Ο ορείχαλκος είναι ακριβός.

Brass is expensive.

Breakdown of Ο ορείχαλκος είναι ακριβός.

• είμαι: to be
• ακριβός: expensive
• ο ορείχαλκος: brass (metal)

Questions & Answers about Ο ορείχαλκος είναι ακριβός.

Why is there a definite article ο here? English usually just says Brass is expensive, not The brass is expensive.

This is very normal in Greek. Greek often uses the definite article with nouns when talking about something in a general sense, including materials and substances.

So:

Ο ορείχαλκος είναι ακριβός.

looks literally like The brass is expensive, but the natural meaning is simply Brass is expensive.

This is one of the places where Greek uses the article more often than English.

What gender is ορείχαλκος, and how can I tell?

Ορείχαλκος is masculine singular.

You can tell mainly from the article:

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

So ο ορείχαλκος must be masculine singular.

The ending -ος often belongs to masculine nouns, although not always, so the article is the safest clue.

Why is ακριβός in the form -ός?