Το μπιφτέκι μου ήταν πολύ νόστιμο, αλλά το σουβλάκι της φίλης μου ήταν πιο ψητό απ’ όσο ήθελε.

Because both μπιφτέκι and σουβλάκι are neuter singular nouns, and Greek normally uses the definite article with specific nouns, even where English might not.

So:

• το μπιφτέκι μου = my burger/patty
• το σουβλάκι της φίλης μου = my friend’s souvlaki

Literally, Greek is closer to the burger my and the souvlaki of my friend.

Here μου means my.

In Greek, weak possessive forms like μου, σου, του, της usually come after the noun:

• το μπιφτέκι μου = my burger
• η φίλη μου = my friend

This is the normal everyday pattern. English puts my before the noun, but Greek usually places μου after it.

In this sentence, της is not the possessive word her. It is the genitive article meaning something like of the.

• η φίλη μου = my friend
• της φίλης μου = of my friend / my friend’s

So:

• το σουβλάκι της φίλης μου = my friend’s souvlaki

A useful way to see it:

• το σουβλάκι της = her souvlaki
• το σουβλάκι της φίλης μου = the souvlaki of my friend

Because της is followed by the noun φίλης, it is functioning as the article here.

Because it is in the genitive case, which Greek uses for possession.

Base form:

• η φίλη = the friend

Genitive form:

• της φίλης = of the friend

Since the sentence means my friend’s souvlaki, Greek expresses that possession with the genitive:

• το σουβλάκι της φίλης μου

English usually uses ’s, but Greek usually changes the noun into the genitive instead.

Because they are adjectives agreeing with neuter singular nouns.

Both nouns here are neuter:

• το μπιφτέκι
• το σουβλάκι

So the adjectives must also be neuter singular:

• νόστιμο
• ψητό

This is adjective agreement. In Greek, adjectives change form to match the noun’s gender, number, and case.

ήταν is the imperfect of είμαι and means was or were, depending on context.

Here it means was:

• Το μπιφτέκι μου ήταν πολύ νόστιμο = My burger was very tasty
• το σουβλάκι της φίλης μου ήταν πιο ψητό... = my friend’s souvlaki was more cooked...

Greek often uses the imperfect for descriptions or states in the past, which fits this sentence well.

πιο means more and is the common way to form a comparative in modern Greek.

So:

• ψητό = grilled / cooked
• πιο ψητό = more cooked / more done

It works like English more + adjective:

• πιο καλό = better / more good
• πιο μεγάλο = bigger / more big
• πιο ψητό = more cooked

This structure means than when you are comparing something to the degree someone wanted, expected, needed, and so on.

So:

• πιο ψητό απ’ όσο ήθελε = more cooked than she wanted

Here:

• απ’ is a shortened form of από
• όσο means as much as / as
• together, απ’ όσο gives the idea of than ...

This is a very common pattern after comparatives:

• πιο ακριβό απ’ όσο περίμενα = more expensive than I expected
• πιο δύσκολο απ’ όσο νόμιζα = more difficult than I thought

απ’ is just the shortened form of από before a following vowel sound.

So:

• από όσο
• απ’ όσο

Both represent the same word, but απ’ όσο sounds more natural and smoother in speech and writing.

ήθελε is the third person singular imperfect of θέλω, so it means he/she wanted.

There is no separate word for she because Greek often leaves out subject pronouns when the subject is already clear from the verb or the context.

Here the understood subject is the friend:

• το σουβλάκι της φίλης μου ήταν πιο ψητό απ’ όσο ήθελε
• literally: my friend’s souvlaki was more cooked than wanted
• naturally: my friend’s souvlaki was more cooked than she wanted

So ήθελε already tells you it is he/she wanted, and the context tells you it is she.

In a sentence like this, ψητό refers to how much the food was cooked.

So πιο ψητό απ’ όσο ήθελε means something like:

• more cooked than she wanted
• more done than she wanted
• too well done for her liking

The basic idea of ψητό is related to grilling/roasting/cooking, but in this context it is really about degree of doneness.

Because πολύ and πιο do different jobs.

• πολύ = very
• πιο = more

So:

• πολύ νόστιμο = very tasty
• πιο ψητό = more cooked

In other words:

• πολύ increases the strength of an adjective
• πιο compares one degree with another

Because αλλά means but, and it connects two contrasting clauses.

The sentence has two main parts:

• Το μπιφτέκι μου ήταν πολύ νόστιμο
• αλλά το σουβλάκι της φίλης μου ήταν πιο ψητό απ’ όσο ήθελε

The comma helps separate those two ideas, just as in English:

• My burger was very tasty, but my friend’s souvlaki was more cooked than she wanted.