Το σπίτι του είναι κοντά στο πάρκο.

to be

Breakdown of Το σπίτι του είναι κοντά στο πάρκο.

• το σπίτι: the house
• σε: to
• κοντά: near
• το πάρκο: the park
• του: him

Questions & Answers about Το σπίτι του είναι κοντά στο πάρκο.

What does του mean here, and why does it come after σπίτι?

του is a weak (clitic) possessive pronoun in the genitive case. In this sentence it means “his” (or “its,” depending on context).

In Greek, these weak possessives normally come after the noun they belong to:

• το σπίτι του = his house
• το βιβλίο της = her book
• το αυτοκίνητό μου = my car

So το σπίτι του literally is “the house of him,” which in English becomes “his house.”

Does του mean “his,” “her,” or “its”? How do we know whose house it is?

του can mean:

• his (belonging to a man/boy)
• its (belonging to a neuter thing/animal)
• in some contexts, “of the” (masculine/neuter), when used as an article

In Το σπίτι του είναι κοντά στο πάρκο, we normally understand it as “his house” unless context clearly suggests an “its.”

Greek does not tell you the gender of the owner here; you get that only from the wider context of the conversation or text. The form του itself doesn’t change between “his” and “its.”

Why is the article Το used with σπίτι? What gender is σπίτι?

σπίτι (house) is a neuter noun. The definite article for neuter singular in the nominative is το.

So:

• το σπίτι = the house
• του σπιτιού = of the house
• τα σπίτια = the houses

Greek almost always uses an article with countable nouns when you mean a specific thing. Where English might say “His house is near the park,” Greek prefers “The house of-his is near the park” → Το σπίτι του είναι κοντά στο πάρκο.

Why doesn’t σπίτι change its ending even though it’s the subject of the sentence?

σπίτι is neuter, and in Greek neuter nouns have the same form in nominative and accusative in the singular and plural.

• Nominative (subject): Το σπίτι του είναι κοντά στο πάρκο.
• Accusative (object): Βλέπω το σπίτι του. = I see his house.

In both cases the form is σπίτι, so you don’t see an ending change here. The article (το, του, etc.) and word order usually tell you the role in the sentence.

What is είναι exactly? Why doesn’t it change for “house”?

είναι is the 3rd person form of the verb είμαι (to be). The present tense forms are:

• (εγώ) είμαι = I am
• (εσύ) είσαι = you are (sg.)
• (αυτός/αυτή/αυτό) είναι = he/she/it is
• (εμείς) είμαστε = we are
• (εσείς) είστε = you are (pl./formal)
• (αυτοί/αυτές/αυτά) είναι = they are

In both he is and it is, Greek uses είναι. The verb agrees with person and number, not with gender of the noun. Το σπίτι is 3rd person singular, so the correct form is είναι.

What does κοντά mean, and how is it used in this sentence?

κοντά is an adverb meaning “near / close (by)”.

In this sentence it is part of the expression κοντά σε = “near (to)”. With a definite article, σε combines to στο, στη(ν), στον, etc. So:

• κοντά στο πάρκο = near the park
• κοντά στη θάλασσα = near the sea
• κοντά στον σταθμό = near the station

Here, Το σπίτι του είναι κοντά στο πάρκο = His house is near the park.

What exactly is στο? Why not σε το πάρκο?

στο is a contraction of the preposition σε + the neuter article το:

• σε + το = στο
• σε + τον = στον
• σε + την = στη(ν)
• σε + τα = στα

You almost always use the contracted forms in normal speech and writing.

So:

• σε το πάρκο → στο πάρκο = in/at/to the park
• κοντά στο πάρκο = near the park

Why is πάρκο in that form after στο? Shouldn’t the ending change to show “to the park”?

After σε (and its contracted forms like στο), Greek normally uses the accusative case.

πάρκο is neuter; neuter singular nouns in ‑ο have the same form in nominative and accusative:

• Nominative: το πάρκο = the park (subject)
• Accusative: στο πάρκο = to/at/in the park

So the noun looks the same, but here στο πάρκο is preposition + article + accusative noun, meaning “to/at/near the park.”

Note: you can also say κοντά σε πάρκο = “near a park” (without definite article), but Greek often prefers the definite article when a specific place is meant.

How would the sentence change for “my house,” “your house,” “her house,” etc.?

You keep the same structure and only change the possessive clitic:

• Το σπίτι μου είναι κοντά στο πάρκο. = My house is near the park.
• Το σπίτι σου είναι κοντά στο πάρκο. = Your (sg.) house is near the park.
• Το σπίτι του είναι κοντά στο πάρκο. = His/its house is near the park.
• Το σπίτι της είναι κοντά στο πάρκο. = Her/its house is near the park.
• Το σπίτι μας είναι κοντά στο πάρκο. = Our house is near the park.
• Το σπίτι σας είναι κοντά στο πάρκο. = Your (pl./formal) house is near the park.
• Το σπίτι τους είναι κοντά στο πάρκο. = Their house is near the park.

The possessive word always comes after σπίτι in these weak forms.

Can the word order be different, or must it be Το σπίτι του είναι κοντά στο πάρκο?

Greek word order is quite flexible. Το σπίτι του είναι κοντά στο πάρκο is the most neutral version, but you can move parts around for emphasis:

• Κοντά στο πάρκο είναι το σπίτι του.
  Emphasis on the location “near the park.”

• Το σπίτι του, κοντά στο πάρκο είναι.
  More marked/poetic; emphasizes the contrast between “his house” and its location.

However, you cannot split σπίτι from του in normal word order:
✗ Το του σπίτι είναι κοντά στο πάρκο is wrong in modern Greek.

How do you pronounce this sentence, and where is the stress in each word?

Stressed syllables are in CAPITALS; a simple transliteration is given in italics:

• Το – to – [to]
• σπίτι – SPEE-tee – [ˈspiti] (stress on σπί)
• του – too – [tu]
• είναι – EE-ne – [ˈine] (stress on εί)
• κοντά – kon-DA – [konˈda] (stress on τά)
• στο – sto – [sto]
• πάρκο – PAR-ko – [ˈparko] (stress on πά)

So the whole sentence sounds like:

to SPÍ-ti tu Í-ne kon-TÁ sto PÁR-ko.