Learn Hardcore Greek: Δεν θέλω τα ελληνικά μου να μείνουν στάσιμα, γι’ αυτό συνεχίζω το μάθημα. - I don’t want my Greek to stay stagnant, that’s why I continue the course.

In Greek, when you mean “the Greek language” in everyday speech, you almost always use the neuter plural noun τα ελληνικά rather than a feminine singular form.

ελληνικά here is a noun meaning “(the) Greek (language)”, not an adjective.
τα is the definite article in neuter plural.
μου is the unstressed possessive pronoun “my” and follows the noun: τα ελληνικά μου = “my Greek (my Greek language)”.

You can say η ελληνική μου γλώσσα, but it:

sounds more formal / literary, and
literally means “my Greek language”.

η ελληνικά μου is ungrammatical, because:

η is feminine singular,
ελληνικά here is neuter plural,
article and noun must agree in gender/number/case.

Why is ελληνικά plural? In English “Greek” is singular.

Many language names in Greek are used as neuter plural nouns:

τα ελληνικά = Greek
τα αγγλικά = English
τα γαλλικά = French

So:

The article is plural (τα),
The adjective/participle that refers back to it is also neuter plural (στάσιμα, μείνουν in 3rd person plural).

Grammatically, τα ελληνικά behaves like “my Greek things” or “my Greek skills,” even though in English we treat “my Greek” as singular and abstract.

What is μου doing after the noun? Why not before, like in English “my Greek”?

Greek uses post‑posed weak possessive pronouns:

τα ελληνικά μου = “my Greek”
το σπίτι μου = “my house”
η μητέρα μου = “my mother”

You can place the possessive before the noun, but then you use a stressed form (and it sounds more emphatic or formal):

η δική μου μητέρα = my mother (as opposed to someone else’s)
τα δικά μου ελληνικά = my Greek (with emphasis on whose Greek)

In normal, neutral speech, the pattern is: > article + noun + μου/σου/του/της/μας/σας/τους

Why do we use δεν and not μην in Δεν θέλω τα ελληνικά μου…?

Modern Greek has two main negative particles:

δεν: used with indicative verbs (normal statements):
- δεν θέλω, δεν ξέρω, δεν μπορώ
μη(ν): used with subjunctive, imperative, and some fixed expressions:
- να μην πάω, μη μιλάς, μην ανησυχείς

In the sentence:

θέλω is in the indicative, so you must use δεν:
Δεν θέλω… → “I don’t want …”

Inside the να‑clause here there is no negation (see next question for να), so μην doesn’t appear at all. The only negation is on θέλω.

What is να, and why do we say να μείνουν instead of an infinitive like “to stay”?

Modern Greek does not have an infinitive (“to stay”, “to go” etc.) in normal use. Instead, it uses a particle να plus a finite verb form called the subjunctive.

So where English has:

“I want to stay”
“I don’t want to stay”

Greek uses:

θέλω να μείνω (I want to stay)
δεν θέλω να μείνω (I don’t want to stay)

In our sentence:

να μείνουν = “(for them) to stay / to remain”
τα ελληνικά μου να μείνουν στάσιμα ≈ “for my Greek to stay stagnant”

So να here marks a subordinate clause of what is wanted/desired, replacing the English infinitive structure.

What form is μείνουν exactly, and why not μένουν?

μείνουν is:

verb: μένω (to stay, remain)
tense/aspect: aorist subjunctive
person/number: 3rd person plural (they)

Compare:

μένουν = present indicative (they stay / they are staying)
να μένουν = present subjunctive (for them to be staying / to keep staying)
να μείνουν = aorist subjunctive (for them to stay / end up staying)

Aspect difference:

να μένουν στάσιμα → focus on a continuous state: “to keep being stagnant”
να μείνουν στάσιμα → focus on the resulting state / end point: “(for them) to end up remaining stagnant, to stay stuck”

In context, να μείνουν στάσιμα matches the idea “I don’t want my Greek to (end up) staying stagnant / to get stuck” — a completed undesired outcome.

Why is στάσιμα in that form? What does it agree with?

στάσιμα is an adjective:

base form: στάσιμος, στάσιμη, στάσιμο = stagnant, not moving/progressing
here we have neuter plural nominative/accusative: στάσιμα

It must agree with the noun it describes:

τα ελληνικά μου → neuter plural
⇒ the adjective must also be neuter plural: στάσιμα

Examples of agreement:

το νερό είναι στάσιμο (neuter singular)
τα νερά είναι στάσιμα (neuter plural)
τα ελληνικά μου να μείνουν στάσιμα (neuter plural)

Semantically, στάσιμος means “stagnant, not progressing”, not just “stable”. It has a slightly negative flavor: “stuck / not moving forward”.

What exactly does γι’ αυτό mean, and why is it written with an apostrophe?

γι’ αυτό here means “for that reason, that’s why, therefore”.

It comes from:

για αυτό → “for this/that (reason)”
In rapid speech, the α in για often drops before a vowel (αυ-), so in writing we show this as γι’ αυτό (elision).

So:

για αυτό = full form (“for this/that”)
γι’ αυτό = contracted form, very common and natural in speech and normal writing.

Important: γι’ αυτό (that’s why) is different from something like:

για αυτό το μάθημα = for this lesson

In our sentence it’s used as a connector:

…, γι’ αυτό συνεχίζω το μάθημα.
“…, that’s why I continue the lesson / I keep taking the class.”

Why is there a comma before γι’ αυτό?

The comma separates:

the reason clause:
Δεν θέλω τα ελληνικά μου να μείνουν στάσιμα,
the result/consequence clause:
γι’ αυτό συνεχίζω το μάθημα.

This mirrors English punctuation:

“I don’t want my Greek to stay stagnant, so I keep taking the class.”

In Greek, when γι’ αυτό, οπότε, άρα, γι’ αυτόν τον λόγο etc. introduce a consequence, it’s very common (and stylistically good) to put a comma before them.

What does συνεχίζω το μάθημα mean exactly? Is it “continue this course” or “keep studying in general”?

συνεχίζω = “I continue / I go on with / I keep doing”

το μάθημα here is most naturally understood as:

“the class / the course / the lesson” (a specific organized course or lesson you’re taking)

So:

συνεχίζω το μάθημα = “I continue the course / I keep taking the class.”

If you wanted to sound more general (“I keep studying”), you might hear:

συνεχίζω να διαβάζω ελληνικά – I keep studying Greek
συνεχίζω τα μαθήματα ελληνικών – I continue (my) Greek lessons

But in context, το μάθημα clearly refers to some specific class the speaker is taking.

Why is it το μάθημα with the article? Could we just say συνεχίζω μάθημα?

In Greek, countable nouns almost always take an article when you refer to a specific, known thing:

το μάθημα = the lesson / class (that I am already doing)
το βιβλίο, το σπίτι, η δουλειά etc.

Here the speaker is talking about their current course, so it’s definite:

συνεχίζω το μάθημα = “I continue the course (I’m already in).”

Saying συνεχίζω μάθημα (without article) is unusual and sounds incomplete or unidiomatic in standard Greek. You drop the article mainly in titles, labels, or very specific stylistic contexts, not in normal sentences like this.

Can we change the word order, e.g. Δεν θέλω να μείνουν στάσιμα τα ελληνικά μου? Does it change the meaning?

Yes, Greek word order is fairly flexible, and you can say:

Δεν θέλω να μείνουν στάσιμα τα ελληνικά μου.

Meaning: essentially the same.

Differences:

Τα ελληνικά μου να μείνουν στάσιμα (original):
puts τα ελληνικά μου early, making “my Greek” the early focus.
Να μείνουν στάσιμα τα ελληνικά μου:
pulls focus slightly onto the verb+adjective (“to stay stagnant”) first, then identifies what is staying stagnant.

In everyday conversation, both word orders are perfectly natural. The differences are mostly about emphasis and rhythm, not basic meaning.