Η ασθενής λέει ότι πονάει ο λαιμός της και δυσκολεύεται να καταπιεί.

It is originally an adjective meaning sick / ill / weak, but here it is being used as a noun, meaning patient.

This is very common in Greek: an adjective with the article can function like a noun.

• η ασθενής = the female patient
• ο ασθενής = the male patient

A useful thing to notice is that ασθενής has the same form in the singular for masculine and feminine; the article tells you the gender.

Because Greek often drops subject pronouns when they are already clear from the verb or the context.

So:

• λέει = he/she/it says
• δυσκολεύεται = he/she/it has difficulty / struggles

Since the sentence already begins with η ασθενής, Greek does not need to repeat she. This is very normal and much more common than in English.

ότι is the conjunction that. It introduces what the patient says.

So after λέει, Greek commonly uses ότι to introduce reported speech or a statement.

Also, learners often confuse:

• ότι = that
• ό,τι = whatever / anything that

They are different words.

Yes, very often.

After verbs like λέω, both ότι and πως can mean that:

• Η ασθενής λέει ότι...
• Η ασθενής λέει πως...

Both are natural. In many contexts, πως sounds a bit more conversational, while ότι is very common in neutral or slightly more formal written Greek.

Because Greek word order is more flexible than English word order.

Both of these are possible:

• πονάει ο λαιμός της
• ο λαιμός της πονάει

In this sentence, putting the verb first sounds very natural, especially in symptom descriptions. Greek often does this when introducing what is happening.

So the subject is still ο λαιμός της; it just comes after the verb.

Because ο λαιμός is the subject of πονάει.

Greek is literally saying something like her throat hurts. The throat is the thing doing the hurting grammatically, so it appears in the nominative:

• ο λαιμός = nominative singular masculine

This is different from how English learners sometimes expect the sentence to work. In Greek, body parts often appear as the subject in sentences like this.

Here της means her.

Greek often expresses possession with a genitive pronoun placed after the noun:

• ο λαιμός της = her throat

So literally it is the throat of her, but in natural English we say her throat.

The same form της can also mean to her in other contexts, so its function depends on the sentence.

Yes. πονάει is the 3rd person singular present form of πονάω / πονώ, meaning to hurt / ache.

In Modern Greek, verbs of this type often have two common 3rd singular forms:

• πονάει
• πονά

Both are used and both are correct. πονάει is very common in everyday speech and writing.

So you may hear either:

• Πονάει ο λαιμός μου
• Πονά ο λαιμός μου

No. Here it does not have a passive meaning.

The verb is δυσκολεύομαι, which means to have difficulty, to struggle, or to find something hard. It uses middle/passive endings, but its meaning is active.

So:

• δυσκολεύεται = he/she has difficulty / struggles

This is a common pattern in Greek: some verbs look passive in form but are active in meaning.

Because να introduces a dependent verb clause, often called the subjunctive in Greek grammar.

After verbs and expressions such as:

• θέλω = want
• μπορώ = can
• πρέπει = must
• δυσκολεύομαι = have difficulty

Greek normally uses να + verb.

So:

• δυσκολεύεται να καταπιεί = she has difficulty swallowing

English often uses an -ing form here, but Greek uses να + a finite verb.

This is an aspect question.

After να, Greek can use:

• a perfective form, here καταπιεί
• an imperfective form, such as καταπίνει

In this sentence, να καταπιεί presents swallowing as a complete act or whole event. That is very natural when talking about the symptom difficulty swallowing.

If you used να καταπίνει, it would sound more like ongoing or repeated swallowing.

So the difference is not mainly tense; it is aspect:

• να καταπιεί = to swallow, viewed as a whole act
• να καταπίνει = to be swallowing / to swallow repeatedly or continuously

Because the subject is understood from context.

The sentence starts with Η ασθενής, and then the second verb δυσκολεύεται naturally continues with the same subject unless something else is introduced.

So Greek does not need to say:

• Η ασθενής λέει... και η ασθενής δυσκολεύεται...

That would sound repetitive. The subject remains the patient, while inside the first embedded clause the subject of πονάει is ο λαιμός της. Greek relies heavily on context like this, and native speakers understand it easily.