Δεν το έκανα επίτηδες· απλώς ξέχασα το βιβλίο στο σπίτι.

Literally, Δεν το έκανα means I did not do it.

Here, το is a direct object pronoun meaning it. In this sentence, it refers to the action or mistake in a general way, not necessarily to a specific masculine noun like το βιβλίο.

So the structure is:

• Δεν = not
• το = it
• έκανα = I did / I made

A very natural English translation is I didn’t do it on purpose.

In Greek, weak object pronouns like το, τον, τη, μου, σου usually come before the verb.

So:

• το έκανα = I did it
• τον είδα = I saw him
• το ξέχασα = I forgot it

This is normal Greek word order.
So Δεν το έκανα is the expected way to say I didn’t do it.

Δεν is the standard negative particle used before verbs in Greek.

Examples:

• Δεν ξέρω = I don’t know
• Δεν πήγα = I didn’t go
• Δεν το έκανα = I didn’t do it

It normally comes before the verb phrase, and if there is a pronoun like το, it comes before that whole group:

• Δεν το έκανα

Επίτηδες means on purpose, deliberately, or intentionally.

So:

• Δεν το έκανα επίτηδες = I didn’t do it on purpose

It is a very common everyday word in spoken Greek.

A close synonym is σκόπιμα, which also means deliberately, but επίτηδες often sounds especially natural in casual speech.

Examples:

• Το έκανε επίτηδες = He did it on purpose
• Δεν το είπα επίτηδες = I didn’t say it on purpose

Έκανα is the aorist form of κάνω. Here it means I did.

The Greek aorist is often used for a completed past action, and in many cases it matches the English simple past.

So:

• κάνω = I do / I make
• έκανα = I did / I made

In Δεν το έκανα επίτηδες, Greek uses the past form because the speaker is referring to a specific past action or mistake.

Απλώς means simply, just, or it’s just that.

In this sentence, it softens or explains the situation:

• Δεν το έκανα επίτηδες· απλώς ξέχασα το βιβλίο στο σπίτι.
• I didn’t do it on purpose; I just forgot the book at home.

It helps show contrast:

• not intentionally
• just by accident / simply because I forgot

A related word is απλά, which is also often used in modern spoken Greek in similar contexts.

Ξέχασα is the aorist of ξεχνάω / ξεχνώ, and it means I forgot.

So:

• ξεχνάω / ξεχνώ = I forget
• ξέχασα = I forgot

Greek uses the aorist here because the speaker is talking about one completed past event: forgetting the book.

If you used the present tense, it would mean something different:

• ξεχνάω = I forget / I am forgetting / I tend to forget

But here the meaning is clearly about a specific incident in the past, so ξέχασα is the right form.

Greek uses the definite article much more often than English does.

So το βιβλίο literally means the book, and Greek usually prefers that structure where English might sometimes say just book depending on context.

In this sentence, το βιβλίο is completely natural and expected:

• ξέχασα το βιβλίο = I forgot the book

If the context already makes clear which book is meant, Greek still often keeps the article.

This is something English speakers have to get used to: Greek articles are used very regularly.

Στο is a contraction of:

• σε = in / at / to
• το = the

So:

• σε το σπίτι becomes στο σπίτι

And στο σπίτι means at home or in the house, depending on context.

In this sentence:

• ξέχασα το βιβλίο στο σπίτι = I forgot the book at home

This contraction is extremely common in Greek:

• στο = σε + το
• στη = σε + τη
• στην = σε + την
• στους = σε + τους

Because Greek normally uses the article where English often does not.

English says:

• at home

Greek says:

• στο σπίτι = literally in/at the house

Even though the literal wording is different, the natural meaning is simply at home.

This is very common. Greek often uses a more explicit article-based structure where English uses a bare noun.

The mark · is called the ano teleia in Greek.

It is often used like an English semicolon or sometimes like a strong pause, similar to a colon in some contexts.

So in this sentence:

• Δεν το έκανα επίτηδες· απλώς ξέχασα το βιβλίο στο σπίτι.

it separates two closely connected ideas:

1. I didn’t do it on purpose
2. I just forgot the book at home

In modern writing, you may also sometimes see a comma or other punctuation depending on style, but · is perfectly normal Greek punctuation.

A rough pronunciation guide is:

Then to EK-a-na e-PEE-ti-thes, a-PLŌS kse-HA-sa to vee-VLEE-o sto SPÍ-ti.

A few useful notes:

• δ in modern Greek sounds like the th in this
• θ sounds like the th in think
• χ sounds like a throaty sound, not like English ch
• stress matters a lot in Greek:
  • έκανα
  • επίτηδες
  • απλώς
  • ξέχασα
  • βιβλίο
  • σπίτι

Even if your accent is not perfect, getting the stress in the right place will help a lot.

Yes. Greek has several natural alternatives. For example:

• Δεν το έκανα επίτηδες. Απλώς ξέχασα το βιβλίο στο σπίτι.
• Δεν το έκανα σκόπιμα· απλώς ξέχασα το βιβλίο στο σπίτι.

These mean basically the same thing.

Some notes:

• επίτηδες and σκόπιμα both mean on purpose / deliberately
• using a period instead of · is also natural in many contexts
• απλώς can sometimes be replaced by απλά in everyday speech

So the original sentence is natural, but it is not the only possible wording.

In normal context, it means:

• I forgot the book at home
• in other words, I left the book at home by mistake

Greek ξεχνάω / ξεχνώ can work like English forget, but in sentences like this it often has the practical meaning of leaving something behind because you forgot it.

So a native speaker would naturally understand:

• you were supposed to bring the book
• but you left it at home because you forgot

That is why it works so well after Δεν το έκανα επίτηδες.