Άφησα το δίπλωμά μου στο άλλο μπουφάν και έπρεπε να γυρίσω σπίτι.

I left my driver’s license in the other jacket and had to go back home.

Breakdown of Άφησα το δίπλωμά μου στο άλλο μπουφάν και έπρεπε να γυρίσω σπίτι.

• και: and
• το σπίτι: the home
• να: to
• μου: my

Questions & Answers about Άφησα το δίπλωμά μου στο άλλο μπουφάν και έπρεπε να γυρίσω σπίτι.

Why is Άφησα used here?

Άφησα is the aorist form of αφήνω. In this sentence, it presents the action as a single completed event in the past: I left / I forgot behind.

A native English speaker will often notice that Greek chooses aspect very clearly here:

• Άφησα = one whole event
• άφηνα = I was leaving / used to leave / kept leaving

So Άφησα το δίπλωμά μου... means that at some point, the speaker realized they had left it in the other jacket.

Why is it το δίπλωμά μου and not το μου δίπλωμα?

In Greek, the unstressed possessive words μου, σου, του, της usually come after the noun, not before it.

So:

• το δίπλωμά μου = my license
• not το μου δίπλωμα

This is a very common Greek pattern:

• το σπίτι μου = my house
• η τσάντα σου = your bag
• ο φίλος της = her friend

So the Greek order is closer to the license my in structure, even though the natural English translation is my license.

Why does δίπλωμά have an extra accent in το δίπλωμά μου?