Το γάλα χαλάει γρήγορα το καλοκαίρι.

Milk goes bad quickly in the summer.

Breakdown of Το γάλα χαλάει γρήγορα το καλοκαίρι.

• γρήγορα: quickly
• το καλοκαίρι: in the summer
• το γάλα: the milk
• χαλάω: to get ruined

Questions & Answers about Το γάλα χαλάει γρήγορα το καλοκαίρι.

Why does the sentence start with το γάλα instead of just γάλα?

In Greek, it is very common to use the definite article with general nouns, even when English would use no article.

So το γάλα here means milk in a general sense, not necessarily the milk in a specific carton or bottle.

This is one of the big differences from English:

• English: Milk spoils quickly in summer
• Greek: Το γάλα χαλάει γρήγορα το καλοκαίρι

So the article is normal Greek usage, not something you should always translate as the.

Is γάλα singular or plural here?

It is singular.

Γάλα is a neuter singular noun meaning milk. Even though milk is a mass noun, Greek treats it grammatically as singular here, so the verb is also singular: χαλάει.

That is why you do not see a plural verb.

What exactly is χαλάει?

Χαλάει is the 3rd person singular present tense form of χαλάω.

Here it means:

• spoils
• goes bad

The same verb can also mean:

• breaks
• ruins
• damages

So the verb has a broad meaning, and the context tells you which English word fits best. With food like γάλα, the natural meaning is spoils or goes bad.