Ο ασθενής λέει ότι το χάπι τον βοηθάει πολύ.

The patient says that the pill helps him a lot.

Breakdown of Ο ασθενής λέει ότι το χάπι τον βοηθάει πολύ.

• βοηθάω: to help
• πολύ: a lot
• ότι: that
• τον: him

Questions & Answers about Ο ασθενής λέει ότι το χάπι τον βοηθάει πολύ.

Why is there an article in Ο ασθενής? English often says the patient, but sometimes Greek seems to use articles more often.

Greek uses the definite article very regularly with nouns, much more consistently than English.

So:

• ο ασθενής = the patient
• το χάπι = the pill

In Greek, you normally use the article with a noun when you are talking about a specific person or thing. This is very natural Greek.

Also, the article shows the noun’s:

• gender
• number
• case

Here:

• ο = masculine singular, nominative
• το = neuter singular, nominative/accusative

What case is ασθενής, and how do I know it is the subject?

ασθενής is in the nominative singular here, and it is the subject of λέει.

So:

• Ο ασθενής = the patient → subject
• λέει = says

Greek often marks the subject with the nominative case, and the article helps you spot it:

• ο ασθενής = nominative masculine singular

That tells you the patient is the one doing the action of saying.

Is ασθενής only masculine?