Learn Hardcore Greek: Ο δρόμος μέχρι την αγορά είναι στενός, αλλά το πεζοδρόμιο είναι αρκετά μεγάλο, οπότε δεν φοβάμαι. - The road to the market is narrow, but the sidewalk is quite wide, so I am not afraid.

η αγορά is nominative (dictionary form, used for the subject).
την αγορά is accusative (used after many prepositions, including μέχρι).

So:

Ο δρόμος (subject, nominative)
μέχρι την αγορά (a prepositional phrase with μέχρι
- accusative)

That’s why you must say μέχρι την αγορά, not μέχρι η αγορά.

Why do we say την αγορά and not τη αγορά?

The feminine singular accusative article is τη(ν):

τη – basic form
την – form with the so‑called “movable ν” (το κινητό νι)

The ν is kept:

before a vowel, and
before certain consonants (κ, π, τ, ξ, ψ, μπ, ντ, γκ, τσ, τζ), or
at the end of a clause/sentence.

Since αγορά starts with a vowel (α), you must keep the ν:

την αγορά ✔️
τη αγορά ❌ (ungrammatical here)

So the spelling in the sentence is the standard, correct one.

Why is it ο δρόμος but την αγορά? Why are the articles different?

Two things are going on: gender and case.

Gender
- δρόμος is masculine → nominative singular article: ο δρόμος
- αγορά is feminine → accusative singular article: την αγορά
Case / function in the sentence
- Ο δρόμος is the subject of είναι στενός, so it’s in the nominative.
- την αγορά is the object of the preposition μέχρι, so it’s in the accusative.

So the articles are different because:

different gender (masculine vs feminine)
different role in the sentence (subject vs object of a preposition).

Why is στενός masculine, but μεγάλο neuter? Shouldn’t they match?

They match their own nouns, not each other.

ο δρόμος (masculine singular) → adjective must be masculine singular:
- στενός (nominative masculine singular)
  → Ο δρόμος … είναι στενός.
το πεζοδρόμιο (neuter singular) → adjective must be neuter singular:
- μεγάλο (nominative neuter singular)
  → το πεζοδρόμιο είναι αρκετά μεγάλο.

In Greek, adjectives agree with the noun they describe in:

Gender (masc./fem./neuter)
Number (singular/plural)
Case (nominative/accusative/etc.)

So having στενός and μεγάλο in the same sentence is perfectly normal, because they describe different nouns.

What exactly does μέχρι mean here, and how is it different from ως / έως or μέχρι την αγορά vs στην αγορά?

In this sentence, μέχρι την αγορά means “up to the market / as far as the market”. It describes the extent of the road.

μέχρι = up to / until / as far as
- Ο δρόμος μέχρι την αγορά = The road (that goes) up to the market.

ως / έως can often replace μέχρι in this sense, especially in more formal or written language:

Ο δρόμος έως την αγορά είναι στενός.

Difference from στην αγορά:

μέχρι την αγορά → up to the market (ending point / limit)
στην αγορά → to the market / at the market (location, or destination)

So:

Ο δρόμος μέχρι την αγορά είναι στενός
focuses on the stretch of road leading up to there.
Ο δρόμος στην αγορά είναι στενός
would sound more like “The road in/at the market is narrow,” which is different.

Why is it είναι στενός and είναι αρκετά μεγάλο? What does είναι do here?

είναι is the third person singular of είμαι (to be), and it works just like “is” in English.

Ο δρόμος … είναι στενός → The road *is narrow.*
το πεζοδρόμιο είναι αρκετά μεγάλο → the pavement *is quite big.*

So the pattern is:

[noun] + είναι + [adjective]

Greek doesn’t have a separate verb like “to get” here; you still just use είναι:

Ο δρόμος είναι στενός. = The road is narrow.

Using είναι twice is normal and clear; you could also break it into two sentences if you wanted.

What does αρκετά mean here, and why doesn’t it agree with μεγάλο?

Here αρκετά is an adverb meaning quite / fairly / rather / enough.

αρκετά μεγάλο = quite big / fairly big / big enough

As an adverb, αρκετά:

does not change for gender or number
does not have to agree with μεγάλο

So:

είναι αρκετά μεγάλο ✔️ (correct: αρκετά modifies the adjective μεγάλο)

If αρκετός / -ή / -ό is used as an adjective, then it agrees with a noun:

αρκετός κόσμος (masc.) = enough people
αρκετή δουλειά (fem.) = enough work
αρκετό νερό (neut.) = enough water

In your sentence, it’s an adverb, so the invariable form αρκετά is used.

What does αλλά mean, and could I use όμως instead?

αλλά = but, a straightforward coordinating conjunction linking two clauses with contrast:

…είναι στενός, αλλά το πεζοδρόμιο είναι αρκετά μεγάλο…
= “…is narrow, but the sidewalk is quite big…”

You could use όμως (however / though), but the structure changes slightly:

Ο δρόμος μέχρι την αγορά είναι στενός. Όμως, το πεζοδρόμιο είναι αρκετά μεγάλο…
Or: …είναι στενός, όμως το πεζοδρόμιο είναι αρκετά μεγάλο…

Both are fine, but:

αλλά is a simple “but” inside the same sentence.
όμως is more like “however / though”, and is a bit more flexible in position (can appear at the start or later in the clause).

What does οπότε mean here, and how is it different from οπότε vs γι’ αυτό or ώστε?

In this sentence, οπότε means “so / therefore / and so”, introducing the result:

…το πεζοδρόμιο είναι αρκετά μεγάλο, οπότε δεν φοβάμαι.
= “…the sidewalk is quite big, so I’m not afraid.”

Nuances:

οπότε
- Very common in spoken / informal Greek.
- Connects something like: Given X, so Y happens.
- Often almost equivalent to “so / so then”.
γι’ αυτό (το λόγο)
- More like “for this (reason)” / “because of that, therefore”
- Slightly more explicit about cause:
  - …είναι αρκετά μεγάλο, γι’ αυτό δεν φοβάμαι.
ώστε
- More formal, often used for purpose or result, and can introduce a full clause or infinitive-like structure:
  - …είναι αρκετά μεγάλο, ώστε δεν φοβάμαι. (feels a bit formal / written)
  - …είναι αρκετά μεγάλο, ώστε να μην φοβάμαι.

In everyday speech, οπότε here is very natural and conversational.

Why is there no “I” in δεν φοβάμαι? Where is the subject?

Greek usually drops subject pronouns (like I, you, he), because the verb ending already shows the subject.

φοβάμαι is 1st person singular → it already means “I am afraid”.
So εγώ δεν φοβάμαι is possible but not needed; δεν φοβάμαι is enough.

The subject is understood from the verb ending:

-μαι → 1st person singular (for this verb’s middle/passive form)

That’s why the Greek sentence doesn’t need εγώ. It would only be added for emphasis:

Εγώ δεν φοβάμαι. = I’m not afraid (but others might be).

Why is the negative δεν placed before φοβάμαι?

In Greek, the standard pattern for simple verbal negation is:

δεν
- verb

So:

δεν φοβάμαι = I am not afraid
δεν είναι = is not / it’s not
δεν πηγαίνω = I don’t go

A few points:

δεν becomes δε in very informal speech before consonants, but δεν is the standard written form.
With verbs that start with a vowel, δεν stays as δεν, just like here:
- δεν έχω, δεν είναι, δεν ανησυχώ, etc.

So δεν φοβάμαι follows the normal, basic rule: negative particle before the verb.