Όταν είμαι κουρασμένος, ακουμπάω το κεφάλι μου στο μαξιλάρι και αναστενάζω.

Κουρασμένος is an adjective meaning tired, and it has to agree with the person speaking.

In this sentence, the speaker is implicitly:

• 1st person singular because of είμαι = I am
• masculine because of κουρασμένος

So:

• I am tired said by a man: είμαι κουρασμένος
• I am tired said by a woman: είμαι κουρασμένη

The adjective is in the nominative singular, because it goes with the subject of είμαι.

Greek often leaves out subject pronouns when they are already clear from the verb ending.

Here:

• είμαι already means I am
• ακουμπάω already means I rest / I place
• αναστενάζω already means I sigh

So εγώ is unnecessary unless you want emphasis, contrast, or clarification.

For example:

• Όταν είμαι κουρασμένος... = When I’m tired...
• Όταν εγώ είμαι κουρασμένος... would sound more emphatic, like When I’m tired... as opposed to someone else.

Όταν means when.

It introduces a time clause:

• Όταν είμαι κουρασμένος = When I am tired

In this sentence, it gives a general/habitual meaning:

• Whenever/when I’m tired, I do this

So although the English translation may simply say when, the idea is often closer to whenever in context.

Greek commonly uses the present tense to describe things that happen generally, habitually, or whenever a situation occurs.

So:

• Όταν είμαι κουρασμένος, ... literally = When I am tired, ...
• In natural English, that can also mean Whenever I’m tired, ...

This is not necessarily about one specific moment. It describes a repeated or usual action:

• when I’m tired, I rest my head on the pillow and sigh

Ακουμπάω means something like:

• to touch
• to lean
• to rest
• to place lightly against/on

In this sentence, ακουμπάω το κεφάλι μου στο μαξιλάρι means:

• I rest my head on the pillow
• or I lay my head on the pillow

It is more natural here than a basic verb like βάζω (put), because ακουμπάω suggests gentle contact or resting something on a surface.

Both are used.

You may see:

• ακουμπάω
• ακουμπώ

Both mean the same thing. The -άω and -ώ variation is very common in Modern Greek verbs.

For example:

• αγαπάω / αγαπώ
• ρωτάω / ρωτώ
• ακουμπάω / ακουμπώ

In everyday speech, ακουμπάω is very common and sounds natural.

Το κεφάλι μου means my head.

Greek usually forms possession like this:

• the noun + unstressed possessive pronoun

So:

• το κεφάλι μου = my head
• το σπίτι μου = my house
• η αδερφή μου = my sister

This is the normal word order.

With body parts, Greek often uses this structure where English also uses a possessive:

• I rest my head → ακουμπάω το κεφάλι μου

It is in the accusative case, because it is the direct object of ακουμπάω.

Breakdown:

• ακουμπάω = I rest / place
• what do I rest? → το κεφάλι μου

So το κεφάλι μου is the thing being acted on, which makes it the direct object.

In this sentence, κεφάλι looks the same in nominative and accusative:

• nominative: το κεφάλι
• accusative: το κεφάλι

That is very common with many neuter nouns.

Στο is a contraction of:

• σε + το → στο

So:

• στο μαξιλάρι literally = on/to the pillow

In Modern Greek, σε + accusative is used for several meanings that English expresses with different prepositions like in, at, to, or on, depending on context.

Here:

• ακουμπάω το κεφάλι μου στο μαξιλάρι = I rest my head on the pillow

So στο μαξιλάρι tells you where the head is being rested.

Modern Greek often uses σε + accusative very broadly for location and direction.

So:

• στο μαξιλάρι can mean on the pillow in this context

Greek does have ways to be more explicit, for example:

• πάνω στο μαξιλάρι = on top of the pillow

But in many everyday sentences, just στο μαξιλάρι is enough and sounds natural.

So Greek is often less literal than English about prepositions. The meaning comes from the verb and context.

Αναστενάζω means I sigh.

It is:

• 1st person singular
• present tense

So the ending -ω tells you the subject is I.

This matches the rest of the sentence:

• είμαι = I am
• ακουμπάω = I rest
• αναστενάζω = I sigh

The comma separates the introductory time clause from the main clause.

So the structure is:

• Όταν είμαι κουρασμένος, = subordinate clause
• ακουμπάω το κεφάλι μου στο μαξιλάρι και αναστενάζω. = main clause

This is very similar to English:

• When I’m tired, I rest my head on the pillow and sigh.

Greek punctuation here works much like English.

Because the sentence describes a habitual sequence or a typical reaction.

The idea is:

• When I’m tired, I do these things

So Greek uses the present tense for both actions:

• ακουμπάω
• αναστενάζω

This gives a general meaning, not necessarily a one-time event.

If you were talking about one specific past situation, Greek would use past forms instead.

Not exactly. A woman would normally say:

• Όταν είμαι κουρασμένη, ακουμπάω το κεφάλι μου στο μαξιλάρι και αναστενάζω.

The only change is:

• κουρασμένος → κουρασμένη

Everything else stays the same, because the verbs still mean I am / I rest / I sigh.

Most naturally, it sounds like a general habit or repeated behavior.

So the sense is:

• Whenever I’m tired, I rest my head on the pillow and sigh.

That interpretation comes from:

• Όταν
  • present tense
• the use of present tense in the main clause

Without more context, a Greek speaker will usually understand this as something the person typically does.

The word order is very natural and straightforward:

• Όταν είμαι κουρασμένος = time clause
• ακουμπάω το κεφάλι μου στο μαξιλάρι = main action
• και αναστενάζω = second coordinated action

Greek word order is more flexible than English, but this version is neutral and natural.

A rough structure is:

• When I am tired, [I] rest my head on the pillow and sigh.

Because the verb endings already show the subject, Greek does not need to repeat I.

• Είμαι κουρασμένος = I am tired
• Όταν είμαι κουρασμένος = When I am tired / Whenever I am tired

So όταν turns the statement into a time clause.

By itself, είμαι κουρασμένος is a complete sentence. With όταν, it becomes dependent on the rest of the sentence:

• Όταν είμαι κουρασμένος, ... = When I’m tired, ...

Yes, μαξιλάρι is neuter.

You can tell from:

• the article το
• the noun ending -ι, which is often neuter in Modern Greek

So:

• το μαξιλάρι = the pillow

Other common neuter nouns are:

• το σπίτι = the house
• το παιδί = the child
• το χέρι = the hand / arm

In the sentence:

• στο μαξιλάρι = σε + το μαξιλάρι

Yes. Αναστενάζω literally means I sigh, but like English sigh, it can suggest emotion such as:

• tiredness
• sadness
• frustration
• relief

In this sentence, because the person is tired and resting their head on the pillow, it strongly suggests a weary or exhausted sigh.