Learn Hardcore Greek: Η κουρτίνα στο υπνοδωμάτιο είναι πράσινη και ταιριάζει με το μπουφάν μου. - The curtain in the bedroom is green and matches my jacket.

In Greek, every noun has a grammatical gender: masculine, feminine, or neuter.
The word κουρτίνα (curtain) is feminine, so it takes the feminine definite article η in the nominative singular:

η κουρτίνα = the curtain (feminine)
ο is for masculine nouns (e.g. ο φίλος – the friend)
το is for neuter nouns (e.g. το σπίτι – the house)

You have to learn the gender of each noun together with the word itself, because it doesn’t always match English logic. Dictionaries usually indicate the gender.

What exactly is στο in στο υπνοδωμάτιο? Is it one word or two?

Στο is a contraction of two words:

σε (a preposition meaning in / at / to)
το (the neuter definite article the)

So:

σε + το υπνοδωμάτιο → στο υπνοδωμάτιο
= in the bedroom

Greek commonly contracts σε + article:

σε + τον → στον (masculine)
σε + την → στη(ν) (feminine)
σε + το → στο (neuter)

What does υπνοδωμάτιο literally mean, and is there another common word for “bedroom”?

Υπνοδωμάτιο is a compound noun:

ύπνος = sleep
δωμάτιο = room

So it literally means “sleep-room”, i.e. bedroom.

Another very common word is κρεβατοκάμαρα:

κρεβάτι = bed
κάμαρα = (older word for) room/chamber

Both υπνοδωμάτιο and κρεβατοκάμαρα are used for bedroom.
Υπνοδωμάτιο can sound a bit more neutral/formal, κρεβατοκάμαρα a bit more everyday/speechy, but both are fine in modern Greek.

Why is the adjective πράσινη and not πράσινο or πράσινος?

Adjectives in Greek agree with the noun they describe in:

gender (masculine / feminine / neuter)
number (singular / plural)
case (nominative / accusative / genitive / vocative)

The basic forms of the adjective “green” are:

πράσινος – masculine
πράσινη – feminine
πράσινο – neuter

Since κουρτίνα is feminine, singular, nominative (η κουρτίνα), the adjective must also be feminine, singular, nominative:

η κουρτίνα είναι πράσινη
The curtain is green.

If the noun were neuter, e.g. το τραπέζι (the table), you would say:

Το τραπέζι είναι πράσινο.

Can I leave out είναι and say Η κουρτίνα στο υπνοδωμάτιο πράσινη?

In normal, standard Greek, you cannot drop είναι here.
You must say:

Η κουρτίνα στο υπνοδωμάτιο είναι πράσινη.

Dropping είναι is not natural in this type of simple descriptive sentence.
In some very specific, stylistic, or elliptical phrases you might see είναι omitted (headlines, poetry, etc.), but that’s not the default, and not something to copy as a learner.

How does ταιριάζει work? Why do we say ταιριάζει με and not just ταιριάζει?

The verb ταιριάζω means roughly to match / to go well (together) / to suit.

When you talk about one thing matching another thing, Greek normally uses:

ταιριάζω με + accusative
Η κουρτίνα ταιριάζει με το μπουφάν μου.
The curtain matches my jacket.

So the preposition με (“with”) is normally required in this structure, unlike English “It matches my jacket” (no preposition).

There is also another pattern:

ταιριάζω σε κάποιον = to suit someone
- Αυτό το χρώμα δεν ταιριάζει σε σένα.
  This color doesn’t suit you.

Why do we say με το μπουφάν μου and not με μπουφάν μου?

In Greek, when you use a possessive pronoun like μου (my), you almost always keep the definite article as well:

το μπουφάν μου = my jacket (literally: the jacket my)
η μητέρα μου = my mother (literally: the mother my)
το σπίτι σου = your house

So the natural form is:

με το μπουφάν μου
with my jacket

Leaving out the article (με μπουφάν μου) is ungrammatical in normal modern Greek.

Why is μου after the noun (το μπουφάν μου) and not before it, like in English “my jacket”?

Greek possessive pronouns (my, your, his, etc.) usually come after the noun and behave like little unstressed words (clitics):

το μπουφάν μου = my jacket
η τσάντα σου = your bag
το βιβλίο του = his book

This is the normal, neutral word order.

You can put them before the noun only in special emphatic constructions, e.g.:

το δικό μου μπουφάν = my own jacket / my jacket (not someone else’s)

But even there, the basic pattern article + noun + possessive is the standard one you should learn first.

What can you tell me about the word μπουφάν? Why doesn’t it look like a typical Greek word?

Μπουφάν is a loanword from French “blouson” / “bouffant” (via French), and it behaves a bit differently from native Greek words:

It is neuter and takes the neuter article:
- το μπουφάν = the jacket
It is indeclinable: its form does not change for case or number. So:
- Singular: το μπουφάν
- Plural: τα μπουφάν
  (not μπουφάνια or anything like that)
The pronunciation is approximately:
- [buˈfan], stress on the last syllable.

Loanwords often don’t follow normal Greek declension patterns, so you just memorize their article and typical usage.

Why is the article το used with μπουφάν, but η with κουρτίνα?

Because they have different genders:

η κουρτίνα – feminine
το μπουφάν – neuter

The definite article must match the noun’s grammatical gender:

Masculine: ο (e.g. ο σκύλος – the dog)
Feminine: η (e.g. η πόρτα – the door)
Neuter: το (e.g. το μπουφάν – the jacket)

Again, gender is something you must learn along with each noun. The article in dictionary entries is important.

Could I also say the sentence with the words in a different order?

Yes. Greek has relatively flexible word order, though some orders sound more natural than others and may slightly change the emphasis.

Your original sentence:

Η κουρτίνα στο υπνοδωμάτιο είναι πράσινη και ταιριάζει με το μπουφάν μου.

Other natural variants:

Στο υπνοδωμάτιο, η κουρτίνα είναι πράσινη και ταιριάζει με το μπουφάν μου.
(slight emphasis on “in the bedroom”)
Το μπουφάν μου ταιριάζει με την πράσινη κουρτίνα στο υπνοδωμάτιο.
(focuses first on “my jacket”, and makes πράσινη an attributive adjective: “the green curtain”)

You usually keep the verb είναι close to the subject it describes, and phrases like στο υπνοδωμάτιο can move for emphasis or style.

Why is it στο υπνοδωμάτιο (in the bedroom) and not something like “του υπνοδωματίου”?

These two structures express different relationships:

στο υπνοδωμάτιο = in the bedroom
- σε + accusative (here contracted to στο) expresses location.
του υπνοδωματίου = of the bedroom
- genitive case (του) expresses possession / belonging, e.g.
  - η πόρτα του υπνοδωματίου = the door of the bedroom

In your sentence, you want to say where the curtain is, so you use σε + το → στο (in the bedroom), not the genitive.

How do you pronounce κουρτίνα, υπνοδωμάτιο, and μπουφάν?

Approximate pronunciation (in IPA and rough English hints):

κουρτίνα → [kurˈtina]
- Stress on -τί-
- like “koor-TEE-na”
υπνοδωμάτιο → [ipnoðoˈmatio]
- Stress on -μά-
- υ = [i] (like “ee”), δ = [ð] (like th in “this”)
- roughly “eep-no-tho-MA-tee-o”
μπουφάν → [buˈfan]
- μπ at the beginning = [b]
- Stress on -φάν
- like “boo-FAN”

Stress is important in Greek; changing it can change the word or make it sound wrong, so always pay attention to the accent mark (´).