Η μπάλα είναι δίπλα στο τέρμα.

Η is the definite article here, meaning the.

Greek articles change for gender, number, and case. In this sentence:

• η = the for feminine singular nominative
• μπάλα is a feminine singular noun
• so η μπάλα = the ball

This is one of the first things English speakers notice, because English just uses the for everything, while Greek changes the article depending on the noun.

You know it is feminine because it takes the feminine article η.

So:

• η μπάλα = feminine
• ο would mark a masculine noun
• το would mark a neuter noun

Greek nouns belong to a grammatical gender category, and you usually learn the noun together with its article. So it is best to memorize η μπάλα, not just μπάλα by itself.

Είναι means is here.

It is the present-tense form of the verb to be. A useful thing to know is that είναι is used for both:

• he/she/it is
• they are

So Greek does not change this form the way English does.

In this sentence:

• Η μπάλα είναι... = The ball is...

Δίπλα means next to / beside.

It often works together with σε plus a noun:

• δίπλα σε κάτι = next to something

Very often, σε combines with the article:

• σε + το = στο

So:

• δίπλα στο τέρμα = next to the goal

A very helpful way to think of it is:

• δίπλα gives the idea of beside
• στο τέρμα tells you beside what

Because στο is the normal contracted form of:

• σε + το = στο

This contraction is extremely common in Greek.

Other common examples are:

• σε + τη(ν) = στη(ν)
• σε + τα = στα
• σε + τους = στους

So δίπλα στο τέρμα is the natural way to say it.
Using δίπλα σε το τέρμα would sound wrong in standard Greek.

After σε (and therefore after στο), Greek normally uses the accusative case.

So in structure, this is:

• δίπλα σε το τέρμα
• contracted to δίπλα στο τέρμα

Now, τέρμα is a neuter noun. For many neuter nouns, the nominative and accusative forms look the same, so you do not see a spelling change here.

That means:

• το τέρμα can be nominative
• το τέρμα can also be accusative

In this sentence, it is functioning as accusative after στο.

Τέρμα is neuter.

You can tell because it uses the article το in its basic form:

• το τέρμα = the goal

Even when it appears inside στο, the το is still there underneath:

• στο = σε + το

So the sentence is giving you a clue that τέρμα is a neuter noun.

It is not a single fixed idiom, but it is a very common pattern.

You will often see:

• δίπλα στο σπίτι = next to the house
• δίπλα στην πόρτα = next to the door
• δίπλα στον φίλο μου = next to my friend

So the useful pattern is:

• δίπλα + σε / στο / στη / στον / στην / στα ...

This is a very productive structure, so you can reuse it with many nouns.

The neutral, natural order here is:

• Η μπάλα είναι δίπλα στο τέρμα.

This is basically:

• subject + verb + location

Greek word order is somewhat flexible, so you can move things around for emphasis. For example:

• Δίπλα στο τέρμα είναι η μπάλα.

This could emphasize the location more, something like The ball is next to the goal with stress on next to the goal.

But for a simple basic statement, Η μπάλα είναι δίπλα στο τέρμα is the most straightforward order.

At the beginning of a word, μπ is usually pronounced like b.

So μπάλα sounds approximately like BA-la.

This is important because Greek does not usually use a single letter for the b sound in modern spelling. Instead, it commonly writes it as μπ.

A rough pronunciation guide for the whole sentence is:

• ee BA-la EE-ne DHEE-pla sto TER-ma

That is only approximate, but it helps you get started.

The accent mark shows which syllable gets the stress.

So:

• μπάλα → stress on the first syllable
• είναι → stress on the first syllable
• δίπλα → stress on the first syllable
• τέρμα → stress on the first syllable

Stress matters in Greek, so it is important to learn words with their accents.

In this sentence, nearly every content word is stressed on the first syllable, which gives it a fairly clear rhythm.

In standard modern Greek, you normally keep είναι in a sentence like this.

So:

• Η μπάλα είναι δίπλα στο τέρμα. = correct and natural

Leaving it out would generally sound incomplete in standard usage.

This is different from some languages where the ball next to the goal could function as a full sentence. In Greek, for a normal present-tense statement with to be, you usually say είναι.

Not always, but Greek uses the definite article more often than English in many contexts.

In this sentence, the article is natural because we are talking about:

• η μπάλα = the ball
• το τέρμα = the goal

If you removed the articles, the sentence would change in meaning or sound unnatural in many ordinary situations.

A good beginner habit is to learn nouns with their articles:

• η μπάλα
• το τέρμα

That will help you remember both gender and natural usage.