Learn Hardcore Greek: Στο τέλος της χρονιάς ο καθηγητής δηλώνει ότι όσοι αντέξαμε μέχρι τώρα έχουμε κερδίσει κάτι πολύ σημαντικό. - At the end of the year the professor states that those of us who have endured so far have gained something very important.

Using just τέλος would be more like simply saying end without the preposition (e.g. as a label or exclamation). To say at the end, you normally need στο τέλος.

Why is it της χρονιάς and not του χρόνου or something else?

Both χρονιά and χρόνος can mean year, but:

χρονιά (feminine) is often used for a specific year as a period of life or activity, e.g. school year, working year.
χρόνος (masculine) is more general: time or year in a more abstract or calendar sense.

Here, στο τέλος της χρονιάς suggests at the end of the (school/academic) year or of a certain “year-long period” with the teacher. That makes χρονιά more natural than χρόνος.

Grammatically, της χρονιάς is genitive singular (of the year):

το τέλος της χρονιάς = the end of the year.

Why is δηλώνει in the present tense? In English I might expect “the teacher said”.

Greek often uses the present tense for:

General or habitual actions
- Ο καθηγητής δηλώνει can mean the teacher (always) says / states whenever this situation happens (every year, for example).
“Narrative” or “historical” present
Present tense is also used to make a story vivid, even if the time is technically in the past. So in a narrative context, you can tell the story like:
- At the end of the year, the teacher says that…
  even if in English you’d more naturally say said.

So δηλώνει is present indicative 3rd person singular and can be translated as says or states, even in a story about past events.

Why is there no word for “he” in ο καθηγητής δηλώνει? Shouldn’t it be αυτός δηλώνει?

Greek is a “pro‑drop” language, which means subject pronouns (I, you, he, etc.) are usually omitted because the verb ending already shows the person and number.

δηλώνει has the ending ‑ει, which indicates 3rd person singular (he/she/it states).
The subject noun ο καθηγητής (the teacher) is also present, so there is no need to add αυτός.

You would only add αυτός for emphasis or contrast:

Αυτός δηλώνει, όχι ο διευθυντής.
He is the one who states it, not the headmaster.

In this sentence, ο καθηγητής δηλώνει is completely natural without a separate “he”.

What exactly does ότι mean here, and how is it different from πως?

In this sentence, ότι is a conjunction meaning that (introducing reported speech / an indirect statement):

δηλώνει ότι … = he states that …

πως can often be used in the same way as ότι in modern Greek:

δηλώνει πως όσοι αντέξαμε… is also possible.

Rough guidelines:

ότι is somewhat more formal/neutral in writing.
πως is very common in speech and can sound slightly more informal.

Be careful not to confuse ότι (conjunction, no stress on the second syllable) with ό,τι (with a comma), which means whatever.

What does όσοι mean, and why is it masculine plural?

Όσοι is a relative / determiner pronoun meaning those who / whoever (among us/them).

όσοι αντέξαμε ≈ those of us who endured / we who endured.

It appears in masculine nominative plural because:

It refers to a group of people (students, presumably).
In Greek, when a group is mixed or gender-unknown, the masculine plural is the default.
- All-male or mixed group → όσοι
- All-female group → όσες

So όσοι here is the standard way to say “those (people) who…”.

Why is it όσοι αντέξαμε with αντέξαμε (1st person plural), and not άντεξαν or αντέξατε?

Αντέξαμε is the 1st person plural aorist of αντέχω = we endured.

So όσοι αντέξαμε literally means:

we, those who endured
or more naturally: those of us who endured.

The speaker includes themselves in the group, so the verb is 1st person plural. Greek lets you combine:

όσοι (those who)
with a 1st person verb to show “those of us who …”.

If it were αντέξανε / άντεξαν (3rd plural), it would mean:

όσοι άντεξαν = those who endured (them, not “us”).

What is the nuance of αντέξαμε? How is it different from αντέχουμε?

Both come from αντέχω, but:

αντέχουμε = present: we endure / we are enduring / we can stand it (now or generally).
αντέξαμε = aorist: we endured / we managed to last / we held out (a completed action in the past).

In όσοι αντέξαμε μέχρι τώρα:

αντέξαμε presents the endurance as something we have managed to do (successfully) up to this point.
It has a sense of effort and achievement: we made it through.

Can μέχρι τώρα go with the aorist like αντέξαμε? In English I’d expect a present perfect.

Yes. Greek tense–aspect usage is different from English.

μέχρι τώρα = up to now / until now.
With αντέξαμε (aorist), it means: we managed to endure up to this point (viewed as a whole, completed effort).

English strongly prefers the present perfect with until now:

those of us who have endured until now.

Greek is more flexible:

όσοι αντέξαμε μέχρι τώρα (aorist) is perfectly natural.
You could also say όσοι έχουμε αντέξει μέχρι τώρα, but that sounds a bit heavier; the original is smoother and more colloquial.

Why is it έχουμε κερδίσει and not simply κερδίσαμε?

Both forms are possible, but the nuance is different:

κερδίσαμε (aorist) = we won / we gained (focus on the past event).
έχουμε κερδίσει (present perfect) = we have won / we have gained (focus on the result that still matters now).

The teacher is emphasizing the lasting result of the effort:

By enduring until now, we have gained something important, and that gain is still ours at the moment of speaking.

So έχουμε κερδίσει fits well with the idea of a benefit that continues in the present.

What does κάτι mean here, and why doesn’t it have an article?

Κάτι is an indefinite pronoun meaning something.

It never takes an article. There is no το κάτι in this meaning.
In έχουμε κερδίσει κάτι πολύ σημαντικό, it works as:
- κάτι = something
- πολύ σημαντικό = very important (describing what that “something” is like).

So literally: we have gained something very important.
Using an article would change the meaning or be ungrammatical here.

Why is it κάτι πολύ σημαντικό and not κάτι πολύ σημαντικός/σημαντική?

Κάτι is grammatically neuter singular, and adjectives that describe it must agree in gender, number, and case. So:

κάτι καλό, κάτι ωραίο, κάτι σημαντικό
all use neuter singular forms.

In the phrase:

κάτι πολύ σημαντικό
- πολύ = very (an adverb modifying the adjective)
- σημαντικό = neuter singular of σημαντικός (important), agreeing with κάτι.

So σημαντικός / σημαντική (masc/fem) would be wrong here; the adjective must match κάτι in the neuter.

Is there any nuance in saying κάτι πολύ σημαντικό instead of κάτι πολύ σημαντικό πράγμα?

Yes:

κάτι πολύ σημαντικό is more natural and idiomatic: something very important.
κάτι πολύ σημαντικό πράγμα literally adds thing:
- a very important thing.

In Greek, after κάτι, it’s very common to omit the noun and just use an adjective in neuter:

κάτι καλό (something good)
κάτι διαφορετικό (something different)
κάτι πολύ σημαντικό (something very important)

Adding πράγμα is possible but usually:

sounds more literal or redundant, unless you need to emphasize “thing” for contrast (e.g. as opposed to a person, an idea, etc.).

In this sentence, the short form κάτι πολύ σημαντικό is the most natural.