Πήγα να ξεχάσω το ραντεβού μου, αλλά με ειδοποίησε έγκαιρα το κινητό.

Yes, πήγα literally means I went, but πήγα να + verb is also a common idiomatic pattern in Greek.

In this pattern, it often means:

• I almost...
• I was about to...
• I came close to...

So Πήγα να ξεχάσω το ραντεβού μου is not understood as I went to forget my appointment, but as:

• I almost forgot my appointment

This is especially common with actions that nearly happened, often unexpectedly or undesirably.

For example:

• Πήγα να πέσω. = I almost fell.
• Πήγα να γελάσω. = I almost laughed.

Because after να, Greek does not use the normal past indicative form like ξέχασα.

Instead, it uses a subjunctive/non-indicative form. In this sentence, ξεχάσω is the form used after να.

So:

• ξέχασα = I forgot
• να ξεχάσω = to forget / that I forget in a να-construction

Here, ξεχάσω is based on the aorist/perfective stem, which fits well because forgetting the appointment is seen as a single whole event.

So:

• Πήγα να ξέχασα ❌
• Πήγα να ξεχάσω ✅

Because ειδοποιώ takes a direct object in Greek.

You notify someone, so the person being notified is the direct object:

• ειδοποιώ κάποιον = I notify someone

That is why Greek uses the accusative clitic με = me:

• με ειδοποίησε = it notified me

If you used μου, that would mean to me, which does not fit this verb in standard usage here.

So:

• με ειδοποίησε = notified me ✅
• μου ειδοποίησε ❌

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

The clause:

• με ειδοποίησε έγκαιρα το κινητό

literally looks like:

• me notified in time the mobile phone

But this is perfectly normal in Greek.

The subject το κινητό comes at the end because Greek often places information there for focus or because the subject is being revealed after the action. The object clitic με naturally comes before the verb.

A more English-like order would also be possible:

• Το κινητό με ειδοποίησε έγκαιρα.

But the original version sounds natural and idiomatic too.

Not exactly.

έγκαιρα means:

• in time
• in good time
• promptly
• before it was too late

So in this sentence, it means the phone alerted the speaker early enough to prevent the problem.

By contrast, νωρίς means:

• early

That is more about time on the clock, not necessarily about preventing something.

So:

• έγκαιρα = in time
• νωρίς = early

In this sentence, έγκαιρα is the better choice because the idea is: the phone warned me before I actually forgot.

There are two useful things to notice here.

1. ραντεβού is neuter
That is why it takes το:

• το ραντεβού = the appointment

2. ραντεβού is basically indeclinable
Its form usually stays the same, so the noun itself does not visibly change here.

That means:

• nominative: το ραντεβού
• accusative: το ραντεβού

In this sentence, it is the direct object of ξεχάσω, so it is accusative, but it looks the same as the nominative because it is a neuter noun of this type.

And μου after the noun means:

• my

So:

• το ραντεβού μου = my appointment

Literally, the sentence says το κινητό = the mobile phone.

However, in context, it is very natural to understand that this means the speaker’s phone, so English may translate it as my phone even though μου is not explicitly stated.

Greek can leave possession unstated when it is obvious from context.

If you want to make it fully explicit, you certainly can say:

• ...αλλά με ειδοποίησε έγκαιρα το κινητό μου.

That would clearly mean:

• ...but my phone alerted me in time.

So the original is natural, and the more explicit version is natural too.

Literally, ειδοποίησε means:

• notified
• alerted
• informed

With a phone, this is a very natural verb, because phones send alerts and notifications.

In natural English, though, depending on the situation, you might translate it as:

• my phone alerted me in time
• my phone notified me in time
• my phone reminded me in time

The closest Greek verb to reminded is more directly:

• θύμισε

So:

• ειδοποίησε = more like alerted/notified
• θύμισε = more like reminded

In this sentence, ειδοποίησε suggests the phone gave some kind of timely alert or notification.

No. It is natural, but not the only way.

Other common ways include:

• Παραλίγο να ξεχάσω το ραντεβού μου.
• Κόντεψα να ξεχάσω το ραντεβού μου.

All of these can mean roughly:

• I almost forgot my appointment.

Very roughly:

• πήγα να... = colloquial, vivid, often I almost / I was about to
• παραλίγο να... = almost
• κόντεψα να... = I came close to / almost

So the sentence uses one natural Greek way to express that idea, not the only one.