Learn Hardcore Greek: Το μπάσκετ παίζεται συχνά μέσα στο γήπεδο. - Basketball is often played inside the court.

You can sometimes hear Παίζω μπάσκετ (“I play basketball”) with no article, but when μπάσκετ is used as the subject of a sentence, Το μπάσκετ… is the default natural form.

What gender is μπάσκετ, and does it change form in other cases (nominative, genitive, etc.)?

Μπάσκετ is treated as a neuter noun in Greek.

It usually appears with the neuter article:
- το μπάσκετ (nominative/accusative singular)
But the noun itself does not change form: it is indeclinable (like many loanwords ending in a consonant).

So you might see:

Το μπάσκετ είναι ωραίο. – Basketball is nice.
Παίζω μπάσκετ. – I play basketball.

The word μπάσκετ stays the same; only the article (το, του, στο etc.) shows case and sometimes number.

What exactly is παίζεται? Which tense, which person, and which voice is it?

Παίζεται comes from the verb παίζω (to play).

Tense/Aspect: present (imperfective)
Person/Number: 3rd person singular
Voice: passive

So grammatically, παίζεται = “is played”.

A rough breakdown:

παίζ- = stem “play”
-εται = present passive ending, 3rd singular

Compare:

παίζω – I play
παίζεις – you (sg.) play
παίζει – he/she/it plays
παίζεται – it is played

Why does Greek use the passive παίζεται here instead of an active form like παίζουν μπάσκετ?

Greek, like English, uses the passive voice for:

general statements or impersonal truths
when the doer of the action is not important

Το μπάσκετ παίζεται συχνά… focuses on the game itself, not on who is playing. This is similar to English:

“Basketball is often played indoors.”

If you used the active voice:

Οι άνθρωποι παίζουν συχνά μπάσκετ μέσα στο γήπεδο.
“People often play basketball in the court.”

…you would now be focusing on “people” as the subject.

So the passive παίζεται is natural when you talk about the game in general.

What’s the difference between παίζεται and παίζετε? They look very similar.

They are completely different:

παίζεται
- Passive, 3rd person singular: “is played”
- Stress on the first syllable: ΠΑ-ζε-ται → πάζεται
παίζετε
- Active, 2nd person plural: “you (plural) play” / “you (formal) play”
- Stress also on the first syllable, but meaning is different from context: ΠΑΙ-ζε-τε → παίζετε

In writing, you distinguish them by the -ται (passive) vs -τε (active plural).
In this sentence, only παίζεται (is played) makes sense.

What does συχνά mean, and could it be placed somewhere else in the sentence?

Συχνά means “often”. It is an adverb of frequency.

In Greek, adverbs like συχνά are quite flexible in position. All of these are grammatically correct:

Το μπάσκετ παίζεται συχνά μέσα στο γήπεδο.
Το μπάσκετ συχνά παίζεται μέσα στο γήπεδο.
Συχνά το μπάσκετ παίζεται μέσα στο γήπεδο.

Differences are subtle:

Συχνά το μπάσκετ παίζεται… – puts a little more emphasis on “often” (often, it happens that…)
Το μπάσκετ συχνά παίζεται… – emphasizes that this particular activity (basketball) is often played.

All are natural; the original is perfectly fine, neutral word order.

Why do we say μέσα στο γήπεδο? Isn’t στο γήπεδο already “in the court”? Isn’t μέσα redundant?

You are right that:

στο γήπεδο = “in the court/field”

Adding μέσα:

μέσα στο γήπεδο = literally “inside in the court”, i.e. “inside the court”

So:

στο γήπεδο – in/at the court (more neutral)
μέσα στο γήπεδο – inside the court (emphasizes the interior vs outside)

In many contexts, μέσα can be omitted without changing the basic meaning:

Το μπάσκετ παίζεται συχνά στο γήπεδο.

The sentence is still correct; it just lacks that extra emphasis on “inside”.

What exactly is στο? Is it one word or a combination of words?

Στο is a contraction of:

σε + το → στο

Where:

σε = “in / at / to” (general preposition of location/direction)
το = neuter definite article “the”

So:

σε το γήπεδο → στο γήπεδο = “in the court” / “at the court”

Similarly, you will see:

στον = σε + τον (masc. sg.)
στη / στην = σε + τη(ν) (fem. sg.)
στα = σε + τα (plural neuter)

What does γήπεδο mean exactly? Is it more like “court”, “field”, or “stadium”?

Γήπεδο is a general word for a sports ground / pitch / court, depending on the sport.

It can mean:

a football pitch (soccer field) – γήπεδο ποδοσφαίρου
a basketball court – γήπεδο μπάσκετ
a tennis court – sometimes γήπεδο τένις

In everyday Greek:

γήπεδο = the place where a sport is played, usually outdoors or in a sports facility

Other related words:

στάδιο – stadium (often with stands, track, larger events)
γυμναστήριο – gym (the building/room for exercising)
κορτ (from English “court”) – used, but less formal and more specific (e.g. tennis, basketball)

In your sentence, because it’s about μπάσκετ, το γήπεδο is understood as “the (basketball) court” from context.

Could the word order be Το μπάσκετ συχνά παίζεται μέσα στο γήπεδο instead? Is that more or less natural?

Yes, that word order is perfectly natural:

Το μπάσκετ συχνά παίζεται μέσα στο γήπεδο.

Both of these are fine:

Το μπάσκετ παίζεται συχνά μέσα στο γήπεδο.
Το μπάσκετ συχνά παίζεται μέσα στο γήπεδο.

Subtle difference:

1) sounds slightly more neutral.
2) puts a very mild emphasis on συχνά by placing it earlier, but in normal speech both feel almost the same.

Greek word order is relatively flexible, especially with adverbs. You just need to avoid splitting tightly-bound parts (e.g., not putting an adverb inside a verb + clitic structure in a strange way).

Could we completely drop μέσα and just say Το μπάσκετ παίζεται συχνά στο γήπεδο? Would that change the meaning?

Yes, you can absolutely say:

Το μπάσκετ παίζεται συχνά στο γήπεδο.

It is grammatical and natural. The meaning is still:

“Basketball is often played in the court.”

Difference:

With μέσα στο γήπεδο – you highlight “inside the court”, as opposed to outside, in the yard, in the street, etc.
With just στο γήπεδο – a more general “at/in the court”, with less emphasis on “inside”.

In many contexts the difference is very small and often not important.

Is there any reason the sentence uses the present tense παίζεται and not some other tense? Does it express a general fact?

Yes. The present tense in Greek (like in English) is commonly used for:

general truths
habits or repeated actions
typical situations

So Το μπάσκετ παίζεται συχνά μέσα στο γήπεδο. expresses a general fact or habit:

“(In general / Typically) basketball is often played in the court.”

If you changed the tense, you would change the meaning:

Το μπάσκετ παιζόταν συχνά… – “Basketball was often played…” (in the past)
Το μπάσκετ θα παίζεται συχνά… – “Basketball will often be played…” (in the future / speculation)

The simple present παίζεται is the natural choice for a timeless or habitual statement.

Since μπάσκετ is a loanword, does it ever get a Greek plural or other endings, like μπάσκετα?

No, in normal standard Greek μπάσκετ is:

indeclinable (it does not change form)
uncountable in practice, like English “basketball”

You don’t say:

✗ τα μπάσκετα (this sounds wrong)

Instead, you express quantity in other ways:

αγώνας μπάσκετ – a basketball game/match
δύο αγώνες μπάσκετ – two basketball games
ομάδα μπάσκετ – basketball team
τρεις ομάδες μπάσκετ – three basketball teams

So, το μπάσκετ stays μπάσκετ in all cases; you change the article or the surrounding words, not the noun itself.