Έχοντας πιει μόνο έναν εσπρέσο, η φίλη μου παρήγγειλε μετά κι έναν καπουτσίνο.

Έχοντας πιει means having drunk or after drinking.

It is an adverbial participial phrase:

• έχοντας = a participial form of έχω
• πιει = the dependent perfective form of πίνω

Together, they express an action that happened before the main verb παρήγγειλε. So the timeline is:

1. she drank the espresso
2. then she ordered the cappuccino

This structure is quite close to English having drunk...

Because πιει is the form Greek uses in non-finite or dependent structures like this one.

Compare:

• ήπιε = she drank; a normal finite past-tense verb
• πιει = a dependent form used after things like να, θα, έχω, and in phrases like έχοντας πιει

So:

• ήπιε έναν εσπρέσο = she drank an espresso
• έχοντας πιει έναν εσπρέσο = having drunk an espresso

You cannot say Έχοντας ήπιε.

Yes, normally it does.

In this sentence, the understood subject of Έχοντας πιει is the same as the subject of the main verb, η φίλη μου. So the sentence means that my friend is the one who had drunk the espresso.

This is an important point with this kind of participial phrase: it normally refers to the same subject as the main clause.

In Greek, unstressed possessive words like μου, σου, του, της usually come after the noun.

So:

• η φίλη μου = my friend
• ο αδερφός σου = your brother
• το σπίτι τους = their house

Greek often keeps the article too, so η φίλη μου literally looks like the friend my, but that is the normal Greek pattern.

Because εσπρέσο and καπουτσίνο are commonly treated as masculine nouns in Greek when referring to the drink.

That is why the accusative singular article/number is:

• έναν εσπρέσο
• έναν καπουτσίνο

Even though these words end in -ο, they are loanwords and do not behave like regular neuter nouns here.

Here μόνο modifies έναν εσπρέσο.

So it means:

• only one espresso
• just one espresso

It is limiting the quantity, not the action itself. The idea is that despite having had only one espresso, she then ordered a cappuccino too.

Yes, the order is already clear, but μετά adds an extra sense of sequence: then, afterwards.

So the sentence would still work without it:

• Έχοντας πιει μόνο έναν εσπρέσο, η φίλη μου παρήγγειλε κι έναν καπουτσίνο.

But μετά makes the flow a little more explicit and natural in narration.

κι is a shorter form of και. It is very common, especially before a vowel sound.

So:

• κι έναν καπουτσίνο
• και έναν καπουτσίνο

Both are correct. κι simply sounds smoother here.

Also, in this sentence και/κι has the sense of also / too / as well, not just a plain and.

It is natural and fully correct, but it sounds a little more written or narrative than very casual speech.

In everyday conversation, many speakers might say something like:

• Αφού ήπιε μόνο έναν εσπρέσο, η φίλη μου παρήγγειλε μετά κι έναν καπουτσίνο.
• Είχε πιει μόνο έναν εσπρέσο και μετά παρήγγειλε κι έναν καπουτσίνο.

So the original sentence is good Greek, but slightly more polished in style.

No, Greek word order is fairly flexible.

The original version puts the participial phrase first:

• Έχοντας πιει μόνο έναν εσπρέσο, η φίλη μου παρήγγειλε μετά κι έναν καπουτσίνο.

That gives prominence to the earlier action.

You could also say:

• Η φίλη μου, έχοντας πιει μόνο έναν εσπρέσο, παρήγγειλε μετά κι έναν καπουτσίνο.

The basic meaning stays the same, but the emphasis shifts slightly.

Because Έχοντας πιει μόνο έναν εσπρέσο is an introductory participial phrase.

Greek normally separates that kind of opening clause from the main clause with a comma:

• Έχοντας πιει μόνο έναν εσπρέσο, ...

It works much like English:

• Having drunk only one espresso, my friend then ordered a cappuccino too.

The comma helps show where the background action ends and the main action begins.