Breakdown of Στο εστιατόριο η σερβιτόρα φέρνει ποτήρια, κουτάλια, πιρούνια και μαχαίρια για όλους.
Questions & Answers about Στο εστιατόριο η σερβιτόρα φέρνει ποτήρια, κουτάλια, πιρούνια και μαχαίρια για όλους.
Στο is a contraction of σε (in/at/to) + το (the, neuter singular).
- Σε + το εστιατόριο → στο εστιατόριο
- Literally: in/at the restaurant.
If you said σε εστιατόριο (without the article), it would mean in a restaurant (unspecified, any restaurant).
So:
- Στο εστιατόριο = at the restaurant (a particular one we both know about).
- Σε εστιατόριο = at a restaurant (not specified which).
In this sentence we’re talking about a specific restaurant, so the definite article (and therefore στο) is natural.
The form of σε + definite article changes with gender and number. Common contractions are:
στο = σε + το
- for neuter singular (accusative) and also many masculine singular nouns in -ος
- e.g. στο εστιατόριο, στο σπίτι, στο δρόμο
στη(ν) = σε + τη(ν)
- for feminine singular (accusative)
- e.g. στην κουζίνα, στην τάξη, στη θάλασσα
στους = σε + τους
- for masculine plural (accusative)
- e.g. στους φίλους, στους μαθητές
στα = σε + τα
- for neuter plural (accusative)
- e.g. στα ποτήρια, στα μαχαίρια
In your sentence, εστιατόριο is neuter, so we get στο εστιατόριο.
Greek word order is quite flexible.
- Στο εστιατόριο η σερβιτόρα φέρνει…
– literally: At the restaurant the waitress brings…
– This puts light emphasis on the place first (we are talking specifically about what happens at the restaurant).
You can also say:
- Η σερβιτόρα φέρνει ποτήρια… στο εστιατόριο.
– neutral order, starting with the subject.
Both are grammatically correct. Putting Στο εστιατόριο at the beginning is like an English sentence that begins with a setting:
- At the restaurant, the waitress brings…
It’s a stylistic choice, not a different grammar rule.
Modern Greek uses the definite article much more often than English, especially:
- before professions, roles and people:
- η σερβιτόρα (the waitress)
- ο γιατρός (the doctor)
- η δασκάλα (the teacher)
In this sentence we are talking about the waitress in this restaurant, i.e. the one who serves us, so the definite article η is natural.
You can omit the article σερβιτόρα in some special contexts (e.g. in signs, headlines, very general statements), but in a normal narrative sentence like this, Greeks will almost always say η σερβιτόρα.
Φέρνει is:
- Person/number: 3rd person singular (he/she/it brings)
- Tense/aspect: Present Indicative (covers both simple and continuous: brings / is bringing)
The dictionary (base) form is φέρνω (= I bring). A mini present-tense paradigm:
- εγώ φέρνω – I bring
- εσύ φέρνεις – you bring
- αυτός/αυτή/αυτό φέρει / φέρνει* – he/she/it brings
- εμείς φέρνουμε – we bring
- εσείς φέρνετε – you (pl./formal) bring
- αυτοί/αυτές/αυτά φέρνουν(ε) – they bring
*In modern spoken Greek, φέρνει is standard; φέρει is more formal/literary.
In this sentence, the subject is η σερβιτόρα, so we use φέρνει (“she brings / is bringing”).
All four nouns here are neuter plural and take the same plural ending -ια. Their singular forms are:
- το ποτήρι → τα ποτήρια (glass → glasses)
- το κουτάλι → τα κουτάλια (spoon → spoons)
- το πιρούνι → τα πιρούνια (fork → forks)
- το μαχαίρι → τα μαχαίρια (knife → knives)
So in this sentence, all of them are:
- neuter
- plural
- in the accusative case (because they are the direct objects of φέρνει).
In Greek, the plural definite article (τα) is used when we are talking about specific, known items.
- Τα ποτήρια, τα κουτάλια… = the glasses, the spoons… (a specific set that we have in mind)
In your sentence, the waitress is just bringing some glasses, spoons, forks and knives, not a particular known group that has already been defined. So they are more like indefinite plurals:
- ποτήρια, κουτάλια, πιρούνια, μαχαίρια ≈ glasses, spoons, forks, knives (in general, not “the” ones).
Greek often drops the article with plural countable nouns when the meaning is generic or indefinite, similar to English:
- Γενικά, αγοράζω μήλα. = In general, I buy apples.
If the context made them specific, you could say:
- Η σερβιτόρα φέρνει τα ποτήρια, τα κουτάλια, τα πιρούνια και τα μαχαίρια για όλους.
(the particular set of items we already know about).
The usual pattern in Greek for a simple list is exactly like in English:
- A, B, C και D
So:
- ποτήρια, κουτάλια, πιρούνια και μαχαίρια
This is the normal, neutral way to list items. You can repeat και for emphasis or style:
- και ποτήρια και κουτάλια και πιρούνια και μαχαίρια
This sounds more emphatic, sometimes a bit dramatic or expressive, like saying “both glasses and spoons and forks and knives”. In your sentence we just want a plain list, so και appears only before the last item.
Για is a preposition meaning for. It is followed by the accusative case.
Όλους is the accusative plural of όλος (all, everyone).
- όλοι = nominative plural (subject form: all / everyone does something)
- όλους = accusative plural (object form: for all / for everyone)
So:
- για όλους = for everyone / for all (people present)
We use όλους here because it is the object of the preposition για. The gender is masculine plural, but in modern Greek masculine plural is often used as the default when talking about a mixed or unspecified group of people.
The sentence is:
Στο εστιατόριο η σερβιτόρα φέρνει ποτήρια, κουτάλια, πιρούνια και μαχαίρια για όλους.
Στο εστιατόριο
- εστιατόριο: neuter singular accusative (object of σε)
- στο: preposition+article matching that case
η σερβιτόρα
- feminine singular nominative (subject of φέρνει)
φέρνει
- verb, present tense, 3rd person singular
ποτήρια, κουτάλια, πιρούνια, μαχαίρια
- neuter plural accusative (direct objects of φέρνει)
για όλους
- όλους: masculine plural accusative (object of για)
So the nominative here is η σερβιτόρα (the one who acts), and all the rest of the nouns are in the accusative, as objects of a verb or preposition.