Ο πολιτικός στην τηλεόραση κάνει πολλές υποσχέσεις πριν από τις εκλογές.

The politician on TV makes many promises before the elections.

Breakdown of Ο πολιτικός στην τηλεόραση κάνει πολλές υποσχέσεις πριν από τις εκλογές.

• σε: on
• πολύς: many
• κάνω: to make
• η τηλεόραση: the television

Questions & Answers about Ο πολιτικός στην τηλεόραση κάνει πολλές υποσχέσεις πριν από τις εκλογές.

In Ο πολιτικός, why do we use the definite article Ο? In English we might say “A politician” here.

Greek uses the definite article much more often than English, especially:

• with professions and roles used as subjects
• when talking about a specific person already known in context
• when talking about a type or category in a general way

Ο πολιτικός can mean:

• the politician (a particular one everyone knows about), or
• the politician in a more generic sense: “the politician (as a type of person) on TV…”

English often chooses “a politician” in such contexts, but Greek is more comfortable with the definite article.

If you said Ένας πολιτικός στην τηλεόραση κάνει πολλές υποσχέσεις, that would clearly mean “a (certain) politician on TV is making many promises”, i.e. one, not previously known, among many.

What is the gender, number, and case of πολιτικός, and how do I know?

In Ο πολιτικός:

• πολιτικός is masculine, singular, nominative.
• The article Ο (nominative masculine singular) tells you the gender/number/case.
• The ending -ος is a very common ending for masculine nominative singular nouns:
  • ο φίλος (the friend)
  • ο γιατρός (the doctor)
  • ο άνθρωπος (the person)

So:

• Gender: masculine (from the article ο and typical meaning “male person in a role”)
• Number: singular (one politician)
• Case: nominative (subject of the sentence)