Η κασέτα είναι παλιά.

The cassette is old.

Breakdown of Η κασέτα είναι παλιά.

• είμαι: to be
• παλιός: old
• η κασέτα: cassette

Questions & Answers about Η κασέτα είναι παλιά.

What does Η mean at the beginning of the sentence?

Η is the definite article in Greek, meaning the.

In this sentence, Η κασέτα means the cassette.

A few useful things to know:

• Η is used with feminine singular nouns in the nominative case.
• It is pronounced i, not like English h.
• Greek spelling keeps the capital letter Η, but in Modern Greek it sounds like ee.

So:

• Η κασέτα = the cassette

Why is κασέτα feminine?

Greek nouns have grammatical gender, and κασέτα happens to be feminine.

That is why it takes:

• the feminine article Η
• the feminine adjective form παλιά

For an English speaker, this can feel strange because objects in English usually do not have grammatical gender. In Greek, though, gender is a normal part of the noun and affects other words in the sentence.

A good habit is to learn nouns together with their article:

• η κασέτα = the cassette

That helps you remember the noun’s gender.

What is είναι?