Δεν φταις εσύ που άργησες· είχε πολλή κίνηση στη λεωφόρο.

φταις comes from the verb φταίω, which means to be at fault, to be to blame, or to be guilty of something.

So Δεν φταις εσύ means It’s not your fault or more literally You are not the one to blame.

The form φταις is 2nd person singular: you are to blame / you are at fault.

A few useful forms:

• φταίω = I am at fault
• φταις = you are at fault
• φταίει = he/she/it is at fault

Greek often leaves subject pronouns out, because the verb ending already shows who the subject is.

So:

• Δεν φταις already means You’re not to blame

Adding εσύ makes it more explicit or emphatic:

• Δεν φταις εσύ = It’s not you who is to blame
• or You are not the one at fault

So εσύ is not necessary for grammar, but it adds emphasis or contrast.

Greek word order is more flexible than English, but not every order sounds natural.

Δεν φταις εσύ is the normal and natural order here. It puts the verb first and then the pronoun for emphasis.

If you say Δεν εσύ φταις, that sounds wrong in standard Greek.

You could also hear:

• Εσύ δεν φταις = You are not to blame
• Δεν φταις εσύ, αλλά... = It’s not you who is to blame, but...

So the chosen order highlights εσύ nicely after the verb.

Here που introduces the reason or the thing someone might be blamed for.

In this sentence:

• Δεν φταις εσύ που άργησες

it means something like:

• You’re not to blame for being late
• It’s not your fault that you were late

So που here is not really where or a simple relative pronoun. It works more like that or for the fact that in English.

This is a common Greek pattern:

• Δεν φταις που... = It’s not your fault that...
• Φταίω εγώ που... = It’s my fault that...

άργησες is the aorist form of αργώ, meaning to be late or to delay.

Here it refers to a completed event in the past:

• άργησες = you were late / you arrived late / you got delayed

Greek uses the aorist because the sentence is talking about one specific occasion of lateness, not a repeated or ongoing situation.

Compare:

• αργείς = you are late / you tend to be late
• άργησες = you were late / you ended up late

So the aorist is exactly what you would expect here.

In everyday Greek, αργώ often corresponds to English to be late.

So άργησες here is best understood as:

• you were late
• you arrived late
• you got delayed

A very literal translation like you delayed is possible in some contexts, but it sounds less natural in English here.

So in this sentence, the natural sense is you were late.

Literally, it means:

• it had a lot of traffic

But in natural English, we usually say:

• there was a lot of traffic

Greek very often uses έχει / είχε in this kind of expression:

• Έχει κόσμο = There are a lot of people
• Είχε φασαρία = There was a lot of noise
• Είχε κίνηση = There was traffic

So even though the verb is literally had, the meaning is often there was / there were.

Because κίνηση is a feminine singular noun, and πολλή has to agree with it.

• η κίνηση = the traffic / movement
• feminine singular adjective form = πολλή

So:

• πολλή κίνηση = a lot of traffic

Compare:

• πολύ νερό = a lot of water (νερό is neuter)
• πολλός κόσμος = a lot of people / a big crowd (κόσμος is masculine)
• πολλή κίνηση = a lot of traffic (κίνηση is feminine)

Also note the accent:

• πολλή = much/many, feminine
• πολύ = much/a lot, often neuter or adverbial

The basic meaning of κίνηση is movement, but in everyday Greek it also commonly means traffic.

So in this sentence:

• είχε πολλή κίνηση

means:

• there was a lot of traffic

This is a very common use. If a Greek speaker says Έχει κίνηση, they usually mean There’s traffic.

στη is a contraction of:

• σε + τη

So:

• σε τη λεωφόρο becomes στη λεωφόρο

This means on the avenue, on the boulevard, or sometimes more naturally on the main road depending on context.

λεωφόρος usually means a large road or avenue.

A few similar contractions:

• στο = σε + το
• στην = σε + την
• στους = σε + τους

So στη λεωφόρο is completely normal standard Greek.

In Greek, the symbol · is called the ano teleia and functions roughly like a semicolon or a strong pause, sometimes similar to a colon in English.

So:

• Δεν φταις εσύ που άργησες· είχε πολλή κίνηση στη λεωφόρο.

means there is a clear pause between the two closely connected statements:

• It’s not your fault you were late; there was a lot of traffic on the avenue.

Also, Greek uses the semicolon ; as a question mark, so punctuation works a bit differently from English.

Yes, υπήρχε πολλή κίνηση is possible and grammatically correct. It also means there was a lot of traffic.

But είχε πολλή κίνηση is very common in everyday speech and sounds more natural in many casual contexts.

So:

• είχε πολλή κίνηση = very common, conversational
• υπήρχε πολλή κίνηση = also correct, sometimes a bit more formal or descriptive

Yes, φταις can look difficult at first.

A rough pronunciation is:

• ftes

More exactly:

• φτ sounds like ft
• αι sounds like e
• ς is s

So φταις sounds roughly like ftes.

The whole beginning:

• Δεν φταις εσύ

is roughly:

• Then ftes e-SY

with the stress on σύ in εσύ.

It is neutral, natural everyday Greek. It is not especially formal, but it is perfectly standard.

You could say it in ordinary conversation without sounding slangy:

• Δεν φταις εσύ που άργησες· είχε πολλή κίνηση στη λεωφόρο.

It sounds like something you would say to reassure someone who arrived late because of traffic.