Η πεθερά μου λέει ότι ο γιος της ήταν πολύ ζωηρός μικρός, αλλά τώρα είναι πιο ήρεμος.

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Breakdown of Η πεθερά μου λέει ότι ο γιος της ήταν πολύ ζωηρός μικρός, αλλά τώρα είναι πιο ήρεμος.

• τώρα: now
• πολύ: very
• μου: my

Questions & Answers about Η πεθερά μου λέει ότι ο γιος της ήταν πολύ ζωηρός μικρός, αλλά τώρα είναι πιο ήρεμος.

What exactly does πεθερά mean?

Πεθερά means mother-in-law. In this sentence, η πεθερά μου means my mother-in-law.

A useful related word pair:

• πεθερά = mother-in-law
• πεθερός = father-in-law

Why is it η πεθερά μου and not just πεθερά μου?

Greek usually uses the definite article with nouns much more often than English does. So η πεθερά μου is the normal way to say my mother-in-law.

Literally, it looks like:

• η = the
• πεθερά = mother-in-law
• μου = my

Even with possessives like my, Greek often keeps the article:

• η μητέρα μου = my mother
• ο αδερφός μου = my brother

Why does μου come after the noun?

In Greek, short possessive words like μου (my), σου (your), της (her) usually come after the noun.

So:

• η πεθερά μου = my mother-in-law
• ο φίλος μου = my friend
• το σπίτι μου = my house

This is completely normal Greek word order.

What is ότι doing in the sentence?