Το παγούρι είναι σχεδόν άδειο, γι’ αυτό το γεμίζω πριν φύγουμε από το σπίτι.

Παγούρι usually means a water bottle, canteen, or flask—a container you carry with you for drinking water.

It is not exactly the same as μπουκάλι:

• μπουκάλι = bottle in general
• παγούρι = a reusable drinking bottle, often for carrying around

So in this sentence, το παγούρι is specifically the water bottle.

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

So:

• το παγούρι = the water bottle
• παγούρι = a water bottle or just water bottle in a more general sense

In this sentence, we are talking about a specific bottle that the speaker and listener know about, so το παγούρι is natural.

Also, παγούρι is neuter, so the article is το.

The adjective has to agree with the noun in gender, number, and case.

Here:

• το παγούρι = neuter singular
• so the adjective must also be neuter singular: άδειο

Compare:

• ο σάκος είναι άδειος = the bag is empty
• η τσάντα είναι άδεια = the bag is empty
• το παγούρι είναι άδειο = the water bottle is empty

So άδειο matches παγούρι.

Σχεδόν means almost.

So:

• άδειο = empty
• σχεδόν άδειο = almost empty

It works very much like English almost.

γι’ αυτό is a shortened form of για αυτό.

The apostrophe shows that a vowel has been dropped in pronunciation/spelling. This is very common in everyday Greek.

In this phrase, γι’ αυτό means:

• therefore
• that’s why
• for that reason

So the sentence structure is:

• Το παγούρι είναι σχεδόν άδειο
• γι’ αυτό το γεμίζω
• The water bottle is almost empty, so/that’s why I fill it

That το is not the article here. It is a weak object pronoun, meaning it.

So:

• γεμίζω = I fill
• το γεμίζω = I fill it

It refers back to το παγούρι.

This is very common in Greek: object pronouns usually come before the verb.

Compare:

• Βλέπω το παγούρι. = I see the water bottle.
• Το βλέπω. = I see it.

Same pattern here:

• Γεμίζω το παγούρι. = I fill the water bottle.
• Το γεμίζω. = I fill it.

Yes, absolutely.

Both are possible:

• γι’ αυτό το γεμίζω = so I fill it
• γι’ αυτό γεμίζω το παγούρι = so I fill the water bottle

Using το γεμίζω sounds natural because the bottle has already been mentioned, so Greek prefers the pronoun it rather than repeating the noun.

After πριν when it means before, Greek normally uses the subjunctive-type form, which here is φύγουμε.

So:

• φεύγουμε = we are leaving / we leave
• να φύγουμε = that we leave / for us to leave
• πριν φύγουμε = before we leave

Even though να is not written after πριν, the verb is still in the form associated with the subjunctive.

This is a very important pattern:

• πριν φύγω = before I leave
• πριν φύγεις = before you leave
• πριν φύγουμε = before we leave

Φύγουμε is the form used in the subjunctive environment of the verb φεύγω.

It comes from the aorist stem:

• present: φεύγω = I leave / I am leaving
• aorist subjunctive form: να φύγω, να φύγεις, να φύγουμε, etc.

In this sentence, πριν φύγουμε means before we leave.

Greek often uses the aorist subjunctive after words like πριν when talking about a single completed event, just as English says before we leave.

This is one of those common Greek verbs where the present stem and aorist stem are different.

For φεύγω:

• present stem: φευγ-
• aorist stem: φυγ-

So you get:

• φεύγω = I leave
• έφυγα = I left
• να φύγω = to leave / that I leave
• πριν φύγουμε = before we leave

This kind of stem change is normal in Greek and has to be learned as part of the verb.

από means from.

So:

• από το σπίτι = from the house / from home

Because σπίτι is neuter singular, the article is το.

In English we often say just from home, but Greek commonly says από το σπίτι when meaning leaving the house/home physically.

It can mean either house or home, depending on context.

In this sentence, πριν φύγουμε από το σπίτι most naturally means:

• before we leave the house
• or simply before we leave home

Greek σπίτι is broader than either single English word.

Greek present tense here works naturally for a current or immediate action:

• το γεμίζω = I’m filling it / I fill it

English might translate this as either:

• I fill it
• I’m filling it

The Greek present can cover both a simple present and a present continuous meaning, depending on context.

So the speaker means something like: the bottle is almost empty, so I fill/am filling it before we leave.

It breaks down like this:

• Το παγούρι = the water bottle
• είναι = is
• σχεδόν άδειο = almost empty

Then:

• γι’ αυτό = so / that’s why / for that reason
• το = it
• γεμίζω = I fill

Then:

• πριν φύγουμε = before we leave
• από το σπίτι = from the house / home

So literally:

The water bottle is almost empty, for that reason I fill it before we leave the house.

Natural English:

The water bottle is almost empty, so I fill it before we leave home.

A rough pronunciation guide is:

To pa-GHOO-ree EE-ne sche-DHON AH-thee-o, yi AF-to to ye-MEE-zo preen FEE-ghoo-me a-PO to SPEE-tee.

A few useful notes:

• γ before ε or ι often sounds like a soft y-like sound
• γγ, γκ, γχ can behave differently, but not in this sentence
• χ in σχεδόν is like a soft throaty sound, not like English ch
• ου sounds like oo
• ει, οι, η, ι, υ all usually sound like ee

A lot of useful Greek appears here:

1. Article + noun

   • το παγούρι

2. Adjective agreement

   • άδειο matches neuter singular παγούρι

3. Cause/result connector

   • γι’ αυτό = so / that’s why

4. Object pronoun before the verb

   • το γεμίζω = I fill it

5. Subjunctive-type form after πριν

   • πριν φύγουμε = before we leave

6. Common preposition

   • από = from

So this is a very useful sentence for seeing several core Greek patterns at once.