακοπές μας?

No, θυμίζει μου is wrong in standard Greek.

The pronoun μου as a weak clitic must go before the simple verb:

✅ Αυτή η ταινία μου θυμίζει τις διακοπές μας στην Ελλάδα.
❌ Αυτή η ταινία θυμίζει μου τις διακοπές μας στην Ελλάδα.

You can, however, move other parts around for emphasis, more naturally in speech:

Αυτή η ταινία μου θυμίζει τις διακοπές μας στην Ελλάδα. (neutral)
Οι διακοπές μας στην Ελλάδα, μου τις θυμίζει αυτή η ταινία. (more marked/emphatic)

Could we say Αυτή η ταινία μου φέρνει στο μυαλό τις διακοπές μας στην Ελλάδα instead of μου θυμίζει?

Yes. Μου φέρνει στο μυαλό literally means “brings to my mind”, and it’s another common way to say “reminds me of”.

Both are natural:

Αυτή η ταινία μου θυμίζει τις διακοπές μας στην Ελλάδα.
Αυτή η ταινία μου φέρνει στο μυαλό τις διακοπές μας στην Ελλάδα.

μου θυμίζει is a bit shorter and more direct; μου φέρνει στο μυαλό sounds slightly more descriptive or vivid.

Is the verb θυμίζει here present tense? What aspect/tense is it?

Yes, θυμίζει is:

Present tense
Active voice
3rd person singular

It corresponds to:

(αυτός/αυτή/αυτό) θυμίζει = he/she/it reminds

So Αυτή η ταινία θυμίζει = This movie reminds.

If you wanted past tense:

Αυτή η ταινία μου θύμισε τις διακοπές μας στην Ελλάδα.
= This movie reminded me of our holidays in Greece (on some specific occasion).

Why is there no word for “of” in “reminds me of our holidays” in Greek?

English uses the preposition “of” after “remind”:

reminds me of X

Greek doesn’t need a preposition here. The verb θυμίζω directly takes the thing remembered as its object in the accusative:

μου θυμίζει τις διακοπές μας
= reminds me the holidays of us (literally structure-wise) = reminds me of our holidays

So “of” is “built into” the way θυμίζω is constructed; you don’t add για / από here.