Η έκπτωση στο κατάστημα είναι δέκα τοις εκατό.

The discount at the store is ten percent.

Breakdown of Η έκπτωση στο κατάστημα είναι δέκα τοις εκατό.

• είμαι: to be
• σε: at
• δέκα: ten
• το κατάστημα: the store
• η έκπτωση: the discount
• τοις εκατό: the percent

Questions & Answers about Η έκπτωση στο κατάστημα είναι δέκα τοις εκατό.

What does each word in Η έκπτωση στο κατάστημα είναι δέκα τοις εκατό literally mean?

Word-by-word:

• Η – the (feminine, singular, nominative article)
• έκπτωση – discount, reduction (feminine noun)
• στο – in the / at the (contraction of σε
  • το)
• κατάστημα – store, shop (neuter noun)
• είναι – is (3rd person singular of είμαι = to be)
• δέκα – ten
• τοις εκατό – percent (literally: per hundred)

Literal structure:
The discount in-the store is ten per-hundred.
Natural English: The discount in the store is ten percent.

How do you pronounce the whole sentence?

Approximate pronunciation (with stress in capitals):

Η έκπτωση στο κατάστημα είναι δέκα τοις εκατό
[i ÉK-pto-si sto ka-TÁ-sti-ma Í-ne DÉ-ka tis e-ka-TÓ]

Breakdown:

• Η – [i]
• έκπτωση – [ÉK-pto-si] (you really say the κ and π: κπ)
• στο – [sto]
• κατάστημα – [ka-TÁ-sti-ma]
• είναι – [Í-ne] (final -αι is pronounced like -e)
• δέκα – [DÉ-ka]
• τοις – [tis]
• εκατό – [e-ka-TÓ]

Why is there Η before έκπτωση, when in English we just say discount?

Greek uses the definite article much more than English.

• Η έκπτωση literally means the discount.
• In English, you often drop the and just say discount, but in Greek the article is normally required with a specific, known thing.

Grammar:

• Η agrees with έκπτωση in:
  • gender: feminine
  • number: singular
  • case: nominative (subject of the sentence)

So Η έκπτωση είναι… = The discount is…, but it can translate simply as The discount is… or There is a discount of… depending on context.

What are the genders and cases of έκπτωση and κατάστημα, and why?

• έκπτωση

  • gender: feminine
  • form here: nominative singular
  • role: subject of the sentence (the discount is what is being described)

• κατάστημα

  • gender: neuter
  • form here: accusative singular after the preposition σε (inside στο)
  • role: object of the preposition, showing place (in the store)

Greek rule:

• The subject of είναι (is) stands in the nominative: Η έκπτωση.
• A noun after a preposition (like σε) normally takes the accusative: στο κατάστημα.

What exactly is στο? Why not σε το κατάστημα?

στο is a contraction:

• σε (in / at / to)
• • το
  (the, neuter accusative singular)
  = στο

So στο κατάστημα literally is in-the store.

This contraction is standard and almost always used in speech and writing:

• σε το → στο
• σε τον → στον
• σε την → στη(ν)

Why is it είναι δέκα τοις εκατό and not something with έχει like in some other languages?

Greek can express this idea in two main ways:

1. Using είμαι (to be) – more like English here:

   • Η έκπτωση … είναι δέκα τοις εκατό.
   • The discount is ten percent.

2. Using έχει (to have) – also very common in speech:

   • Το κατάστημα έχει δέκα τοις εκατό έκπτωση.
   • Literally: The store has a ten percent discount.

In the given sentence, έκπτωση is the subject, so είναι (is) is the natural choice.
If the store were the subject, you would typically use έχει.

What does τοις εκατό literally mean, and why is it in that form?

τοις εκατό is the standard Greek expression for percent.

Literally:

• τοις – an old dative plural form of the article ο (roughly: to the / per the)
• εκατό – hundred

So τοις εκατό ≈ per hundred.

Important points:

• It is a fixed phrase; you don’t change τοις for gender or number.
• Even in modern, everyday Greek, τοις εκατό is used in speech and writing for percentages.

Colloquial variants exist (you may hear τα εκατό), but τοις εκατό is the standard, especially in anything even slightly formal.

Can I change the word order? For example, can I say Η έκπτωση είναι δέκα τοις εκατό στο κατάστημα?

Yes. Greek word order is quite flexible, and all of these are possible:

• Η έκπτωση στο κατάστημα είναι δέκα τοις εκατό.
• Η έκπτωση είναι δέκα τοις εκατό στο κατάστημα.
• Στο κατάστημα η έκπτωση είναι δέκα τοις εκατό.
• Δέκα τοις εκατό είναι η έκπτωση στο κατάστημα.

They all mean essentially the same thing, but the emphasis shifts slightly:

• Putting στο κατάστημα first stresses in this store.
• Putting δέκα τοις εκατό first stresses ten percent.

The original order is very neutral and typical.

Is κατάστημα the usual word for store, or can I say something else?

κατάστημα is correct and slightly more neutral/formal. It’s common in:

• written language
• signs, receipts, official contexts

In everyday spoken Greek, people very often say:

• μαγαζί – shop, store (more colloquial)

So the same idea could be:

• Η έκπτωση στο μαγαζί είναι δέκα τοις εκατό.

Both are fine; μαγαζί just sounds more casual / everyday.

How do I know that έκπτωση is feminine? It doesn’t end in -α or -η.

You mainly learn the gender of each noun together with its article.

• η έκπτωση – tells you it is feminine.

Pattern:

• Many feminine nouns end in -ση, -ξη, -ψη (written with -ση in spelling):
  • η έκπτωση (discount)
  • η απόφαση (decision)
  • η γνώση (knowledge)

So -ση is a common feminine noun ending, even though it doesn’t look like -α or -η at first glance. Over time, you recognize these patterns.