Learn Hardcore Greek: Ο σύλλογος οργανώνει συχνά τοπική εκδήλωση για τον εθελοντισμό και καλεί και φοιτητές. - The association often organizes a local event about volunteering and also invites students.

Σύλλογος means something like association / society / club—usually a formal or semi‑formal group, often with members, a purpose, and possibly a board (e.g. a cultural association, a sports association, an alumni group).

A few rough distinctions:

σύλλογος – association/society (often non‑profit, organized, with members)
όμιλος – can be a club (e.g. sports club), but also a group/company conglomerate in business contexts
λέσχη – “club” in the sense of a social club (e.g. chess club, student club), often with a venue
κλαμπ – a more informal borrowing from English “club,” often used for nightclubs or casual clubs

Grammatically, σύλλογος is:

masculine
singular
nominative here (the subject of the verb οργανώνει)
with the masculine nominative article ο → Ο σύλλογος

Why is the verb οργανώνει in the present tense? Would that mean “organizes” or “is organizing”?

Modern Greek present tense usually covers both English simple present and present continuous. So οργανώνει can be understood as:

“organizes” (a repeated or habitual action)
“is organizing” (an action around now)

In this sentence, the adverb συχνά (often) makes it clearly habitual:

Ο σύλλογος οργανώνει συχνά…
→ “The association often organizes…”

So you don’t need a separate progressive form like English “is organizing”; οργανώνει plus context handles it.

Could I change the word order of οργανώνει συχνά? For example, say συχνά οργανώνει?

Yes. Both are correct, and both are natural:

Ο σύλλογος οργανώνει συχνά τοπική εκδήλωση…
Ο σύλλογος συχνά οργανώνει τοπική εκδήλωση…

The difference is subtle:

οργανώνει συχνά slightly puts more focus on the organizing itself and then adds “often”.
συχνά οργανώνει puts “often” earlier, so the frequency is heard sooner.

In everyday speech, both patterns are very common. Greek word order is flexible; adverbs like συχνά can move around without changing the basic meaning.

Why is it τοπική εκδήλωση (singular) and not τοπικές εκδηλώσεις if this happens often?

Greek can use the singular to describe a type of recurring event, not a single, one‑time instance. So:

τοπική εκδήλωση = “a local event” (as a kind of activity they do)
With συχνά:
Ο σύλλογος οργανώνει συχνά τοπική εκδήλωση…
→ “The association often organizes a local event…” (regularly, as part of what they do)

If you say:

Ο σύλλογος οργανώνει συχνά τοπικές εκδηλώσεις…
that emphasizes that there are many events, plural, rather than referring to the activity more generically.

Both are grammatically fine; the singular just treats it more like “this kind of local event they do”.

How does the agreement between τοπική and εκδήλωση work?

In Greek, adjectives agree with the noun in gender, number, and case.

Here:

εκδήλωση – feminine, singular, accusative
The article is omitted (perfectly normal with an indefinite, nonspecific noun)
So the adjective must be:
- feminine → τοπική
- singular → τοπική
- accusative → τοπική

That’s why we get τοπική εκδήλωση. If we changed number or case, we’d change the ending:

nominative singular: τοπική εκδήλωση
accusative plural: τοπικές εκδηλώσεις
genitive singular: τοπικής εκδήλωσης, etc.

The endings have to “match” the noun.

What exactly does για τον εθελοντισμό mean? Is it “for volunteerism” or “about volunteerism”?

The preposition για is flexible. Here, για τον εθελοντισμό can mean:

“about volunteerism” (the topic of the event)
or “for volunteerism” (in support of / promoting volunteerism)

Both interpretations are reasonable, and in many contexts the difference isn’t huge.

Grammar-wise:

για is followed by the accusative case.
τον εθελοντισμό = masculine, singular, accusative
(article τον
- noun εθελοντισμό)

So:

τοπική εκδήλωση για τον εθελοντισμό
→ “a local event about/for volunteerism.”

Why do we use the definite article τον before εθελοντισμό? Could we say just για εθελοντισμό?

Both are possible, but they feel a bit different:

για τον εθελοντισμό
→ more like “about the concept of volunteerism” in general, a bit more specific and “defined” in the speaker’s mind.
για εθελοντισμό
→ feels more like “about volunteer work / about doing voluntary work”, less like a named concept, more like an activity.

Greek uses definite articles more often than English, even with abstract nouns (e.g. η ελευθερία, η μουσική, ο αθλητισμός). So τον εθελοντισμό is very natural and common here.

What’s going on with και καλεί και φοιτητές? Why are there two και?

Here we have the structure και … και …, which often means “both … and …” or adds emphasis like “also / even …”.

…και καλεί και φοιτητές. Literally: “and it calls also students.” More natural English: “and it also invites students.”

The second και before φοιτητές highlights that students are in addition to whoever else is invited (members, local residents, etc.).

You could also phrase it in other correct ways:

…και καλεί φοιτητές. (without the second και)
→ “and invites students” (no extra emphasis on “also”)
…και καλεί και φοιτητές και καθηγητές.
→ “and invites both students and professors.” (classic “both … and …”)

Could the position of και be different, like καλεί φοιτητές και or καλεί φοιτητές επίσης?

You have some flexibility. A few natural variants:

…και καλεί και φοιτητές.
(the original – emphasizes “also students”)
…και καλεί φοιτητές επίσης.
→ “and invites students as well.” (with επίσης = also/as well)
…και καλεί φοιτητές.
(no emphasis on “also”)

What would sound odd is putting και at the end by itself, like καλεί φοιτητές και with nothing after it.

The pattern και καλεί και φοιτητές is very idiomatic Greek for “and it also invites students.”

Why φοιτητές and not μαθητές? Don’t both mean “students”?

Both relate to “students,” but they’re used in different contexts:

φοιτητές – university or college students (tertiary education)
μαθητές – pupils or students in school (primary, middle, high school)

So:

φοιτητές → undergraduate/graduate students
μαθητές → schoolchildren/teens in school

Here, καλεί και φοιτητές suggests the association is inviting university students specifically. If it were targeting school kids, it would be μαθητές instead.