Ο Νίκος δεν ήρθε στη δουλειά· θα πονάει ακόμα ο λαιμός του.

In Greek, personal names are very often used with the definite article in normal speech: ο Νίκος, η Μαρία.

Here ο is the masculine singular nominative article. So ο Νίκος is just the natural Greek way to say Nikos as the subject of the sentence.

English usually does not put the before people’s names, so this is something English speakers have to get used to.

Δεν is the normal negation for indicative verbs. It means not.

So:

• ήρθε = he came
• δεν ήρθε = he did not come

It normally goes right before the verb (or before a verb phrase). Greek uses μη(ν) instead in other kinds of constructions, such as prohibitions or subjunctive contexts, but here δεν is the correct negative.

Ήρθε is the 3rd person singular aorist of έρχομαι (to come).

So it means he came.

This verb is irregular, so the past form does not look very much like the dictionary form:

• έρχομαι = I come / I am coming
• ήρθα = I came
• ήρθε = he/she came

You may also see ήλθε, which is a more formal/literary variant.

Στη is the contracted form of σε + τη(ν), so it means to / at the.

So:

• σε = to / at / in
• τη δουλειά = the work / the job
• στη δουλειά = to work / at work

Greek normally uses the article here, even where English would often say simply to work with no article. So ήρθε στη δουλειά is the natural Greek expression for came to work.

Also, δουλειά here means the workplace or job context, not just the abstract idea of work.

This is the Greek άνω τελεία. It is used like a semicolon or sometimes a colon in English.

So the sentence is not a question. It is simply pausing between two related clauses:

• Ο Νίκος δεν ήρθε στη δουλειά
• θα πονάει ακόμα ο λαιμός του

A useful thing to remember: in Greek, the symbol ; is usually the question mark, not the semicolon.

Because θα does not only mark simple future time. It can also express probability, inference, or assumption.

Here the speaker is reasoning from the evidence:

• Nikos did not come to work.
• Therefore, his throat is probably still hurting.

So θα πονάει ακόμα ο λαιμός του is something like:

• his throat must still be hurting
• his throat is probably still hurting

This is a very common use of θα in Greek.

This is an aspect question.

• θα πονάει uses the imperfective form and suggests an ongoing state: will be hurting / must still be hurting
• θα πονέσει uses the perfective form and would more naturally suggest a single whole event or the onset of pain: it will hurt / it will start to hurt

Since the idea here is that the pain is continuing, πονάει is the natural choice.

Here ακόμα means still.

So θα πονάει ακόμα means will still be hurting or must still be hurting.

Depending on context, ακόμα can also mean yet or even, but in this sentence the meaning is clearly still.

You may also see the variant ακόμη, which means the same thing and is a bit more formal in style.

Greek usually expresses possession with:

article + noun + weak possessive pronoun

So:

• ο λαιμός = the throat
• του = his
• ο λαιμός του = his throat

This is the normal Greek pattern. English says his throat, but Greek says something more like the throat his.

This is especially common with body parts and close personal belongings.

Greek word order is more flexible than English word order.

So both of these are possible:

• θα πονάει ακόμα ο λαιμός του
• ο λαιμός του θα πονάει ακόμα

They mean basically the same thing, but the focus is slightly different.

With θα πονάει ακόμα ο λαιμός του, the sentence presents the situation first, and then names the subject. This sounds very natural in Greek. English usually prefers to put the subject first, but Greek does not have to.