Learn Hardcore Greek: Αυτή η ιστορία είναι αληθινή και πολύ ενδιαφέρουσα.

Αυτή – demonstrative pronoun/adjective: this (feminine, singular, nominative)
η – definite article: the (feminine, singular, nominative)
ιστορία – noun: story / history (feminine, singular, nominative)
είναι – verb: is (3rd person singular of είμαι = to be)
αληθινή – adjective: true / real (feminine, singular, nominative – agrees with ιστορία)
και – conjunction: and
πολύ – adverb: very (here it modifies ενδιαφέρουσα)
ενδιαφέρουσα – adjective: interesting (feminine, singular, nominative – agrees with ιστορία)

So the core structure is: This the story is true and very interesting (in Greek order) → This story is true and very interesting.

Why do we say Αυτή η ιστορία and not just Αυτή ιστορία?

In Greek, when you use a demonstrative like αυτή (this), the normal, natural pattern is:

[demonstrative] + [definite article] + [noun]
Αυτή η ιστορία = this story

So:

Αυτή ιστορία (without η) sounds incomplete or foreign-influenced.
The article η is not optional here; it’s part of the standard structure.

Similarly:

Αυτό το βιβλίο – this book
Αυτές οι γυναίκες – these women

English doesn’t use an article in this story, but Greek generally needs it after the demonstrative.

Why is Αυτή feminine? How would it change with a masculine or neuter noun?

Αυτή agrees in gender, number, and case with the noun ιστορία, which is:

Feminine
Singular
Nominative

So you get:

Αυτή η ιστορία – this story (feminine)

If the noun were masculine or neuter, Αυτή would change:

Masculine:
- Αυτός ο άντρας – this man
- Αυτός ο φίλος – this (male) friend
Neuter:
- Αυτό το βιβλίο – this book
- Αυτό το παιδί – this child

The pattern stays the same (demonstrative + article + noun), but the forms match the noun’s gender.

Why is ιστορία feminine, and how can I tell its gender?

In Greek, nouns have grammatical gender (masculine, feminine, neuter) that must be learned with the noun. However, there are helpful patterns:

Many feminine nouns end in -α or -η in the nominative singular.
Ιστορία ends in -α, and it takes the feminine article η: η ιστορία.

So in the sentence:

η ιστορία → article η (feminine) + noun ιστορία → clearly feminine.

When learning vocabulary, it’s best to learn the noun together with the article:

η ιστορία – (the) story/history

Why are αληθινή and ενδιαφέρουσα both in the feminine form?

Adjectives in Greek must agree with the noun in:

Gender
Number
Case

The noun ιστορία is feminine, singular, nominative, so:

αληθινή – true (feminine, singular, nominative)
ενδιαφέρουσα – interesting (feminine, singular, nominative)

If the noun were masculine or neuter, the adjectives would change:

Masculine:
- Ο άντρας είναι αληθινός και ενδιαφέρων. – The man is true/real and interesting.
Neuter:
- Το βιβλίο είναι αληθινό και ενδιαφέρον. – The book is true/real and interesting.

Same adjectives, different endings to match the noun.

What is the difference between αληθινή and πραγματική for true / real?

Both can be translated as true or real, but there is a nuance:

αληθινή – emphasizes truthfulness, not false, genuine.
- Αυτή η ιστορία είναι αληθινή. – This story is true (not made up).
πραγματική – emphasizes actual existence, real, not imaginary, often more literal/real-world.
- Είναι μια πραγματική ιστορία. – It is a real story (it actually happened in reality).

In many contexts they overlap, but αληθινή is especially natural with ιστορία to mean “based on real facts, not invented.”

Why is πολύ used here and not πολλή?

Greek distinguishes:

πολύ (adverb) – very, really (modifies adjectives, adverbs, verbs)
πολλή / πολύς / πολύ (adjective forms) – much / many (modify nouns)

In the sentence:

πολύ ενδιαφέρουσα – very interesting

Here πολύ modifies the adjective ενδιαφέρουσα, so it functions as an adverb, and the adverbial form is always πολύ, invariable:

πολύ καλός – very good (masc.)
πολύ καλή – very good (fem.)
πολύ καλό – very good (neuter)

You would use πολλή, πολύς, etc. only before nouns, e.g.:

πολλή ιστορία – a lot of story / a long story
πολύς κόσμος – many people

Could we say Η ιστορία αυτή είναι αληθινή και πολύ ενδιαφέρουσα instead? Does it change the meaning?

Yes, this is also correct:

Η ιστορία αυτή είναι αληθινή και πολύ ενδιαφέρουσα.

Differences:

Αυτή η ιστορία → demonstrative before the noun; neutral, everyday way to say this story.
Η ιστορία αυτή → demonstrative after the noun; often a bit more emphatic or contrastive (this particular story, as opposed to others).

Meaning is essentially the same, but Η ιστορία αυτή can feel like you are pointing out that specific story more strongly. Both patterns are common in Greek.

Why do the adjectives come after the verb είναι and not directly before the noun, like in English?

Greek is more flexible with word order. In this sentence:

Αυτή η ιστορία είναι αληθινή και πολύ ενδιαφέρουσα.

The structure is:

Subject: Αυτή η ιστορία
Verb: είναι
Predicate adjectives: αληθινή και πολύ ενδιαφέρουσα

This is a predicate construction (with the verb είναι = to be). In English you also say:

This story is true and very interesting.

If you move the adjectives before the noun in Greek:

Αυτή η αληθινή και πολύ ενδιαφέρουσα ιστορία

Now they become attributive adjectives (like this true and very interesting story).
Both are correct, but:

With είναι: you are stating a fact about the story.
Before the noun: you are describing or characterizing the story as part of its identity.

What is special about the adjective ενδιαφέρουσα? It doesn’t look like a simple -ος / -η / -ο adjective.

Ενδιαφέρουσα comes from the verb ενδιαφέρω – I interest.

Its forms are of a slightly irregular-type pattern:

Masculine: ενδιαφέρων
Feminine: ενδιαφέρουσα
Neuter: ενδιαφέρον

So:

Ένας ενδιαφέρων άνθρωπος – an interesting person (masc.)
Μια ενδιαφέρουσα ιστορία – an interesting story (fem.)
Ένα ενδιαφέρον θέμα – an interesting topic (neuter)

In our sentence, the noun is feminine (η ιστορία), so we use ενδιαφέρουσα to agree with it.

How is the sentence pronounced, and what do the accent marks tell me?

A rough phonetic transcription (Modern Greek) is:

Αυτή η ιστορία είναι αληθινή και πολύ ενδιαφέρουσα
→ /afˈti i istoˈria ˈine aliθiˈni ce poˈli enðiaˈferusa/

Accent marks (´) in Greek:

Show which syllable is stressed in each word.
- Αυτή → stress on -τή
- ιστορία → -ρί-
- είναι → εί-
- αληθινή → -νή
- πολύ → -λύ
- ενδιαφέρουσα → -φέ-

Every multi-syllable word in Modern Greek has one written accent on the stressed syllable (except some small function words and special cases). Correct stress is crucial for being understood.

Does ιστορία mean both story and history in Greek?

Yes, ιστορία can mean:

story / tale / narrative
- Μου είπε μια ωραία ιστορία. – He/She told me a nice story.
history (the subject, or the past of something)
- Μου αρέσει η ιστορία. – I like history.
- Η ιστορία της Ελλάδας. – The history of Greece.

Context usually makes the meaning clear. In your sentence with αυτή η ιστορία and αληθινή, it is naturally understood as story, but it could imply a true historical account depending on context.

What is the role of και in this sentence, and why is there no comma before it?

Και is the basic Greek conjunction meaning and (also too / also in some contexts).

In the sentence:

αληθινή και πολύ ενδιαφέρουσα

Και simply connects two adjectives:

true and very interesting

There is no comma because και connects two single-word (or short) elements within the same clause (adjectives modifying the same noun). That is the same as English:

true and very interesting – no comma.

You would see commas when connecting larger clauses, not just two adjectives.

Is πολύ ενδιαφέρουσα closer to very interesting or really interesting in English?

Πολύ is usually translated as very, but in natural English:

πολύ ενδιαφέρουσα can sound like either very interesting or really interesting.

The basic meaning is a high degree of interest, stronger than just ενδιαφέρουσα on its own.

You can think of:

ενδιαφέρουσα – interesting
πολύ ενδιαφέρουσα – very/really interesting

Context and tone will decide whether you prefer very or really in English, but the Greek phrase itself doesn’t distinguish between them.