Το παιχνίδι ήταν συναρπαστικό.

Because παιχνίδι is a neuter singular noun in Greek, and the nominative singular neuter form of the is το.

So:

• το = the for a neuter singular noun
• παιχνίδι = game

Greek articles change depending on gender, number, and case, unlike English the, which never changes.

You usually learn the gender together with the noun, and the article helps you see it:

• το παιχνίδι = neuter
• dictionary form is often learned with the article: το παιχνίδι

Also, many Greek nouns ending in -ι are neuter, though this is a pattern, not an absolute rule.

Ήταν means was or were, depending on context. It is the past tense form of είμαι (to be).

In this sentence:

• Το παιχνίδι ήταν συναρπαστικό.
• The game was exciting.

Because the subject is singular, in English we translate it as was.

A useful thing to know is that ήταν does not change between singular and plural in the same way English does:

• ήταν can mean was
• ήταν can also mean were

You understand which one it is from the subject.

There is a separate word: ήταν. But Greek handles past tense a bit differently from English.

The verb είμαι (to be) has these common forms:

• είναι = is / are
• ήταν = was / were

So ήταν is simply the past form you need here.

Because it is an adjective agreeing with παιχνίδι, which is neuter singular.

Greek adjectives change form to match the noun they describe in:

• gender
• number
• case

So here:

• παιχνίδι = neuter singular
• συναρπαστικό = neuter singular form of exciting

Related forms are:

• συναρπαστικός = masculine
• συναρπαστική = feminine
• συναρπαστικό = neuter

It is an adjective here.

It describes the noun παιχνίδι (game), not the way an action was done.

So:

• συναρπαστικό παιχνίδι = exciting game
• Το παιχνίδι ήταν συναρπαστικό. = The game was exciting.

If it were an adverb, it would describe a verb, like He played excitingly, but that is not what is happening here.

Because Greek does not need a dummy subject like English often does.

English says:

• The game was exciting.

Greek says the same thing directly:

• Το παιχνίδι ήταν συναρπαστικό.

There is no need to add a separate it. The subject is already το παιχνίδι.

Yes, Greek word order is often more flexible than English because endings give grammatical information.

The most neutral order here is:

• Το παιχνίδι ήταν συναρπαστικό.

But other orders may appear for emphasis, for example:

• Συναρπαστικό ήταν το παιχνίδι.
• Ήταν συναρπαστικό το παιχνίδι.

These can sound more marked or emphatic depending on context. For a learner, the original order is the safest and most natural one to use first.

Greek uses written stress marks to show which syllable is stressed.

• παιχνίδι is stressed on -νί-
• ήταν is stressed on the first syllable
• συναρπαστικό is stressed on the final -κό

So the accents help you pronounce the words correctly.

Roughly:

• παι-χνί-di
• Í-tan
• si-nar-pa-sti-KÓ

A rough English-style guide is:

• παιχνίδι ≈ peh-HNEE-thee or peh-HNEE-di, depending on accent and pronunciation habits

A few useful points:

• αι sounds like e in met
• χ is a throaty sound, not exactly like English h
• δ in Modern Greek sounds like th in this
  • but in very rough learner transliteration, people sometimes write d

So a more careful pronunciation is closer to peh-HNEE-thi.

Roughly:

• si-nar-pa-sti-KO

More carefully:

• συ often sounds like see or si
• stress is on the last syllable: -κό

So the main thing to remember is the final stress:

• συναρπαστιΚΟ

Yes. That means The game was very exciting.

Here:

• πολύ = very
• συναρπαστικό still stays in the neuter singular form because it still agrees with παιχνίδι

So:

• Το παιχνίδι ήταν συναρπαστικό. = The game was exciting.
• Το παιχνίδι ήταν πολύ συναρπαστικό. = The game was very exciting.

It is a very good and natural word, but not the only possible one.

Συναρπαστικός / συναρπαστική / συναρπαστικό often means:

• exciting
• thrilling
• fascinating

Depending on context, Greek might also use other adjectives, but συναρπαστικό is absolutely natural for something like a game, film, or story.

It follows a very simple pattern:

• Subject + was + adjective

In Greek:

• Το παιχνίδι = subject
• ήταν = was
• συναρπαστικό = adjective describing the subject

So the structure is:

• [noun phrase] + [past tense of to be] + [predicate adjective]

This is a very common and useful Greek sentence pattern.

Normally, you would say Το παιχνίδι ήταν συναρπαστικό if you mean The game was exciting.

If you remove το, the sentence sounds incomplete or unnatural in most normal contexts. Greek often uses the article where English might or might not.

So for a definite, specific game, keep:

• το παιχνίδι

That is the standard choice.