Οι δικοί μου μένουν σε χωριό, αλλά εγώ μένω στην πόλη.

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Breakdown of Οι δικοί μου μένουν σε χωριό, αλλά εγώ μένω στην πόλη.

• μένω: to live
• αλλά: but
• σε: in

Questions & Answers about Οι δικοί μου μένουν σε χωριό, αλλά εγώ μένω στην πόλη.

What does οι δικοί μου literally mean, and how is it used in Greek?

Οι δικοί μου literally means my own (people). In everyday Greek it is a very common and natural way to say things like:

• my family
• my folks
• my people / my close ones

It usually refers to close family (parents, siblings) but can also include very close relatives or even people you live with or feel very close to, depending on context.

So the sentence:

• Οι δικοί μου μένουν σε χωριό
  ≈ My folks live in a village / My family lives in a village.

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Why is it δικοί and not δικός, δική, or δικό?

Δικός / δική / δικό / δικοί / δικές / δικά is an adjective meaning own, and it has to agree in gender, number, and case with the noun it replaces.

Here, οι δικοί μου is standing in for something like οι δικοί μου άνθρωποι (my own people), which is:

• masculine
• plural
• nominative (subject of the sentence)

So we use the masculine plural nominative form:

• ο δικός μου – my own (masc. singular)
• οι δικοί μου – my own (masc. plural) → my people / my folks

Masculine plural is the default when you’re talking about a mixed or unspecified group.

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Why do we need the article οι in οι δικοί μου?