Το φούσκωμα εξαρτάται από τη θερμοκρασία της ζύμης.

φούσκωμα is a noun, not a verb. It means something like rising, swelling, or puffing up.

It comes from the verb φουσκώνω (to swell / to puff up / to rise). The ending -μα often forms nouns that describe an action, result, or state.

So in this sentence, το φούσκωμα is the rising or the swelling.

Because φούσκωμα is a neuter singular noun, so it takes the neuter singular definite article το.

Also, το φούσκωμα is the subject of the sentence, so it is in the nominative case:

• το = nominative singular neuter article
• φούσκωμα = nominative singular neuter noun

εξαρτάται means depends. It is the 3rd person singular present tense form of εξαρτώμαι.

A useful thing to know: in Modern Greek, some verbs have endings that look middle/passive but have an active meaning in English. So although εξαρτάται looks passive-ish to an English learner, it simply means:

it depends

It is singular because the subject, το φούσκωμα, is singular.

Because the normal Greek pattern is:

εξαρτώμαι / εξαρτάται από + accusative

So:

• εξαρτάται από = depends on

This is just the standard construction for this verb. In English we say depends on; in Greek, that idea is expressed with από.

Because από takes the accusative case, and θερμοκρασία is the object of από.

So the noun phrase changes from:

• η θερμοκρασία = the temperature (nominative) to
• τη θερμοκρασία = the temperature (accusative)

English does not show this kind of case change on nouns, but Greek does.

τη is the shortened form of την.

In standard Modern Greek, the final -ν of τον / την is usually kept before:

• vowels
• κ, π, τ, γκ, μπ, ντ, ξ, ψ, τσ, τζ

Before many other consonants, it is usually dropped. Since θερμοκρασία begins with θ, the normal form here is:

τη θερμοκρασία

Because Greek uses the genitive case to express of the dough.

So:

• η ζύμη = the dough
• της ζύμης = of the dough

That means:

• η θερμοκρασία της ζύμης = the temperature of the dough

Greek often uses the genitive where English uses of.

Greek uses the definite article more often than English.

Here, all three noun phrases are definite/specific:

• το φούσκωμα
• τη θερμοκρασία
• της ζύμης

A native English speaker might expect fewer articles, but in Greek this is perfectly normal and natural.

In this context, yes.

Literally, φούσκωμα can mean swelling, inflation, puffing up, or rising, depending on the situation. But because the sentence mentions ζύμη (dough), the natural interpretation is the dough’s rising.

So in a baking context, φούσκωμα is best understood as rise or rising.

A rough pronunciation is:

to FOO-sko-ma ek-sar-TA-te a-PO ti ther-mo-kra-SEE-a tis ZEE-mis

A few helpful points:

• θ sounds like th in think
• ζ sounds like z
• αι in -ται is pronounced like e
• The accent marks show stress:
  • φούσκωμα
  • εξαρτάται
  • θερμοκρασία
  • ζύμης

Yes. Greek word order is more flexible than English because articles and case forms help show what each word is doing.

The given sentence is the most neutral order:

Το φούσκωμα εξαρτάται από τη θερμοκρασία της ζύμης.

But Greek could also say:

Από τη θερμοκρασία της ζύμης εξαρτάται το φούσκωμα.

That version gives more emphasis to what it depends on.

Because some Greek nouns do not change very dramatically in certain forms, especially in the singular.

With ζύμη, the article is a big clue:

• η ζύμη = nominative
• τη ζύμη = accusative
• της ζύμης = genitive

The noun itself changes only slightly, so learners often need to pay close attention to the article as well as the noun ending.