Breakdown of Η κοινότητά μας οργανώνει βοήθεια για πρόσφυγες και μετανάστες που μένουν κοντά μας.
Questions & Answers about Η κοινότητά μας οργανώνει βοήθεια για πρόσφυγες και μετανάστες που μένουν κοντά μας.
Η is the feminine singular definite article in the nominative case; it means “the”.
In Greek, nouns almost always appear with an article, even when in English we would just say “our community” without “the”. So:
- Η κοινότητά μας = literally “the community of us”, but it is translated as “our community”.
Leaving the article out (∗Κοινότητά μας οργανώνει…) sounds incomplete or like a headline title, not like normal spoken or written Greek. So in standard sentences, keep the article: Η κοινότητά μας…
In Greek, unstressed possessive pronouns such as μου, σου, του, της, μας, σας, τους normally come after the noun:
- η κοινότητά μας = our community
- το σπίτι σου = your house
- η μητέρα μου = my mother
Putting them before the noun (μας κοινότητα) is wrong in standard Greek.
If you want to emphasize “ours”, you use a different form, the stressed possessive with δικός/δική/δικό:
- η δική μας κοινότητα = our community (as opposed to someone else’s)
But in neutral, everyday usage, the pattern is article + noun + unstressed possessive: η κοινότητά μας.
The base noun is κοινότητα, stressed on the antepenultimate syllable:
- κοι‑ νό‑ τη‑ τα → κοινότητα
When you add an enclitic (an unstressed little word that “leans” on the previous word) such as μας, some words get an extra accent on the last syllable. The rule:
- If the word is stressed on the antepenultimate syllable and is followed by an enclitic, it keeps its original accent and gains a second accent on the final syllable.
So we get:
- η κοινότητα (one accent)
- η κοινότητά μας (two accents: on νό and on τά)
This double accent is a normal spelling feature in modern (monotonic) Greek whenever an antepenult‑stressed word is followed by an enclitic pronoun.
Οργανώνει is present tense, 3rd person singular of οργανώνω.
Modern Greek doesn’t have a separate present continuous form like English; the present tense can correspond to both:
- “Our community organizes help …” (habitual/generic)
- “Our community is organizing help …” (currently/around now)
Which English tense you choose depends on context. In this sentence, the most natural interpretation is usually “is organizing” (an action taking place in the present period), but grammatically it can cover both readings.
Yes, you could also say:
- Η κοινότητά μας διοργανώνει βοήθεια…
Οργανώνω and διοργανώνω are very close in meaning:
- οργανώνω – to organize, arrange, structure something.
- διοργανώνω – to organize as an event or operation, often a bit more formal (e.g. conferences, actions, campaigns).
In this context (organizing help/aid), both are acceptable. Οργανώνει is a bit more general; διοργανώνει can sound slightly more “official” or “event-like,” but the difference is subtle.
Βοήθεια here is:
- feminine, singular, accusative
It is the direct object of οργανώνει:
- Η κοινότητά μας (subject) οργανώνει (verb) βοήθεια (object)
It is singular because in Greek (and in English) “help” is usually treated as an uncountable/abstract noun:
- οργανώνει βοήθεια = (it) is organizing help/aid
- not usually οργανώνει βοήθειες (plural), which would sound like “different kinds/pieces of help” and is much less common.
So βοήθεια in the singular is the normal, natural form here.
Both πρόσφυγες and μετανάστες are:
- masculine, plural, accusative
They follow common masculine patterns:
- ο πρόσφυγας (singular) → τους πρόσφυγες (plural, accusative)
- ο μετανάστης (singular) → τους μετανάστες (plural, accusative)
In this sentence, they are the objects of the preposition για:
- βοήθεια για πρόσφυγες και μετανάστες
= help for refugees and migrants
The preposition για always takes the accusative, so both nouns appear in the accusative plural.
Για means “for” in this context, introducing the people who are the beneficiaries of the help:
- βοήθεια για πρόσφυγες και μετανάστες
= help for refugees and migrants
You cannot omit για here. If you said:
- οργανώνει βοήθεια πρόσφυγες και μετανάστες
it would be ungrammatical or at least very confusing, because βοήθεια would just be followed by two bare nouns with no clear relationship.
So the normal, correct structure is βοήθεια για ….
Here που is a relative pronoun / conjunction meaning “who / that / which”:
- …μετανάστες που μένουν κοντά μας
= …migrants who live/stay near us
Difference from πού:
που (no accent)
– relative pronoun introducing a clause: “who, that, which, where” depending on context.
– Example: Ο άνθρωπος που μιλάει. = The man who is speaking.πού (with accent)
– interrogative or exclamative “where?”.
– Example: Πού μένεις; = Where do you live?
In your sentence, it is clearly the unaccented relative που.
Μένουν (3rd person plural of μένω) can mean both:
- live / reside (more permanent)
- stay (more temporary, like staying somewhere for some time)
Context often clarifies which nuance is intended. In the phrase πρόσφυγες και μετανάστες που μένουν κοντά μας, it likely suggests they are currently living/staying near us, without clearly specifying if it’s permanent.
You could also say:
- …που ζουν κοντά μας
(ζουν = they live)
Ζω (to live) leans more towards permanent residence or life in general, whereas μένω is often “stay/reside at a location.” Both are possible here, but μένουν sounds very natural for “people who are (currently) living/staying near us.”
Κοντά is an adverb meaning “near, close”. When you add a person, you use κοντά σε + pronoun:
- κοντά σε εμάς = near us
In everyday speech, the preposition σε plus pronoun almost always fuses into a clitic form:
- σε εμένα → σε μένα → μου (in some contexts)
- σε εμάς → σε μας → μας
So:
- κοντά μας = κοντά σε εμάς = near us
Both κοντά μας and κοντά σε εμάς are grammatically correct.
Κοντά μας is shorter and more colloquial; κοντά σε εμάς can sound a bit more emphatic or formal.
Yes, it is the same pronoun (μας = “us / our”), but it plays two different roles:
Η κοινότητά μας
– Here, μας is a possessive: our community.κοντά μας
– Here, μας is the object of the preposition σε (contracted): near us.
So grammatically:
- First μας = possessive enclitic attached to a noun.
- Second μας = clitic pronoun after κοντά (σε) meaning “us”.
They are the same underlying form (1st person plural genitive), just used in two different syntactic environments.
Greek word order is flexible, but some orders sound much more natural.
The original:
- Η κοινότητά μας οργανώνει βοήθεια για πρόσφυγες και μετανάστες…
(Subject – Verb – Object – Prepositional phrase) is the most neutral.
Your alternative:
- Η κοινότητά μας για πρόσφυγες και μετανάστες οργανώνει βοήθεια…
is grammatically possible, but sounds awkward, because για πρόσφυγες και μετανάστες gets stuck right after the subject and could be momentarily misread as describing the community (“our community for refugees and migrants”) rather than the help.
More natural alternatives, if you want to move things around, would be:
- Η κοινότητά μας οργανώνει για πρόσφυγες και μετανάστες βοήθεια… (slight emphasis on for refugees and migrants)
- or simply stick with the original, which is the clearest and most idiomatic.
From the sentence and usual patterns:
- η κοινότητα → feminine (article η, ending ‑α)
- η βοήθεια → feminine (article η, ending ‑α)
- ο πρόσφυγας → masculine (article ο, singular ending ‑ας, plural πρόσφυγες)
- ο μετανάστης → masculine (article ο, singular ending ‑ης, plural μετανάστες)
Clues:
- The article (ο / η / το) is the most reliable quick indicator of gender.
- Many ‑α and ‑η nouns are feminine,
many ‑ας and ‑ης nouns referring to people are masculine.
You would make both the subject and the verb plural:
- Οι κοινότητές μας οργανώνουν βοήθεια για πρόσφυγες και μετανάστες που μένουν κοντά μας.
Changes:
- Οι instead of Η (plural feminine article).
- κοινότητές instead of κοινότητά:
- base noun: η κοινότητα → plural: οι κοινότητες
- with enclitic μας, and original stress on antepenult, you again get two accents: οι κοινότητές μας.
- οργανώνουν instead of οργανώνει:
- 3rd person plural present of οργανώνω.