Το τέλος της συναυλίας ήταν ήσυχο, γιατί όλοι άκουγαν τη φωνή της τραγουδίστριας.

The end of the concert was quiet, because everyone was listening to the singer’s (female) voice.

Breakdown of Το τέλος της συναυλίας ήταν ήσυχο, γιατί όλοι άκουγαν τη φωνή της τραγουδίστριας.

• είμαι: to be
• γιατί: because
• ακούω: to listen to
• ήσυχος: quiet
• όλοι: everyone
• η φωνή: the voice
• η συναυλία: the concert
• το τέλος: the end
• η τραγουδίστρια: the female singer

Questions & Answers about Το τέλος της συναυλίας ήταν ήσυχο, γιατί όλοι άκουγαν τη φωνή της τραγουδίστριας.

What does το τέλος mean here, and why is the article το?

Το τέλος means the end.

• τέλος is a neuter noun in Greek.
• The definite article for neuter singular in the nominative case is το.

So:

• το τέλος = the end (subject of the sentence)
• Gender: neuter
• Number: singular
• Case: nominative (because it’s the subject of ήταν = was)

How does της συναυλίας work? Why is συναυλίας in that form?

της συναυλίας literally means of the concert.

• συναυλία = concert (feminine noun, nominative singular)
• της συναυλίας = of the concert (feminine, genitive singular)

In Greek, possession or “of” relationships are usually shown with the genitive case, not with a separate word like of.

So:

• το τέλος της συναυλίας = the end of the concert
  
  • τέλος = end (neuter, nominative)
  • της συναυλίας = of the concert (feminine, genitive)

Why is the adjective ήσυχο and not something like ήσυχος or ήσυχη?

Adjectives in Greek must agree with the noun in:

• gender
• number
• case

Here:

• Noun: το τέλος
  
  • neuter, singular, nominative
• Adjective: ήσυχος, -η, -ο (= quiet)

The correct form for neuter, singular, nominative is ήσυχο.

So:

• ήσυχος → masculine
• ήσυχη → feminine
• ήσυχο → neuter

Because τέλος is neuter, you must say:

• το ήσυχο τέλος
• Το τέλος … ήταν ήσυχο.

What does ήσυχο mean exactly? Is it more like quiet or calm?

ήσυχος / ήσυχη / ήσυχο usually means:

• quiet (not noisy)
• or peaceful/calm (no disturbance)

In this sentence:

• Το τέλος της συναυλίας ήταν ήσυχο =
  The end of the concert was quiet / peaceful.

Both quiet and calm work in English, but here the focus is on lack of noise because everyone was listening.

Why is there no word for because like επειδή? What is γιατί doing here?

γιατί can mean both:

• why (in questions)
• because (in answers / explanations)

Here it means because:

• … ήταν ήσυχο, γιατί όλοι άκουγαν …
  = … was quiet, because everyone was listening …

You could also use επειδή here with almost the same meaning:

• ήταν ήσυχο, επειδή όλοι άκουγαν …

In everyday speech γιατί is more common and a bit more casual; επειδή can sound slightly more formal or explicit as “since/because”, but both are correct.

Why is the verb άκουγαν (imperfect) used and not άκουσαν (aorist)?

Greek uses different past tenses to show aspect (how the action is viewed):

• άκουγαν = imperfect (they were listening / they used to listen)
  
  • describes an ongoing or continuous past action
• άκουσαν = aorist (they listened / they heard)
  
  • describes a completed event as a whole

In this sentence:

• όλοι άκουγαν τη φωνή της τραγουδίστριας
  = everyone was listening to the singer’s voice

The idea is that during the end of the concert, people were in the process of listening, which explains why it was quiet. So the imperfect άκουγαν fits better than the aorist άκουσαν.

What is όλοι exactly, and why does the verb take the plural form άκουγαν?

όλοι means everyone / all (people).

• It’s the subject of the verb.
• It is masculine plural (used by default for mixed or unknown groups of people).

Because the subject is plural, the verb must also be plural:

• όλοι άκουγαν = everyone was listening / they all were listening

If you added a noun, it might look like:

• Όλοι οι θεατές άκουγαν… = All the spectators were listening…

Why is it τη φωνή and not η φωνή?

Greek articles change form depending on case.

• η φωνή = the voice (feminine, nominative singular – subject form)
• τη φωνή = the voice (feminine, accusative singular – direct object form)

Here, τη φωνή is the direct object of the verb άκουγαν:

• όλοι άκουγαν τη φωνή …
  = everyone was listening to the voice …

So it must be in the accusative, hence τη, not η.

How does της τραγουδίστριας work? Why does it end in -ας?

τραγουδίστρια means female singer (feminine noun).

Forms:

• η τραγουδίστρια = the singer (nominative)
• της τραγουδίστριας = of the singer (genitive)

The -ας ending here marks the feminine genitive singular.

In the phrase:

• τη φωνή της τραγουδίστριας

you literally have:

• τη φωνή = the voice (object, accusative)
• της τραγουδίστριας = of the singer (possessor, genitive)

Together: the singer’s voice / the voice of the singer.

Why do we say το τέλος της συναυλίας instead of something like η συναυλία τελείωσε ήσυχα?

Both are grammatical, but they express the idea differently:

1. Το τέλος της συναυλίας ήταν ήσυχο

   • Focuses on the end as a “thing/state”:
     The end of the concert was quiet.

2. Η συναυλία τελείωσε ήσυχα

   • Focuses on the action of ending:
     The concert ended quietly.

In the original sentence, using το τέλος as a noun allows you to describe that specific moment/situation (the end) and comment on its quality (ήσυχο) more like a characteristic of that phase.