Ο ελληνικός καφές είναι πολύ καλός.

to be

Breakdown of Ο ελληνικός καφές είναι πολύ καλός.

• ο καφές: the coffee
• πολύ: very
• καλός: good

Questions & Answers about Ο ελληνικός καφές είναι πολύ καλός.

Why does the sentence start with Ο? Is it just “the”?

Yes. Ο is the masculine singular definite article in the nominative case, and it usually translates as “the.”

• Ο ελληνικός καφές = “the Greek coffee.”
• In Greek, the definite article is used much more often than in English, especially when talking generally about a whole category:
  • Ο ελληνικός καφές είναι πολύ καλός. = “Greek coffee is very good (in general).”
• The article is capitalized here only because it’s the first word of the sentence; normally it’s written ο.

Why is ελληνικός before καφές? Could it come after, like in some other languages?

The normal position for an adjective in Greek is between the article and the noun:

• ο ελληνικός καφές = the Greek coffee
  (article + adjective + noun)

You can see adjectives after the noun, but that is marked or emphatic:

• ο καφές ο ελληνικός – literally “the coffee, the Greek one,” with a more contrastive or descriptive feel (e.g. distinguishing it from some other coffee).

For a neutral statement like this, ο ελληνικός καφές is the standard order.

Why does ελληνικός end in -ός? What is that telling me?