Learn Hardcore Greek: Οι καλλιτέχνες συχνά μιλάνε για τις παραδόσεις στις συνεντεύξεις τους. - Artists often talk about traditions in their interviews.

The subject is Οι καλλιτέχνες (the artists).
- Οι is the nominative plural article (the) for masculine nouns.
- καλλιτέχνες is nominative plural (artists).
The verb is μιλάνε (they speak / they talk).
So: Οι καλλιτέχνες μιλάνε = The artists speak / The artists talk.

What does καλλιτέχνες mean exactly, and what is the singular form?

καλλιτέχνες means artists (in general, male and female).
It is the plural form of the noun καλλιτέχνης (artist).
Basic forms:
- Singular: ο καλλιτέχνης = the artist
- Plural: οι καλλιτέχνες = the artists
Grammatically, καλλιτέχνης is a masculine noun, but it can refer to people of any gender unless context specifies otherwise.

What is the difference between μιλάνε, μιλούν, and μιλάν?

All three can be the 3rd person plural, present tense of the verb μιλάω / μιλώ (to speak / to talk):

μιλάνε – very common in everyday spoken Greek; neutral/informal.
μιλούν – a bit more formal or written style; also correct.
μιλάν – shortened spoken form; more colloquial.

They all mean “they speak / they talk”. In your sentence, you could say:

Οι καλλιτέχνες συχνά μιλάνε για…
Οι καλλιτέχνες συχνά μιλούν για…

with no change in meaning, only a slight stylistic difference.

Why is συχνά placed before μιλάνε? Could it go somewhere else?

συχνά is an adverb meaning often.

The neutral, very common position is before the verb:
- Οι καλλιτέχνες συχνά μιλάνε… = The artists often talk…
You can also say:
- Οι καλλιτέχνες μιλάνε συχνά για τις παραδόσεις…

Both are correct. The difference is just a tiny nuance of emphasis:

συχνά μιλάνε slightly highlights the frequency first: they often talk.
μιλάνε συχνά slightly highlights the action first: they talk, and they do it often.

For most learners, you can treat them as equivalent.

Why do we use για here? Does it always mean “about”?

για is a preposition whose basic meaning is for, but:

After the verb μιλάω / μιλώ, μιλάω για κάτι is the normal way to say talk about something.
- μιλάνε για τις παραδόσεις = they talk about the traditions.

So with speech verbs like:

μιλάω για – I talk about
συζητάω για – I discuss about

για is usually translated as about.

It does not always mean about; in other contexts it keeps its more literal sense for:

Αυτό είναι για σένα. = This is for you.

Why is it τις παραδόσεις and not some other form? What case is this?

τις παραδόσεις is feminine accusative plural:

η παράδοση = the tradition (nominative singular)
τις παραδόσεις = the traditions (accusative plural)

We use accusative because:

After για, the noun takes the accusative case.
- για + τις παραδόσεις (not για οι παραδόσεις, etc.)
The article and noun must agree in gender, number, and case:
- feminine, plural, accusative: τις παραδόσεις

So για τις παραδόσεις = about the traditions.

What exactly is στις? Why is it written as one word?

στις is a contraction of:

σε + τις → στις

where:

σε = in / at / on / to (very general preposition)
τις = feminine accusative plural article (the)

Greek very often merges σε with the article:

σε + την → στη(ν)
σε + τις → στις
σε + το → στο
σε + τους → στους

Here, στις συνεντεύξεις τους literally is in the interviews of theirs, i.e. in their interviews.

What does συνεντεύξεις mean, and what is its singular form?

συνεντεύξεις means interviews (plural).
Singular: η συνέντευξη = the interview.
Plural: οι συνεντεύξεις = the interviews.

In the sentence:

We have στις συνεντεύξεις = in the interviews.
Grammatically this is feminine accusative plural (because it follows σε / στις, which uses the accusative).

What does τους mean here, and why does it come after συνεντεύξεις?

In this sentence, τους is a possessive pronoun meaning their:

οι συνεντεύξεις τους = their interviews

Some key points:

As a possessive, τους usually comes after the noun in Greek:
- τα βιβλία τους = their books
- οι φίλοι τους = their friends
- οι συνεντεύξεις τους = their interviews
Do not confuse it with τους as an object pronoun (them), e.g.:
- Τους βλέπω. = I see them.

Here, from context and position, τους clearly means their (possessor), not them (object).

Could the word order be different, for example Οι καλλιτέχνες μιλάνε συχνά για τις παραδόσεις στις συνεντεύξεις τους? Is that still correct?

Yes, that word order is also correct.

Some natural variants:

Οι καλλιτέχνες συχνά μιλάνε για τις παραδόσεις στις συνεντεύξεις τους.
Οι καλλιτέχνες μιλάνε συχνά για τις παραδόσεις στις συνεντεύξεις τους.
Οι καλλιτέχνες μιλάνε για τις παραδόσεις συχνά στις συνεντεύξεις τους. (still possible, slightly different emphasis)

Greek allows relatively flexible word order, especially with adverbs like συχνά.
What must stay together are the article + noun groups:

οι καλλιτέχνες
τις παραδόσεις
στις συνεντεύξεις τους

As long as those groups stay intact and the sentence is not overly scrambled, the different orders are grammatical and natural, with only subtle changes in emphasis.

Could we say μιλάνε για παραδόσεις without τις? What is the difference?

Yes, you can say both:

μιλάνε για τις παραδόσεις
μιλάνε για παραδόσεις

The difference is similar to “about the traditions” vs “about traditions” in English:

για τις παραδόσεις (with article)
- More specific or more general but treated as a known/set group.
- Often implies the traditions of their culture / country / field, i.e. something identifiable in context.
για παραδόσεις (without article)
- More indefinite or general: about traditions (in general), not a specific set.

In your sentence, για τις παραδόσεις fits well because it sounds like a known topic the artists often talk about.