Στο ιχθυοπωλείο είχε μια μεγάλη ταμπέλα με τις σημερινές τιμές, αλλά εγώ τελικά δεν αγόρασα τίποτα.

Στο is the contracted form of σε το.

• σε can mean in, at, or to, depending on context.
• το is the neuter singular definite article, the.

So στο ιχθυοπωλείο means at the fish shop or in the fish shop.

Greek very often contracts σε + article:

• σε + το = στο
• σε + τη = στη / στην
• σε + τον = στον

Ιχθυοπωλείο means fish shop or fishmonger’s.

It is a compound word:

• ιχθυο- = fish
• πωλείο = shop, place where things are sold

It is a neuter noun. After στο, it is in the accusative singular, but for many neuter nouns the nominative and accusative look the same, so the form stays ιχθυοπωλείο.

Yes, είχε is the imperfect of έχω, which normally means I/it had.

But in everyday Greek, especially spoken Greek, έχει / είχε is also often used in an impersonal existential way, meaning:

• there is
• there was

So here:

• Στο ιχθυοπωλείο είχε μια μεγάλη ταμπέλα
  = At the fish shop, there was a big sign

This is very natural in colloquial Greek. A more formal or more literal existential verb would be υπήρχε, but είχε is common and idiomatic.

There is no normal personal subject like he, she, or it.

English uses a dummy subject: there was.
Greek does not need that kind of filler subject in the same way.

The sentence simply introduces the existence of something:

• είχε μια μεγάλη ταμπέλα = there was a big sign

So μια μεγάλη ταμπέλα is the thing being introduced, not the grammatical subject in the same way English uses there.

This phrase means a big sign.

Breakdown:

• μια = a / one feminine singular
• μεγάλη = big feminine singular
• ταμπέλα = sign feminine singular

The adjective μεγάλη agrees with ταμπέλα in:

• gender: feminine
• number: singular
• case: nominative here

The order article + adjective + noun is very common in Greek:

• μια μεγάλη ταμπέλα

Literally, it means with the today’s prices, but natural English would be:

• with today’s prices
• showing today’s prices
• listing today’s prices

Here με does not just mean physical accompaniment. It describes what was on the sign or what the sign contained.

So the idea is:

• a big sign with today’s prices on it

Because με takes the accusative case in Modern Greek.

So after με, you get:

• τις = feminine plural accusative the
• σημερινές = feminine plural accusative today’s / current
• τιμές = prices

Notice that the noun τιμές looks the same in nominative and accusative plural, but the article and adjective show the case clearly:

• nominative: οι σημερινές τιμές
• accusative: τις σημερινές τιμές

Yes. Σημερινές comes from σημερινός, meaning today’s, of today, or sometimes more loosely current.

So:

• οι σημερινές τιμές = today’s prices

It agrees with τιμές because both are feminine plural.

Yes, Greek could leave it out.

You could say:

• αλλά τελικά δεν αγόρασα τίποτα

and it would still mean but in the end I didn’t buy anything.

The pronoun εγώ is included for emphasis or contrast. It gives a sense like:

• but I, in the end, didn’t buy anything
• but as for me, I didn’t end up buying anything

This is very common in Greek, since subject pronouns are often omitted unless they are needed for contrast, emphasis, or clarity.

Τελικά means something like:

• in the end
• ultimately
• after all
• as it turned out

In this sentence, τελικά shows the final outcome:

• there was a big sign with the prices,
• but in the end I bought nothing.

So τελικά gives a sense of final result, not just sequence.

Yes, from an English perspective it looks like a double negative, but in Greek this is completely normal. Greek uses negative concord.

So:

• δεν = negates the verb
• τίποτα = anything / nothing, depending on the negative environment

Together:

• δεν αγόρασα τίποτα = I didn’t buy anything or I bought nothing

This is standard Greek grammar. Similar patterns are:

• δεν είδα κανέναν = I didn’t see anyone
• δεν πήγα πουθενά = I didn’t go anywhere

So do not try to avoid this structure just because English usually does.

Αγόρασα is the aorist form of αγοράζω, and here it refers to a single completed event:

• I bought
• or, with the negative, I didn’t buy

The aorist is used because the speaker is talking about the outcome of one specific situation: after being at the fish shop, they ended up buying nothing.

If you used the imperfect, such as αγόραζα, it would suggest something more ongoing, repeated, or habitual, which would not fit as well here.

So:

• δεν αγόρασα τίποτα = I didn’t buy anything
• completed event, whole action viewed as one fact

This is a very common contrast in Greek.

• είχε is imperfect: it gives background information, describing the situation that existed.
• αγόρασα is aorist: it gives the main event or final result.

So the sentence structure is roughly:

• background: At the fish shop, there was a big sign with today’s prices
• main outcome: but I ended up buying nothing

This background-vs-event contrast is one of the most important uses of imperfect and aorist in Greek.

Greek word order is fairly flexible, and the current order is chosen for natural flow and emphasis.

This sentence starts with:

• Στο ιχθυοπωλείο

to set the scene first: At the fish shop...

Then it gives the background:

• είχε μια μεγάλη ταμπέλα με τις σημερινές τιμές

Then the contrast and outcome:

• αλλά εγώ τελικά δεν αγόρασα τίποτα

The order is natural because it moves from:

1. place
2. situation
3. contrast
4. result

Some parts could be moved for emphasis, but the given order is very idiomatic.