Learn Hardcore Greek: Η γραπτή εξέταση ελληνικών είναι αύριο.

Η – definite article, nominative, feminine, singular. It marks the subject noun (εξέταση) as definite: the.
γραπτή – adjective, nominative, feminine, singular. It agrees with εξέταση and means written.
εξέταση – noun, nominative, feminine, singular. This is the subject: exam / test.
ελληνικών – genitive, neuter, plural. It depends on εξέταση and means of Greek (language).
είναι – 3rd person singular of είμαι (to be): is.
αύριο – adverb of time: tomorrow.

So the structure is literally: The written exam of Greek is tomorrow.

Why is it Η and not Την or Το?

Η is the nominative feminine singular article. It is used for feminine nouns that are the subject of a sentence.
εξέταση is a feminine noun, and here it is the subject, so we need nominative: Η εξέταση.
Την is the accusative form (used for direct objects), and Το is the neuter article. They would be wrong here because:
- the noun is feminine (so not Το),
- and it is not an object but the subject (so not Την).

Why is the adjective γραπτή in that form? Why not γραπτός or γραπτό?

Adjectives in Greek agree with the noun they describe in gender, number, and case.

The noun εξέταση is:
- feminine,
- singular,
- nominative (subject).
Therefore the adjective γραπτός must also be:
- feminine → γραπτή,
- singular,
- nominative.

So you get η γραπτή εξέταση (the written exam).
Other forms would be correct with different nouns, e.g.:

ο γραπτός λόγος – written speech (masculine).
το γραπτό κείμενο – written text (neuter).

Why is it ελληνικών and not ελληνικά?

ελληνικά is the neuter plural in the nominative/accusative, and it usually means Greek (the language) by itself, as a subject or object:

Μαθαίνω ελληνικά. – I’m learning Greek.

In εξέταση ελληνικών, ελληνικών is not standing alone; it depends on another noun (εξέταση) and means of Greek. That requires the genitive case:

η εξέταση ελληνικών – the exam of Greek.
ένα βιβλίο ελληνικών – a book of Greek (for Greek).

So ελληνικών is genitive plural: “of Greek (lessons / studies)”, which is how you normally express an exam of a subject in Greek.

Why is there no article before ελληνικών? Could we say των ελληνικών?

Both are possible:

η γραπτή εξέταση ελληνικών – more common, natural.
η γραπτή εξέταση των ελληνικών – also correct, a bit heavier/more explicit.

In phrases like εξέταση ελληνικών, μάθημα γερμανικών, Greek often drops the article before the language in the genitive. It functions almost like a fixed pattern meaning exam in Greek, German lesson, etc.

Adding των (genitive article) makes the phrase more formal or emphatic but doesn’t really change the meaning.

Could we say η γραπτή εξέταση της ελληνικής instead of ελληνικών? Does it mean the same?

You can say:

η γραπτή εξέταση της ελληνικής (γλώσσας)

This literally means the written exam of the Greek (language) and is grammatically correct. However:

εξέταση ελληνικών is the most natural way to say Greek exam (exam in Greek as a school subject).
της ελληνικής (γλώσσας) sounds more formal or technical, emphasizing the language itself as an object of linguistic study.

In everyday school or university context, εξέταση ελληνικών is what you will normally hear.

Can the word order change? For example, can I say Αύριο είναι η γραπτή εξέταση ελληνικών?

Yes, Greek word order is flexible. All of these are possible, with slightly different emphasis:

Η γραπτή εξέταση ελληνικών είναι αύριο.
Neutral: stating when the exam is.
Αύριο είναι η γραπτή εξέταση ελληνικών.
Emphasis on tomorrow: “It’s tomorrow that the exam is.”
Η γραπτή εξέταση ελληνικών αύριο είναι.
Possible but stylistically marked; you’d meet this in poetry or very expressive speech, not normal conversation.

The original sentence is the most neutral, everyday order.

Why is the present tense είναι used for a future event? Shouldn’t it be θα είναι?

Both are correct, but they don’t feel exactly the same:

Η γραπτή εξέταση ελληνικών είναι αύριο.
Literally: The written Greek exam is tomorrow.
Just like in English, present + time expression can refer to the near future (fixed schedule).
Η γραπτή εξέταση ελληνικών θα είναι αύριο.
More like: will be tomorrow.
It sounds a bit more like a prediction or confirmation, or like you’re contrasting it with another possible day.

In everyday speech, using είναι with αύριο, την Παρασκευή, etc. is very common for scheduled events.

What is the difference between γραπτή εξέταση and προφορική εξέταση?

γραπτή εξέταση – written exam (you write answers on paper / computer).
προφορική εξέταση – oral exam (you speak; the exam is conducted orally).

Structurally, it’s the same pattern:

η γραπτή εξέταση ελληνικών – the written exam in Greek.
η προφορική εξέταση ελληνικών – the oral exam in Greek.

Why is ελληνικών written with a lowercase letter? In English we write Greek with a capital G.

In Greek:

Names of languages are normally written with lowercase:
τα ελληνικά, τα αγγλικά, τα γαλλικά, etc.
Proper names of peoples or nationalities can be capitalized when used as nouns, e.g. οι Έλληνες (the Greeks as people).

Here ελληνικών refers to the Greek language / Greek subject, so it is in lowercase. This is standard Greek spelling, even though English capitalizes Greek.

Could we drop the adjective and just say Η εξέταση ελληνικών είναι αύριο? Does it change the meaning?

Yes, you can say:

Η εξέταση ελληνικών είναι αύριο.

Then you are simply saying The Greek exam is tomorrow, without specifying whether it’s written or oral.

With γραπτή you are specifying the type: the written exam.
Without γραπτή it’s just the exam, type unspecified or obvious from context.

So the meaning becomes less specific, but the sentence is still correct and natural.

How do you pronounce Η γραπτή εξέταση ελληνικών είναι αύριο and where is the stress?

Syllable-by-syllable (stressed syllables in bold):

Η – /i/ (same as ee in see).
γρα-ΠΤΗ – /ɣra-ˈpti/
ε-ΞΕ-τα-ση – /e-ˈkse-ta-si/
ελ-λη-ΝΙ-κων – /e-li-ˈni-kon/ (stress on -νι-).
ΕΙ-ναι – /ˈi-ne/
ΑΥ-ριο – /ˈa-vrio/ (the υ here sounds like v: /avrio/).

Spoken smoothly:
/ i ɣraˈpti ekˈsetasi eliˈnikon ˈine ˈavrio /