Learn Hardcore Greek: Το κανάλι προβάλλει παλιά ελληνική ταινία απόψε. - The channel is showing an old Greek movie tonight.

Το κανάλι = the channel (a specific channel, which both speaker and listener can identify from context).
Κανάλι without an article would sound incomplete or very unusual as a subject here. If you wanted to say a channel, you’d normally use ένα κανάλι.

So Το κανάλι προβάλλει… literally is The channel shows…, just like in English you wouldn’t normally say “Channel shows an old Greek movie tonight” without “The”.

What is the gender and case of κανάλι, and how can I tell?

Κανάλι is:

gender: neuter
number: singular
case: nominative

How you can tell:

The article το
- το is the neuter singular form of the definite article for both nominative and accusative.
- Since το κανάλι is the subject of the verb προβάλλει, it must be nominative.
The ending -ι
- Many neuter nouns in Greek end in -ι or -ο in the nominative singular.
- Dictionary form: το κανάλι (nominative singular).

Basic forms of this noun:

το κανάλι – nominative/accusative singular
του καναλιού – genitive singular
τα κανάλια – nominative/accusative plural
των καναλιών – genitive plural

What exactly is προβάλλει (tense, person, dictionary form, meaning)?

Προβάλλει comes from the verb προβάλλω.

Grammatical details:

person: 3rd person
number: singular
tense/aspect: present (imperfective)
mood: indicative
voice: active

So προβάλλει = (he/she/it) shows / (he/she/it) is showing / (he/she/it) broadcasts/airs.

Typical present conjugation (active):

εγώ προβάλλω – I show
εσύ προβάλλεις – you show
αυτός/αυτή/αυτό προβάλλει – he/she/it shows
εμείς προβάλλουμε
εσείς προβάλλετε
αυτοί/αυτές/αυτά προβάλλουν(ε)

Common meanings of προβάλλω:

to show / screen a film: Το κανάλι προβάλλει ταινίες.
to project (e.g. an image)
to promote / highlight (an idea, a view)

In the sentence Το κανάλι προβάλλει παλιά ελληνική ταινία απόψε., it means “The channel is showing / will show (is airing) an old Greek movie tonight.”

Why is the present tense προβάλλει used when we’re talking about tonight (future time)? Why not a future form?

Greek often uses the present tense for scheduled future events, very much like English:

English: The channel is showing an old Greek movie tonight.
Greek: Το κανάλι προβάλλει παλιά ελληνική ταινία απόψε.

The idea is: this is on the programme / timetable, so the present is natural.

You can also use a clear future form:

Το κανάλι θα προβάλει παλιά ελληνική ταινία απόψε.
= The channel will show an old Greek movie tonight.

Nuance:

προβάλλει with απόψε: sounds very natural and conversational; implies a fixed plan or schedule.
θα προβάλει: makes the future time a bit more explicit; still perfectly normal.

Both are correct; the difference is subtle, and in practice both are used.

Why is there no article before παλιά ελληνική ταινία? Why not μια παλιά ελληνική ταινία or την παλιά ελληνική ταινία?

Greek often omits the indefinite article in object position when you just mean “some/one such thing” in a non‑specific way.

Compare:

Το κανάλι προβάλλει παλιά ελληνική ταινία απόψε.
→ The channel is showing an old Greek movie tonight.
(non‑specific; we don’t care which one, just the type)

You could also say:

Το κανάλι προβάλλει μια παλιά ελληνική ταινία απόψε.
This is also grammatical and very common. The μια (‘one / a’) can slightly emphasize “a single old Greek movie” or make it feel a bit more specific, but often the meaning is practically the same.

And with definite article:

Το κανάλι προβάλλει την παλιά ελληνική ταινία απόψε.
= The channel is showing the old Greek movie tonight.
(a particular movie that both speaker and listener know about)

So:

no article → “an/ some … movie” (indefinite, generic)
μια → “a / one … movie” (indefinite, slightly more individualized)
την → “the … movie” (definite, specific)

How do the adjectives παλιά and ελληνική work here? Is this the normal order?

In παλιά ελληνική ταινία, both παλιά and ελληνική are adjectives describing ταινία.

παλιά = old
ελληνική = Greek
ταινία = movie/film

The order παλιά ελληνική ταινία is completely natural: “old Greek movie”.

General tendency in Greek (similar to English):

“more general / subjective” qualities (age, size, opinion) often come before “more specific” ones like nationality or material.

So:

παλιά (age) + ελληνική (nationality) + ταινία (noun)

You can say ελληνική παλιά ταινία and it is still grammatically correct, but it sounds less neutral and can give a slight nuance such as focusing first on it being Greek and then mentioning that it’s old. The default, most idiomatic version is παλιά ελληνική ταινία.

If you add an article:

μια παλιά ελληνική ταινία
την παλιά ελληνική ταινία

The adjectives still come before the noun.

What forms are παλιά, ελληνική, and ταινία here (gender, number, case), and how do they agree?

In παλιά ελληνική ταινία, all three words agree with each other:

gender: feminine
number: singular
case: accusative (direct object)

Details:

Ταινία
- dictionary form: η ταινία (feminine)
- in this sentence: παλιά ελληνική ταινία = the direct object of προβάλλει, so it’s in the accusative singular:
  - nominative: η ταινία
  - accusative: την ταινία → form of the noun is ταινία (same ending as nominative).
Παλιά (from παλιός, παλιά, παλιό = old)
- feminine singular accusative: παλιά
- here it agrees with ταινία (fem. sg. acc.).
Ελληνική (from ελληνικός, ελληνική, ελληνικό = Greek)
- feminine singular accusative: ελληνική
- again, matching ταινία.

So grammatically:

παλιά – fem. sg. acc. adjective
ελληνική – fem. sg. acc. adjective
ταινία – fem. sg. acc. noun

All three form one noun phrase functioning as the direct object of προβάλλει.

Why is ταινία in this form? Isn’t the subject usually in the nominative? How do I know this is accusative?

Yes, the subject is normally in the nominative, and the direct object is in the accusative.

In the sentence:

Το κανάλι = subject → nominative neuter singular
παλιά ελληνική ταινία = direct object → accusative feminine singular

The word ταινία looks the same in nominative and accusative singular:

nominative: η ταινία (subject)
- e.g. Η ταινία είναι παλιά. – The movie is old.
accusative: την ταινία (object)
- e.g. Βλέπω την ταινία. – I’m watching the movie.

So how do you know it’s accusative here?

By function: it is what the verb acts on: what does the channel show? → (μια) παλιά ελληνική ταινία.
By the overall structure: Το κανάλι is clearly the subject, so παλιά ελληνική ταινία must be the object.

For many feminine nouns in -α and -η, nominative and accusative singular are identical in form; the article (when present) and the role in the sentence tell you the case.

Can I change the word order, for example move απόψε or the adjectives? What changes?

Greek word order is fairly flexible, but changes in order usually change emphasis.

Original:

Το κανάλι προβάλλει παλιά ελληνική ταινία απόψε.

Some common variants:

Απόψε το κανάλι προβάλλει παλιά ελληνική ταινία.
- Fronting Απόψε puts “tonight” in focus: Tonight, the channel is showing an old Greek movie.
Το κανάλι απόψε προβάλλει παλιά ελληνική ταινία.
- Emphasis lightly on το κανάλι vs. what it is doing tonight; still natural.
Το κανάλι προβάλλει απόψε παλιά ελληνική ταινία.
- Emphasizes that the showing is tonight, contrasting perhaps with other times.

Moving the adjectives after the noun is much less usual in this simple case:

Το κανάλι προβάλλει ταινία παλιά ελληνική απόψε.
This is grammatically possible but sounds quite marked or poetic/unusual in everyday speech.

Normal, neutral Greek for this meaning keeps both adjectives in front of ταινία, as in the original.

What exactly does απόψε mean, and how is it different from σήμερα το βράδυ?

Απόψε means “tonight”.

It’s an adverb of time, not a declined noun, so it doesn’t change form.
Pronounced roughly: a-POP-se.

Comparison:

απόψε – tonight (one word, very common in everyday speech)
σήμερα το βράδυ – literally “today in the evening” → also “tonight”
το βράδυ – in the evening / tonight (if context makes “tonight” clear)

All of these can usually replace each other without changing the basic meaning:

Το κανάλι προβάλλει παλιά ελληνική ταινία απόψε.
Το κανάλι προβάλλει παλιά ελληνική ταινία σήμερα το βράδυ.
Το κανάλι προβάλλει παλιά ελληνική ταινία το βράδυ.

Απόψε is the most compact and very typical for “tonight” in modern Greek.

How would I say “old Greek movies” in the plural, and how would the sentence change?

Plural of παλιά ελληνική ταινία is:

παλιές ελληνικές ταινίες = old Greek movies

Breaking it down (feminine plural):

παλιά → παλιές (fem. nom./acc. plural)
ελληνική → ελληνικές (fem. nom./acc. plural)
ταινία → ταινίες (fem. nom./acc. plural)

The whole sentence in plural:

Το κανάλι προβάλλει παλιές ελληνικές ταινίες απόψε.
= The channel is showing old Greek movies tonight.

Note: there is no plural indefinite article in Greek, so just παλιές ελληνικές ταινίες can mean “some old Greek movies” / “old Greek movies”.

How do you pronounce the whole sentence, and where are the stress accents?

Sentence: Το κανάλι προβάλλει παλιά ελληνική ταινία απόψε.

Stresses (marked by accents in writing):

Το – to (unstressed, short)
κανάλι → κανάλι – ka‑NÁ‑li (stress on νά)
προβάλλει → προβάλλει – pro‑VÁ‑li (stress on βά)
παλιά – pa‑LYÁ (the λι is palatal: roughly like ly; stress on λιά)
ελληνική – e‑li‑ni‑KÍ (stress on κή)
ταινία – te‑NI‑a (stress on νία)
απόψε – a‑POP‑se (stress on πό)

Approximate phonetic transcription (IPA):

[to kaˈnali proˈvali paˈʎa eliniˈci teˈnia aˈpopse]

Natural rhythm (with stressed syllables in caps):

to ka‑NÁ‑li pro‑VÁ‑li pa‑LYÁ e‑li‑ni‑KÍ te‑NÍ‑a a‑POP‑se

If you follow the written accents, you will place the stress correctly.