Έχω μάθει να μαζεύω τα τουβλάκια πριν κοιμηθεί το παιδί.

to have

Breakdown of Έχω μάθει να μαζεύω τα τουβλάκια πριν κοιμηθεί το παιδί.

• να: to
• πριν: before
• το παιδί: the child

Questions & Answers about Έχω μάθει να μαζεύω τα τουβλάκια πριν κοιμηθεί το παιδί.

What does έχω μάθει mean here? Is it just the same as I learned?

Not exactly.

έχω μάθει literally means I have learned, but in Greek it often describes a resulting state:

• I have learned
• I know how
• I’ve gotten used to
• sometimes even I’ve developed the habit of

So in this sentence, Έχω μάθει να μαζεύω... suggests something like:

• I’ve learned to pick up...
• I’ve gotten into the habit of picking up...

If you said έμαθα, that would focus more on the moment or fact of learning it.
έχω μάθει focuses more on the fact that this knowledge or habit is now part of you.

Why is it να μαζεύω and not να μαζέψω?

This is an aspect choice.

Greek uses two main aspects after να:

• imperfective: μαζεύω
• perfective/aorist: μαζέψω

Here, να μαζεύω is imperfective, so it presents the action as:

• repeated
• habitual
• general
• something done as a routine

So έχω μάθει να μαζεύω τα τουβλάκια means something like:

• I’ve learned to pick up the blocks
• I’ve learned to tidy away the blocks