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

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

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

• πίνω: to drink
• έχω: to have
• η φίλη: the female friend
• μου: my

Questions & Answers about Έχοντας πιει μόνο έναν εσπρέσο, η φίλη μου παρήγγειλε μετά κι έναν καπουτσίνο.

What exactly does Έχοντας πιει mean, and what kind of structure is it?

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...

Why is πιει used instead of ήπιε?

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.

Does the person in Έχοντας πιει have to be the same person as ?