Από το πρωί έχω βήχα και φτερνίζομαι συνέχεια.

Since the morning I have a cough and I keep sneezing.

Breakdown of Από το πρωί έχω βήχα και φτερνίζομαι συνέχεια.

• και: and
• έχω: to have
• το πρωί: the morning
• από: since

Questions & Answers about Από το πρωί έχω βήχα και φτερνίζομαι συνέχεια.

What does Από το πρωί mean exactly?

It means since this morning / since the morning.
Literally, από means from, so Greek uses from the morning where English usually says since this morning.

This phrase gives the starting point in time for what follows: the coughing and sneezing began in the morning and are still happening.

Why is there a το in Από το πρωί?

Because Greek normally uses the definite article much more often than English does.

So where English might say since morning, Greek idiomatically says από το πρωί.
Here, πρωί is a neuter noun, so the article is το.

Also, after από, Greek uses the accusative case, and for this noun the accusative singular looks the same as the nominative: το πρωί.

Why are the verbs in the present tense if the action started earlier?

Because Greek often uses the present tense for something that started in the past and is still continuing now.

So with a phrase like Από το πρωί, Greek says:

• έχω
• φτερνίζομαι

even though in English you would often use something like I’ve had or I’ve been sneezing.

This is a very common difference between Greek and English:

• Greek: present tense
• English: often present perfect or present perfect continuous