Η πείνα της μικρής φεύγει μόλις φάει μια τηγανίτα.

Because της μικρής is in the genitive, which is the case Greek commonly uses to show possession.

• η πείνα = the hunger
• της μικρής = of the little girl / of the little one

So Η πείνα της μικρής literally means the hunger of the little girl.

If you said η μικρή, that would be the little girl as a subject, not a possessor.

Not exactly. In this sentence, της is best understood as the feminine genitive singular article, part of the phrase της μικρής.

So:

• της μικρής = of the little girl / of the little one

A native English speaker might want to read της as her, but here it is functioning inside a full genitive noun phrase, not as a separate possessive pronoun on its own.

Yes. Greek often uses an adjective with the article as a noun.

So:

• η μικρή can mean the little girl, the little one, or the young girl
• της μικρής is the genitive form: of the little girl / of the little one

This is very common in Greek. The noun is understood from context.

Because Greek is a pro-drop language: subject pronouns are often omitted when the verb ending or the context makes the subject clear.

Here, φάει is 3rd person singular, and the context tells us that the person eating is the little girl / the little one.

So Greek does not need to say she explicitly.

Because φάει presents the action as complete: the hunger goes away once she has eaten a pancake.

After μόλις in this kind of time clause, Greek usually uses the perfective form, because the main action happens when the eating is completed.

• φάει = completed event, eat / has eaten
• τρώει = ongoing or habitual action, is eating / eats

In this sentence, the idea is not while she is eating, but as soon as she finishes eating one pancake.

Yes. φάει belongs to the verb τρώω (to eat), which is irregular.

This verb has different stems:

• present: τρώω = I eat
• aorist/perfective stem: φαγ- / φα-

That is why forms like έφαγα, να φάω, φάει do not resemble τρώω very much.

So in this sentence, φάει is a perfective form of τρώω.

Because after μόλις meaning as soon as, Greek normally does not use να.

The form φάει here is the same shape you may have seen in subjunctive environments, but after μόλις the conjunction itself is enough.

Compare:

• να φάει = for her to eat / that she eat
• μόλις φάει = as soon as she eats

So the absence of να is completely normal here.

Here μόλις means as soon as.

That is important because μόλις can also mean just / only just in other sentences. But in this sentence, followed by φάει, it introduces a time clause:

• μόλις φάει μια τηγανίτα = as soon as she eats a pancake

So the meaning here is temporal, not just now.

Because the sentence expresses a general or repeated fact, not one single past event.

Greek often uses the present tense for things that happen regularly or typically:

• Η πείνα της μικρής φεύγει μόλις φάει μια τηγανίτα. = this is what usually happens

So φεύγει is not necessarily describing one specific moment right now. It is describing a pattern.

Literally, φεύγει means leaves / goes away.

With something like hunger, Greek naturally uses φεύγει to mean that the feeling disappears:

• η πείνα φεύγει = the hunger goes away

So this is a normal, idiomatic way to express that hunger disappears.

Because τηγανίτα is a feminine singular noun in the accusative, and it is the direct object of φάει.

• μια = feminine singular a/an, one
• τηγανίτα = pancake

So:

• φάει μια τηγανίτα = eat a pancake

You may also see μία spelled with an accent in some contexts, but μια is very common in normal writing.

The sentence has:

1. a main clause
   Η πείνα της μικρής φεύγει
   = The little girl’s hunger goes away

2. a time clause introduced by μόλις
   μόλις φάει μια τηγανίτα
   = as soon as she eats a pancake

So the overall pattern is:

[main clause] + [μόλις + verb clause]

This is a very common Greek structure for as soon as... sentences.