Η δουλειά σήμερα τελειώνει νωρίς.

today

Breakdown of Η δουλειά σήμερα τελειώνει νωρίς.

• νωρίς: early
• τελειώνω: to finish
• η δουλειά: the job

Questions & Answers about Η δουλειά σήμερα τελειώνει νωρίς.

Why does the sentence use the article Η before δουλειά? In English we just say “work finishes early today”, without the.

Greek uses the definite article much more often than English, especially with abstract or general nouns.

• Η δουλειά literally is “the work”, but in many contexts it simply means “work” in general.
• In Greek, a bare noun without an article often sounds:
  • indefinite (μια δουλειά = a job / some work), or
  • incomplete, especially as a subject.

So:

• Η δουλειά σήμερα τελειώνει νωρίς.
  = Work finishes early today (the workday, our work today).

Leaving out the article (Δουλειά σήμερα τελειώνει νωρίς) would sound ungrammatical or at least very odd in standard Greek here. The article is basically required with this subject noun.

What gender and case is δουλειά here, and how can I recognize that?

In the sentence Η δουλειά σήμερα τελειώνει νωρίς:

• δουλειά is feminine, singular, nominative.
• You can tell because:
  • The article η is the feminine nominative singular definite article.
  • Feminine nouns often end in -α in the nominative singular.

As the subject of the verb (τελειώνει), the noun must be in the nominative case.

Very basic paradigm (one common pattern):

• Nominative: η δουλειά – the work (subject)
• Genitive: της δουλειάς – of the work
• Accusative: τη(ν) δουλειά – the work (object)
• Vocative: δουλειά (when addressing, rarely used for this word)