Breakdown of Η συζήτηση για την παιδεία στην τηλεόραση κρατάει μία ώρα.
Questions & Answers about Η συζήτηση για την παιδεία στην τηλεόραση κρατάει μία ώρα.
The preposition για in Modern Greek almost always takes the accusative case. So any noun that follows για will normally be in the accusative:
- για τον Γιάννη (about John)
- για το πρόβλημα (about the problem)
- για την παιδεία (about education)
As for the article την: Greek uses the definite article much more often than English, especially with:
- Abstract nouns: η παιδεία, η ελευθερία, η αγάπη
- General concepts: η μουσική, η τεχνολογία
So για την παιδεία is literally “about the education”, but in natural English we drop the and just say “about education”. In Greek, leaving out the article here (για παιδεία) would sound either incomplete or like “for some education / for education (in a non‑specific sense)” rather than “the topic of education”.
Both relate to “education”, but they’re not identical. Roughly:
η παιδεία: broader, more elevated word
- Includes education, culture, upbringing, general cultivation of the mind
- Often used in discussions about the education system and cultural formation of citizens
- E.g. η ελληνική παιδεία, η ανθρωπιστική παιδεία
η εκπαίδευση: narrower, more technical
- Refers more specifically to schooling, training, instruction
- Used in official/administrative contexts: Υπουργείο Παιδείας και Θρησκευμάτων (Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs), πρωτοβάθμια εκπαίδευση (primary education)
In your sentence, η συζήτηση για την παιδεία suggests a discussion not just about schools mechanically, but about the overall state and philosophy of education and cultural formation.
Greek nouns have grammatical gender: masculine, feminine, neuter. The word συζήτηση happens to be feminine, so it takes the feminine article η and feminine endings in adjectives, etc.:
- η συζήτηση (the discussion)
- μια ενδιαφέρουσα συζήτηση (an interesting discussion)
There’s no fully reliable rule for gender, but some patterns help:
- Many feminine nouns end in -η, -ση, -ξη:
- η πόλη (city), η απόφαση (decision), η λέξη (word)
συζήτηση ends in -ση, which is a very common feminine ending. You usually have to learn gender together with the noun, using the article:
- η συζήτηση
- ο διάλογος (the dialogue, masculine)
- το θέμα (the topic, neuter)
στην is a contraction of σε + την:
- σε = in, at, on (a very general preposition)
- την = feminine accusative article “the”
So:
- σε + την τηλεόραση → στην τηλεόραση
Literally, it’s “in/at the television”, but Greek uses σε + article in many situations where English uses “in”, “on”, or “at”.
For media or means of communication, Greek usually uses σε:
- στην τηλεόραση = on TV
- στο ραδιόφωνο = on the radio
- στο ίντερνετ = on the internet
So στην τηλεόραση idiomatically means “on television”, not physically “inside the TV set”.
Both κρατάει and διαρκεί can translate as “lasts”, but with different nuances:
κρατάει (from κρατάω):
- Everyday, colloquial verb
- Main meanings: “hold”, “keep”, and also “last (for X time)”
- Very common in speech
- Η συζήτηση κρατάει μία ώρα. → “The discussion lasts an hour.”
διαρκεί (from διαρκώ):
- Slightly more formal or neutral
- Focuses specifically on duration
- Often used in more formal contexts: Η σύμβαση διαρκεί δύο χρόνια. (The contract lasts two years.)
In your sentence, κρατάει sounds perfectly natural, conversational Greek. You could also say:
- Η συζήτηση για την παιδεία στην τηλεόραση διαρκεί μία ώρα.
That’s correct too, but a bit more formal in tone.
Yes, both are correct. For many verbs in -άω, like κρατάω, there are two parallel present forms:
- κρατώ or κρατάω = I hold / I keep / I last
- 3rd person singular:
- κρατά or κρατάει = (it) holds / keeps / lasts
Differences:
-άει forms (κρατάει) are:
- More colloquial and typical in modern spoken Greek
- Very common in everyday conversation
-ά forms (κρατά) are:
- Slightly more formal or neutral
- Common in writing and in more careful speech
So you can say:
- Η συζήτηση κρατάει μία ώρα.
- Η συζήτηση κρατά μία ώρα.
Both mean the same; the first feels a bit more conversational.
μία is the feminine form of the numeral “one”, and it also works like the English “a / an” for feminine nouns.
Greek “one / a” changes with gender:
- Masculine: ένας → ένας φίλος (a friend / one friend)
- Feminine: μία / μια → μία ώρα / μια ώρα (one hour / an hour)
- Neuter: ένα → ένα βιβλίο (a book / one book)
ώρα is a feminine noun (η ώρα), so it needs the feminine form μία (or μια).
About μία vs μια:
- μία: more careful spelling, clearly the numeral “one”
- μια: common everyday form, used both for “one” and “a/an”
In this sentence, Μία ώρα = “one hour / an hour”; both μία and μια are acceptable in modern usage.
Greek present tense typically covers both:
- English simple present: “lasts one hour”
- English present continuous: “is lasting for one hour”
Context decides how you translate it. In a neutral, general statement like this:
- Η συζήτηση … κρατάει μία ώρα.
it refers to a typical or scheduled duration → “lasts one hour”.
If the context were clearly happening right now and still ongoing, you might translate the same form as “is lasting” (though in English that sounds a bit odd; we’d normally say “has been going on for an hour”). But grammatically, Greek doesn’t distinguish those two aspects here; both are just present.
Yes, Greek word order is quite flexible, and your alternative is correct:
- Η συζήτηση για την παιδεία στην τηλεόραση κρατάει μία ώρα.
- Η συζήτηση στην τηλεόραση για την παιδεία κρατάει μία ώρα.
Both mean essentially the same thing.
Nuances:
για την παιδεία στην τηλεόραση (original)
- Slightly groups για την παιδεία more tightly with συζήτηση → “the discussion about education, on TV”
στην τηλεόραση για την παιδεία
- Slightly groups στην τηλεόραση with συζήτηση → “the TV discussion about education”
In practice, both are natural, and native speakers freely move these prepositional phrases around, depending on what they want to emphasize or what flows better in context.
ώρα is grammatically feminine, so it uses feminine forms:
- Article: η ώρα (the hour)
- Numeral: μία / μια ώρα (one hour / an hour)
- Adjectives: μεγάλη ώρα (a long time/lit. “big hour”)
You mostly have to learn the gender with the noun. Some hints:
- Many time-related words are feminine:
- η ώρα, η μέρα (day), η εβδομάδα (week)
- The ending -α often indicates feminine (η πόρτα, η χώρα, η μέρα, η ώρα), though there are exceptions.
Since ώρα is feminine, ένας ώρα or ένα ώρα would be ungrammatical.
In Modern Greek:
- The first word of a sentence is capitalized: Η
- Proper names and official titles are capitalized: Αθήνα, Γιάννης, Υπουργείο Παιδείας
Common nouns like συζήτηση, παιδεία, τηλεόραση, ώρα are not capitalized in the middle of a sentence, just like English “discussion, education, television, hour”.
So the capitalization in your sentence is exactly what it should be:
- Η (first word) → capital
- συζήτηση, παιδεία, τηλεόραση, ώρα → lower case
You can say:
- Ο διάλογος για την παιδεία στην τηλεόραση κρατάει μία ώρα.
Grammatically it’s fine, but the nuance shifts:
η συζήτηση:
- General word for discussion, talk, debate
- Can involve many people, can be more free‑form
- Very common for TV or panel discussions
ο διάλογος:
- Literally “dialogue” (usually two sides/parties)
- Often suggests a more structured or formal exchange, possibly between two sides (e.g., government and unions)
- Used in phrases like κοινωνικός διάλογος (social dialogue), διάλογος για το μέλλον της Ευρώπης
For a TV program where several people talk about education, η συζήτηση is the most neutral, natural word. ο διάλογος might be chosen in a context emphasizing a formal, organized dialogue.