Learn Hardcore Greek: Ο δρόμος μέχρι το πανεπιστήμιο είναι μακρύς.

Ο δρόμος = the road (nominative, subject)
τον δρόμο / το δρόμο = the road (accusative, object), e.g.
Βλέπω τον δρόμο. = I see the road.

In English, the road looks the same in subject and object position, but in Greek the article (and often the noun ending) changes with the case. For a subject, you need ο δρόμος.

What gender and case are δρόμος and πανεπιστήμιο, and why?

δρόμος
- Gender: masculine
- Case: nominative
- Role: subject of the sentence
- Full phrase: ο δρόμος
πανεπιστήμιο
- Gender: neuter
- Case: accusative
- Role: object of the preposition μέχρι
- Full phrase: το πανεπιστήμιο

In Greek, most prepositions (including μέχρι) take the accusative. So we say μέχρι το πανεπιστήμιο, not e.g. μέχρι του πανεπιστημίου in modern standard Greek.

What exactly does μέχρι mean here? Is it to, until or up to?

In this sentence, μέχρι means up to / as far as, and by extension to (in a spatial sense):

Ο δρόμος μέχρι το πανεπιστήμιο είναι μακρύς.
= The road (up) to the university is long.

μέχρι is a versatile word:

Spatial:
Πήγα μέχρι το σπίτι σου. = I went up to your house.
Temporal:
Θα δουλέψω μέχρι τις πέντε. = I’ll work until five.

So you can think of it as “up to / until”, and in this sentence that naturally becomes “to” in English.

Why do we say μέχρι το πανεπιστήμιο and not just μέχρι πανεπιστήμιο?

In Greek, you very often need the definite article with nouns where English might leave it out.

μέχρι το πανεπιστήμιο
literally: up to *the university*

A bare noun without an article (μέχρι πανεπιστήμιο) sounds incomplete or incorrect in normal modern Greek. You’d only drop the article in very special, fixed expressions (e.g. some set phrases, headlines, or telegraphic styles), not in a normal sentence like this.

What case is το πανεπιστήμιο in, and why?

το πανεπιστήμιο is in the accusative singular neuter.

Reason: in modern Greek, prepositions almost always govern the accusative. Since μέχρι is a preposition, the noun that follows it goes into the accusative:

το πανεπιστήμιο (nominative = accusative in neuter)
With a masculine noun you’d clearly see the change, e.g.
μέχρι τον σταθμό (station), not μέχρι ο σταθμός.

Why is the adjective μακρύς in that form? How would it change with other genders?

Adjectives in Greek must agree with the noun in gender, number, and case.

Here the noun is:

ο δρόμος = masculine, singular, nominative.

So the predicate adjective must also be:

μακρύς = masculine, singular, nominative.

Basic forms of μακρύς (“long”):

Masculine: μακρύς (nom.), μακρύ (acc.)
Feminine: μακριά or μακρία
Neuter: μακρύ

Examples:

Ο δρόμος είναι μακρύς.
The road is long.
Η διαδρομή είναι μακριά.
The route is long / far.
Το ταξίδι είναι μακρύ.
The trip is long.

Could I say Ο μακρύς δρόμος μέχρι το πανεπιστήμιο είναι δύσκολος? Does that change the meaning?

Yes, that’s correct Greek, but the meaning and focus change slightly.

Ο δρόμος μέχρι το πανεπιστήμιο είναι μακρύς.
The road to the university is long.
– Neutral statement: “this particular road is long.”
Ο μακρύς δρόμος μέχρι το πανεπιστήμιο είναι δύσκολος.
The long road to the university is difficult.
– Now μακρύς is an attributive adjective (the long road), and the verb tells you something new about that already-identified long road (is difficult).

So:

Adjective after “είναι” → predicate: a new property (“is long”).
Adjective before the noun → attributive: helps identify which road.

What tense and person is είναι? How would I say was long or will be long?

είναι is:

Verb: είμαι (to be)
Person: 3rd person singular
Tense: present

So είναι = he/she/it is; they are (depending on context).

To change the tense:

Ο δρόμος μέχρι το πανεπιστήμιο ήταν μακρύς.
The road to the university was long. (past)
Ο δρόμος μέχρι το πανεπιστήμιο θα είναι μακρύς.
The road to the university will be long. (future)

Can this Greek sentence also mean “It’s a long way to the university”, not just literally “The road to the university is long”?

Yes. Ο δρόμος can mean both:

a physical road/street, and
more loosely, the way / distance / journey.

So Ο δρόμος μέχρι το πανεπιστήμιο είναι μακρύς is naturally understood in both senses:

Literal: The road to the university is long.
More idiomatic: It’s a long way to the university.

How do you pronounce the whole sentence? Are there any tricky sounds?

A rough phonetic guide (stresses in bold syllables):

Ο δρόμος → o DRO-mos
- δ is like English th in this (voiced).
μέχρι → ME-chri
- χρ is a bit like German Bach
  - r; a rough h plus rolled/flapped r.
το πανεπιστήμιο → to pa-ne-pi-STI-mi-o
- Stress on -στí-.
είναι → Í-ne
- ει here sounds like English ee.
μακρύς → ma-KRIS
- Final ς is just an s sound.

Altogether (approximate):
o DRO-mos ME-chri to pa-ne-pi-STI-mi-o Í-ne ma-KRIS

Why does δρόμος end with this special ς shape? When do I use σ and when ς?

Greek has two written forms of sigma:

σ – used at the beginning or in the middle of a word
e.g. σπίτι, μέσα
ς – used only at the end of a word
e.g. δρόμος, καλώς

So:

δρόμοσ ❌ (wrong)
δρόμος ✅ (correct – final sigma ς at the end)

Could I replace μέχρι with για or προς here? What would change?

You can use other prepositions, but the nuance changes:

Ο δρόμος για το πανεπιστήμιο είναι μακρύς.
– Often understood as “the road leading to / for the university is long”.
– Focus on destination/purpose, a bit less on the idea of distance “up to that point”.
Ο δρόμος προς το πανεπιστήμιο είναι μακρύς.
– More formal; means “the road towards the university is long”.
– Suggests direction.
Ο δρόμος μέχρι το πανεπιστήμιο είναι μακρύς.
– Emphasises the distance up to that endpoint: all the way until you reach the university.

All are possible, but μέχρι is the most natural if you want to stress the length of the way all the way there.