Το βράδυ ο ήλιος φεύγει και βλέπω το φεγγάρι πάνω από την πόλη.

In the evening the sun goes away and I see the moon above the city.

Breakdown of Το βράδυ ο ήλιος φεύγει και βλέπω το φεγγάρι πάνω από την πόλη.

• και: and
• το βράδυ: in the evening
• βλέπω: to see
• η πόλη: the city

Questions & Answers about Το βράδυ ο ήλιος φεύγει και βλέπω το φεγγάρι πάνω από την πόλη.

What does Το βράδυ literally mean, and why is it translated as “In the evening / At night”?

Literally, Το βράδυ means “the evening”.

In Greek, a time expression with the definite article (το, η, ο) often corresponds to “in the … / at …” in English. So:

• Το πρωί = in the morning
• Το μεσημέρι = at noon
• Το βράδυ = in the evening / at night

You could also say Το βράδυ to mean “in the evenings” in a general, habitual sense, depending on context. Greek uses the article here where English uses a preposition (“in/at”) or no article at all.

Why do we say ο ήλιος with the article ο? Could we just say Ήλιος φεύγει?

In Greek, nouns almost always appear with an article in normal sentences, even when speaking generally. So:

• ο ήλιος = “the sun” (in general)
• το φεγγάρι = “the moon” (in general)

Saying Ήλιος φεύγει (without ο) is not natural here; it sounds incomplete or poetic at best.

So the normal way is:

• Ο ήλιος φεύγει = The sun goes away / sets.

Using the article for generic things (like the sun, the moon, the water, etc.) is standard in Greek, much more than in English.

What exactly does φεύγει mean here, and why not a verb that directly means “to set”?