Breakdown of Ο δεύτερος όροφος είναι πιο ήσυχος από τον έκτο.
Questions & Answers about Ο δεύτερος όροφος είναι πιο ήσυχος από τον έκτο.
Word-by-word:
- Ο – the (masculine, singular, nominative)
- δεύτερος – second (ordinal number, masculine, singular, nominative)
- όροφος – floor (masculine noun)
- είναι – is (3rd person singular of είμαι = to be)
- πιο – more (used to form the comparative, like quieter)
- ήσυχος – quiet (adjective, masculine, singular, nominative)
- από – from / than (here: than in a comparison)
- τον – the (masculine, singular, accusative)
- έκτο – sixth (ordinal number, masculine, singular, accusative)
Natural English: The second floor is quieter than the sixth.
Modern Greek commonly forms the comparative with πιο + adjective:
- ήσυχος = quiet
- πιο ήσυχος = more quiet / quieter
There is also an older synthetic comparative form:
- ησυχότερος = quieter
Both πιο ήσυχος and ησυχότερος are grammatically correct and mean the same thing. In everyday speech, πιο + adjective is more frequent and sounds more natural, especially in spoken Modern Greek.
So you could say:
- Ο δεύτερος όροφος είναι πιο ήσυχος από τον έκτο.
- Ο δεύτερος όροφος είναι ησυχότερος από τον έκτο.
The first version (with πιο) is what you will most often hear.
The adjective ήσυχος has three main forms:
- ήσυχος – masculine
- ήσυχη – feminine
- ήσυχο – neuter
In Greek, adjectives must agree with the noun in gender, number, and case.
The noun όροφος (floor) is:
- masculine
- singular
- nominative (subject of the sentence)
So the adjective must also be:
- masculine
- singular
- nominative
That gives us ήσυχος, not ήσυχη or ήσυχο:
- Ο δεύτερος όροφος είναι ήσυχος. – The second floor is quiet.
- Η δεύτερη αίθουσα είναι ήσυχη. – The second room (feminine noun) is quiet.
- Το δεύτερο δωμάτιο είναι ήσυχο. – The second room (neuter noun) is quiet.
Greek uses the definite article much more than English.
Here, Ο is the definite article (the) for masculine nominative singular, and it is needed before δεύτερος όροφος:
- Ο δεύτερος όροφος – the second floor
In English we sometimes say “Second floor” without the, but in Greek, for a specific floor in a specific building, you normally include the article:
- Ο δεύτερος όροφος είναι πιο ήσυχος. – The second floor is quieter.
- Ο πρώτος όροφος είναι στην είσοδο. – The first floor is at the entrance.
Leaving the article out (Δεύτερος όροφος είναι…) would sound incomplete or wrong in standard Greek in this context.
Several things are happening here:
από takes the accusative case in Modern Greek.
The masculine accusative singular article is τον (not ο).έκτο is also in the accusative (masculine, singular) to match τον.
The noun όροφος after έκτο is understood and omitted.
The full form would be:- από τον έκτο όροφο – than the sixth floor
But because it's clear from context, Greek can drop the repeated noun: - από τον έκτο – than the sixth (one/floor)
- από τον έκτο όροφο – than the sixth floor
So:
- από
- τον (accusative) + έκτο (accusative)
- Not από ο έκτος, because ο έκτος is nominative, and από doesn’t take nominative.
The preposition από is very flexible. Its basic meaning is from, but in modern Greek it also functions as than in comparisons with πιο or a comparative adjective.
In this sentence:
- πιο ήσυχος από τον έκτο = quieter than the sixth (floor)
Some common patterns:
- πιο μεγάλος από… – bigger than…
- πιο όμορφη από… – more beautiful than…
- καλύτερος από… – better than…
So από in such structures is equivalent to English than.
Yes, in many comparative sentences you can use παρά instead of από, especially in spoken Greek. Here:
- Ο δεύτερος όροφος είναι πιο ήσυχος από τον έκτο.
- Ο δεύτερος όροφος είναι πιο ήσυχος παρά ο έκτος.
Both are correct and mean The second floor is quieter than the sixth.
Differences to note:
- With από, you normally use the accusative:
από τον έκτο - With παρά, you normally keep the same case as the first term (often nominative here):
παρά ο έκτος (though in casual speech people sometimes mix it).
In everyday usage, από is more common and neutral; παρά can sound a bit more emphatic or stylistic in some contexts but is very normal too.
Greek, like English, distinguishes:
- Cardinal numbers (how many?):
δύο – two, έξι – six - Ordinal numbers (which in order?):
δεύτερος – second, έκτος – sixth
Floors are usually numbered with ordinal numbers in Greek when you say “the second floor, the sixth floor”:
- Ο πρώτος όροφος – the first floor
- Ο δεύτερος όροφος – the second floor
- Ο τρίτος όροφος – the third floor
- …
- Ο έκτος όροφος – the sixth floor
If you used δύο or έξι, you would be saying just two or six, not second or sixth, so it would be wrong in this context.
Both δεύτερος and έκτος are ordinal adjectives, and they change form according to gender, number, and case.
δεύτερος here is masculine nominative singular to agree with όροφος (masculine subject):
- Ο δεύτερος όροφος – the second floor
After από, we need the accusative:
- τον έκτο (όροφο) – the sixth (floor), masculine accusative singular
So we get:
- δεύτερος (masc. nominative) with Ο … όροφος
- έκτο (masc. accusative) with τον … (όροφο)
If you wrote από ο έκτος, that would incorrectly put ο έκτος in the nominative after από, which is not standard in modern Greek.
You can hear sentences like:
- Ο δεύτερος όροφος είναι από τον έκτο πιο ήσυχος.
This is understandable and not strictly wrong, but it is less standard and can sound a bit marked or emphatic. The neutral and most common word order keeps πιο + adjective together:
- Ο δεύτερος όροφος είναι πιο ήσυχος από τον έκτο.
As a learner, you should prefer:
- πιο + adjective + από…
Approximate pronunciation (stressed syllable in capitals):
- δεύτερος – DHEF-te-ros
- δ sounds like th in this, not like English d.
- όροφος – O-ro-fos
- Stress on the first syllable.
- ήσυχος – EE-si-hos
- The ή is like ee in see; stress on that syllable.
- The χ is a guttural kh sound, like the ch in German Bach.
- έκτο – EK-to
- Stress on έκ.
So the whole sentence:
Ο ΔΕF-te-ros O-ro-fos Í-si-hos íne pio Í-si-hos a-po ton EK-to.
(A bit simplified, but good enough as a guide.)