Learn Hardcore Greek: Με ξαφνιάζει το ότι μιλάς τόσο ήρεμα όταν έχεις τόσο άγχος. - It surprises me that you speak so calmly when you have so much stress.

Word

Με ξαφνιάζει το ότι μιλάς τόσο ήρεμα όταν έχεις τόσο άγχος.

Meaning

It surprises me that you speak so calmly when you have so much stress.

Part of speech

sentence

Pronunciation

Course

Lesson

Breakdown of Με ξαφνιάζει το ότι μιλάς τόσο ήρεμα όταν έχεις τόσο άγχος.

What does με mean here?

Με is the weak form of the pronoun εμένα / me, and here it means me as the object of the verb.

So:

Greek often puts these short object pronouns before the verb.

Why is it ξαφνιάζει and not ξαφνιάζω?

Because the subject of the sentence is not I. The thing doing the surprising is the whole clause:

το ότι μιλάς τόσο ήρεμα όταν έχεις τόσο άγχος

That whole part functions as a singular idea, so the verb is in 3rd person singular:

So literally the structure is:

[The fact that you speak so calmly when you have so much anxiety] surprises me

What is το ότι doing here?