Η κουμπάρα βάζει τη νύφη να δοκιμάσει και το πέπλο πριν αποφασίσει.

In this sentence, η κουμπάρα is a wedding-related role. In modern Greek, κουμπάρα can mean the woman who acts as the main wedding sponsor or a role similar to matron of honor / bridesmaid, depending on context and how literally or culturally you want to translate it.

It is the feminine form of κουμπάρος.

So:

• η κουμπάρα = a female wedding sponsor / matron of honor-type figure

Literally, βάζω often means put, but in this structure it means something more like:

• make someone do something
• have someone do something
• get someone to do something

So:

• βάζει τη νύφη να δοκιμάσει...
  = she has the bride try on... = she gets the bride to try on...

This is a very common Greek pattern:

• βάζω + someone/object + να + verb

Examples:

• Τον βάζω να διαβάσει. = I make him study.
• Με έβαλε να περιμένω. = He made me wait.

Because τη νύφη is the direct object of βάζει.

Compare:

• Η νύφη = the bride as the subject
• τη νύφη = the bride as the object

In this sentence:

• Η κουμπάρα = the subject, the one doing the action
• τη νύφη = the object, the person being made to do something

So Greek changes the article according to case:

• nominative: η νύφη
• accusative: τη(ν) νύφη

Both are related to the same article:

• full form: την
• shortened form: τη

In everyday Greek, the final -ν is often dropped before certain consonants, especially in speech and informal writing.

So:

• την νύφη is possible in principle
• τη νύφη is the normal form here

You will often see both τη and την, depending on pronunciation, style, and what sound follows.

Because Greek uses να to introduce this kind of subordinate verb.

Here, να δοκιμάσει means:

• to try on
• literally something like that she try on

After verbs like βάζω in the sense of make/have someone do, Greek normally uses:

• βάζω κάποιον να + verb

So:

• βάζει τη νύφη να δοκιμάσει = she gets the bride to try on

English uses an infinitive (to try), but Modern Greek generally does not use an infinitive like English does. Instead, it uses να + finite verb.

Because after να, Greek normally uses the subjunctive-type form, not the regular present indicative.

So:

• να δοκιμάσει = for her to try on / to try on
• δοκιμάζει = she is trying on / she tries

Here δοκιμάσει is the aorist subjunctive form. It usually presents the action as a single whole event:

• να δοκιμάσει = to try it on, as one act

If you said να δοκιμάζει, that would sound more like an ongoing or repeated action, which is not what this sentence is focusing on.

Here it means try on.

The verb δοκιμάζω can mean different things depending on context, such as:

• try
• test
• taste
• try on

Because the object is το πέπλο (the veil), the meaning here is clearly try on.

So:

• να δοκιμάσει το πέπλο = to try on the veil

Here και means also / too.

So:

• και το πέπλο = the veil too / also the veil

The sentence implies that the bride has probably already tried other things on, and the speaker is adding one more item:

• Have her try the veil too

This placement is very natural in Greek when you want to add another item to the list.

Το πέπλο is the direct object of δοκιμάσει.

The noun πέπλο is neuter, and in the singular, many neuter nouns have the same form in nominative and accusative:

• nominative: το πέπλο
• accusative: το πέπλο

So even though it is an object, it still looks the same as the dictionary form.

It means:

• before she decides
• before making a decision

The word πριν means before.

After πριν, Greek often uses a verb in a να/subjunctive-type pattern, and very often να is omitted when the meaning is clear. So:

• πριν αποφασίσει is basically a shortened form of
• πριν να αποφασίσει

In everyday Greek, the shorter version is extremely common.

For the same general reason as να δοκιμάσει: after πριν, Greek often uses the subjunctive-type form, especially when talking about an action that has not happened yet.

So:

• πριν αποφασίσει = before she decides
• πριν αποφασίζει would not fit here

The form αποφασίσει presents the decision as a single completed act in the future relative to the main action.

Grammatically, the subject is not stated explicitly, so the sentence can be a little ambiguous without context.

Possible interpretations:

• before the bride decides
• before the κουμπάρα decides

In real context, it would often be understood from the situation. Many learners notice this kind of ambiguity in Greek because subjects are often omitted when the verb ending already shows person and number.

So αποφασίσει means he/she decides, but Greek does not have to say she explicitly.

Because Greek is a pro-drop language. That means subject pronouns are often omitted when they are not needed.

The ending of the verb already tells you the person/number:

• αποφασίσει = he/she decides

So Greek often leaves out words like:

• αυτή = she

If Greek added αυτή, it would usually be for emphasis or contrast.

Not really. A more accurate literal sense is:

• before she decides

Greek often uses a finite verb where English might use either:

• a full clause: before she decides
• or a more compact phrase: before deciding

So when translating, English may sound more natural with either version depending on context.

The article το is normal here because the sentence refers to the veil, probably a specific veil in the shop or in the wedding outfit.

• και το πέπλο = the veil too
• και πέπλο would sound more like and a veil / veil too in a less specific sense

Greek uses articles more often than English, especially with specific nouns.

A useful breakdown is:

• Η κουμπάρα = the subject
• βάζει = has / makes
• τη νύφη = the object of βάζει
• να δοκιμάσει = to try on
• και το πέπλο = the veil too
• πριν αποφασίσει = before she decides

So the core pattern is:

• [Subject] + βάζει + [person] + να + [verb] + [object] + πριν + [verb]

That gives:

• Η κουμπάρα βάζει τη νύφη να δοκιμάσει και το πέπλο πριν αποφασίσει.

Yes. βάζει is present tense: she has / is having / gets.

Greek present tense can be used very naturally in descriptions of current events, habits, or vivid narration. The later action, αποφασίσει, is not expressed with a future tense form here; instead, Greek uses the subjunctive-type form after πριν to show a not-yet-completed action.

So the timeline is something like:

• first: the bride tries on the veil
• then: someone decides

Yes. Depending on context, several English versions are possible:

• The matron of honor has the bride try on the veil too before she decides.
• The bridesmaid gets the bride to try on the veil as well before deciding.
• The κουμπάρα makes the bride try the veil too before a decision is made.

The exact best translation depends on:

• how you want to render κουμπάρα
• who is understood as deciding
• whether you want try or try on in English

The dictionary forms are:

• βάζω = put; make; get someone to do something
• δοκιμάζω = try, test, try on
• αποφασίζω = decide

The forms used in the sentence are:

• βάζει from βάζω
• δοκιμάσει from δοκιμάζω
• αποφασίσει from αποφασίζω