Ο παίκτης βλέπει το τέρμα, αλλά δεν βάζει γκολ.

Because Greek articles change to match the noun’s gender, number, and case.

• ο παίκτης = the player

  • ο is the masculine singular nominative article
  • παίκτης is masculine and is the subject of the sentence

• το τέρμα = the goal

  • το is the neuter singular article
  • τέρμα is neuter and is the object

English just uses the for everything, but Greek has different forms.

βλέπω and βάζω are the dictionary forms, meaning I see and I put / I score.

In the sentence, the subject is ο παίκτης = the player, which is he. So the verb has to be in the 3rd person singular:

• βλέπω = I see

• βλέπει = he/she/it sees

• βάζω = I put / I score
• βάζει = he/she/it puts / scores

So ο παίκτης βλέπει means the player sees, and δεν βάζει means he does not score.

• ο παίκτης is in the nominative, because it is the subject
• το τέρμα is in the accusative, because it is the direct object

A detail that often confuses learners: with many neuter nouns, the nominative and accusative look the same. So το τέρμα can look identical in both cases.

If the object were a masculine noun, you would often see a clearer difference. For example:

• ο παίκτης = the player, subject
• τον παίκτη = the player, object

δεν is the normal word for not in Greek statements.

It usually comes right before the verb:

• βάζει = he scores
• δεν βάζει = he does not score

So in this sentence:

• αλλά δεν βάζει γκολ = but he doesn’t score

This is very similar to how negation works in English in meaning, though the structure is more direct in Greek.

Yes. αλλά means but and is used to connect two contrasting ideas.

Here the contrast is:

• he sees the goal
• but he doesn’t score

So αλλά works very much like English but in this sentence.

Because βάζω γκολ is a very common football expression meaning to score a goal / score goals.

Greek often leaves out the article in fixed expressions like this. So:

• βάζει γκολ = he scores / he scores a goal
• δεν βάζει γκολ = he doesn’t score

If you specifically wanted to say one goal, you could say:

• βάζει ένα γκολ = he scores one goal / a goal

Also, γκολ is a loanword from English and is normally indeclinable, so its form does not change.

More or less, yes, if you translate it word for word. But you should learn it as an idiomatic sports expression.

• βάζω normally means put
• in football, βάζω γκολ means score a goal

So although the literal idea may sound strange in English, the natural meaning is simply to score.

In this sentence, τέρμα means the goal in the football sense: the goalmouth, net, or target.

But τέρμα has a wider meaning in Greek. It can also mean:

• end
• finish
• limit
• stop

So it is a useful word, but its exact meaning depends on context. In a football sentence like this one, it clearly means the goal.

Yes, very often.

Greek regularly drops subject pronouns and sometimes even leaves the subject implied if the context is clear, because the verb ending already shows the person and number.

So if everyone already knows who you are talking about, you could say:

• Βλέπει το τέρμα, αλλά δεν βάζει γκολ.

That would mean He sees the goal, but he doesn’t score.

In your sentence, ο παίκτης is included to make the subject explicit.

No, Greek word order is more flexible than English word order, although the order here is very natural and neutral:

• Ο παίκτης βλέπει το τέρμα, αλλά δεν βάζει γκολ.

This is basically subject + verb + object.

Greek can move things around for emphasis, topic, or style, because the articles and case endings help show what each word is doing. But for a learner, the order in this sentence is an excellent standard pattern to follow.

A simple learner-friendly pronunciation is:

o PÉK-tis VLE-pi to TÉR-ma, a-LÁ den VÁ-zi gol

A few useful notes:

• αι in παίκτης sounds like e
• ει in βλέπει sounds like ee/i
• the accent mark shows which syllable gets the stress:
  • παίκτης
  • βλέπει
  • τέρμα
  • αλλά
  • βάζει

Paying attention to stress is important in Greek, because it is a real part of pronunciation.