Η τάξη μας είναι μικρή, αλλά όλοι μιλάμε πολύ ελληνικά.

Our class is small, but we all speak a lot of Greek.

Breakdown of Η τάξη μας είναι μικρή, αλλά όλοι μιλάμε πολύ ελληνικά.

• είμαι: to be
• μιλάω: to speak
• ελληνικά: in Greek
• αλλά: but
• μικρός: small
• πολύ: a lot
• όλοι: everyone
• μας: our
• η τάξη: the class

Questions & Answers about Η τάξη μας είναι μικρή, αλλά όλοι μιλάμε πολύ ελληνικά.

Why is it Η τάξη with Η and not Ο τάξη or Το τάξη?

In Greek, every noun has a grammatical gender: masculine, feminine, or neuter.
The definite article changes according to gender:

• ο = masculine singular (e.g. ο φίλος – the male friend)
• η = feminine singular (e.g. η τάξη – the class)
• το = neuter singular (e.g. το βιβλίο – the book)

The word τάξη is grammatically feminine, so it takes the feminine article η:

• η τάξη = the class

It has nothing to do with real‑world gender; it’s just a grammatical property of the word τάξη.

What exactly does τάξη mean here?

The word τάξη can mean several things depending on context:

1. class (group of students) – as in this sentence
   
   • Η τάξη μας είναι μικρή. = Our class is small.
2. classroom (the physical room) – in some contexts
3. order / tidiness – e.g. Υπάρχει τάξη στην αίθουσα. = There is order in the room.
4. social class – e.g. η εργατική τάξη = the working class

In Η τάξη μας είναι μικρή, it clearly means our class (group of students), not the physical room.

Why is the possessive μας placed after the noun (η τάξη μας) and not before it, like in English “our class”?

In Greek, possessive pronouns usually come after the noun:

• η τάξη μας = our class
• ο φίλος μου = my friend
• το βιβλίο σου = your book

So the natural Greek order is:

article + noun + possessive pronoun
η τάξη μας = the class of-us = our class

You can also use possessive adjectives like δικός μας (“our own”), which do come before or after with slightly different emphasis, but the basic, everyday way to say “our class” is η τάξη μας, not η μας τάξη.

Why is it μικρή and not μικρός or μικρό?

The adjective μικρός / μικρή / μικρό (“small”) must agree with the noun in:

• gender
• number
• case

Since:

• τάξη is feminine,
• singular,
• nominative (subject of the sentence),

the adjective must also be feminine singular nominative, which is μικρή:

• η τάξη μας είναι μικρή
  
  • η (feminine singular)
  • τάξη (feminine singular)
  • μικρή (feminine singular form of “small”)

Other forms:

• μικρός – masculine singular (e.g. ο μικρός σκύλος)
• μικρό – neuter singular (e.g. το μικρό παιδί)

Why is the verb είναι (“is”) and not είμαστε (“we are”)? Aren’t “we” talking?

In the first part of the sentence:

Η τάξη μας είναι μικρή

the subject is η τάξη μας (“our class”), which is third person singular (it = the class).
So the verb must also be third person singular:

• είναι = he/she/it is, or they are

If you said είμαστε, that would mean “we are” and would not match the subject η τάξη μας grammatically.

In the second part:

… αλλά όλοι μιλάμε πολύ ελληνικά.

Here the implied subject is εμείς (“we”), and the verb μιλάμε is 1st person plural. So:

• η τάξη μας είναι … = our class is …
• (εμείς) μιλάμε … = we speak …

What does αλλά mean, and why is there a comma before it?

αλλά means “but”.

• Η τάξη μας είναι μικρή, αλλά όλοι μιλάμε πολύ ελληνικά.
  = Our class is small, but we all speak a lot of Greek.

The comma before αλλά is very normal in Greek when you join two clauses (two parts that each have their own verb):

1. Η τάξη μας είναι μικρή,
2. αλλά όλοι μιλάμε πολύ ελληνικά.

You could think of it as similar to English:
“Our class is small, but we all speak a lot of Greek.”

Why is it όλοι μιλάμε and not something like όλοι μιλά or όλοι μιλάνε?

The verb μιλάμε is the 1st person plural of μιλάω / μιλώ (“to speak”):

• μιλάω / μιλώ – I speak
• μιλάς – you speak (singular)
• μιλάει / μιλά – he/she/it speaks
• μιλάμε – we speak
• μιλάτε – you speak (plural/formal)
• μιλάνε / μιλούν(ε) – they speak

The word όλοι means “all” and describes “we”:

• (Εμείς) όλοι μιλάμε… = We all speak…

So the correct form with “we” is μιλάμε.
μιλά would be 3rd person singular (“he/she/it speaks”), and μιλάνε is 3rd person plural (“they speak”), which don’t fit the “we all” meaning here.

Why do we say μιλάμε and not λέμε for “speak” here?

Both μιλάω and λέω are related to talking, but they are used differently:

• μιλάω = to speak a language, to talk

  • μιλάω ελληνικά = I speak Greek
  • Μιλάει πολύ. = He/She talks a lot.

• λέω = to say something specific

  • Τι λες; = What are you saying? / What do you say?
  • Λέει μια ιστορία. = He/She is telling a story.

In:

… όλοι μιλάμε πολύ ελληνικά.

we’re talking about speaking the language, so μιλάμε is the natural and correct verb, not λέμε.

Why is it πολύ ελληνικά and not πολλά ελληνικά?

This is a very typical point of confusion.

• πολύ (without ending change) is an adverb: a lot, very, much
• πολλά is a neuter plural adjective: many (things), a lot of (countable items)

In μιλάμε πολύ ελληνικά:

• πολύ modifies the verb “μιλάμε”:
  • μιλάμε πολύ = we speak a lot
  • μιλάμε πολύ ελληνικά = we speak a lot of Greek / we speak Greek a lot

So πολύ works like “a lot” in English when it describes how much you do something.

πολλά ελληνικά would sound like “many Greek things” and is not how Greek expresses “a lot of Greek (language)” in this context. Greek treats the language here more like a mass thing you do “a lot”, not as countable items.

What exactly is ελληνικά here? Is it plural? Why is there no article?

Yes, ελληνικά is grammatically neuter plural.
Greek often uses the neuter plural form of adjectives as language names:

• ελληνικά = Greek (language)
• αγγλικά = English (language)
• γαλλικά = French (language)

About the article:

1. After verbs like μιλάω (“to speak”), the language is often used without the article:

   • Μιλάω ελληνικά. = I speak Greek.
   • Μιλάμε πολύ ελληνικά. = We speak a lot of Greek.

2. When you talk about the language as an object or subject, you may use the article:

   • Τα ελληνικά είναι δύσκολα. = Greek (the language) is difficult.
   • Μαθαίνω τα ελληνικά. = I am learning Greek.

So here, ελληνικά is “Greek (language)” used without an article, because it directly follows μιλάμε.

Could we change the word order to … αλλά μιλάμε όλοι πολύ ελληνικά? Would it still be correct?

Yes, that is also grammatically correct:

• … αλλά όλοι μιλάμε πολύ ελληνικά.
• … αλλά μιλάμε όλοι πολύ ελληνικά.

Both mean essentially the same thing:
“but we all speak a lot of Greek.”

The difference is mostly emphasis:

• όλοι μιλάμε… – slight emphasis on “all of us”
• μιλάμε όλοι… – still “we all speak”, with the focus more on the action “speak” and then adding “all” as extra information

Greek word order is relatively flexible, but όλοι μιλάμε is probably the most neutral and common here.

How do you pronounce the whole sentence?

Phonetically (approximate, using English-like sounds):

• Η τάξη μας είναι μικρή, αλλά όλοι μιλάμε πολύ ελληνικά.
  /i ˈtak.si mas ˈi.ne miˈkri | aˈla ˈo.li miˈla.me poˈli eliniˈka/

Word by word (stressed syllable in bold):

• Η – /i/
• ΤΆ-ξη – /ˈtak-si/
• μας – /mas/
• ΕΊ-ναι – /ˈi-ne/
• μικ-ΡΉ – /miˈkri/
• α-ΛΛΆ – /aˈla/
• Ό-λοι – /ˈo-li/
• μι-ΛΆ-με – /miˈla-me/
• πο-ΛΎ – /poˈli/
• ελ-λη-νι-ΚΆ – /eli-niˈka/

Notice especially:

• η and ει are both pronounced /i/, like “ee” in see.
• ξ in τάξη is one sound /ks/ (like “x” in taxi).