An adjective can do two jobs. It can sit inside a noun phrase and quietly describe — the cold coffee, ο κρύος καφές — telling you which coffee. Or it can stand after a verb and make a claim — the coffee is cold, ο καφές είναι κρύος — which is not describing a coffee you already have in mind but asserting something new about it. The second job is called the predicative position, and this page is about how a Greek adjective behaves there: it loses its article, it takes the nominative, and — the part that trips up English speakers hardest — it still agrees in gender and number with whatever it is describing.
Predicative versus attributive
The contrast is cleanest side by side. Same adjective, same noun, two entirely different structures:
| Attributive | Predicative |
|---|---|
| ο κρύος καφές | Ο καφές είναι κρύος. |
| the cold coffee | The coffee is cold. |
| identifies — which coffee | asserts — the coffee's state |
| article on the adjective | no article on the adjective |
The predicative adjective is bare. There is no το in front of κρύος in Ο καφές είναι κρύος, and adding one changes the meaning — Ο καφές είναι ο κρύος would say "the coffee is the cold one", picking it out of a set. The article-free-ness is not optional politeness; it is what makes the adjective a predicate rather than a hidden noun phrase. The positional side of this — why the article is what draws the line — is on adjective position and, from the article's angle, on article + adjective + noun order.
The linking verbs
Predicative adjectives appear after a small family of verbs that express being, becoming, seeming or staying in a state — never true actions with an object. Learn the family, because every member behaves the same way.
| Verb | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| είμαι | be | Είναι κουρασμένος. |
| γίνομαι | become, turn | Έγινε κόκκινος. |
| φαίνομαι | seem, look | Φαίνεσαι χλομή. |
| μοιάζω | look, seem | Μοιάζει ήρεμη. |
| δείχνω | look, come across as | Δείχνεις κουρασμένος. |
| ακούγομαι | sound | Ακούγεται λογικό. |
| μένω | stay, be left (in a state) | Έμεινε ήρεμος. |
| παραμένω (formal) | remain | Παραμένει άλυτο. |
Η μπίρα δεν είναι αρκετά κρύα, βάλ' την λίγο στην κατάψυξη.
i bíra dhen íne arketá kría, vál tin lígho stin katápsiksi
The beer isn't cold enough — put it in the freezer for a bit.
Ο ουρανός γίνεται σκοτεινός, μάλλον θα βρέξει σε λίγο.
o uranós yínete skotinós, málon tha vréksi se lígho
The sky is turning dark — it'll probably rain soon.
Το σχέδιο ακούγεται λογικό, ας το δοκιμάσουμε.
to schédhio akúyete loyikó, as to dhokimásume
The plan sounds reasonable — let's give it a go.
Έμεινε ήρεμος παρά τις προκλήσεις και δεν απάντησε.
émine íremos pará tis proklísis ke dhen apándise
He stayed calm despite the provocations and didn't respond.
The case of the predicate — why it is nominative rather than accusative — has its own logic (both sides of είναι name the same thing, so they share a case), and it is worked out in full on nominative: predicate and naming. Here we take the nominative for granted and concentrate on the agreement, which is where the daily errors live.
Full agreement: gender and number, every time
This is the heart of the matter, and the place English gives you no help at all. English tired is tired whether a man, a woman or a roomful of children is tired. The Greek predicative adjective changes shape for each — because it agrees with the subject in gender and number just as fully as an attributive one does.
| Subject | Greek | English |
|---|---|---|
| man speaking | Είμαι κουρασμένος. | I'm tired. |
| woman speaking | Είμαι κουρασμένη. | I'm tired. |
| mixed / male group | Είμαστε κουρασμένοι. | We're tired. |
| all-female group | Είμαστε κουρασμένες. | We're tired. |
| the children (neuter pl.) | Τα παιδιά είναι κουρασμένα. | The children are tired. |
Φαίνεσαι χλομή σήμερα, είσαι σίγουρη ότι είσαι καλά;
fénese chlomí símera, íse síghuri óti íse kalá;
You look pale today — are you sure you're all right? (to a woman)
Τα παιδιά είναι κουρασμένα, θα τα βάλω για ύπνο νωρίς απόψε.
ta pedhiá íne kurazména, tha ta válo ya ípno norís apópse
The children are tired — I'll put them to bed early tonight.
Οι δασκάλες ήταν πολύ υπομονετικές μαζί μας όλη τη χρονιά.
i dhaskáles ítan polí ipomonetikés mazí mas óli ti chroniá
The teachers were very patient with us all year.
The neuter-plural subject is the classic ambush. So many everyday things are neuter — τα παιδιά, τα σπίτια, τα αυτοκίνητα, τα νέα — and their predicative adjective must end in -α: τα νέα είναι καλά ("the news is good"), not ×καλοί, not ×καλές. English "the news is good" gives you no signal that the adjective should move at all, so the ending has to become a conscious habit.
When the adjective describes the object, not the subject
There is one important extension. A few verbs let an adjective describe not the subject but the object — the so-called secondary or object predicate. English does this with I found the house empty, I consider it dangerous, I left the door open. In Greek the adjective then agrees with the object, which means it goes into the accusative.
Τη βρήκα πολύ αλλαγμένη μετά από τόσα χρόνια στο εξωτερικό.
ti vríka polí alaghméni metá apó tósa chrónia sto eksoterikó
I found her much changed after so many years abroad.
Άφησα την πόρτα ανοιχτή για να μπει λίγος αέρας.
áfisa tin pórta anichtí ya na bi líghos aéras
I left the door open to let a bit of air in.
The verbs that behave this way include βρίσκω (find), θεωρώ / νομίζω (consider, think), αφήνω (leave), κάνω (make). The adjective still agrees — it simply agrees with an accusative object rather than a nominative subject: αλλαγμένη matches feminine την (her), ανοιχτή matches feminine την πόρτα. The general principle, spelled out on adjective agreement, is that a predicate matches the case of whatever it describes: nominative for a subject, accusative for an object.
Adjective or adverb? Είμαι καλός versus Είμαι καλά
One trap deserves its own section because it catches learners in the most everyday exchange of all. When you answer Πώς είσαι; ("How are you?"), you do not use the adjective καλός. You use the invariable adverb καλά ("well, fine"). This is the one place where είμαι is followed by an adverb rather than an agreeing adjective, and the two say genuinely different things:
| Greek | English | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Είμαι καλά. (adverb) | I'm fine / well. | state of health, how you feel |
| Είμαι καλός. (adjective) | I'm good / kind / skilled. | a quality of the person |
— Πώς είσαι; — Είμαι καλά, εσύ; Καιρό είχαμε να τα πούμε.
— pos íse; — íme kalá, esí; keró íchame na ta púme
— How are you? — I'm well, and you? It's been a while since we caught up.
Δεν είμαι καθόλου καλά σήμερα, νομίζω ότι έχω πυρετό.
dhen íme kathólu kalá símera, nomízo óti écho piretó
I'm not at all well today — I think I have a fever.
Ο μικρός είναι πολύ καλός στα μαθηματικά, τον βοηθάει ο παππούς.
o mikrós íne polí kalós sta mathimatiká, ton voithái o papús
The little one is very good at maths — his grandfather helps him.
The same holds for a handful of invariable wellbeing predicates that never agree: χάλια ("terrible, a mess"), μια χαρά ("just fine"), περίφημα ("splendidly"). These are frozen adverbial expressions, so they keep one shape no matter who the subject is — Είμαι χάλια, Είναι χάλια, Είμαστε χάλια.
Το σπίτι ήταν χάλια μετά το πάρτι, καθαρίζαμε μέχρι το μεσημέρι.
to spíti ítan chália metá to párti, katharízame méchri to mesiméri
The house was a mess after the party — we were cleaning until midday.
The line to hold onto: a true adjective after είμαι agrees (κρύος/κρύα/κρύο), so if the word is changing shape for gender and number, it is an adjective; if it is frozen, it is one of these adverbial predicates.
Common Mistakes
1. Freezing the adjective in one form regardless of the subject's gender. The commonest error by far — the adjective is not a fixed word after είναι.
❌ Η γιαγιά μου είναι πολύ κουρασμένος τελευταία.
Incorrect — γιαγιά is feminine, so the adjective is κουρασμένη.
✅ Η γιαγιά μου είναι πολύ κουρασμένη τελευταία, δεν βγαίνει έξω.
i yayá mu íne polí kurazméni teleftéa, dhen vyéni ékso
My grandmother is very tired lately — she doesn't go out.
2. Giving a neuter-plural subject a masculine or feminine adjective. Neuter plurals take -α.
❌ Τα δωμάτια είναι έτοιμοι για τους καλεσμένους.
Incorrect — τα δωμάτια is neuter plural, so the adjective is έτοιμα.
✅ Τα δωμάτια είναι έτοιμα για τους καλεσμένους.
ta dhomátia íne étima ya tus kalezménus
The rooms are ready for the guests.
3. Putting an article on the predicative adjective. After a linking verb the adjective is bare.
❌ Η θάλασσα σήμερα είναι η ήρεμη.
Incorrect for 'the sea is calm today' — with the article it means 'the sea is the calm one'.
✅ Η θάλασσα σήμερα είναι ήρεμη, καλή για κολύμπι.
i thálasa símera íne íremi, kalí ya kolímbi
The sea is calm today — good for a swim.
4. Matching the predicate to the subject in gender but not in number. A plural subject needs a plural predicate — it is easy to freeze the adjective in the singular.
❌ Οι δρόμοι από εδώ είναι πιο σύντομος.
Incorrect — the subject δρόμοι is plural, so the predicate must be σύντομοι, not the singular σύντομος.
✅ Οι δρόμοι από εδώ είναι πιο σύντομοι, αλλά έχουν κίνηση.
i dhrómi apó edhó íne pio síndomi, alá échun kínisi
The routes from here are quicker, but they have traffic.
Key Takeaways
- A predicative adjective follows a linking verb (είμαι, γίνομαι, φαίνομαι, μοιάζω, δείχνω, ακούγομαι, μένω, παραμένω) and asserts a state rather than identifying a thing.
- It is article-less — Ο καφές είναι κρύος, never ×είναι ο κρύος — which is what separates it from an attributive phrase.
- It agrees with the subject in gender and number, and stands in the nominative: κρύος / κρύα / κρύο, κρύοι / κρύες / κρύα.
- The neuter plural in -α is the ambush (τα παιδιά είναι κουρασμένα, τα νέα είναι καλά) because so many everyday nouns are neuter.
- When the adjective describes an object (after βρίσκω, θεωρώ, αφήνω), it agrees with that object in the accusative: Τη βρήκα αλλαγμένη, Άφησα την πόρτα ανοιχτή.
- Wellbeing is the exception: Πώς είσαι; — Είμαι *καλά
- uses the invariable
- The reason the subject predicate is nominative is on nominative: predicate and naming; the general copy-the-noun reflex is on adjective agreement.
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Start learning Greek →Related Topics
- Nominative: Predicate and NamingA2 — Why both sides of είμαι share the nominative — Ο Γιάννης είναι δάσκαλος, Εγώ είμαι — how γίνομαι, φαίνομαι and μένω behave the same way, why Greek says Είναι γιατρός with no article, and the neat reason Με λένε Γιάννη is accusative instead.
- Adjective AgreementA1 — The one reflex every Greek adjective demands — copy the noun's gender, number and case onto the adjective, in the attributive slot (ο μεγάλος κήπος → του μεγάλου κήπου) and in the predicative slot after είμαι (το σπίτι είναι μεγάλο) alike — and the two English-speaker errors, leaving the adjective bare and agreeing in gender but not case.
- Adjective PositionA2 — Where a Greek adjective sits and what that choice means — the default before the noun (ένα ωραίο σπίτι), the emphatic doubled-article order after it (το σπίτι το ωραίο), the affective ο καλός ο άνθρωπος, and the predicative position after είναι that asserts rather than describes.