Learn Hardcore Greek: Η θάλασσα κοντά στο νησί είναι ήσυχη το πρωί. - The sea near the island is calm in the morning.

The basic articles are:
- ο – masculine singular (nominative)
- η – feminine singular (nominative)
- το – neuter singular (nominative/accusative)
Many nouns ending in -α or -η are feminine, and θάλασσα ends in -α, so it’s very often feminine: η θάλασσα.

However, gender in Greek is grammatical, not always logical, so you generally learn the noun together with its article:

η θάλασσα – the sea (feminine)
το νησί – the island (neuter)
ο ήλιος – the sun (masculine)

So the safe rule is: memorize η θάλασσα as a unit.

What grammatical role is Η θάλασσα playing in the sentence, and which case is it in?

Η θάλασσα is the subject of the sentence: it’s the thing that “is calm”.

As the subject, it is in the nominative case (the default “subject” case in Greek). You can tell because:

It comes with the nominative article η.
The adjective that describes it, ήσυχη, is also in the nominative feminine singular and agrees with it.

So:

Η θάλασσα – nominative (subject)
είναι – verb “is”
ήσυχη – nominative, agreeing with η θάλασσα

What does είναι correspond to in English, and can it ever be left out?

Είναι is the present tense form of the verb είμαι (“to be”). In the present tense, είναι is used for:

he / she / it is
they are

Greek uses the same form είναι for 3rd person singular and plural.

In this sentence, είναι corresponds to “is”:

Η θάλασσα … είναι ήσυχη – “The sea … is calm.”

In standard modern Greek, you do not normally omit είναι in simple sentences like this. You need it to link the subject (η θάλασσα) with the adjective (ήσυχη).

You can move it around for emphasis (e.g. Η θάλασσα κοντά στο νησί ήσυχη είναι το πρωί, with special emphasis), but you don’t just drop it.

Why is the adjective ήσυχη in that exact form, and how would it change with different genders or numbers?

The basic adjective is ήσυχος – ήσυχη – ήσυχο, meaning “quiet / calm”:

masculine: ήσυχος
feminine: ήσυχη
neuter: ήσυχο

Adjectives in Greek agree with the noun in:

gender (masculine / feminine / neuter)
number (singular / plural)
case (nominative / accusative / etc.)

Here, the noun is:

η θάλασσα – feminine, singular, nominative

So the adjective must also be:

feminine → ήσυχη
singular → ήσυχη
nominative → ήσυχη

Some common forms of ήσυχος:

Singular:
- masc: ήσυχος
- fem: ήσυχη
- neut: ήσυχο
Plural:
- masc: ήσυχοι
- fem: ήσυχες
- neut: ήσυχα

If the subject were neuter, e.g. το νερό (“the water”), you’d say:

Το νερό είναι ήσυχο.

What does ήσυχη mean here exactly: “quiet” or “calm”? Could I also use ήρεμη?

Both ήσυχη and ήρεμη can appear in descriptions like this, but there is a nuance:

ήσυχη (from ήσυχος) often means:
- quiet (not noisy)
- calm (no movement / disturbance) In the context of the sea, η θάλασσα είναι ήσυχη usually suggests “the sea is calm, not rough”.
ήρεμη (from ήρεμος – ήρεμη – ήρεμο) leans a bit more toward:
- calm, peaceful, tranquil (often used also for people’s mood)
In this particular sentence about the sea, both are possible:
Η θάλασσα … είναι ήσυχη το πρωί.
Η θάλασσα … είναι ήρεμη το πρωί.

Native speakers often use both for “calm sea”; ήσυχη might also hint at the environment being quiet (no waves, no noise).

What is κοντά grammatically, and how does κοντά στο νησί work?

Κοντά is mainly an adverb meaning “near / close (by)”.

Very often it is used together with the preposition σε (“to / in / at / on”) to specify what something is near:

κοντά σε = “near to / close to”

In speech and writing, σε + το contracts to στο, so:

κοντά σε το νησί → κοντά στο νησί

So κοντά στο νησί literally means “near to the island”, and functions like an adverbial phrase of place (“near the island”).

Structure:

κοντά – “near”
σε – “to / at”
το νησί – “the island”
στο – contraction of σε + το

Why is it στο νησί (with στο, accusative case) to express location, and not του νησιού in the genitive?

In modern Greek, the preposition σε plus the accusative case is used both for:

motion: πάω στο νησί – I go to the island
location: είμαι στο νησί – I am on/at the island

So for “near the island” you say:

κοντά στο νησί – “near (to) the island” (σε + το νησί, accusative)

The genitive (του νησιού) is not the usual way to mark simple physical location. It tends to express possession or more complex relations:

η ακτή του νησιού – the coast of the island
το κλίμα του νησιού – the climate of the island

So, for “near the island”, σε + accusative is the normal pattern:

κοντά στο νησί – correct
κοντά του νησιού – incorrect for this meaning

Why do we say το πρωί with the article? Is there a difference between πρωί and το πρωί?

Πρωί means “morning”. In time expressions, Greek very often uses the definite article, so το πρωί is extremely common.

Rough guideline:

το πρωί – “in the morning / the morning (in general or on a particular day)”
bare πρωί – often feels more like “early” or “in the (early) morning” in some contexts, and is less common as a standalone time expression in this kind of neutral sentence.

In your sentence:

… είναι ήσυχη το πρωί. – “is calm in the morning.”

This is the natural way to say it.
You can sometimes hear είναι ήσυχη πρωί, but it sounds incomplete or odd in standard usage here. For regular time expressions like:

το πρωί – in the morning
το βράδυ – in the evening / at night
το μεσημέρι – at midday

the article το is normally present.

Can I change the word order of this sentence? For example, can I start with Το πρωί?

Yes. Greek word order is fairly flexible, and you can move elements for emphasis or style, as long as the relationships remain clear.

Original:

Η θάλασσα κοντά στο νησί είναι ήσυχη το πρωί.

Some natural alternatives:

Το πρωί η θάλασσα κοντά στο νησί είναι ήσυχη.
– Starting with the time frame: “In the morning, the sea near the island is calm.”
Η θάλασσα είναι ήσυχη το πρωί κοντά στο νησί.
– Slightly unusual emphasis, but still understandable.
Το πρωί, η θάλασσα κοντά στο νησί είναι ήσυχη.
– Same as (1) but with a comma, for a pause (stylistic).

The most neutral versions are usually the original one or the one with Το πρωί at the beginning. If you move words too much, the sentence can start to sound marked or poetic, even if it is still grammatical.

How is each word pronounced and stressed, especially θάλασσα, είναι, and πρωί with the two dots?

Word by word:

Η – /i/
Like English “ee” in “see”.
θάλασσα – /ˈθalasa/
- θ like English th in “think”
- stress on the first syllable: ΘΆ‑λα‑σσα
- both α like “a” in “father”
- σσ is a double s sound, like “ss” in “hiss”.
κοντά – /koˈnda/
- κ like “k”
- ον like “on” (but shorter)
- stress on the second syllable: κο‑ΝΤΆ
στο – /sto/
- like “stoh”.
νησί – /niˈsi/
- ν as in “n”
- η and ι both sound like “ee” in “see”
- stress on the last syllable: νι‑ΣΊ
είναι – /ˈine/ (modern Greek)
- sounds like Í‑ne (“EE‑neh”)
- stress on the first syllable.
ήσυχη – /ˈisixi/
- ή sounds like “ee” in “see”, stressed: Ή‑
- συ like “si” in “sit” but with ee vowel: “see”
- χ here is like the ch in German “Bach” (a voiceless fricative), not like English “ch” in “church”
- stress on the first syllable: Ή‑συ‑χη
το – /to/
- like “toh”.
πρωί – /proˈi/
- πρ like “pr”
- ω like “o” in “more” (without the tailing ‘r’ sound)
- ϊ has two dots (diaeresis): πρωί
  - This shows that ο and ι are pronounced as two separate vowels, not as one “oi” sound.
  - So it is pro‑EE, two syllables: προ‑Ί.

Stress marks (´) show which syllable gets the main stress; the diaeresis (¨) in ϊ in πρωί shows that ι starts a new syllable.