Προχτές πέρασα πρώτα από το μανάβικο και μετά από το κρεοπωλείο, γιατί ήθελα να μαγειρέψω στο σπίτι.

Προχτές means the day before yesterday.

It is a very common everyday word in spoken Greek. You may also see προχθές, which is a more formal or standard written variant. In conversation, προχτές is extremely natural.

So:

• χτες / χθες = yesterday
• προχτές / προχθές = the day before yesterday

Yes, πέρασα comes from περνάω / περνώ, which often means pass, go by, or stop by, depending on context.

In this sentence, πέρασα από το μανάβικο and πέρασα από το κρεοπωλείο mean something like:

• I stopped by the greengrocer’s
• I went by the butcher’s

So it is not just passed in the sense of moving past without entering. With από plus a place, περνάω often means go via, drop by, or stop at.

Also, πέρασα is the simple past form, meaning a completed action.

In Greek, the verb ending shows the person.

Here, πέρασα ends in -α, which in this tense tells you it is first person singular: I.

The same is true for ήθελα:

• πέρασα = I went by / I stopped by
• ήθελα = I wanted

Greek often leaves out the subject pronoun εγώ (I) because the verb ending already makes the subject clear.

In this sentence, από means something like by, from, or via, but with περνάω it often gives the idea of stopping by a place.

So:

• πέρασα από το μανάβικο = I stopped by the greengrocer’s
• πέρασα από το κρεοπωλείο = I stopped by the butcher’s

This is a very common Greek pattern:

• περνάω από + place

It does not necessarily mean literal movement from the place. The whole expression means go by / stop by.

Greek often repeats prepositions where English might not.

So:

• πρώτα από το μανάβικο και μετά από το κρεοπωλείο

is completely natural Greek.

You may think of it as:

• first from/by the greengrocer’s
• then from/by the butcher’s

Repeating από makes the structure clearer and sounds normal. Greek does this regularly with coordinated phrases.

• το μανάβικο = the greengrocer’s / fruit and vegetable shop
• το κρεοπωλείο = the butcher’s / butcher shop

Both are neuter nouns, which is why they use το.

A useful detail:

• μανάβης = greengrocer
• μανάβικο = greengrocer’s shop

and

• κρέας = meat
• κρεοπώλης = butcher
• κρεοπωλείο = butcher shop

So these are names of shops, not the people.

This is the normal way to show sequence in Greek:

• πρώτα = first
• μετά = then / afterwards

So:

• πρώτα από το μανάβικο και μετά από το κρεοπωλείο = first to the greengrocer’s and then to the butcher’s

This is a very common pair in Greek for narrating actions in order.

This is a very important Greek pattern.

After ήθελα (I wanted), Greek uses να + a verb form:

• ήθελα να μαγειρέψω = I wanted to cook

Here is how it works:

• ήθελα is the imperfect of θέλω and means I wanted
• να μαγειρέψω is roughly to cook

The form μαγειρέψω is the perfective subjunctive form used after να. In simple terms, it is the normal form Greek uses here to refer to the action as a whole: to cook, to do the cooking, not emphasizing duration.

So learners should remember the pattern:

• θέλω να... = I want to...
• ήθελα να... = I wanted to...

Because in Modern Greek, να is normally used where English uses the infinitive to.

English says:

• I wanted to cook

Greek says:

• ήθελα να μαγειρέψω

Modern Greek does not use an infinitive the way English does. Instead, it typically uses:

• να + verb

So whenever you want to say something like to eat, to go, to cook, after verbs such as want, can, try, and many others, Greek usually uses να.

This is one of the most important tense contrasts in Greek.

• πέρασα is simple past: a completed event
• ήθελα is imperfect: an ongoing mental state, background situation, or repeated/past continuous idea

So the sentence presents:

• πέρασα... = I stopped by these shops as completed actions
• ήθελα να μαγειρέψω... = I wanted to cook, which is the background reason or state of mind

Greek often uses:

• simple past for completed events
• imperfect for background, ongoing states, habits, or intentions

That is exactly what happens here.

Because στο is the contracted form of:

• σε + το = στο

So:

• στο σπίτι = at home / in the house

This contraction is standard and extremely common in Greek.

Similarly:

• σε + τη(ν) = στη(ν)
• σε + τα = στα

So στο σπίτι is the normal form, not a special idiom.

It can mean either, depending on context.

In this sentence, γιατί ήθελα να μαγειρέψω στο σπίτι most naturally means:

• because I wanted to cook at home

That sounds more natural in English than in the house, even though the Greek literally uses in/at the home/house.

Greek often uses σπίτι where English would simply say home.

The given word order is very natural, but Greek word order is more flexible than English.

This version is straightforward and neutral:

• Προχτές πέρασα πρώτα από το μανάβικο και μετά από το κρεοπωλείο, γιατί ήθελα να μαγειρέψω στο σπίτι.

But Greek can move elements around for emphasis. For example, προχτές could appear later in some contexts, though the original sentence is the most natural neutral way to say it.

The main thing to notice is that the time word Προχτές at the beginning is very common in narration. It sets the scene immediately: The day before yesterday...