Η αυλαία ανοίγει πριν από την υπόκλιση.

Η is the feminine singular definite article in the nominative case. It means the.

Here it goes with αυλαία (curtain), which is a feminine singular noun:

• η αυλαία = the curtain

Greek nouns have grammatical gender, so the article has to match the noun.

Because the two nouns are in different cases.

• η αυλαία is the subject of the verb, so it is in the nominative
• την υπόκλιση comes after πριν από, and that expression takes the accusative

So:

• η = feminine singular nominative article
• την = feminine singular accusative article

This is a very common pattern in Greek:

• subject -> nominative
• object or noun after many prepositions -> accusative

ανοίγει is the 3rd person singular present tense of ανοίγω (to open).

So:

• ανοίγω = I open / I am opening
• ανοίγεις = you open
• ανοίγει = he/she/it opens

Since the subject is η αυλαία (the curtain), Greek uses ανοίγει = opens.

Greek often does not use subject pronouns unless they are needed for emphasis or clarity.

In English, you must say:

• It opens

In Greek, the verb ending already shows the person and number, so ανοίγει is enough when the subject is clear.

And in this sentence, the subject is explicitly stated anyway:

• Η αυλαία ανοίγει

So adding a pronoun would be unnecessary.

πριν από means before.

It is used to show that one event happens earlier than another:

• πριν από την υπόκλιση = before the bow

In Modern Greek, πριν and πριν από can often both be used before a noun phrase, especially in everyday language:

• πριν από την υπόκλιση
• πριν την υπόκλιση

Both can be heard, though πριν από may sound a bit more explicit or formal in some contexts.

Because it comes after πριν από, and από takes the accusative.

That is why you get:

• την υπόκλιση

not

• η υπόκλιση

So even though υπόκλιση is not a direct object of the verb, it still appears in the accusative because of the prepositional phrase.

Yes. υπόκλιση is a feminine noun.

Its dictionary form is:

• η υπόκλιση

That is why it takes feminine articles:

• nominative: η υπόκλιση
• accusative: την υπόκλιση

Many Greek nouns ending in -ση are feminine.

The spelling is την, but in actual speech the final -ν may be pronounced clearly, weakly, or sometimes dropped in fast speech, depending on the sound that follows and the speaker.

Before υπόκλιση, many speakers will keep the ν:

• την υπόκλιση

This final -ν is common in articles like:

• τον
• την

So when listening, you may hear small pronunciation differences even though the written form stays the same.

It is pronounced roughly av-LE-a.

A few useful points:

• αυ is usually pronounced av before a voiced sound
• the stress is on -λαί-
• the final -αία is pronounced across separate vowel sounds, not as one English-style long vowel

So:

• αυλαία -> av-LE-a

It is pronounced roughly ee-PO-klee-see.

Helpful breakdown:

• υ here sounds like ee
• the stress is on πό
• κλι sounds like klee
• ση sounds like see

So:

• υπόκλιση -> ee-PO-klee-see

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

The neutral order here is:

• Η αυλαία ανοίγει πριν από την υπόκλιση.

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

• Πριν από την υπόκλιση, η αυλαία ανοίγει.

That still makes sense, though it may sound more marked or more contextual. The original order is the most straightforward, neutral version.

Greek, like English, often uses the present tense for:

• general truths
• routines
• stage actions
• instructions or descriptions of what normally happens

So ανοίγει can mean:

• opens
• is opening, depending on context

Here it most naturally expresses a regular or described action:

• The curtain opens before the bow.

The dictionary forms are:

• η αυλαία = curtain
• ανοίγω = to open
• πριν (από) = before
• η υπόκλιση = bow, curtsy, or act of bowing, depending on context

This is useful because Greek words in sentences often appear in changed forms, especially articles and nouns.