Ο ασθενής λέει ότι το χάπι τον βοηθάει πολύ.

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

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.

No. ασθενής can be masculine or feminine. The article tells you which one it is.

• ο ασθενής = the male patient
• η ασθενής = the female patient

The noun form itself stays the same here; the article changes.

λέει is the 3rd person singular present of λέω, meaning he/she/it says or sometimes is saying.

Here:

• Ο ασθενής λέει = The patient says

Greek present tense can often cover both:

• simple present: says
• present progressive: is saying

The exact English choice depends on context.

ότι introduces a subordinate clause and means that.

So the structure is:

• Ο ασθενής λέει = The patient says
• ότι το χάπι τον βοηθάει πολύ = that the pill helps him a lot

This is very common after verbs of speaking, thinking, knowing, and so on.

Examples of similar patterns:

• λέω ότι... = I say that...
• νομίζω ότι... = I think that...
• ξέρω ότι... = I know that...

Sometimes Greek can leave it out in informal speech, but using it is completely normal and often clearer.

So this sentence with ότι is standard and natural:

• Ο ασθενής λέει ότι...

In everyday Greek, you may also hear πως in similar situations:

• Ο ασθενής λέει πως...

Both are common in many contexts.

τον is the normal weak object pronoun meaning him.

So:

• το χάπι τον βοηθάει = the pill helps him

Greek usually uses these short weak pronouns in ordinary sentences:

• με = me
• σε = you
• τον / τη(ν) / το = him / her / it

αυτόν is a stronger, more emphatic form and is not the usual choice here.

So in a neutral sentence, τον is exactly what you expect.

Because βοηθάω / βοηθώ takes a direct object in Greek, not an indirect one.

So Greek says literally:

• the pill helps him
• with him in the accusative
• therefore: τον

Compare:

• τον βοηθάω = I help him

English learners sometimes expect something like to him, but Greek does not structure this verb that way.

βοηθάει is the 3rd person singular present form of βοηθάω or βοηθώ, meaning helps / is helping.

So:

• το χάπι βοηθάει = the pill helps

The subject is το χάπι, which is singular, so the verb is singular too.

Yes. In many contexts, βοηθάει and βοηθά are just alternative present-tense forms in Modern Greek.

So you may see:

• το χάπι τον βοηθάει πολύ
• το χάπι τον βοηθά πολύ

Both are natural.

Learners should mainly recognize both forms as the same verb.

Because χάπι is a neuter noun in Greek.

That is why it takes:

• το χάπι in the nominative singular
• and a singular verb: βοηθάει

Greek nouns have grammatical gender, and it does not always match anything logical in English. You simply learn the noun together with its article:

• το χάπι

That is the best habit.

The clause after ότι is:

• το χάπι τον βοηθάει πολύ

Inside this clause:

• το χάπι = subject
• τον = object
• βοηθάει = verb
• πολύ = adverb

A useful clue is the cases:

• το χάπι is nominative/accusative in form, but as a full noun phrase here it functions as the subject
• τον is clearly an object pronoun in the accusative

So the meaning is:

• the pill helps him not
• him helps the pill

In Modern Greek, weak object pronouns usually come before the finite verb.

So:

• τον βοηθάει = helps him

This word order is very normal.

Compare:

• με βλέπει = he sees me
• τον ξέρει = she knows him
• τη θέλω = I want her

So τον βοηθάει follows a very common Greek pattern.

πολύ is an adverb here, meaning a lot or very much.

It modifies the verb:

• τον βοηθάει πολύ = helps him a lot

It is not describing the pill itself; it is describing the degree of help.

That is a very natural position in Greek. Greek word order is more flexible than English, but the end position often sounds perfectly normal for an adverb like this.

So:

• το χάπι τον βοηθάει πολύ

is a straightforward, natural sentence.

Greek can move words around for emphasis, but this version is neutral and standard.

Usually not here. The object pronoun is important because it tells you whom the pill helps.

• το χάπι βοηθάει πολύ would mean the pill helps a lot or is very helpful, but it no longer clearly says him

So if you want the meaning helps him a lot, you keep τον.

Yes. It is useful to notice that ότι here is the conjunction meaning that.

Learners sometimes confuse it with ό,τι, which means whatever / anything that / what.

They are different:

• ότι = that
• ό,τι = whatever, what

In your sentence, it is definitely ότι = that.

Yes, if the subject is already understood from context.

Greek often drops subject pronouns and even leaves the subject noun unstated when it is clear.

So:

• Λέει ότι το χάπι τον βοηθάει πολύ.

can mean:

• He/She says that the pill helps him/her a lot

But in your full sentence, Ο ασθενής makes it explicit: the patient is the one speaking.