Ο καφές στο εστιατόριο είναι τόσο ακριβός όσο και το γλυκό.

The coffee at the restaurant is as expensive as the dessert.

Breakdown of Ο καφές στο εστιατόριο είναι τόσο ακριβός όσο και το γλυκό.

• είμαι: to be
• ο καφές: the coffee
• σε: at
• ακριβός: expensive
• το εστιατόριο: the restaurant
• και: also
• το γλυκό: the dessert
• τόσο ... όσο: as ... as

Questions & Answers about Ο καφές στο εστιατόριο είναι τόσο ακριβός όσο και το γλυκό.

What does the structure τόσο … όσο mean in this sentence?

Τόσο … όσο is the standard Greek way to say as … as (equality of degree).

Structure:

• τόσο + adjective/adverb + όσο + noun/pronoun/clause

In the sentence:

• τόσο ακριβός όσο (και) το γλυκό
  = as expensive as the dessert

A couple more examples:

• Είναι τόσο ψηλός όσο ο αδερφός του.
  He is as tall as his brother.
• Τρέχει τόσο γρήγορα όσο εσύ.
  He/She runs as fast as you.

Why is there a και after όσο? What does όσο και το γλυκό add?

The και here is optional and adds a slight nuance of “even / also”, but it doesn’t change the basic meaning.

• όσο το γλυκό
• όσο και το γλυκό

Both mean: as … as the dessert.

Using και:

• often makes the phrase sound a bit more natural or emphatic in everyday speech,
• can feel like: as expensive as the dessert, too / equally expensive to the dessert.

Grammatically, both are correct; όσο (και) + noun is very common.

Why do we say Ο καφές and το γλυκό with the definite article? In English we just say coffee and dessert.

Modern Greek uses the definite article much more often than English, especially with concrete nouns.

Here:

• Ο καφές = the coffee (meaning the coffee served there / that coffee)
• το γλυκό = the dessert (the particular dessert on the menu, or dessert in that place)

Even when English would use a general noun (coffee is expensive), Greek often uses the article:

• Ο καφές είναι ακριβός.
  Literally: The coffee is expensive.
  But it can mean coffee (in general) is expensive or the coffee (here) is expensive, depending on context.

So Ο καφές στο εστιατόριο naturally uses the article for καφές, and το γλυκό does the same for γλυκό.

What exactly is στο εστιατόριο? Why στο and not σε το?

Στο is the contracted form of σε + το:

• σε = in / at / to (very general preposition)
• το = the (neuter singular article)
• σε + το εστιατόριο → στο εστιατόριο

These contractions are standard in both speech and writing:

• σε + το → στο
• σε + τον → στον
• σε + τη(ν) → στη(ν)
• σε + τα → στα

So στο εστιατόριο literally means in/at the restaurant. English chooses in or at based on context; Greek just uses σε.

Why is the adjective ακριβός in that form? Why not ακριβό or something else?

Adjectives in Greek must agree with the noun they describe in:

• gender,
• number,
• case.

The subject here is:

• ο καφές (masculine, singular, nominative)

So the adjective must also be:

• masculine, singular, nominative → ακριβός

Basic forms of this adjective:

• masculine: ακριβός
• feminine: ακριβή
• neuter: ακριβό

Examples:

• Ο καφές είναι ακριβός. – The coffee is expensive. (masc.)
• Η μπύρα είναι ακριβή. – The beer is expensive. (fem.)
• Το ποτό είναι ακριβό. – The drink is expensive. (neut.)

Is το γλυκό an adjective meaning sweet, or is it a noun meaning dessert?

Here το γλυκό is a noun, meaning dessert / sweet (dish).

From the adjective:

• γλυκός = sweet (masc.)
• γλυκιά = sweet (fem.)
• γλυκό = sweet (neut. adj.)

Greek often turns adjectives into nouns, especially using the neuter to mean “the [thing] that is X”. Common examples:

• το γλυκό – the dessert (literally: the sweet [thing])
• το κρύο – the cold
• το ζεστό – the hot drink (commonly coffee/chocolate, in context)

So in this sentence, το γλυκό clearly means the dessert, not just the sweet (adjective).

Why are both Ο καφές and το γλυκό in the nominative case? In English, dessert feels like an object after as expensive as.

In Greek, when you compare things with τόσο … όσο after the verb είμαι (to be), the two items are treated as grammatical equals, so they both appear in the nominative.

Structure:

• [Subject in nominative] + είναι + τόσο + adjective + όσο (και) [noun/pronoun in nominative]

So:

• Ο καφές … είναι τόσο ακριβός όσο (και) το γλυκό.

Both ο καφές and το γλυκό are things being compared in the same role (both are “expensive”), so both are nominative.

This contrasts with English, where as expensive as the dessert makes dessert feel like an object of the comparison. Greek doesn’t mark that with a different case here.

Is the verb είναι necessary here, or could we drop it like sometimes happens in other languages?

In standard Modern Greek, είναι is normally not dropped in sentences like this.

• Ο καφές στο εστιατόριο είναι τόσο ακριβός όσο και το γλυκό. ✔︎
• Ο καφές στο εστιατόριο τόσο ακριβός όσο και το γλυκό. ✘ (sounds wrong / incomplete)

You might see or hear είναι omitted in:

• headlines,
• notes, labels, very telegraphic styles,
• some colloquial elliptical phrases,

but for a normal, full sentence, you should include είναι.

How flexible is the word order? Could I say Στο εστιατόριο ο καφές είναι τόσο ακριβός όσο και το γλυκό?

Yes, Greek word order is relatively flexible, so you can move στο εστιατόριο around for emphasis.

All of these are grammatical, with slightly different focus:

1. Ο καφές στο εστιατόριο είναι τόσο ακριβός όσο και το γλυκό.
   Neutral focus: the coffee at the restaurant is as expensive as the dessert.

2. Στο εστιατόριο ο καφές είναι τόσο ακριβός όσο και το γλυκό.
   Emphasises in/at the restaurant (as opposed to somewhere else).

3. Ο καφές είναι στο εστιατόριο τόσο ακριβός όσο και το γλυκό.
   Still correct, but sounds a bit less natural; the comparison phrase usually stays close to είναι.

The most natural, default version is very close to the original sentence.

Can I leave out τόσο and just say Ο καφές … είναι ακριβός όσο το γλυκό?

For the standard as … as comparison of equality, you should use both parts: τόσο and όσο.

• Ο καφές … είναι τόσο ακριβός όσο (και) το γλυκό. ✔︎

If you say:

• … είναι ακριβός όσο το γλυκό,

it sounds incomplete or non‑standard in most contexts.

There are other uses of όσο on its own (e.g. όσο θέλεις = as much as you want), but for as + adjective + as, the pattern is τόσο + adj + όσο + ….

How would I say “The coffee at the restaurant is more expensive than the dessert” in Greek? How is that different from τόσο … όσο?

To express more … than, you use πιο (or the synthetic comparative) plus από.

Two common options:

1. Ο καφές στο εστιατόριο είναι πιο ακριβός από το γλυκό.
   = The coffee at the restaurant is more expensive than the dessert.

2. Ο καφές στο εστιατόριο είναι ακριβότερος από το γλυκό.
   = Same meaning, using the comparative form ακριβότερος.

Difference:

• τόσο ακριβός όσο → as expensive as (equal degree)
• πιο ακριβός από / ακριβότερος από → more expensive than (greater degree)

Why do we use όσο here and not σαν or όπως for “as / like”?

Greek has several ways to say as / like, but they are used in different constructions:

• όσο
  → used in comparisons of degree/quantity:
  τόσο … όσο = as … as
  όσο θέλεις = as much as you want

• σαν
  → like / as if / as (often for manner or role):
  Μιλάει σαν δάσκαλος. – He speaks like a teacher.

• όπως
  → as / like / in the way that:
  Κάν’ το όπως σου είπα. – Do it as I told you.

Since the sentence compares degree of expensiveness, Greek uses τόσο … όσο, not σαν or όπως.

Does στο εστιατόριο mean in the restaurant or at the restaurant? How broad is the meaning of σε?

Σε is a very general preposition; depending on context, it can correspond to:

• in
• at
• on
• to (with motion)

So στο εστιατόριο can be translated as either:

• in the restaurant, or
• at the restaurant,

depending on what sounds more natural in English.

In this sentence, English speakers would normally say:

• The coffee at the restaurant is as expensive as the dessert.

Greek doesn’t distinguish as sharply between in and at here; στο εστιατόριο covers both.