Η φίλη μου λέει ότι ο γιος της μοιάζει πολύ στον μπαμπά του.

Greek often uses the definite article with nouns even when English would not. So η φίλη μου literally looks like the friend of me, but it simply means my friend.

Both η φίλη μου and φίλη μου can occur, but with family members, friends, and other familiar people, the article is very common and natural.

• η φίλη μου = my friend
• ο γιος της = her son

So the article is not making it extra definite in English; it is just normal Greek usage.

In Greek, possessive pronouns like μου, σου, του, της, μας, σας, τους usually come after the noun.

So:

• η φίλη μου = my friend
• ο γιος της = her son
• ο μπαμπάς του = his dad

This is one of the most basic word-order differences from English. English says my friend; Greek usually says the friend my.

λέει means she says and ότι means that.

So:

• Η φίλη μου λέει = My friend says
• ότι = that

Together:

• Η φίλη μου λέει ότι... = My friend says that...

In natural English, we often drop that:

• My friend says her son...

But Greek commonly keeps ότι.

Yes. In many cases, ότι and πως can both mean that after verbs like λέω.

So these are both possible:

• Η φίλη μου λέει ότι...
• Η φίλη μου λέει πως...

In this sentence, ότι is completely normal and standard.

Because the verb μοιάζω means to resemble / to look like, and it normally takes σε plus the noun.

So the structure is:

• μοιάζω σε κάποιον = I resemble someone / I look like someone

Here:

• σε + τον μπαμπά becomes στον μπαμπά

So:

• μοιάζει στον μπαμπά του = he looks like his dad

This is not the subject. Ο γιος της is the subject.
στον μπαμπά του is the person he resembles.

στον is a contraction of:

• σε + τον = στον

So:

• στον μπαμπά literally = to the dad
• but with μοιάζω, it means like the dad / to the dad in the sense of resemblance

Other common contractions are:

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

πολύ means a lot / very much here, and it modifies the verb μοιάζει.

So:

• μοιάζει πολύ = he looks a lot like...

Then Greek adds the person he resembles:

• μοιάζει πολύ στον μπαμπά του

This word order is very natural. It emphasizes the degree of resemblance before naming the person.

It means looks very much like or resembles a lot.

With μοιάζω, πολύ strengthens the resemblance:

• μοιάζει στον μπαμπά του = he looks like his dad
• μοιάζει πολύ στον μπαμπά του = he looks a lot like his dad

So πολύ is not describing physical appearance in general; it is describing the strength of the similarity.

της here means her and refers back to η φίλη μου.

So:

• Η φίλη μου = my friend
• ο γιος της = her son

The sentence is saying that my female friend says that her son...

του here means his and refers to ο γιος της.

So:

• ο γιος της = her son
• ο μπαμπάς του = his dad

In other words:

• my friend says that her son looks a lot like his dad

Even though της and του are both short pronouns, context makes the meaning clear.

Because they refer to different people:

• της = her → the friend
• του = his → the son

So the sentence tracks two possessors:

1. ο γιος της = her son
2. ο μπαμπάς του = his dad

This kind of chaining is very common in Greek and can feel compact to English speakers at first.

They are related in meaning, but not identical in tone.

• μπαμπάς = dad / daddy
• πατέρας = father

In this sentence, μπαμπά sounds warm, everyday, and conversational.
If you used πατέρα, the sentence would sound a bit more formal or neutral:

• μοιάζει πολύ στον πατέρα του

Both are correct, but μπαμπά fits natural spoken Greek very well.

Because after στον, the noun is in the accusative case, and μπαμπάς changes form.

Singular forms:

• ο μπαμπάς = nominative
• τον μπαμπά = accusative

Since στον comes from σε + τον, it is followed by the accusative:

• στον μπαμπά

So:

• ο μπαμπάς = the dad as subject
• στον μπαμπά = to/like the dad after μοιάζω σε

μοιάζει is the 3rd person singular form of μοιάζω.

So:

• μοιάζω = I look like / I resemble
• μοιάζεις = you look like
• μοιάζει = he/she/it looks like

Here the subject is:

• ο γιος της = her son

So:

• ο γιος της μοιάζει... = her son looks like...

You could translate it literally that way to see the Greek structure, but it is not natural English.

Natural English would be:

• My friend says that her son looks a lot like his dad.
• My friend says her son resembles his dad a lot.

A more word-for-word breakdown is:

• Η φίλη μου = my friend
• λέει = says
• ότι = that
• ο γιος της = her son
• μοιάζει πολύ = resembles a lot
• στον μπαμπά του = his dad / to his dad after μοιάζω σε

Sometimes in informal speech Greek can omit ότι after verbs like λέω, especially in quick conversation. But λέει ότι is very standard, clear, and common.

So:

• Η φίλη μου λέει ότι... = fully explicit
• Η φίλη μου λέει... = possible in some contexts, but less complete as a learner model

For learning purposes, keeping ότι is a good habit.

Greek word order is more flexible than English, but the version you have is the most neutral and natural.

Standard order:

• Η φίλη μου λέει ότι ο γιος της μοιάζει πολύ στον μπαμπά του.

You might hear variations for emphasis, but beginners should learn this basic structure first:

1. subject
2. verb
3. ότι
4. new subject
5. verb
6. adverb
7. complement

So yes, Greek can move things around more than English, but this sentence is already in a very natural default order.