Breakdown of Το περπάτημα είναι άθλημα, αλλά και όταν χορεύεις κάνεις καλή άσκηση.
Questions & Answers about Το περπάτημα είναι άθλημα, αλλά και όταν χορεύεις κάνεις καλή άσκηση.
In Greek, when you talk about an action as a general activity or concept, you usually use the neuter definite article το in front of the verbal noun:
- το περπάτημα = walking (the activity in general)
- το διάβασμα = reading
- το τρέξιμο = running
So:
- Το περπάτημα είναι άθλημα. = Walking is a sport.
The article το here doesn’t mean “the” in a specific sense; it’s a normal way to nominalize an action and talk about it in a general, abstract way.
Without the article (Περπάτημα είναι άθλημα) sounds unnatural here.
περπατάω / περπατώ is the verb “to walk”.
- Περπατάω κάθε μέρα. = I walk every day.
το περπάτημα is a noun meaning “walking” (the activity).
- Μου αρέσει το περπάτημα. = I like walking.
- Το περπάτημα είναι άθλημα. = Walking is a sport.
So:
- Use περπατάω when you need a verb (“I walk”, “you walk”).
- Use το περπάτημα when you talk about walking as a thing/activity (“Walking is fun”, “I love walking”).
Functionally, yes, it’s very similar.
Modern Greek doesn’t use an infinitive like “to walk”. To make something like English “walking” as a noun (a gerund), Greek commonly uses:
- a verbal noun: το περπάτημα (the walking)
- or το + να + verb: το να περπατάς (literally “the to walk”)
In this sentence, το περπάτημα is exactly filling the role of English “walking” as a general activity:
- Το περπάτημα είναι άθλημα.
= Walking is a sport.
So yes, το περπάτημα is used much like an English gerund.
You can say:
- Το να περπατάς είναι άθλημα.
The meaning is close, but the nuance is slightly different:
Το περπάτημα είναι άθλημα.
Sounds more general, more “dictionary-like”: Walking (as an activity) is a sport.Το να περπατάς είναι άθλημα.
Focuses more on the act itself, almost like “The act of you walking is a sport.”
It feels a bit more “verbal” and sometimes slightly more informal or explanatory.
In everyday speech, Το περπάτημα είναι άθλημα is smoother and more idiomatic in a general statement like this.
Greek is a “null subject” language. The subject pronoun (I, you, he, etc.) is usually dropped, because the verb ending already tells you who the subject is.
- χορεύεις = you dance
- κάνεις = you do/make
So:
- όταν χορεύεις literally is “when (you) dance” – the “you” is understood.
- κάνεις καλή άσκηση = “(you) get/do good exercise”.
You could say όταν εσύ χορεύεις, εσύ κάνεις καλή άσκηση, but that would sound like heavy emphasis on you, as in “when you dance, you get good exercise (as opposed to someone else)”. In normal statements, pronouns are omitted.
- αλλά = but
- και = and / also
When you combine them as αλλά και, it often works like “but also” and adds a feeling of “not only X, but also Y”.
In the sentence:
- Το περπάτημα είναι άθλημα, αλλά και όταν χορεύεις κάνεις καλή άσκηση.
= Walking is a sport, but also when you dance you get good exercise.
The structure implies:
- Not only is walking a sport,
- but also dancing gives you good exercise.
If you said only:
- Το περπάτημα είναι άθλημα, αλλά όταν χορεύεις κάνεις καλή άσκηση.
it would still mean “but when you dance you get good exercise,” but it would sound a bit more like a contrast and less like an addition. αλλά και softens it and clearly marks it as “also in addition to that”.
In Greek, the present tense is used both for:
- Actions happening now
- General, habitual actions or truths
In όταν χορεύεις κάνεις καλή άσκηση, the present tense is generic / habitual:
- όταν χορεύεις = whenever you dance / when you dance (in general, any time)
- κάνεις καλή άσκηση = you get good exercise (as a general result)
So it’s not about right now at a specific party. It’s a general rule: Whenever you dance, you get good exercise. That generic use of the present is very common in Greek, like in English sentences such as “When you eat too much, you feel tired.”
Literally:
- κάνεις καλή άσκηση
= you do good exercise / you get good exercise
The verb κάνω means do / make, but in Greek it’s also used where English might say “get, take, have” for activities:
- κάνω άσκηση = I exercise / I do exercise
- κάνω μπάνιο = I take a bath
- κάνω δουλειά = I do work
So:
- όταν χορεύεις, κάνεις καλή άσκηση.
= when you dance, you get good exercise.
If you tried είναι καλή άσκηση (“is good exercise”), you would change the structure:
- Το περπάτημα είναι καλή άσκηση. = Walking is good exercise.
- Ο χορός είναι καλή άσκηση. = Dancing is good exercise.
That focuses on the activity itself being good exercise.
κάνεις καλή άσκηση focuses on you, the person, getting/doing good exercise by doing that activity.
In Greek, adjectives agree in gender, number, and case with the noun they describe.
- η άσκηση = exercise (feminine, singular)
- So the adjective must also be feminine singular: καλή.
Forms of καλός (“good”):
- καλός (masculine singular)
- καλή (feminine singular)
- καλό (neuter singular)
Since άσκηση is feminine:
- καλή άσκηση = good exercise (correct)
- καλό άσκηση would be wrong, because καλό is neuter and doesn’t agree with η άσκηση.
They are related but not the same:
το άθλημα = a sport (like a recognized sporting activity)
- Το ποδόσφαιρο είναι άθλημα. = Football is a sport.
η άσκηση = exercise (physical activity for fitness/health)
- Κάνω άσκηση κάθε μέρα. = I exercise every day.
In the sentence:
Το περπάτημα είναι άθλημα
= Walking is a sport (it can be an organized sporting activity).όταν χορεύεις κάνεις καλή άσκηση
= when you dance you get good exercise (it’s good physical activity).
So άθλημα is about the activity as a sport, while άσκηση is about the exercise / workout it gives you.
You could say:
- Το περπάτημα είναι ένα άθλημα. = Walking is a sport (one sport).
But in Greek, when you are making general classifications (X is a Y), it is very common to omit the article:
- Ο σκύλος είναι ζώο. = The dog is an animal.
- Το ποδόσφαιρο είναι άθλημα. = Football is a sport.
- Το περπάτημα είναι άθλημα. = Walking is a sport.
Both είναι άθλημα and είναι ένα άθλημα are grammatically correct; είναι άθλημα just sounds more like a general statement of category.
With καλή άσκηση, we’re using καλή as a descriptive adjective before a singular abstract noun, so no article is needed:
- κάνεις καλή άσκηση = you get good exercise.
Adding an article (κάνεις μια καλή άσκηση) would sound more like “you do one good exercise (one specific exercise)”, which is not what is meant here.
The comma before αλλά is natural and standard:
- Το περπάτημα είναι άθλημα, αλλά και όταν χορεύεις κάνεις καλή άσκηση.
You can absolutely also write:
- Το περπάτημα είναι άθλημα, αλλά και όταν χορεύεις, κάνεις καλή άσκηση.
Putting a comma after όταν χορεύεις separates the dependent clause όταν χορεύεις from the main clause κάνεις καλή άσκηση, just like in English: “When you dance, you get good exercise.”
So:
- With a comma after χορεύεις: slightly clearer structure, more formal.
- Without it: still correct and very common in everyday writing.
The important one stylistically is the comma before αλλά.
περπάτημα is pronounced:
per-PA-ti-ma (stress on the second syllable ΠΑ)
The verb is:
- περπατάω / περπατώ = I walk
Pronounced: per-pa-TA-o or per-pa-TO (stress on ΤΑ / ΤΟ)
The noun περπάτημα is formed from the verb stem περπατ- with a suffix:
- περπατ-ά-ω → περπάτ-ημα
The stress shifts to keep the accent within normal bounds for a three-syllable noun: περ-ΠΑ-τη-μα.
So they’re directly related:
- περπατάω (verb) → το περπάτημα (noun: walking).
Yes, you can say:
- Ο χορός είναι καλή άσκηση.
= Dancing is good exercise.
The difference in focus is:
όταν χορεύεις, κάνεις καλή άσκηση
= when you dance, you get good exercise.
Focus: on you and what happens when you dance.Ο χορός είναι καλή άσκηση.
= dancing (as an activity) is good exercise.
Focus: on χορός (dance) as an activity that is good exercise.
Both are correct; the original sentence pairs “Το περπάτημα είναι άθλημα” (noun as subject) with a slightly different structure in the second part to keep the wording more varied and to highlight the person doing the dancing.