Η τελετή αρχίζει τώρα.

A natural pronunciation is roughly:

ee te-le-TEE ar-HEE-zee TO-ra

More precisely in IPA: /i teleˈti arˈçi.zi ˈto.ra/

A few useful points:

• Η sounds like ee
• τελετή is stressed on the last syllable: te-le-TEE
• αρχίζει is stressed on χί: ar-HEE-zee
• τώρα is stressed on the first syllable: TO-ra

The χ in αρχίζει is not an English h. Before ι, it is a softer sound, like the ch in German ich.

Here Η is the definite article, meaning the.

So:

• η τελετή = the ceremony

Because it is the first word of the sentence, it is capitalized as Η instead of η.

No. Here it is definitely the article the, not a pronoun.

In Modern Greek:

• η = the for feminine singular nouns
• αυτή = she

So Η τελετή means the ceremony, not she ceremony.

Because this η is the article, and articles like this are normally unstressed, so they do not take an accent.

This is useful because:

• η = the
• ή = or

So the accent can help distinguish words.

τελετή is a feminine singular noun.

In this sentence it is in the nominative singular because it is the subject of the verb: the thing that is beginning.

So:

• η = feminine singular nominative article
• τελετή = feminine singular nominative noun

They match, as Greek articles and nouns must agree in gender, number, and case.

Because the subject, η τελετή, is third person singular.

The dictionary form is αρχίζω = I begin / I start.

In this sentence it changes to αρχίζει, which means:

• it begins
• it is beginning

Greek verbs change form depending on the subject, so αρχίζει agrees with the singular subject η τελετή.

It can mean either, depending on context.

The Greek present tense often covers both:

• English simple present: begins
• English present continuous: is beginning

Because the sentence includes τώρα (now), English often translates it naturally as either:

• The ceremony begins now
• The ceremony is beginning now

Normally, Greek prefers the article here: η τελετή.

That is the natural way to refer to a specific ceremony. Greek uses the definite article more often than English does.

Without the article, τελετή αρχίζει τώρα would usually sound odd in ordinary speech, unless it were something like:

• a headline
• a note
• a very compressed style

So for normal everyday Greek, Η τελετή αρχίζει τώρα is the expected phrasing.

It is in the nominative case.

Why? Because it is the subject of the sentence, and subjects are usually in the nominative.

So:

• η τελετή = nominative singular
• αρχίζει = the verb agreeing with that subject

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

These are all possible:

• Η τελετή αρχίζει τώρα.
• Τώρα αρχίζει η τελετή.
• Αρχίζει τώρα η τελετή.

The basic meaning stays the same, but the emphasis changes:

• Η τελετή αρχίζει τώρα = neutral
• Τώρα αρχίζει η τελετή = stronger emphasis on now
• Αρχίζει τώρα η τελετή = can sound more like an announcement

No, it does not have to be at the end.

τώρα is an adverb meaning now, and Greek adverbs can often move around fairly freely.

So these are all natural, depending on emphasis:

• Η τελετή αρχίζει τώρα
• Τώρα η τελετή αρχίζει
• Τώρα αρχίζει η τελετή

Putting τώρα at the end is simply a very normal, neutral choice.

They show which syllable is stressed.

In this sentence:

• τελετή
• αρχίζει
• τώρα

Stress matters in Greek. If you put the stress on the wrong syllable, people will often still understand you, but it may sound unnatural or confusing.

Because in Modern Greek, several different spellings are pronounced the same way, as /i/.

This sentence shows that clearly:

• Η = /i/
• τελετή ends in ή = /i/
• αρχίζει has ί = /i/ and ει = /i/

This happens because different vowels and vowel combinations from older stages of Greek gradually came to have the same pronunciation, but the traditional spellings were kept.

So yes: in Modern Greek, many spellings can sound like English ee. You have to learn the spelling of each word individually.