Breakdown of Ο ελληνικός καφές σήμερα είναι τέλειος.
Questions & Answers about Ο ελληνικός καφές σήμερα είναι τέλειος.
Ο is the masculine singular nominative form of the definite article "the".
- Ο = the (masculine, singular, subject of the sentence)
- It’s capitalized only because it’s the first word in the sentence. In the middle of a sentence it would be ο.
Very small article table for the singular:
- Masculine: ο καφές (the coffee)
- Feminine: η μέρα (the day)
- Neuter: το σπίτι (the house)
Because in Greek, adjectives must agree with the noun in gender, number, and case.
- καφές is masculine, singular, nominative (dictionary form).
- So the adjective ελληνικός is also masculine, singular, nominative.
Patterns:
- Masculine: ελληνικός καφές (Greek coffee)
- Feminine: ελληνική μπύρα (Greek beer)
- Neuter: ελληνικό κρασί (Greek wine)
Forms like ελληνικό καφέ would be wrong here: ελληνικό is neuter, but καφέ(ς) is masculine.
Καφές is a masculine noun that declines (changes form by case):
- Nominative (subject): ο καφές – the coffee (as subject)
- Accusative (object): τον καφέ – the coffee (as object)
In this sentence, ο ελληνικός καφές is the subject, so it’s in the nominative, and that form normally ends in -ς for masculine nouns.
The normal, neutral position for a descriptive adjective in Greek is:
article + adjective + noun
So:
- ο ελληνικός καφές = the Greek coffee
You can say things like:
- ο καφές ο ελληνικός – a bit more emphatic or contrastive: the coffee, the Greek one
- ο καφές είναι ελληνικός – the coffee is Greek (adjective in the predicate, with είναι)
But for a simple noun phrase like “Greek coffee,” ο ελληνικός καφές is the standard form.
It can mean both, depending on context.
- Specific: The Greek coffee (that we are drinking today) is perfect.
- General/habitual: Greek coffee (as a type, in general) is perfect today – more likely it’s understood as the particular Greek coffee we have today.
Greek uses the definite article much more widely than English, even when English drops “the” in generic statements. So ο ελληνικός καφές is often best translated just as “Greek coffee” in English.
Yes, σήμερα is flexible in position. All of these are natural:
- Ο ελληνικός καφές σήμερα είναι τέλειος.
- Σήμερα ο ελληνικός καφές είναι τέλειος.
- Ο ελληνικός καφές είναι σήμερα τέλειος.
- Ο ελληνικός καφές είναι τέλειος σήμερα.
Meaning is essentially the same: “Today, the Greek coffee is perfect.”
Small nuances:
- At the beginning (Σήμερα…) the focus is slightly more on today.
- At the end (…τέλειος σήμερα) can add a mild contrast: It’s perfect today (as opposed to other times).
Είναι is the present tense of the verb είμαι (to be).
Present forms:
- (εγώ) είμαι – I am
- (εσύ) είσαι – you are (singular)
- (αυτός/αυτή/αυτό) είναι – he/she/it is
- (εμείς) είμαστε – we are
- (εσείς) είστε – you are (plural / polite)
- (αυτοί/αυτές/αυτά) είναι – they are
Notice that είναι is used for he / she / it / they. Greek relies on context (and on the noun itself) to show whether it’s singular or plural.
Here, the subject is ο ελληνικός καφές (singular), so είναι = is.
Greek normally drops subject pronouns, because the verb form usually shows the subject. This is called a “pro-drop” language.
- English: It is perfect.
- Greek: Είναι τέλειος. (literally just “Is perfect.”)
You would add a pronoun (e.g. αυτός, αυτό) only for emphasis or contrast:
- Αυτός είναι τέλειος, όχι ο άλλος. – This one is perfect, not the other one.
Τέλειος is an adjective in the masculine form; it must agree with καφές (masculine, singular, nominative).
- ο καφές είναι τέλειος – the coffee is perfect (masculine)
- η μπύρα είναι τέλεια – the beer is perfect (feminine)
- το κρασί είναι τέλειο – the wine is perfect (neuter)
Τέλεια can also function as an adverb, meaning perfectly / great / awesome in casual speech:
- Πέρασα τέλεια. – I had a great time.
In this sentence you need the adjective form that matches ο καφές, so τέλειος is correct.
Yes. Predicate adjectives in Greek agree with the noun they describe.
Examples:
- Singular masculine: Ο ελληνικός καφές είναι τέλειος.
- Singular feminine: Η ελληνική μπύρα είναι τέλεια.
- Singular neuter: Το ελληνικό κρασί είναι τέλειο.
- Plural masculine: Οι ελληνικοί καφέδες είναι τέλειοι.
- Plural feminine: Οι ελληνικές μπύρες είναι τέλειες.
- Plural neuter: Τα ελληνικά κρασιά είναι τέλεια.
So if you change the noun, you must change the adjective’s form too.
You need to put both the noun and the adjectives in the plural:
- Οι ελληνικοί καφέδες σήμερα είναι τέλειοι.
Breakdown:
- Οι – plural masculine article (the)
- ελληνικοί – masculine plural adjective (Greek)
- καφέδες – masculine plural of καφές (coffees)
- τέλειοι – masculine plural adjective (perfect)
So the whole noun phrase and the predicate adjective all agree in masculine plural.
Modern Greek uses one written accent (´) per word to show stress (which syllable you pronounce more strongly).
In this sentence:
- ελληνικός – stress on the last syllable
- καφές – stress on the last syllable
- σήμερα – stress on the first syllable
- τέλειος – stress on the first syllable
The accent mark helps you:
- Pronounce words correctly.
- Distinguish between words that are spelled the same but stressed differently (and may have different meanings in other cases).
Pronunciation hints (in simple terms):
ελληνικός:
- ε = like e in met
- λλ = a single clear l sound, but a bit longer
- η and ι and ει are all pronounced like ee in see
- So roughly: eh-lee-nee-KOS (stress on the last syllable)
καφές:
- κα = ka as in car
- φ = f
- ές = es with stress
- So: ka-FES (stress on the last syllable)
Altogether:
- Ο ελληνικός καφές σήμερα είναι τέλειος.
Approximate: O eh-lee-nee-KOS ka-FES SEE-me-ra EE-ne TE-lee-os.