Είχαμε να δούμε τον γιο τους πολλούς μήνες, και τώρα μιλάει περισσότερο και γελάει συνέχεια.

This is a very common Greek pattern: έχω / είχα να + verb.

In this sentence, είχαμε να δούμε τον γιο τους πολλούς μήνες means we hadn’t seen their son for many months or more literally it had been many months since we had seen their son.

So even though the words look like we had to see, that is not the meaning here. The structure expresses the amount of time since something last happened.

A few similar examples:

• Έχω να τον δω δύο χρόνια. = I haven’t seen him for two years.
• Είχαμε να πάμε εκεί καιρό. = We hadn’t gone there for a long time.

Δούμε is the aorist subjunctive form of βλέπω.

After να, Greek often uses a subjunctive form rather than an infinitive, because Modern Greek does not really use infinitives the way English does.

Here is the basic idea:

• να δούμε = to see / that we see
• δούμε comes from the aorist stem, which treats the action as a single whole event

So είχαμε να δούμε literally has the structure we had to see, but idiomatically it means we had not seen for...

Greek often chooses between aorist and present forms in the subjunctive based on aspect, not time.

• να δούμε focuses on the event as a whole: see
• να βλέπουμε would suggest an ongoing or repeated action: be seeing

In this sentence, the idea is about the last completed occasion of seeing him, so να δούμε is the natural choice.

That is why είχαμε να δούμε means we hadn’t seen, not we hadn’t been seeing.

Είχαμε is the imperfect of έχω, so it places that time-since situation in the past.

Compare:

• Έχουμε να δούμε τον γιο τους πολλούς μήνες. = We haven’t seen their son for many months.
• Είχαμε να δούμε τον γιο τους πολλούς μήνες. = We hadn’t seen their son for many months.

In your sentence, είχαμε fits well because the speaker is describing an earlier period and then contrasts it with και τώρα = and now.

Τον γιο τους is the direct object of δούμε, so it is in the accusative case.

Breakdown:

• ο γιος = the son nominative
• τον γιο = the son accusative
• τους = their

So:

• ο γιος τους = their son as subject
• είδαμε τον γιο τους = we saw their son as object

The article changes because Greek marks case more clearly than English.

Here τους means their, not them.

Greek uses the same form τους in different jobs, so context matters.

In τον γιο τους, it is a possessive clitic, meaning their son.

Compare:

• Τους είδα. = I saw them. → object pronoun
• Ο γιος τους είναι εδώ. = Their son is here. → possessive

So in your sentence, τους belongs with γιο.

Greek often uses the accusative to express duration of time.

So πολλούς μήνες means for many months.

Other examples:

• Δούλεψα δύο ώρες. = I worked for two hours.
• Δεν τον είδα τρεις μέρες. = I didn’t see him for three days.

Here:

• πολλούς agrees with μήνες
• both are masculine plural accusative

So the phrase is functioning like an adverbial expression of duration.

Here περισσότερο means more.

It is being used adverbially with μιλάει:

• μιλάει περισσότερο = he talks more

Greek can also often say πιο πολύ in similar contexts:

• Μιλάει περισσότερο
• Μιλάει πιο πολύ

Both can mean he talks more, though περισσότερο may sound a bit more neutral or formal depending on context.

Here συνέχεια means continually, constantly, or all the time.

So:

• γελάει συνέχεια = he keeps laughing / he laughs all the time

Even though συνέχεια is also a noun meaning continuation or continuity, in everyday speech it is very commonly used adverbially like this.

Examples:

• Μιλάει συνέχεια. = He talks nonstop.
• Βρέχει συνέχεια. = It keeps raining.

Because the speaker is describing the son’s current behavior now.

The sentence has a contrast:

• Είχαμε να δούμε... πολλούς μήνες = a long period before now
• και τώρα μιλάει περισσότερο και γελάει συνέχεια = what he is like now

So the present tense is natural because the speaker is talking about a present situation or a recent observable change.

Yes. In Modern Greek, both forms are common:

• μιλάει / μιλά
• γελάει / γελά

They mean the same thing. The longer forms in -άει are extremely common in speech and writing.

So:

• μιλάει περισσότερο = μιλά περισσότερο
• γελάει συνέχεια = γελά συνέχεια

There is no meaning difference here, just variation in form and style.

Because μιλάει and γελάει are in a new main clause, not part of the earlier να construction.

The sentence is structured like this:

• Είχαμε να δούμε τον γιο τους πολλούς μήνες
• και τώρα μιλάει περισσότερο και γελάει συνέχεια

The first part uses the special expression είχαμε να δούμε. The second part is just a normal statement in the present tense: now he talks more and laughs all the time.

So να only belongs to δούμε, not to the later verbs.

Greek word order is fairly flexible, though some orders sound more natural than others.

This sentence is very natural as written:

• Είχαμε να δούμε τον γιο τους πολλούς μήνες...

But Greek could move the time expression for emphasis, for example:

• Είχαμε πολλούς μήνες να δούμε τον γιο τους.

This version is also very natural and perhaps even especially common.

So yes, word order can shift, but the original sentence is perfectly idiomatic.

Yes, but it would not be exactly the same structure.

• Δεν είχαμε δει τον γιο τους για πολλούς μήνες. = We hadn’t seen their son for many months.
• Είχαμε να δούμε τον γιο τους πολλούς μήνες. = also We hadn’t seen their son for many months.

The first is a straightforward negative past perfect-type idea. The second is a very common Greek idiom emphasizing the length of time since the last time.

Both are correct, but είχαμε να δούμε is especially useful because it is a set pattern Greek speakers use all the time.

You may see both in real Greek.

• τον γιο is the fuller, more traditional form
• το γιο also occurs in everyday language and writing

In careful standard Greek, τον γιο is usually the safer choice for learners.

So in your sentence, τον γιο τους is completely standard and a very good model to follow.