Learn Hardcore Greek: Το περιοδικό έχει πάντα ένα μικρό θέμα για τέχνη και ένα για αθλήματα. - The magazine always has a small topic about art and one about sports.

So ένα μικρό θέμα για τέχνη is naturally understood as a small piece/section about art, not “a small theme about art.” Translating it as section or article is more idiomatic English.

Why is it Το περιοδικό and not something else? What does the article Το tell us?

Το is the neuter singular definite article the.

το = the (neuter singular)
περιοδικό = magazine (neuter noun ending in -ό)

So Το περιοδικό means the magazine (a particular, known magazine). If you wanted to say a magazine in general, you’d say Ένα περιοδικό.

The neuter article το agrees in gender, number, and case with the noun περιοδικό.

Why is the verb έχει used here? Can έχει really mean “contains” or “includes”?

Yes. έχει is the 3rd person singular of έχω = to have.

In Greek, έχω is used quite broadly and covers meanings like:

to have/possess:
- Το περιοδικό έχει πολλές σελίδες. = The magazine has many pages.
to contain / to include (very natural in Greek):
- Το περιοδικό έχει ένα μικρό θέμα για τέχνη.
  Literally: The magazine has a small topic about art.
  Idiomatically: The magazine includes/contains a small section on art.

So using έχει here is completely normal Greek. English just prefers has a section / includes, but Greek keeps έχει.

Where does πάντα normally go in the sentence? Could we move it around?

In the example:

Το περιοδικό έχει πάντα ένα μικρό θέμα…

πάντα (always) comes between the verb έχει and its object.

Other common positions are:

Το περιοδικό πάντα έχει ένα μικρό θέμα…
Πάντα το περιοδικό έχει ένα μικρό θέμα… (more marked/emphatic)

All of these are grammatically correct. The version in your sentence:

Το περιοδικό έχει πάντα ένα μικρό θέμα…

is perhaps the most neutral and common-sounding. In general, adverbs like πάντα are fairly flexible in position, but they usually stay close to the verb.

Why is it ένα μικρό θέμα and then just ένα για αθλήματα? Where did θέμα go in the second part?

Greek often omits repeated nouns when the meaning is clear from context.

The full, “complete” version would be:

Το περιοδικό έχει πάντα ένα μικρό θέμα για τέχνη και ένα μικρό θέμα για αθλήματα.

Since μικρό θέμα would be repeated, Greek naturally shortens it to:

…ένα μικρό θέμα για τέχνη και ένα για αθλήματα.

Here, the second ένα is understood as ένα (μικρό θέμα). English does this too:

“The magazine has a small section on art and one on sports.”

We also drop “section” in the second part.

Why is μικρό in the neuter form μικρό and not something like μικρός?

Adjectives in Greek must agree with the noun in:

gender (masculine / feminine / neuter)
number (singular / plural)
case

Here:

θέμα is neuter singular.
The adjective μικρός (small) has the neuter singular form μικρό.
So we must say μικρό θέμα, not μικρός θέμα.

Forms of μικρός:

masculine: μικρός (ο μικρός σκύλος)
feminine: μικρή (η μικρή γάτα)
neuter: μικρό (το μικρό θέμα)

What exactly does για mean here? Is it always used for “about / on” a topic?

The preposition για basically means for, but very often it is used where English uses about / on when talking about topics:

ένα θέμα για τέχνη = a topic/section about art
ένα βιβλίο για την ιστορία = a book about history
μιλάμε για πολιτική = we’re talking about politics

So in topic/context expressions, για is the normal choice for “about / on.”

Why is there no article before τέχνη and αθλήματα? Why not για την τέχνη or για τα αθλήματα?

Greek can drop the definite article when talking about things in a general/abstract sense, especially after για (for/about):

για τέχνη = about art (art in general)
για αθλήματα = about sports (sports in general)

If you add the article, you usually make it more specific:

για την τέχνη = about the art (a specific art, or art as a more defined concept)
για τα αθλήματα = about the sports (some particular sports already known in the context)

In your sentence, the magazine has regular, general sections on art and sports as broad subjects, so no article is natural: για τέχνη και για αθλήματα.

Why is τέχνη singular, but αθλήματα is plural?

It’s mostly a matter of how each concept is usually spoken about:

τέχνη (art) is often treated as a singular mass/abstract noun:
- μου αρέσει η τέχνη = I like art.
αθλήματα (sports) is commonly used in the plural, because “sports” in English is also usually plural when you mean different sporting activities as a category.

You could say:

για αθλητισμό = about sport (as an activity, in general)

But αθλήματα (sports) is very natural in the meaning a sports section (likely covering many different sports).

Could we say ένα θέμα τέχνης instead of ένα θέμα για τέχνη? What’s the difference?

Both are possible, but there is a nuance:

ένα θέμα για τέχνη
- more straightforward: a topic/section about art
- very common and neutral wording.
ένα θέμα τέχνης
- literally: a topic of art
- can sound a bit more formal or literary, and can also suggest a topic that belongs to the field of art, not just any topic that happens to be about art.

In everyday speech about magazine sections, θέμα για τέχνη is the natural choice.

Can πάντα go at the very end of the sentence, like Το περιοδικό έχει ένα μικρό θέμα για τέχνη και ένα για αθλήματα πάντα?

That word order is possible, but it sounds unusual or more poetic/emphatic. The most natural positions keep πάντα close to the verb:

Το περιοδικό έχει πάντα ένα μικρό θέμα…
Το περιοδικό πάντα έχει ένα μικρό θέμα…

Putting πάντα at the very end tends to sound marked, as if you’re stressing “always” in a special way. For ordinary, neutral speech, it’s better in the position you see in the original sentence.

Does the word order Το περιοδικό έχει πάντα ένα μικρό θέμα… feel fixed, or could we put ένα μικρό θέμα before έχει?

Greek word order is flexible, but not everything sounds equally natural.

Το περιοδικό έχει πάντα ένα μικρό θέμα…
is completely natural.
Το περιοδικό πάντα έχει ένα μικρό θέμα…
also natural.
Ένα μικρό θέμα έχει πάντα το περιοδικό…
possible, but sounds more stylistic/emphatic (highlighting “a small section”).

However, something like:

Το περιοδικό ένα μικρό θέμα έχει πάντα…

would usually sound awkward. In neutral speech, it’s best to keep the pattern:

[Subject] + [Verb] + [Adverb like πάντα] + [Object]
as in the original sentence.