Μένω σε φοιτητική εστία κοντά στη σχολή μου.

Both can translate as “I live”, but they’re not used in the same way:

• μένω = to stay, to reside, to live (somewhere)

  • Focuses on where you live / stay.
  • Common in addresses and talking about your place of residence.
  • Examples:
    
    • Μένω στην Αθήνα. – I live in Athens.
    • Πού μένεις; – Where do you live?

• ζω = to live (be alive), to experience life

  • Often more general or emotional.
  • Used for “living your life”, “living well/badly”, etc.
  • Examples:
    
    • Ζω στην Ελλάδα εδώ και πέντε χρόνια. – I have been living in Greece for five years.
    • Ζω μια ήσυχη ζωή. – I live a quiet life.

In Μένω σε φοιτητική εστία…, the emphasis is on the place where you reside, so μένω is the natural verb.

Literally:

• σε φοιτητική εστία – in a student dorm / in student housing (no article)
• στη φοιτητική εστία – in the student dorm (a specific one)

Greek often omits the article when talking about:

1. Someone’s general occupation or status:
   
   • Είμαι φοιτητής. – I’m a student. (no article)
2. Types of accommodation in a general sense:
   
   • Μένω σε σπίτι. – I live in a house.
   • Μένω σε διαμέρισμα. – I live in an apartment.
   • Μένω σε φοιτητική εστία. – I live in student halls / a dorm.

So here it means “I live in (some) student accommodation”, not “in that specific dormitory we have already mentioned”. If you wanted to emphasize a particular, known dorm, you could say:

• Μένω στη φοιτητική εστία της σχολής. – I live in the university’s dorm.

φοιτητική εστία literally = “student residence” / “student home”.

In practice, it corresponds to:

• dorm, dormitory, student residence, halls of residence, or student housing.

It’s where university students live, usually managed or supported by the university or the state. It can be:

• A building full of rooms for students
• Sometimes organized in “wings” or “blocks”
• Often with shared kitchens, bathrooms, common areas, etc.

In everyday English, the best translation usually depends on the variety of English you’re using:

• American English: “I live in a dorm” or “I live in student housing.”
• British English: “I live in halls” or “I live in student halls.”

The structure is:

• κοντά σε
  • noun = near something
• When you add the definite article, σε
  • τη → στη

So:

• κοντά σε σχολή – near a (unspecified) school/faculty
• κοντά στη σχολή μου – near my (specific) school/faculty

Here, we’re talking about “my faculty / my university department”, which is clearly specific, so Greek naturally uses the definite article:

• η σχολή μου – my faculty
• κοντά στη σχολή μου – near my faculty

σε + τη → στη is just a normal contraction, like “do not” → “don’t” in English, but mandatory in Greek spelling.

Both are forms of:

• σε (in/at/to) + την (the – feminine accusative)
• σε την contracts to:
  • στην or
  • στη, depending on the sound that follows.

Rule of thumb (modern everyday usage):

1. στην before vowels and some consonants (especially ν, δ, τ, ζ, λ, ρ, μ):

   • στην Ελλάδα – in Greece
   • στην Αθήνα – in Athens
   • στην άκρη – at the edge

2. στη often before many other consonants, especially when the following word begins with a consonant that makes pronunciation easier without the final ν:

   • στη σχολή – at the faculty
   • στη Θεσσαλονίκη – in Thessaloniki

In κοντά στη σχολή μου, σχολή starts with σ, so the ν is usually dropped: στη σχολή.

Note: Both στη σχολή and στην σχολή may be understood, but στη σχολή is what you normally see in modern spelling.

Both relate to “school,” but they’re used differently:

• σχολείο

  • General word for school, especially primary and secondary (elementary, middle, high school).
  • Example: Πάω στο σχολείο. – I go to school.

• σχολή

  • At university level: faculty, school, or department:
    
    • η Νομική Σχολή – the Law School
    • η Ιατρική Σχολή – the Medical School
  • Also used in other contexts like drama school, dance school, art school:
    
    • δραματική σχολή, σχολή χορού, καλλιτεχνική σχολή.

In this sentence, σχολή μου means “my faculty / my university department”, not “my (primary/secondary) school”.

Greek possessive pronouns usually go after the noun when they’re in their weak (unstressed) form:

• το σπίτι μου – my house
• η μητέρα σου – your mother
• η σχολή μου – my faculty

So:

• η σχολή – the faculty
• η σχολή μου – my faculty

You don’t say η μου σχολή in modern Greek. That order would sound archaic or poetic now.

Also, you normally keep the article:

• η σχολή μου, not σχολή μου (except in special stylistic contexts).

Both φοιτητική εστία and σχολή are in the accusative case:

1. σε φοιτητική εστία

   • Preposition σε (“in/at”) requires the accusative:
     • σε + (η) φοιτητική εστία → σε φοιτητική εστία (feminine accusative)

2. στη σχολή μου

   • σε
     • τη σχολή → στη σχολή
   • Again, σε takes the accusative:
     • η σχολή (nominative) → τη σχολή (accusative)

The possessive μου is in the genitive, but it doesn’t change form; it just shows “of me / my”:

• η σχολή μου – literally “the faculty of me” → “my faculty”.

φοιτητική is an adjective meaning “student (adj.), relating to students”, from φοιτητής (student).

Agreement:

• εστία is a feminine noun: η εστία (ending in -α).
• The adjective must match gender, number, and case of the noun:
  • Feminine, singular, accusative.

So:

• Nominative: η φοιτητική εστία – the student dorm
• Accusative (after σε): σε φοιτητική εστία

Patterns:

• Masculine: φοιτητικός (ο φοιτητικός σύλλογος – the student association)
• Feminine: φοιτητική (η φοιτητική εστία – the student dorm)
• Neuter: φοιτητικό (το φοιτητικό δωμάτιο – the student room)

Greek word order is relatively flexible, and both are grammatically okay:

• Μένω σε φοιτητική εστία κοντά στη σχολή μου.
  – Neutral, natural order. Information flows as:

  1. Where exactly you live (in a dorm),
  2. Then where that is located (near your faculty).

• Μένω κοντά στη σχολή μου σε φοιτητική εστία.
  – Also understandable. Now the emphasis feels a bit more on being near your faculty, then adding where exactly (in a dorm).

The original is more typical and smoother. Changing the order is possible, but some orders may sound less natural or slightly marked in emphasis.

Approximate pronunciation (stress marked with bold):

• Μένω – MEH-no
• σε – se (like “seh”)
• φοιτητική – fee-tee-tee-KEE
• εστία – es-TEE-a
• κοντά – kon-TA
• στη – stee
• σχολή – skho-LEE (χ = like German “Bach”, a voiceless velar fricative)
• μου – moo

All together:

MEH-no se fee-tee-tee-KEE es-TEE-a kon-TA stee skho-LEE moo

Remember:

• χ in σχολή is a rough h sound (not “sh”).
• Stress is very important in Greek; it changes meaning in some words, so keep the accents in mind.