Ο άντρας φαίνεται αθώος.

Ο is the masculine singular nominative definite article, so here it means the.

It is used because άντρας is:

• masculine
• singular
• the subject of the sentence

So:

• ο = the for a masculine singular subject
• άντρας = man

Together, Ο άντρας means the man.

Άντρας is the nominative singular form, which is the form used for the subject of the sentence.

Since the man is the one who seems innocent, Greek uses the subject form:

• ο άντρας = the man

You may also encounter άνδρας, which is a more formal or traditional form. In everyday Modern Greek, άντρας is very common.

Φαίνεται means seems, appears, or looks depending on context.

In this sentence, it means:

• Ο άντρας φαίνεται αθώος.
• The man seems innocent.

So the idea is not that the speaker knows for certain that he is innocent, but that he appears to be innocent.

Because it comes from the verb φαίνομαι, which is a mediopassive-form verb in Modern Greek.

Its present-tense forms include:

• φαίνομαι = I seem / I appear
• φαίνεσαι = you seem
• φαίνεται = he/she/it seems

So φαίνεται is the third person singular form, matching the singular subject ο άντρας.

A useful thing to remember: some Greek verbs have passive-looking endings but active meanings in English. Φαίνομαι is one of them.

Αθώος is an adjective meaning innocent, and it must agree with άντρας.

Since άντρας is:

• masculine
• singular
• nominative

the adjective is also:

• masculine
• singular
• nominative

That is why Greek uses αθώος.

Compare:

• Ο άντρας είναι αθώος. = The man is innocent.
• Η γυναίκα είναι αθώα. = The woman is innocent.
• Το παιδί είναι αθώο. = The child is innocent.

No. In this sentence, αθώος is a predicate adjective, not an object.

It describes the subject ο άντρας after the verb φαίνεται.

This works similarly to English in sentences like:

• The man seems innocent.
• She is happy.
• They became tired.

In Greek, predicate adjectives usually agree with the subject and are therefore often in the nominative.

Not quite.

• Ο άντρας είναι αθώος. = The man is innocent.
• Ο άντρας φαίνεται αθώος. = The man seems innocent.

The first sounds like a statement of fact. The second expresses appearance, impression, or uncertainty.

So φαίνεται adds the idea of it looks like or he appears to be.

Yes. Greek word order is more flexible than English word order.

The neutral order here is:

• Ο άντρας φαίνεται αθώος.

But you could also hear:

• Αθώος φαίνεται ο άντρας.
• Φαίνεται αθώος ο άντρας.

These versions are still grammatical, but they may shift the emphasis a little.

For example:

• Αθώος φαίνεται ο άντρας puts more focus on innocent
• Φαίνεται αθώος ο άντρας can sound a bit more observational

Still, for learners, the original order is the safest and most straightforward.

A rough pronunciation is:

• Ο = o
• άντρας = AN-dras
• φαίνεται = FE-ne-te
• αθώος = a-THO-os

So the whole sentence is roughly:

• o AN-dras FE-ne-te a-THO-os

A few notes:

• αι in φαίνεται sounds like e
• θ sounds like th in think
• ντ in άντρας is usually pronounced like d in this word

In Modern Greek, several different vowel spellings are pronounced like e, and αι is one of them.

So in φαίνεται:

• αι is pronounced e

This is very common in Modern Greek spelling. Greek spelling preserves older distinctions that are no longer pronounced differently in everyday speech.

The stressed syllables are marked by the written accent:

• Ο — no written accent because it is a one-syllable article
• άντρας — stress on άν
• φαίνεται — stress on φαί
• αθώος — stress on θώ

So you should stress:

• Ο ΑΝτρας FEνεται aTHOos

Paying attention to written accents is very helpful in Greek, because they usually show you exactly where the stress goes.

Not always, but very often when you mean the.

Greek articles work a lot like English the, but they change form depending on gender, number, and case.

For singular nominative:

• ο = masculine
• η = feminine
• το = neuter

So:

• ο άντρας = the man
• η γυναίκα = the woman
• το παιδί = the child

If you were speaking more generally, you might leave the article out in some contexts, but in this sentence ο άντρας naturally means the man.

Greek often drops subject pronouns like he, she, or they, because the verb ending already gives that information. But here the subject is not a pronoun: it is the noun phrase ο άντρας.

So if you say only:

• Φαίνεται αθώος

it would usually mean:

• He seems innocent or
• He looks innocent

That works if the man is already understood from context.

But if you want to state the noun explicitly, you keep:

• Ο άντρας φαίνεται αθώος.

Yes, in other contexts φαίνεται can also mean is visible, can be seen, or shows.

For example:

• Το βουνό φαίνεται από εδώ. = The mountain is visible from here.

But when φαίνεται is followed by an adjective, as in:

• φαίνεται αθώος

it usually means:

• seems innocent
• appears innocent

So the structure helps you understand the meaning.

Because the verb here is not to be. The main verb is φαίνεται = seems/appears.

So the structure is:

• subject
  • seems
    • adjective

That is why Greek does not need είναι here.

Compare:

• Ο άντρας είναι αθώος. = The man is innocent.
• Ο άντρας φαίνεται αθώος. = The man seems innocent.

Both are complete sentences, but they use different verbs.