Breakdown of Όταν ήμουν παιδί, ήμουν συχνά ανασφαλής και δεν καταλάβαινα τι σημαίνει να γίνω ενήλικας και να δουλεύω κάθε μέρα.
είμαι
to be
και
and
τι
what
δεν
not
Questions & Answers about Όταν ήμουν παιδί, ήμουν συχνά ανασφαλής και δεν καταλάβαινα τι σημαίνει να γίνω ενήλικας και να δουλεύω κάθε μέρα.
What tense is ήμουν, and why is it used twice in the sentence?
Ήμουν (ímoun) is the imperfect tense of the verb είμαι (to be), meaning “I was.”
The imperfect in Greek describes:
- a continuous state in the past, or
- something that was habitual or repeated in the past.
In the sentence:
- Όταν ήμουν παιδί = When I was a child (general past state)
- ήμουν συχνά ανασφαλής = I was often insecure (repeated/ongoing quality)
Using ήμουν twice keeps both ideas clear: being a child (past period) and being often insecure (repeated state during that period). You could drop the second ήμουν in casual speech, but the original version is very natural and clear.
Why is there no εγώ (“I”) in the sentence? How do we know the subject?
In Greek, the subject pronoun is usually omitted because it is already contained in the verb ending.
- ήμουν = I was
- καταλάβαινα = I understood / I used to understand
- γίνω (with να) = that I become
- δουλεύω (with να) = that I work
So, εγώ is not needed. You could say:
- Όταν εγώ ήμουν παιδί…
but that usually sounds emphatic, like “When I was a child (as for me)…”, not neutral. The neutral, natural choice is to leave εγώ out.
Why is there a comma after ?