Breakdown of Δίπλα στον πεζόδρομο υπάρχει μια παιδική χαρά με κούνιες και μία μεγάλη τσουλήθρα.
Questions & Answers about Δίπλα στον πεζόδρομο υπάρχει μια παιδική χαρά με κούνιες και μία μεγάλη τσουλήθρα.
Στον is the combination of the preposition σε (in/at/on/to) and the masculine singular article τον (the).
- σε + τον πεζόδρομο → στον πεζόδρομο
- Literally: “next to the pedestrian street”, not just “next to pedestrian street”.
In Greek, you normally include the definite article with concrete nouns like πεζόδρομος (pedestrian street), so στον πεζόδρομο is the natural form.
πεζόδρομο is in the accusative singular.
The base form (nominative) is πεζόδρομος (masculine). After prepositions like σε (here inside στον), Greek almost always uses the accusative:
- nominative: ο πεζόδρομος
- accusative: τον πεζόδρομο → after σε: στον πεζόδρομο
So Δίπλα στον πεζόδρομο = “Next to the pedestrian street.”
They refer to different things:
- πεζόδρομος: a street or road closed to cars, used only by pedestrians → pedestrian street / pedestrian zone.
- πεζοδρόμιο: the sidewalk or pavement next to a road where people walk.
So Δίπλα στον πεζόδρομο means “Next to the pedestrian street/zone,” not “next to the sidewalk.”
Υπάρχει means “there exists / there is” and is used to introduce the existence of something in a place:
- Δίπλα στον πεζόδρομο υπάρχει μια παιδική χαρά…
“Next to the pedestrian street there is a playground…”
Είναι means “is” and is more about identity or description. You could say:
- Δίπλα στον πεζόδρομο είναι μια παιδική χαρά…
This is also acceptable, but υπάρχει sounds more like you’re pointing out that such a thing exists there, just like English “there is”.
Literally:
- παιδική = “children’s / child-like” (feminine adjective)
- χαρά = “joy, happiness”
So literally παιδική χαρά = “children’s joy”.
By usage, this phrase has come to mean “playground”, the place that is a joy for children. It’s always feminine singular:
- η παιδική χαρά = “the playground”
- μια παιδική χαρά = “a playground”
The article has to agree with the gender of the noun:
- χαρά is feminine, so the indefinite article is μια (or μία)
- ένα is the neuter form and would be wrong here.
So:
- μια παιδική χαρά = a playground
- ένα παιδί = a child (neuter)
- ένας δρόμος = a road (masculine)
Grammatically they are the same word: the feminine indefinite article “a / one”.
- μια: unstressed, the usual everyday form.
- μία: stressed, used for emphasis or to clearly mean the number “one” rather than just “a”.
In practice:
- μια παιδική χαρά: “a playground” (neutral)
- μία μεγάλη τσουλήθρα: can sound a bit more emphatic: “one big slide / a big slide” (with a slight stress on “one”).
In modern writing, many people use μια almost everywhere; μία often adds emphasis or clarity.
Yes. In Greek, the normal order is:
- article (if any) + adjective + noun
So:
- μια παιδική χαρά → article + adjective + noun
- μία μεγάλη τσουλήθρα → article + adjective + noun
You can sometimes place the adjective after the noun for stylistic reasons, but the basic, neutral pattern is adjective before noun, as in this sentence.
κούνιες is the plural of κούνια (feminine).
Depending on context, κούνια can mean:
- a swing (in a playground)
- a cradle (for a baby)
In this sentence, because it’s talking about a παιδική χαρά (playground), κούνιες clearly means swings (the playground equipment).
In Greek, an indefinite plural is often expressed without any article, similar to English:
- με κούνιες = “with swings” (some swings)
- με κάποιες κούνιες = “with some swings” (more explicit, but not needed)
For singular, you usually use μια / ένας / ένα for “a”:
- μία μεγάλη τσουλήθρα = “a big slide”
So the pattern:
- plural indefinite → often no article (κούνιες)
- singular indefinite → μια / μία (μία μεγάλη τσουλήθρα)
Here με means “with”, indicating what the playground contains:
- μια παιδική χαρά με κούνιες…
“a playground with swings…”
Both κούνιες and μία μεγάλη τσουλήθρα depend on με:
- με κούνιες και μία μεγάλη τσουλήθρα
“with swings and a big slide”
The adjective must agree with the noun in gender, number, and case.
- τσουλήθρα is feminine, singular, nominative.
- So the adjective μεγάλος (“big”) becomes:
- masculine: μεγάλος (ο μεγάλος δρόμος)
- neuter: μεγάλο (το μεγάλο σπίτι)
- feminine: μεγάλη (η μεγάλη τσουλήθρα)
Hence: μία μεγάλη τσουλήθρα = “one big slide.”
The ending -η in μεγάλη shows it’s feminine, matching τσουλήθρα.
Greek word order is relatively flexible. Both are possible:
- Δίπλα στον πεζόδρομο υπάρχει μια παιδική χαρά…
- Υπάρχει μια παιδική χαρά δίπλα στον πεζόδρομο…
Starting with Δίπλα στον πεζόδρομο puts emphasis on the place (“Right next to the pedestrian street, there is…”).
Starting with Υπάρχει puts more neutral emphasis on the existence of the playground. Both are grammatically correct.