Learn Hardcore Greek: Η θεία μου δουλεύει νοσοκόμα σε μεγάλο νοσοκομείο στην πρωτεύουσα. - My aunt works as a nurse in a big hospital in the capital.

So δουλεύει matches η θεία μου (she), meaning “(she) works” or “(she) is working” (Greek present covers both simple and continuous aspects in English).

Why does the sentence use δουλεύει and not είναι (is), as in “she is a nurse”?

Greek can say either:

Η θεία μου είναι νοσοκόμα. – My aunt is a nurse.
Η θεία μου δουλεύει νοσοκόμα. – My aunt works (as) a nurse.

The difference:

είναι νοσοκόμα simply states her profession/identity.
δουλεύει νοσοκόμα emphasizes her occupation as work – what she actually does for a living.

Both are correct; the given sentence highlights the working aspect rather than just the status.

You can also say:

Η θεία μου εργάζεται ως νοσηλεύτρια. – more formal/literary: “My aunt is employed as a nurse.”

Why is there no article before νοσοκόμα? Why not μια νοσοκόμα or η νοσοκόμα?

When talking about someone’s profession in a general way, Greek usually omits the article:

δουλεύει νοσοκόμα = she works as a nurse
είναι γιατρός = he/she is a doctor
είναι δάσκαλος = he is a teacher

If you say:

δουλεύει μια νοσοκόμα – that sounds like “a nurse is working” (a different structure: subject is “a nurse”).
δουλεύει η νοσοκόμα – “the nurse is working” (referring to a specific nurse as subject).

In the original, νοσοκόμα is a predicative noun (job title) linked to the subject η θεία μου, so no article is used.

Can you also say δουλεύει ως νοσοκόμα? Is there any difference?

Yes, you can say:

Η θεία μου δουλεύει νοσοκόμα.
Η θεία μου δουλεύει ως νοσοκόμα.
Η θεία μου δουλεύει σαν νοσοκόμα.

Nuances:

δουλεύει νοσοκόμα – very common, natural, neutral.
δουλεύει ως νοσοκόμα – a bit more explicit/formal: “works as a nurse.”
δουλεύει σαν νοσοκόμα – can mean “like a nurse” (functionally similar to a nurse; in some contexts it might even imply she isn’t officially one).

In most everyday cases, δουλεύει νοσοκόμα or είναι νοσοκόμα are the most straightforward.

What does νοσοκόμα mean exactly? Is it feminine? Are there other words for “nurse”?

νοσοκόμα is a feminine noun meaning “nurse” (traditionally, a female nurse).

η νοσοκόμα – the (female) nurse

More modern/formal terms:

η νοσηλεύτρια – female nurse (more professional term)
ο νοσηλευτής – male nurse

In casual speech, νοσοκόμα is still extremely common for a female nurse. For a male nurse in colloquial speech, people may also say:

νοσοκόμος (masculine) – older/less common but used.

So in this sentence, with θεία (aunt), νοσοκόμα is a natural feminine form.

Why is it σε μεγάλο νοσοκομείο and not σε ένα μεγάλο νοσοκομείο?

Greek has words that function like an indefinite article (ένας, μία/μια, ένα), but they are not required as often as “a/an” in English.

σε μεγάλο νοσοκομείο literally = “in big hospital” → understood as “in a big hospital”.
σε ένα μεγάλο νοσοκομείο is also correct, and just slightly more specific/emphatic: “in one big hospital / in a particular big hospital”.

In neutral, general descriptions, Greek often drops ένας/μία/ένα if English would use “a/an”.

So both are grammatical:

δουλεύει σε μεγάλο νοσοκομείο – very natural, general statement.
δουλεύει σε ένα μεγάλο νοσοκομείο – still natural, a bit more focused on one hospital.

What case are μεγάλο and νοσοκομείο in, and why do they end in -ο?

νοσοκομείο (“hospital”) is a neuter noun:

το νοσοκομείο – nominative/accusative singular
stem: νοσοκομεί- , ending: -ο

μεγάλο is the neuter singular form of the adjective μεγάλος (big):

masculine: μεγάλος (ο μεγάλος σκύλος)
feminine: μεγάλη (η μεγάλη πόλη)
neuter: μεγάλο (το μεγάλο νοσοκομείο)

The phrase σε μεγάλο νοσοκομείο:

The preposition σε (“in/at/to”) normally takes the accusative.
For neuter singular, nominative = accusative, so both the subject form and the object form are νοσοκομείο / μεγάλο.

So grammatically, μεγάλο νοσοκομείο is neuter accusative singular, but its form looks the same as nominative.

What exactly is στην in στην πρωτεύουσα?

στην is a contraction of:

σε + την = στην

Where:

σε = in/at/to
την = the (feminine accusative singular article)

This contraction is very common in speech and writing:

σε + την πόλη → στην πόλη (in the city)
σε + την τάξη → στην τάξη (in the classroom)

So στην πρωτεύουσα literally = “in the capital (city)”.

Why is it στην πρωτεύουσα and not σε πρωτεύουσα? Why do we use the definite article here?

πρωτεύουσα = “capital (city)”, and it is feminine:

η πρωτεύουσα – the capital

We say στην πρωτεύουσα because we are referring to the (known, unique) capital of the country, not to just any capital.

στην πρωτεύουσα – in the capital (i.e. the capital of our country, implicitly known)
σε πρωτεύουσα – in a capital (some capital city; this sounds unusual unless you are contrasting several capitals in some abstract way)

Greek tends to use the definite article in many places where English might drop it, especially for:

specific, unique things: ο ήλιος (the sun), η πρωτεύουσα (the capital)
general nouns used generically.

Here the context is clearly “the capital of the country”, so στην πρωτεύουσα is natural.

What does πρωτεύουσα literally mean, and what is its gender?

πρωτεύουσα is a feminine noun:

η πρωτεύουσα – the capital city

It comes from:

πρώτος – first
εύουσα (older participle-like ending; historically from a verb meaning “to have rank / be primary”)

So, etymologically it’s “the one that is first (in importance)” → capital city.

Gender:

η πρωτεύουσα – feminine singular
της πρωτεύουσας – genitive singular
οι πρωτεύουσες – plural, etc.

In the sentence, στην πρωτεύουσα uses στην = σε + την with feminine πρωτεύουσα in the accusative.

Can the word order in the sentence change? For example, can you move νοσοκόμα or the prepositional phrase about the hospital?

Greek word order is relatively flexible, but not all permutations sound equally natural.

Original:

Η θεία μου δουλεύει νοσοκόμα σε μεγάλο νοσοκομείο στην πρωτεύουσα.

Other natural variants:

Η θεία μου δουλεύει σε μεγάλο νοσοκομείο στην πρωτεύουσα, νοσοκόμα.
(fine, but νοσοκόμα at the end feels like an “afterthought” or emphasis)
Η θεία μου δουλεύει σε μεγάλο νοσοκομείο στην πρωτεύουσα. Είναι νοσοκόμα.
(split into two sentences, very clear)

Less natural / odd:

Η θεία μου νοσοκόμα δουλεύει σε μεγάλο νοσοκομείο στην πρωτεύουσα.
Sounds a bit awkward; putting νοσοκόμα directly after the subject like an apposition is not the usual way to express profession here.

Ungrammatical / confusing:

Η θεία μου δουλεύει σε μεγάλο νοσοκομείο νοσοκόμα στην πρωτεύουσα.
This confuses which noun is the complement of δουλεύει; it sounds poorly structured.

Safest patterns:

Subject – verb – profession – place:
- Η θεία μου δουλεύει νοσοκόμα σε μεγάλο νοσοκομείο στην πρωτεύουσα.
Subject – verb – place – profession (with είναι in another sentence):
- Η θεία μου δουλεύει σε μεγάλο νοσοκομείο στην πρωτεύουσα. Είναι νοσοκόμα.

How would the sentence change if we talked about “my uncles” instead of “my aunt”?

We need to make the subject plural and adjust the verb:

Singular:
- Η θεία μου δουλεύει νοσοκόμα σε μεγάλο νοσοκομείο στην πρωτεύουσα.
  My aunt works as a nurse in a big hospital in the capital.
Plural (my uncles):
- Οι θείοι μου δουλεύουν σε μεγάλο νοσοκομείο στην πρωτεύουσα.
  My uncles work in a big hospital in the capital.

If they are male nurses (less common but possible):

Οι θείοι μου δουλεύουν νοσηλευτές σε μεγάλο νοσοκομείο στην πρωτεύουσα.
My uncles work as nurses in a big hospital in the capital.

Changes:

Η θεία → Οι θείοι (article + noun to masculine plural)
δουλεύει → δουλεύουν(ε) (3rd person plural)

The rest of the sentence stays the same if the hospital and the capital are the same.

How do you pronounce θεία and δουλεύει? What do the accent marks show?

In modern Greek (standard pronunciation):

θεία: [ˈθia]
- θ like the th in “think”
- ει here is pronounced like ι → [i]
- So it’s one syllable, stressed: ΘΙΑ (not thee-a in two syllables).
δουλεύει: [ðuˈlevi]
- δ like the th in “this” (voiced)
- ου = [u] like “oo” in “food”
- εύ here is [ev] before a vowel or voiced consonant → [lev]
- ει again = [i]
- Stress on the second syllable: δου-ΛΕ-βι.

The written accent (´) in Greek shows where the stress falls in the word:

θεία – stress on the only syllable (needed especially for distinguishing forms).
δουλεύει – stress on -λεύ-.