Learn Hardcore Greek: Θέλω να μιλάω ελληνικά κάθε μέρα, έστω κι αν είμαι κουρασμένος. - I want to speak Greek every day, even if I am tired.

Modern Greek doesn’t really use an infinitive (a bare “to speak”) the way English does.
Instead, verbs like θέλω (I want), μπορώ (I can), πρέπει (I must) are followed by να + a verb in the subjunctive.

So:

Θέλω να μιλάω ελληνικά… ≈ “I want to speak Greek…”
Μπορώ να μιλάω ελληνικά; ≈ “Can I speak Greek?”
Πρέπει να μιλάω ελληνικά… ≈ “I must / should speak Greek…”

Saying Θέλω μιλάω ελληνικά is ungrammatical; να is required to introduce the verb that expresses the action you want to do.

Why μιλάω and not μιλήσω after Θέλω να? What’s the difference?

Greek has aspect differences that English doesn’t mark as clearly:

Θέλω να μιλάω ελληνικά κάθε μέρα…
uses the imperfective (continuous) form μιλάω: it focuses on the action as ongoing / repeated / habitual.
Here it matches κάθε μέρα (“every day”), so it’s about the habit of speaking Greek regularly.
Θέλω να μιλήσω ελληνικά…
uses the perfective form μιλήσω, which focuses on the action as a single, complete event.
Example: Θέλω να μιλήσω ελληνικά με τον δάσκαλό μου = “I want to speak Greek with my teacher (once / on this occasion).”

So in this sentence, μιλάω is chosen because it matches the idea of speaking Greek as an ongoing, everyday activity.

What’s the difference between μιλάω and μιλώ?

They are two forms of the same verb, both meaning “I speak / I talk”:

μιλάω is the more common colloquial form.
μιλώ is a bit more formal / written, but is also perfectly correct in speech.

You could say:

Θέλω να μιλάω ελληνικά κάθε μέρα… (more conversational)
Θέλω να μιλώ ελληνικά κάθε μέρα… (a bit more formal / literary in tone)

Grammatically, both are fine; it’s mostly a matter of style and habit.

Why is there no article before ελληνικά? Why not τα ελληνικά?

In Greek, when you say you speak a language, you normally omit the article:

Μιλάω ελληνικά. = I speak Greek.
Μιλάει αγγλικά και γαλλικά. = He/She speaks English and French.

Using the article τα (τα ελληνικά) is possible but feels different. It can sound more like:

talking about the Greek language as an object / school subject
(Τα ελληνικά είναι δύσκολη γλώσσα. = “Greek is a difficult language.”)
or slightly more emphatic or specific.

In this sentence, μιλάω ελληνικά is the normal, natural way to say “speak Greek.”

Can the word order change? For example: Θέλω να μιλάω κάθε μέρα ελληνικά?

Yes. Greek word order is quite flexible. All of these are grammatically correct:

Θέλω να μιλάω ελληνικά κάθε μέρα… (neutral, very natural)
Θέλω να μιλάω κάθε μέρα ελληνικά…
Ελληνικά θέλω να μιλάω κάθε μέρα… (emphasis on Greek specifically)
Κάθε μέρα θέλω να μιλάω ελληνικά… (emphasis on every day)

Moving words around usually changes the emphasis, not the basic meaning.
The original order is a good default, especially for learners.

What exactly does έστω κι αν mean? How is it different from just αν?

έστω κι αν is a stronger, more emphatic way to say “even if” / “even though”.

αν on its own is “if”:
Θα μιλήσω ελληνικά, αν δεν είμαι κουρασμένος. = “I’ll speak Greek if I’m not tired.”
έστω κι αν adds the idea: “even if that (negative) condition is true, I’ll still do it.”
Θέλω να μιλάω ελληνικά κάθε μέρα, έστω κι αν είμαι κουρασμένος.
= “I want to speak Greek every day, even if I’m tired.”

Near-equivalents:

ακόμα κι αν είμαι κουρασμένος
έστω και αν είμαι κουρασμένος

All mean roughly “even if I’m tired,” with έστω κι αν sounding a bit more “formal-emphatic” than ακόμα κι αν in everyday speech.

Why is it κι αν and not και αν?

κι is just a shortened form of και (“and”), used before vowels to make pronunciation smoother:

και αν → κι αν
και εγώ → κι εγώ
και έτσι → κι έτσι

So:

έστω και αν → often becomes έστω κι αν in normal speech and writing.

Both και αν and κι αν are correct; κι αν is simply the more natural spoken form.

What does κουρασμένος tell us about gender? What if the speaker is a woman?

κουρασμένος is an adjective meaning “tired.” In Greek, adjectives must agree in gender and number with the noun or pronoun they describe.

Here the subject is (εγώ) είμαι κουρασμένος = “I am tired”:

If the speaker is male → είμαι κουρασμένος
If the speaker is female → είμαι κουρασμένη
If the subject is a group of males / mixed group → είμαστε κουρασμένοι
If the subject is a group of females → είμαστε κουρασμένες

So a woman would say:

Θέλω να μιλάω ελληνικά κάθε μέρα, έστω κι αν είμαι κουρασμένη.

Why do we say είμαι κουρασμένος and not something like έχω κουραστεί?

Both exist, but they’re used differently:

είμαι κουρασμένος = “I am tired”
Focus on your current state or condition.
έχω κουραστεί = literally “I have become tired / I have gotten tired”
Focus more on the process that led to that state (like English “I’ve gotten tired / I’ve tired myself out”).

In everyday speech, to mean simply “I’m tired,” είμαι κουρασμένος is much more common and neutral.
The sentence is talking about a general situation (“even if I’m (feeling) tired”), so είμαι κουρασμένος is the natural choice.

Why is there a comma before έστω κι αν?

The comma separates the main clause from the concessive clause (“even if…”):

Main clause: Θέλω να μιλάω ελληνικά κάθε μέρα
Concessive clause: έστω κι αν είμαι κουρασμένος

This is similar to English:

“I want to speak Greek every day, even if I’m tired.”

You could also reverse the order (and you would still keep a comma in Greek):

Έστω κι αν είμαι κουρασμένος, θέλω να μιλάω ελληνικά κάθε μέρα.
= “Even if I’m tired, I want to speak Greek every day.”

Could I say κάθε ημέρα or καθημερινά instead of κάθε μέρα?

Yes, with small differences in style:

κάθε μέρα – very common, everyday speech: “every day.”
κάθε ημέρα – slightly more formal; ημέρα is the more formal / written word for “day.”
καθημερινά – adverb meaning “daily / on a daily basis.”

All fit:

Θέλω να μιλάω ελληνικά κάθε μέρα… (most natural in speech)
Θέλω να μιλάω ελληνικά κάθε ημέρα… (a bit more formal)
Θέλω να μιλάω ελληνικά καθημερινά… (focus on the action as a daily routine)

The meaning is essentially the same; choose based on how formal you want to sound.

Is the tense of θέλω and είμαι really present, even though we’re talking about a general habit?

Yes. In Greek, the present tense is used both for:

Right now actions, and
General, habitual, or permanent situations.

So:

Θέλω να μιλάω ελληνικά κάθε μέρα…
expresses a current, ongoing desire or intention (not just at this exact moment).
είμαι κουρασμένος
here is timeless / generic: “(whenever) I am tired,” not one specific time.

Greek doesn’t need a special tense for “I usually want / I generally am”; the simple present covers that meaning, especially when combined with expressions like κάθε μέρα.