Κοιμάμαι μόλις βάζω το κεφάλι μου στο μαξιλάρι.
I fall asleep as soon as I put my head on the pillow.
Questions & Answers about Κοιμάμαι μόλις βάζω το κεφάλι μου στο μαξιλάρι.
What does μόλις mean here?
Here μόλις means as soon as.
That is one of its very common meanings when it introduces a clause:
- Μόλις έρθει, θα φύγουμε. = As soon as he comes, we’ll leave.
- Μόλις βάζω το κεφάλι μου στο μαξιλάρι... = As soon as I put my head on the pillow...
Be careful: μόλις can also mean just in other contexts:
- Μόλις έφτασα. = I just arrived.
So the exact meaning depends on the sentence.
Why are both verbs in the present tense?
Because the sentence describes a habitual / repeated situation, not one single event.
Greek often uses the present tense for things that happen regularly:
- Κοιμάμαι μόλις βάζω... = I fall asleep / I go to sleep as soon as I put...
- In natural English, we also do something similar: I fall asleep as soon as I put my head on the pillow.
So this is not really about right now. It means this is what usually happens to me.
Why is κοιμάμαι in a -μαι form if it doesn’t mean passive?