Η φίλη μου έφτιαξε κέικ με λεμόνι, και όλο το σπίτι μύριζε πολύ ωραία.

In Greek, unstressed possessive words like μου (my), σου (your), του/της (his/her/its) usually come after the noun.

So:

• η φίλη = the friend / the female friend
• η φίλη μου = my friend

This is the normal Greek pattern:

• το σπίτι μου = my house
• η αδερφή της = her sister

Also, φίλη is specifically female friend. A male friend would be φίλος.

Greek normally uses the definite article much more often than English does. So η φίλη μου literally looks like the friend my, but it simply means my friend.

This is completely natural in Greek:

• ο πατέρας μου = my father
• η μητέρα μου = my mother
• το αυτοκίνητό μου = my car

So the article is not extra emphasis here; it is just standard Greek grammar.

Yes. Έφτιαξε is the past tense of φτιάχνω, which often means:

• make
• prepare
• fix
• create

In this sentence, Η φίλη μου έφτιαξε κέικ με λεμόνι means My friend made a lemon cake or My friend baked a lemon cake.

Grammatically:

• φτιάχνω = I make
• έφτιαξα = I made
• έφτιαξε = he/she/it made

So έφτιαξε is 3rd person singular past.

Κέικ is a loanword, borrowed from English cake. Greek uses it very commonly.

A few useful things to notice:

• It is usually treated as neuter: το κέικ
• In this sentence there is no article because it is indefinite: made cake / a cake
• Many everyday Greek words are loanwords, especially for food, technology, and modern life

So:

• έφτιαξε κέικ = she made a cake
• έφτιαξε το κέικ = she made the cake

It literally means with lemon, but in natural English we would often translate it as:

• lemon cake
• cake with lemon
• lemon-flavored cake

Greek often uses με + noun to describe an ingredient or flavor:

• τσάι με λεμόνι = tea with lemon
• γιαούρτι με μέλι = yogurt with honey
• μπισκότα με σοκολάτα = chocolate biscuits/cookies or biscuits with chocolate

So here με λεμόνι tells you what kind of cake it was.

Όλο το σπίτι means the whole house or the entire house.

Breakdown:

• όλο = whole / entire
• το σπίτι = the house

The adjective όλος, όλη, όλο agrees with the noun:

• όλος ο κόσμος = the whole world / everyone
• όλη η μέρα = the whole day
• όλο το σπίτι = the whole house

So this phrase emphasizes that the smell filled the entire house, not just one room.

This is a very common question because it is about the difference between the imperfect and the aorist in Greek.

• μύριζε = was smelling / smelled in an ongoing background sense
• μύρισε = smelled as a single event, often more sudden or completed

Here, μύριζε πολύ ωραία suggests an ongoing situation: the house was filled with a lovely smell for some time.

So the sentence paints a scene:

• First, she made a lemon cake
• Then, as a result, the whole house was smelling wonderful

That is why the imperfect μύριζε fits very well.

Both can work, depending on the style of English translation.

In Greek, μυρίζω can mean:

• to smell in the sense of give off a smell
• sometimes to smell of something

So το σπίτι μύριζε πολύ ωραία can be translated as:

• the whole house smelled wonderful
• the whole house was smelling really nice

In natural English, smelled wonderful is usually the best choice. It sounds more idiomatic than was smelling.

Here ωραία is being used adverbially, meaning nicely / wonderfully / beautifully.

So:

• πολύ ωραία = very nicely / very pleasantly / wonderfully

This is common in Modern Greek. The neuter plural/adverb-like form of an adjective is often used as an adverb:

• μιλάει ωραία = he/she speaks nicely
• τραγουδάει ωραία = he/she sings beautifully
• μυρίζει ωραία = it smells nice

If you said ωραίο, that would usually be an adjective agreeing with a neuter singular noun, not the adverbial form needed here.

Και means and.

It links the two parts of the sentence:

1. Η φίλη μου έφτιαξε κέικ με λεμόνι
2. όλο το σπίτι μύριζε πολύ ωραία

So the structure is:

• My friend made a lemon cake, and the whole house smelled wonderful.

It is a very basic and very common connector in Greek.

The comma helps separate two full clauses:

• Η φίλη μου έφτιαξε κέικ με λεμόνι
• και όλο το σπίτι μύριζε πολύ ωραία

In English, people often do not put a comma before and unless it helps clarity or joins two independent clauses. In Greek punctuation, a comma before και can appear when the writer wants a clear pause between two clauses.

So the comma here is natural and helps readability.

Greek word order is more flexible than English word order, because the endings and articles give a lot of grammatical information.

The sentence as written is natural and neutral:

• Η φίλη μου έφτιαξε κέικ με λεμόνι, και όλο το σπίτι μύριζε πολύ ωραία.

But Greek could move things around for emphasis. For example:

• Κέικ με λεμόνι έφτιαξε η φίλη μου...
  This emphasizes lemon cake.
• Πολύ ωραία μύριζε όλο το σπίτι.
  This emphasizes how nice it smelled.

So yes, the order can change, but the original sentence is the most straightforward version for a learner.

Greek often drops subject pronouns like I, you, he, she, because the verb ending already shows the person.

For example:

• Έφτιαξε κέικ = She/He made a cake

But in this sentence, η φίλη μου and όλο το σπίτι are not just pronouns; they are full noun phrases. Greek can omit them only if they are already obvious from context.

So:

• Έφτιαξε κέικ με λεμόνι could work if everyone already knows who made it.
• Μύριζε πολύ ωραία could work if it is already clear what smelled nice.

The full sentence includes them because it is clearer and more complete.