Κρατάω δυνατά το χέρι της κόρης μου όταν περνάμε τον δρόμο.

Κρατάω means I hold / I am holding here. It is the 1st person singular present tense of κρατάω (also commonly seen as κρατώ).

So:

• κρατάω = I hold
• κρατάς = you hold
• κρατάει / κρατά = he/she/it holds

In everyday Modern Greek, κρατάω is very common and natural.

Usually, not a big difference in meaning. They are two common forms of the same verb.

• κρατάω is very common in everyday speech.
• κρατώ can sound a bit shorter, sometimes slightly more formal or literary depending on context, but it is also perfectly normal Greek.

A learner should recognize both as meaning hold / keep.

Yes, δυνατά can mean both loudly and strongly/firmly, depending on context.

Here it goes with κρατάω, so it means:

• firmly
• tightly

So Κρατάω δυνατά = I hold tightly / I hold firmly

You might also hear:

• μιλάω δυνατά = I speak loudly
• κρατάω δυνατά = I hold tightly

The context tells you which meaning is intended.

Because it describes how the action is done, not a noun.

• κρατάω = verb
• δυνατά = tells us how I hold

So it works like an adverb in English:

• I hold tightly
• I speak loudly

If it were an adjective, it would describe a noun, like a strong hand. But here it describes the action of holding.

Because the sentence means I hold my daughter’s hand, meaning one hand. Greek, like English, normally uses the singular if only one hand is meant.

• το χέρι = the hand
• τα χέρια = the hands

So:

• Κρατάω το χέρι της κόρης μου = I hold my daughter’s hand
• Κρατάω τα χέρια της κόρης μου = I hold my daughter’s hands

The singular is completely natural here.

Because after το χέρι, Greek uses the genitive to show possession.

• η κόρη μου = my daughter
  This is the subject/basic form.
• της κόρης μου = of my daughter / my daughter’s
  This is the genitive form.

So:

• το χέρι της κόρης μου literally = the hand of my daughter
• natural English = my daughter’s hand

This is a very important Greek pattern:

• το βιβλίο του άντρα = the man’s book
• η φίλη της αδερφής μου = my sister’s friend

Because they do different jobs.

• της is the genitive article for κόρης
• μου means my

So:

• της κόρης = of the daughter
• της κόρης μου = of my daughter

Literally, Greek builds it as:

• the hand
• of the daughter
• my

This is normal Greek structure. The μου belongs with κόρης, not with χέρι.

Because weak possessive pronouns like μου, σου, του, της, μας, σας, τους usually come after the noun they belong to.

Examples:

• η μητέρα μου = my mother
• ο φίλος σου = your friend
• το σπίτι τους = their house

So:

• της κόρης μου = of my daughter

That word order is the normal one.

Because the sentence describes a habitual or general situation:

• I hold my daughter’s hand when we cross the street.

This is not about one single future event. It is about what usually happens. Greek often uses the present tense for this kind of repeated action.

So:

• όταν περνάμε τον δρόμο = when we cross the street / whenever we cross the street

If you wanted a future meaning like when we cross the street later / next time, Greek would often use a different structure, such as:

• όταν περάσουμε τον δρόμο

That has a more future-oriented meaning.

Because περνάω / περνώ can take a direct object when it means cross.

So:

• περνάμε τον δρόμο = we cross the street

This is like English cross the street, where the street is the thing being crossed.

Be careful, because Greek also uses περνάω in other ways:

• περνάω από το σπίτι σου = I pass by your house
• περνάω τον δρόμο = I cross the street

So the meaning changes depending on whether there is a direct object or a prepositional phrase.

Because it is the direct object of περνάμε.

The verb περνάμε here means we cross, and the thing being crossed is the street, so Greek puts it in the accusative:

• nominative: ο δρόμος
• accusative: τον δρόμο

This is a very common pattern:

• βλέπω τον φίλο μου = I see my friend
• διαβάζω το βιβλίο = I read the book
• περνάμε τον δρόμο = we cross the street

Greek uses the definite article very regularly, often more consistently than English.

So τον δρόμο is simply the normal way to say the street here. In context, it means the street that is relevant in the situation.

Greek very often wants the article where English might be more flexible.

Because the meaning is:

• I hold my daughter’s hand
• when we cross the street

So the first action belongs to the speaker alone, and the second action is done together by the speaker and the daughter.

Greek does not need to say the subject pronouns explicitly because the verb endings already show them:

• κρατάω = I hold
• περνάμε = we cross

This kind of subject change is very normal in Greek.

Yes. Διασχίζω also means cross, and διασχίζουμε τον δρόμο is grammatically fine.

But there is a difference in style:

• περνάμε τον δρόμο sounds very everyday and natural
• διασχίζουμε τον δρόμο can sound a bit more formal or bookish in many contexts

For ordinary speech, περνάμε τον δρόμο is very common.

In Modern Greek, κόρη can mean daughter, and in some contexts it can also have an older or more literary sense related to maiden / young woman, but in everyday modern usage here it clearly means daughter.

So:

• η κόρη μου = my daughter

That is the normal reading in this sentence.

Yes, it sounds natural and idiomatic.

A Greek speaker would understand it immediately as:

• I hold my daughter’s hand tightly when we cross the street.

It uses very normal everyday vocabulary and structure:

• κρατάω for hold
• δυνατά for firmly/tightly
• της κόρης μου for my daughter’s
• όταν περνάμε τον δρόμο for when we cross the street