Όταν βρέχομαι και κάνει πολύ κρύο, παθαίνω εύκολα συνάχι.

When I get wet and it is very cold, I catch a cold easily.

Breakdown of Όταν βρέχομαι και κάνει πολύ κρύο, παθαίνω εύκολα συνάχι.

• και: and
• πολύ: very
• όταν: when
• εύκολα: easily

Questions & Answers about Όταν βρέχομαι και κάνει πολύ κρύο, παθαίνω εύκολα συνάχι.

Why is βρέχομαι used here? Doesn’t that look like a passive form?

Yes, βρέχομαι is formally a mediopassive verb form, but in Modern Greek it often has an active-like meaning: I get wet.

So:

• βρέχω = I wet something
• βρέχομαι = I get wet / I am getting wet

In this sentence, Όταν βρέχομαι means When I get wet.

This is very common in Greek: some mediopassive forms are not best translated with an English passive, but with a natural English intransitive expression.

Why does Greek say κάνει πολύ κρύο instead of something like είναι πολύ κρύο?

Κάνει κρύο is the standard Greek way to say it is cold in the sense of the weather is cold.

Literally, κάνει means it makes / it does, but as a weather expression it simply means:

• κάνει κρύο = it is cold
• κάνει ζέστη = it is hot
• κάνει καλό καιρό = the weather is good

You can sometimes use είναι κρύο, but that usually describes something as being cold:

• Το νερό είναι κρύο = The water is cold
• Έξω κάνει κρύο = It is cold outside

So in this sentence, κάνει πολύ κρύο is exactly the natural weather expression.

Why is όταν followed by the present tense here?