Learn Hardcore Greek: Η δασκάλα λέει ότι η αυτοπεποίθηση χτίζεται λίγο λίγο. - The teacher says that self-confidence is built little by little.

ότι (no comma)
- Conjunction = that (introduces what someone says, thinks, believes, etc.)
- Example: Ξέρω ότι έχεις δίκιο. = I know that you are right.
πως
- Very often interchangeable with ότι in modern Greek in this use.
- Η δασκάλα λέει πως η αυτοπεποίθηση χτίζεται λίγο λίγο.
  sounds almost the same as with ότι.
ό,τι (with a comma after ό)
- Pronoun meaning “whatever / anything that”.
- Example: Φάε ό,τι θέλεις. = Eat whatever you want.

So in your sentence it must be ότι (or πως), not ό,τι.

Why is it η δασκάλα and not just δασκάλα? Do we always need “the” with professions?

Η δασκάλα literally means “the (female) teacher”.

In Greek, the definite article (ο, η, το) is used much more often than “the” in English:

With professions and roles:
- Η δασκάλα = the teacher
- Ο γιατρός = the doctor
- Η μαθήτρια = the (female) student
We normally say:
- Η δασκάλα λέει… (The teacher says…)
  even if in English we might say just “A teacher says…” or “The teacher says…”, depending on context.

Could we say just Δασκάλα λέει ότι…?

That would sound incomplete or odd in standard Greek.
The article is the normal, “neutral” form.

So: with professions used as subjects, you almost always use the article in Greek.

What is the grammatical form of λέει, and why isn’t it είπε?

λέει comes from the verb λέω = to say.

λέει = 3rd person singular, present tense, active voice
- (αυτός/αυτή) λέει = he/she says, is saying

We use the present here because we’re reporting something that is generally or currently true:

Η δασκάλα λέει ότι…
= The teacher says that… (this is something she says regularly or as a general statement)

είπε is aorist past (simple past):

Η δασκάλα είπε ότι…
= The teacher said that… (she said it at a specific time in the past)

So:

λέει → “says” / “is saying” (present)
είπε → “said” (past)

In your sentence, the idea is more timeless or characteristic, so present is natural.

What exactly is η αυτοπεποίθηση? Is it countable like in English “a confidence”?

η αυτοπεποίθηση = self-confidence / confidence (in oneself).

Grammatically:

η = the (feminine, singular, nominative)
αυτοπεποίθηση = noun, feminine, singular

Usage:

In Greek, αυτοπεποίθηση is usually treated as a mass / abstract noun, like “confidence” in English when we mean “self-confidence”:
- Έχει αυτοπεποίθηση. = He/She has confidence.
- We normally don’t say μια αυτοπεποίθηση (a confidence) in this meaning.

So, η αυτοπεποίθηση in the sentence is “(the) self-confidence” as a general concept, not a countable object.

Why does η αυτοπεποίθηση have η again? Didn’t we already know confidence in general?

In Greek, abstract nouns (like confidence, love, patience) very often take the definite article even when English would use no article:

Η αγάπη είναι σημαντική.
Love is important.
Η υπομονή χρειάζεται.
Patience is needed.

So:

Η αυτοπεποίθηση χτίζεται λίγο λίγο.
literally: The confidence is built little by little,
but in natural English we say “Confidence is built little by little.”

This article with abstract nouns is a normal Greek pattern.
It doesn’t always correspond 1:1 to English “the”.

What does χτίζεται mean exactly, and what form is it?

χτίζεται comes from χτίζω = to build.

Form:

χτίζεται = 3rd person singular, present tense, passive voice
- Active: χτίζω = I build
- Passive: χτίζομαι (present) → χτίζεται (he/she/it is built)

Meaning in the sentence:

η αυτοπεποίθηση χτίζεται
= confidence is built / gets built up

Using the passive makes confidence the subject of the sentence, not the object:

Active idea: Κάποιος χτίζει την αυτοπεποίθηση.
Someone builds confidence.
Passive: Η αυτοπεποίθηση χτίζεται.
Confidence is built.

It’s the same meaning as English “is built”.

Why is the passive used (χτίζεται) instead of an active form like κάποιος χτίζει την αυτοπεποίθηση?

Greek uses the passive here for the same reason English often does:

To focus on the process and the thing affected (confidence),
rather than on who does the building.

Compare:

Someone builds confidence little by little.
(grammatically OK but less natural in English)
Confidence is built little by little.
(what we actually say)

So:

Η αυτοπεποίθηση χτίζεται λίγο λίγο.
sounds natural and general, like a proverb or general truth.

If you said:

Κάποιος χτίζει την αυτοπεποίθηση λίγο λίγο.
it would be grammatically fine, but puts more emphasis on who does the building (some person) instead of on confidence itself as a general concept.

What does λίγο λίγο mean, and how is it different from just λίγο?

λίγο = a little / a bit (adverb or adjective)
- Θέλω λίγο νερό. = I want a little water.
- Κουράστηκα λίγο. = I got a bit tired.
λίγο λίγο (repeated) is a set phrase meaning “little by little, bit by bit, gradually”.
It describes a slow, step‑by‑step process.

So:

η αυτοπεποίθηση χτίζεται λίγο λίγο
= confidence is built little by little / gradually.

Just λίγο would usually mean “a little (amount)”, not the process over time.

Can λίγο λίγο go somewhere else in the sentence? Does word order matter?

Greek word order is fairly flexible, and adverbial phrases like λίγο λίγο can usually move around without changing the core meaning.

Possible orders:

Η αυτοπεποίθηση χτίζεται λίγο λίγο.
Λίγο λίγο χτίζεται η αυτοπεποίθηση.
Η αυτοπεποίθηση λίγο λίγο χτίζεται. (more marked/emphatic)

All basically mean:

Confidence is built little by little.

The most neutral and common version is the one you have:

Η αυτοπεποίθηση χτίζεται λίγο λίγο.

How do you pronounce η δασκάλα λέει ότι η αυτοπεποίθηση χτίζεται λίγο λίγο?

Approximate pronunciation (stress in bold):

Η δασκάλα → ee dass-KA-la
λέει → LE-ee (often sounds like one long syllable, like “lei”)
ότι → O-tee
η αυτοπεποίθηση → ee af-to-pe-PI-thi-see
- θ is like English th in “think”
χτίζεται → HTEE-ze-te
- χτ = voiceless h plus t sound (like rough “h” + t)
- ζ = like z in “zoo”
λίγο λίγο → LI-ɣo LI-ɣo
- γ before o = soft g, like French “r”/“g” or a voiced “kh” sound

Connected, it flows roughly as:

Ee dass-KA-la LE-i O-ti ee af-to-pe-PI-thi-si HTI-ze-te LI-go LI-go.

Why is the first word Η without an accent and not Ή? Don’t capital letters usually lose the accent?

At the beginning of a Greek sentence, capital letters normally drop the accent, so:

η → Η
ή → Ή

These are different words:

η (no accent)
- Definite article “the” (feminine, singular, nominative)
- Also a weak subject pronoun “she” in some contexts (colloquial)
ή (with accent)
- Conjunction = “or”

In your sentence we need the article:

Η δασκάλα = The teacher

If you wrote Ή δασκάλα, it would mean “Or teacher”, which makes no sense here.

So the correct form is Η δασκάλα, with no accent.

Could we replace ότι with πως here? Would that change the meaning?

Yes, you can:

Η δασκάλα λέει ότι η αυτοπεποίθηση χτίζεται λίγο λίγο.
Η δασκάλα λέει πως η αυτοπεποίθηση χτίζεται λίγο λίγο.

In modern Greek, in this kind of sentence, ότι and πως are usually interchangeable, and the meaning is the same: that.

Very subtle differences (often stylistic):

Some speakers feel ότι is a bit more formal / neutral.
πως can feel slightly more colloquial in some contexts.

But in practice, most Greeks use both freely here, and both are correct.

Is there any subjunctive after λέει ότι? I thought Greek uses the subjunctive a lot.

After λέει ότι / λέει πως when they mean “says that”, Greek normally uses the indicative, not the subjunctive.

In your sentence:

η αυτοπεποίθηση χτίζεται
is indicative present passive.

Subjunctive (with να) appears after verbs like:

θέλω να… (I want to…)
μπορώ να… (I can…)
πρέπει να… (I must / have to…)
Or expressions like είναι καλό να…, είναι πιθανό να…, etc.

But with λέω ότι / λέω πως + (statement), you just state what someone says, so you use indicative, just like English:

She says that confidence is built little by little.
(not “may be built” or “should be built” here)

So no subjunctive is involved in your sentence.