Η κόρη μου κοιμάται μόνο όταν βρίσκει την κούκλα της και το μικρό αρκουδάκι δίπλα στο μαξιλάρι.

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Breakdown of Η κόρη μου κοιμάται μόνο όταν βρίσκει την κούκλα της και το μικρό αρκουδάκι δίπλα στο μαξιλάρι.

• μου: my
• κοιμάμαι: to sleep
• όταν: when

Questions & Answers about Η κόρη μου κοιμάται μόνο όταν βρίσκει την κούκλα της και το μικρό αρκουδάκι δίπλα στο μαξιλάρι.

Why is it η κόρη μου?

Η κόρη μου is the subject of the sentence, so κόρη is in the nominative case.

• η = the feminine singular nominative article
• κόρη = daughter
• μου = my

So grammatically:

• η κόρη = the daughter
• η κόρη μου = my daughter

Greek often uses the definite article with family words and possessed nouns, where English does not.

Why does μου come after κόρη instead of before it?

In Modern Greek, weak possessive forms like μου, σου, της, μας usually come after the noun:

• η κόρη μου = my daughter
• το σπίτι μας = our house

Putting the possessive before the noun is not the normal pattern in this kind of sentence. The post-noun position is the standard one.

What is going on with κοιμάται? Why doesn’t it look like an active verb?

Κοιμάται is the 3rd person singular present form of κοιμάμαι, which means to sleep / to be sleeping.

Even though it has a middle/passive-looking ending (-μαι, -ται), it has an active meaning. This is very common in Greek. Some verbs simply use these endings as their normal form.

So:

• κοιμάμαι = I sleep / I am sleeping
• κοιμάται = she sleeps / she is sleeping