Μην βάζεις θαυμαστικό σε κάθε μήνυμα.

Μην is the word Greek uses for a negative command. In English, that is usually don’t.

So:

Μην βάζεις ... = Don’t put / Don’t use ...

In Modern Greek, negative commands are normally made with μην + verb.

That is a very common point of confusion.

Greek does not normally use a special negative imperative form the way English uses don’t + verb. Instead, it uses:

μην + subjunctive form

With many verbs, that form looks exactly like the present you form. So βάζεις can appear:

• as an ordinary statement: βάζεις = you put
• after μην as a negative command: μην βάζεις = don’t put / don’t keep putting

So the particle μην tells you that this is not a plain statement.

This is about aspect, which is very important in Greek.

• μην βάζεις = don’t keep putting / don’t do this habitually
• μην βάλεις = don’t put once / don’t put it on a particular occasion

Because the sentence says σε κάθε μήνυμα = in every message, it is talking about a repeated habit. So the imperfective form βάζεις is the natural choice.

A rough contrast:

• Μην βάζεις θαυμαστικό σε κάθε μήνυμα.
  Don’t use an exclamation mark in every message.

• Μην βάλεις θαυμαστικό σε αυτό το μήνυμα.
  Don’t put an exclamation mark in this message.

Yes. Βάζεις is the second person singular, so this is addressed to one person in an informal way.

If you wanted to say it to:

• more than one person, or
• one person politely

you would usually say:

Μην βάζετε θαυμαστικό σε κάθε μήνυμα.

Greek often leaves out the article with objects when speaking in a general way, especially when you are talking about using or adding something as a type of thing.

So βάζω θαυμαστικό is very natural.

You could also say:

Μην βάζεις ένα θαυμαστικό σε κάθε μήνυμα.

That would put a little more focus on a single exclamation mark. But the version without ένα sounds very normal and idiomatic.

Compare the feel:

• θαυμαστικό = exclamation mark, as a general item
• ένα θαυμαστικό = one exclamation mark

Θαυμαστικό means exclamation mark.

It is a neuter noun in everyday Greek. You will very commonly hear and see just θαυμαστικό for the punctuation mark !

Some useful forms:

• το θαυμαστικό = the exclamation mark
• ένα θαυμαστικό = an exclamation mark
• τα θαυμαστικά = the exclamation marks

Σε is a preposition, and it takes the accusative.

So here:

• σε = in
• κάθε = every / each
• μήνυμα = message

So σε κάθε μήνυμα means in every message.

Also, κάθε is followed by a singular noun, just like English every:

• κάθε μήνυμα = every message
• not κάθε μηνύματα

And because μήνυμα is a neuter noun, its nominative and accusative singular look the same, so you still see μήνυμα.

Yes, κάθε is indeclinable, so it does not change form.

Examples:

• κάθε μήνυμα = every message
• κάθε μέρα = every day
• κάθε φορά = every time

What changes, when necessary, is the noun after it, not κάθε itself.

Yes. In this sentence, σε is best understood as in:

σε κάθε μήνυμα = in every message

Greek σε is very common and can correspond to several English prepositions depending on context, such as:

• in
• to
• at
• sometimes on

Here, because we are talking about something appearing inside a message, in is the natural English match.

The given order is the most neutral and natural:

Μην βάζεις θαυμαστικό σε κάθε μήνυμα.

That is:

μην + verb + object + prepositional phrase

Greek word order is fairly flexible, so other orders are possible, but they may sound less neutral or place emphasis in a different spot.

For example:

Μην βάζεις σε κάθε μήνυμα θαυμαστικό.

This is still understandable, but the original version is more natural for a plain correction or instruction.

A rough pronunciation is:

min VAZ-is thavma-STI-ko se KA-the MI-ni-ma

A few useful notes:

• μην sounds like meen, but shorter
• β is pronounced like English v
• θ is like th in think
• χ does not appear here
• stress falls on:
  • βά in βάζεις
  • στί in θαυμαστικό
  • μή in μήνυμα

So:

Μην βάζεις θαυμαστικό σε κάθε μήνυμα.
≈ min VAZ-is thavma-STI-ko se KA-the MI-ni-ma