Αυτό το μάθημα είναι απόλυτα χρήσιμο για τη δουλειά μου.

This lesson is absolutely useful for my work.

Breakdown of Αυτό το μάθημα είναι απόλυτα χρήσιμο για τη δουλειά μου.

• είμαι: to be
• η δουλειά: the work
• αυτός: this
• μου: my
• για: for
• το μάθημα: the lesson
• απόλυτα: absolutely
• χρήσιμος: useful

Questions & Answers about Αυτό το μάθημα είναι απόλυτα χρήσιμο για τη δουλειά μου.

Why is it Αυτό το μάθημα and not Αυτός ο μάθημα?

In Greek, all nouns have grammatical gender, and other words have to agree with that gender.

• μάθημα (lesson) is neuter.
• The demonstrative and the article must therefore be neuter too.

So you get:

• αυτό το μάθημα = this lesson (neuter singular)
• αυτός ο μαθητής = this (male) student (masculine singular)
• αυτή η μαθήτρια = this (female) student (feminine singular)

Mini table (singular):

• Masculine: αυτός ο
  • masculine noun
• Feminine: αυτή η
  • feminine noun
• Neuter: αυτό το
  • neuter noun

Because μάθημα is neuter, αυτό το μάθημα is the only correct option here.

Could I just say Αυτό το μάθημα είναι χρήσιμο για τη δουλειά μου without απόλυτα? What changes?

Yes, you can omit απόλυτα and the sentence is still perfectly grammatical:

• Αυτό το μάθημα είναι χρήσιμο για τη δουλειά μου.
  = This lesson is useful for my job.

Adding απόλυτα (absolutely / totally) is an intensifier:

• Αυτό το μάθημα είναι απόλυτα χρήσιμο για τη δουλειά μου.
  = This lesson is absolutely / completely useful for my job.

So:

• Without απόλυτα → simply “useful”.
• With απόλυτα → emphasizes that it is fully / completely useful, not just a bit.

What exactly is απόλυτα here? Is it an adjective or an adverb?

In this sentence, απόλυτα is an adverb modifying the adjective χρήσιμο:

• χρήσιμο = useful (adjective)
• απόλυτα χρήσιμο = absolutely useful (adverb + adjective)

Related forms:

• απόλυτος – absolute (masculine adjective)
• απόλυτη – absolute (feminine adjective)
• απόλυτο – absolute (neuter adjective)
• απόλυτα – absolutely (adverb)

Just like English absolute → absolutely, Greek goes απόλυτος → απόλυτα when you want the adverb.

Why is it για τη δουλειά μου and not something like στη δουλειά μου or της δουλειάς μου?

The choice of preposition changes the meaning:

• για τη δουλειά μου = for my job / for my work
  → expresses purpose or suitability.
  The course is suitable/useful for your job.

• στη δουλειά μου = at my work / at my workplace / in my job
  → refers to location or context, e.g. “I use this at work.”

• της δουλειάς μου (genitive) would be “of my work”
  → e.g. οι συνθήκες της δουλειάς μου = the conditions of my work.
  It doesn’t fit here with χρήσιμο in a natural way.

So για τη δουλειά μου is used because we are saying the lesson is useful for the job (purpose), not located at the job or belonging to it.

Why is it τη δουλειά and not η δουλειά after για?

Greek prepositions almost always take the accusative case.

• δουλειά is feminine.
• The feminine singular definite article is:
  • η in the nominative (subject form): η δουλειά
  • τη(ν) in the accusative: τη δουλειά

Because it comes after the preposition για, the noun must be in the accusative:

• για + τη δουλειά (for the job) – correct
• για + η δουλειά – incorrect

So the form η δουλειά is only used when “the job” is the subject of the sentence, not after a preposition.

What does μου do in τη δουλειά μου, and why does it come after the noun?

μου is an enclitic possessive pronoun meaning my.

In Greek, possessive pronouns normally come after the noun they modify:

• η δουλειά μου = my job
• το σπίτι σου = your house
• τα βιβλία του = his books

You don’t say μου δουλειά in normal sentences (that would sound like an exclamation: “my job!”).

So:

• δουλειά = job / work
• η δουλειά = the job
• η δουλειά μου = my job
• για τη δουλειά μου = for my job

μου does not change form; it’s always μου (my), regardless of gender or number of the noun.

Is the word order fixed? Can I move words around, like putting απόλυτα somewhere else?

Greek word order is more flexible than English, but some positions sound more natural.

The original:

• Αυτό το μάθημα είναι απόλυτα χρήσιμο για τη δουλειά μου.

Other natural possibilities (with slight changes in emphasis):

• Αυτό το μάθημα είναι χρήσιμο, και μάλιστα απόλυτα, για τη δουλειά μου.
• Είναι απόλυτα χρήσιμο για τη δουλειά μου αυτό το μάθημα.
  (Emphasizes “absolutely useful for my job”; the subject comes at the end.)

But something like:

• Αυτό το μάθημα είναι χρήσιμο απόλυτα για τη δουλειά μου.

is grammatically possible but sounds a bit awkward and less natural than είναι απόλυτα χρήσιμο.

General rule: keep απόλυτα directly before the adjective it modifies (χρήσιμο) or just before the verb phrase. The original sentence is the most neutral and natural word order.

How do you pronounce δουλειά?

δουλειά is pronounced approximately like:

• thoo-lyá

More precisely:

• δ = like th in this (voiced “th”)
• ου = like oo in food
• ει = like ee in see
• λ before ια is a bit “soft”, making it sound close to lya
• The stress is on the last syllable: δου-λει-Ά

So you get δουλειά → ðoo-lyá (one stressed final syllable in normal speech).

How would I say These lessons are absolutely useful for my job?

You need the plural forms of the demonstrative, article, noun, and adjective:

• Αυτά τα μαθήματα είναι απόλυτα χρήσιμα για τη δουλειά μου.

Breakdown:

• Αυτά τα = these (neuter plural demonstrative + article)
• μαθήματα = lessons (neuter plural)
• είναι = are (same form as “is” in Greek)
• απόλυτα = absolutely (adverb – doesn’t change)
• χρήσιμα = useful (neuter plural to agree with μαθήματα)
• για τη δουλειά μου = for my job

Note: in the plural, the adjective χρήσιμος / -η / -ο becomes χρήσιμα for neuter plural.

Do I really need the articles το and τη? Could I say Αυτό μάθημα είναι χρήσιμο για δουλειά μου?

You almost always need the definite articles in Greek here.

• Αυτό το μάθημα is the normal way to say this lesson.
• Αυτό μάθημα (without το) sounds incomplete or very unusual in standard modern Greek, except in certain very specific or poetic styles.

Similarly, για τη δουλειά μου is the standard way to say for my job.
Plain για δουλειά μου is not natural here.

In Greek, the definite article is used much more often than in English, including:

• before most concrete countable nouns: το μάθημα, η δουλειά
• in most situations where English might omit “the” or “a”.

So the natural, correct version is exactly:

• Αυτό το μάθημα είναι απόλυτα χρήσιμο για τη δουλειά μου.

What’s the difference between δουλειά and εργασία? Could I say για την εργασία μου?

Both relate to work, but the register and nuance differ:

• δουλειά

  • Everyday, colloquial word.
  • Means work, job, occupation.
  • Used in almost all casual contexts:
    
    • Πάω στη δουλειά. = I’m going to work.

• εργασία

  • More formal or technical.
  • Can mean work, employment, or assignment / project.
  • Common in official, academic, or bureaucratic language.
    
    • έχω μια εργασία για το πανεπιστήμιο = I have an assignment for university.

You could say:

• Αυτό το μάθημα είναι απόλυτα χρήσιμο για την εργασία μου.

This would usually be understood more as “my professional activity / my work (in a formal sense)” or “my project”, depending on context. For “my job” in ordinary speech, δουλειά is the most natural choice.