Η μαμά μου βάζει μπρόκολο, κουνουπίδι και λίγη μελιτζάνα στο ταψί όταν θέλει κάτι ελαφρύ.

In Greek, possessive words like μου often come after the noun, so η μαμά μου means my mom.

A few useful points:

• η μαμά = the mom / mom
• μου = my
• together: η μαμά μου = my mom

Greek usually keeps the article here, so where English says my mom, Greek often says literally the mom my.

You may also sometimes hear η δική μου μαμά for extra emphasis, but in a normal sentence η μαμά μου is the standard way.

Greek often leaves out subject pronouns when they are not needed. This is very common.

So:

• βάζει already means she puts
• θέλει already means she wants

Because the verb ending shows the person, Greek does not need to say αυτή every time.

So:

• Η μαμά μου βάζει... = My mom puts...
• not usually Η μαμά μου αυτή βάζει...

Adding αυτή would usually sound emphatic, like she herself.

βάζει is the 3rd person singular present form of βάζω, which means to put.

So:

• βάζω = I put
• βάζεις = you put
• βάζει = he/she/it puts

In this sentence, it matches η μαμά μου, so it means my mom puts.

Because here they are being mentioned as ingredients in a general, indefinite way.

Greek often leaves out the article when listing foods or ingredients, especially after verbs like βάζω:

• βάζει μπρόκολο, κουνουπίδι...
• literally: she puts broccoli, cauliflower...

This is similar to English, where you would also normally say she puts broccoli and cauliflower, not she puts the broccoli and the cauliflower, unless you mean specific ones already known from context.

λίγη means a little / some.

So:

• μελιτζάνα = eggplant / aubergine
• λίγη μελιτζάνα = a little eggplant / some eggplant

The speaker probably adds λίγη because they want to show a small quantity.

Also, μελιτζάνα is feminine, so λίγη has to agree with it:

• masculine: λίγος
• feminine: λίγη
• neuter: λίγο

So λίγη μελιτζάνα is grammatically feminine singular.

Because it agrees with μελιτζάνα, which is a feminine singular noun.

Greek adjectives change form to match the noun’s:

• gender
• number
• case

Here:

• μελιτζάνα = feminine singular
• so the adjective must also be feminine singular: λίγη

If the noun were different, the form would change:

• λίγος χυμός = a little juice / a small amount of juice
• λίγο νερό = a little water
• λίγη μελιτζάνα = a little eggplant

στο is a contraction of σε το.

So:

• σε = in, into, at, on
• το ταψί = the baking tray / pan
• στο ταψί = in the baking tray / into the baking tray

This contraction is extremely common:

• σε + το = στο
• σε + την = στην
• σε + τον = στον

So στο ταψί is just the normal Greek way to say in the tray or into the pan/tray.

ταψί is in the accusative here, because it follows σε with the article.

In Modern Greek, after prepositions like σε, nouns usually appear in the accusative:

• στο ταψί
• στην κουζίνα
• στο σπίτι

For learners, it is often easiest to memorize these as chunks:

• στο ταψί = in the tray
• στο φούρνο = in the oven
• στο πιάτο = on the plate

It can suggest either, depending on context.

Greek σε often covers meanings that in English may become:

• in
• into
• at
• on

With βάζει, English often prefers into because there is movement:

• She puts the vegetables into the tray

But in natural translation, in the tray may also sound fine.

So στο ταψί is flexible, and the exact English preposition depends on how natural you want the sentence to sound.

Because όταν means when, and in a sentence like this it is followed by the indicative, not να.

So:

• όταν θέλει = when she wants
• not όταν να θέλει

Greek uses να mainly with the subjunctive after certain verbs and expressions, for example:

• θέλει να φάει = she wants to eat

But here θέλει is a normal finite verb inside a time clause:

• όταν θέλει κάτι ελαφρύ = when she wants something light

Yes. The subject is still η μαμά μου.

Greek does not repeat the subject if it is clear. So in:

• Η μαμά μου βάζει ... όταν θέλει κάτι ελαφρύ

the understood meaning is:

• My mom puts ... when she wants something light

The person who wants something light is the mom, not someone else.

Because κάτι behaves like a neuter singular idea, so the adjective is also put in the neuter singular form:

• ελαφρύ = light

So:

• κάτι ελαφρύ = something light

This is very common in Greek:

• κάτι καλό = something good
• κάτι μικρό = something small
• κάτι παράξενο = something strange

The adjective after κάτι is normally neuter singular.

Here ελαφρύ means light in the sense of not heavy, not rich, easy to eat.

So κάτι ελαφρύ means:

• something light
• maybe a light meal
• something not too heavy

It does not mean physically light in weight here. The meaning comes from the food context.

Because Greek often uses the singular form of food words when talking about them as ingredients or types of food.

So:

• μπρόκολο
• κουνουπίδι
• μελιτζάνα

can all refer to the ingredient generally, not necessarily to exactly one whole piece.

This is similar to English in some cases:

• We had broccoli
• Add some eggplant

Even though the real quantity might be more than one piece, the noun can still appear in the singular when it means the food item in general.

Yes. Greek word order is more flexible than English word order.

The sentence as written is natural:

• Η μαμά μου βάζει μπρόκολο, κουνουπίδι και λίγη μελιτζάνα στο ταψί όταν θέλει κάτι ελαφρύ.

But other orders are possible depending on emphasis, for example:

• Όταν θέλει κάτι ελαφρύ, η μαμά μου βάζει...
• Στο ταψί η μαμά μου βάζει...

Even though the order can change, the original version is a very normal neutral sentence.

ταψί usually means a baking tray, oven tray, or sometimes pan, depending on context.

There is not always one perfect English equivalent. In cooking contexts, possible translations include:

• baking tray
• roasting pan
• oven dish
• tray

So στο ταψί is something like:

• in the baking tray
• into the pan
• in the oven dish

The best choice depends on what kind of container you imagine.

A simple pronunciation guide is:

i ma-MA mu VA-zi BRO-ko-lo, ku-nu-PI-di ke LI-yi me-li-DZA-na sto ta-PSI O-tan THE-li KA-ti e-la-FRI

A few useful pronunciation notes:

• η sounds like ee
• ου sounds like oo
• αι sounds like e
• ει sounds like ee
• γ before ι in λίγη sounds soft, roughly like the y sound in yes, though not exactly the same
• ψ in ταψί sounds like ps

The accent mark shows which syllable gets the stress:

• μαμά
• βάζει
• κουνουπίδι
• μελιτζάνα
• ταψί
• όταν
• θέλει
• ελαφρύ