Ο μικροπωλητής μιλάει με τον συλλέκτη.

Because Greek articles change depending on the noun’s grammatical role in the sentence.

• ο μικροπωλητής = the street vendor / peddler

  • ο is the masculine singular nominative article.
  • The nominative is typically used for the subject of the sentence.

• τον συλλέκτη = the collector

  • τον is the masculine singular accusative article.
  • The accusative is often used for the object of a verb or after certain prepositions, including με.

So the article changes because the nouns are doing different jobs in the sentence.

Because συλλέκτη is in the accusative case, while συλλέκτης is the dictionary / nominative form.

Here is the pattern:

• ο συλλέκτης = the collector (subject form, nominative)
• τον συλλέκτη = the collector (object / after με, accusative)

This is very common with masculine nouns ending in -της:

• ο μαθητής → τον μαθητή
• ο πελάτης → τον πελάτη
• ο συλλέκτης → τον συλλέκτη

So the ending changes because the noun is not the subject here.

Because με means with, and in Modern Greek it is followed by the accusative case.

So:

• με τον συλλέκτη = with the collector
• με τη φίλη = with the friend
• με το παιδί = with the child

For English speakers, this can feel unusual because English nouns usually do not change form after prepositions. In Greek, however, prepositions often require a particular case, and με normally takes the accusative.

μιλάει is the third person singular present tense of μιλάω / μιλώ, meaning he/she/it speaks or is speaking.

In this sentence, it agrees with ο μικροπωλητής, which is singular:

• εγώ μιλάω / μιλώ = I speak
• εσύ μιλάς = you speak
• αυτός/αυτή μιλάει / μιλά = he/she speaks

So ο μικροπωλητής μιλάει means the street vendor speaks / is speaking.

Yes. In Modern Greek, μιλάει and μιλά are both common ways to express the same third person singular form of this verb.

So both of these are natural:

• Ο μικροπωλητής μιλάει με τον συλλέκτη.
• Ο μικροπωλητής μιλά με τον συλλέκτη.

Likewise in the first person singular, you may see:

• μιλάω
• μιλώ

These are normal variation patterns with this verb.

There are two strong clues:

1. It uses the masculine article ο
2. It ends in -ης, which is a very common masculine noun ending

So:

• ο μικροπωλητής = masculine singular

Many Greek masculine nouns follow this pattern:

• ο φοιτητής
• ο οδηγός
• ο πελάτης
• ο μικροπωλητής

The article is often your most reliable clue, especially when you are learning new vocabulary.

Greek uses the definite article very often, sometimes more often than English does.

In this sentence:

• ο μικροπωλητής = the street vendor
• τον συλλέκτη = the collector

Leaving the article out would usually make the sentence feel less natural unless you mean something more indefinite or are speaking in a special context.

So Greek learners should get used to seeing articles frequently. They are an important part of how Greek marks:

• gender
• number
• case

The dictionary form is usually the nominative singular.

So here the dictionary forms are:

• μικροπωλητής
• συλλέκτης

Even though the sentence contains συλλέκτη, you would normally look it up as συλλέκτης.

This is a very common thing in Greek: the form you see in a sentence may not be the form listed in the dictionary.

A simple learner-friendly pronunciation guide would be:

• Ο μικροπωλητής ≈ o mee-kro-po-lee-TEES
• μιλάει ≈ mee-LA-ee
• με τον συλλέκτη ≈ me ton see-lek-TEE

Stress is important in Greek:

• μικροπωλητής
• μιλάει
• συλλέκτη

If you ignore stress, your Greek may still be understood, but it will sound much less natural.

Yes, Greek word order is more flexible than English word order because case endings and articles help show who is doing what.

The neutral, straightforward order here is:

• Ο μικροπωλητής μιλάει με τον συλλέκτη.

But Greek can move parts around for emphasis, for example:

• Με τον συλλέκτη μιλάει ο μικροπωλητής.
• Μιλάει με τον συλλέκτη ο μικροπωλητής.

These are possible, though they may sound more marked or context-dependent. For learners, the original order is the safest and most natural to start with.

Not exactly. In this sentence, τον συλλέκτη is part of the prepositional phrase με τον συλλέκτη = with the collector.

So:

• ο μικροπωλητής = subject
• μιλάει = verb
• με τον συλλέκτη = prepositional phrase

Even though τον συλλέκτη is in the accusative, that does not automatically mean it is a direct object. Here it is accusative because it follows με.

That is an important point for English speakers: in Greek, the accusative is used not only for direct objects, but also after many prepositions.