Η δασκάλα μάς λέει ότι κάθε μικρό βήμα θέλει δύναμη και υπομονή.

Η δασκάλα means the female teacher.

• Η is the feminine singular definite article, meaning the.
• δασκάλα is a feminine noun meaning teacher.
• Together, they form the subject of the sentence.

If it were a male teacher, you would say Ο δάσκαλος.

It is in the nominative singular, because it is the subject of the verb λέει.

Greek marks the subject with the nominative case, just as English usually identifies the subject mainly by word order.

So here:

• Η δασκάλα = the subject
• λέει = the verb
• μάς = the object to us / us

μάς is the weak object pronoun meaning us or sometimes to us, depending on the verb.

In Η δασκάλα μάς λέει, it means the teacher tells us.

Greek often uses the same weak pronoun form where English might say either:

• tells us
• says to us

So μάς is the indirect object here.

In Greek, weak object pronouns usually come before a finite verb.

So:

• μάς λέει = tells us
• not usually λέει μάς

This is a very common Greek pattern:

• με βλέπει = he/she sees me
• σου μιλάει = he/she speaks to you
• μας λέει = he/she tells us

One important exception is with affirmative imperatives, where the pronoun usually comes after the verb.

You will often see μας without an accent, because weak pronouns are normally unstressed in writing.

The spelling μάς with an accent is often used to make the pronoun stand out more clearly, especially to avoid confusion with possessive μας meaning our.

So in practice:

• μας λέει and μάς λέει both occur
• the accented form helps signal that this is the pronoun us / to us

It does not change the basic meaning.

λέει is the 3rd person singular present form of λέω, meaning to say / to tell.

Because the subject is Η δασκάλα = the teacher = she, the verb must be she says / she tells:

• λέω = I say
• λες = you say
• λέει = he/she/it says

So Η δασκάλα μάς λέει literally means The teacher tells us.

ότι means that and introduces a subordinate clause.

So:

• Η δασκάλα μάς λέει = The teacher tells us
• ότι κάθε μικρό βήμα θέλει δύναμη και υπομονή = that every small step requires strength and patience

It works very much like English that in a sentence such as She tells us that...

This is a very common question.

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

In your sentence, it must be ότι, because it introduces what the teacher says:

• Η δασκάλα μάς λέει ότι... = The teacher tells us that...

If it were ό,τι, the meaning would be something like whatever, which does not fit here.

κάθε is essentially indeclinable in Modern Greek, so it keeps the same form regardless of gender.

That means you can say:

• κάθε μέρα = every day
• κάθε άνθρωπος = every person
• κάθε παιδί = every child
• κάθε μικρό βήμα = every small step

Unlike many adjectives, κάθε does not change ending to match the noun.

Because βήμα is a neuter noun.

The adjective μικρός / μικρή / μικρό must agree with the noun in gender, number, and case:

• masculine: μικρός
• feminine: μικρή
• neuter: μικρό

Since βήμα is neuter singular, the correct form is:

• μικρό βήμα

Here κάθε μικρό βήμα is the subject of θέλει, so it is in the nominative singular.

With many neuter nouns, the nominative and accusative forms are the same, so βήμα looks unchanged. The adjective μικρό also has the same form in nominative and accusative neuter singular.

So even though the form may look familiar from object phrases, here the whole phrase is functioning as the subject:

• κάθε μικρό βήμα = every small step

Yes, θέλω basically means to want, but in Greek it can also mean to need or to require, especially in everyday expressions.

So:

• θέλει δύναμη = it needs / requires strength
• θέλει υπομονή = it needs / requires patience

In this sentence, κάθε μικρό βήμα θέλει δύναμη και υπομονή means every small step requires strength and patience.

This use is very natural in Greek.

They are in the accusative singular, because they are the direct objects of θέλει.

The verb θέλει here means needs / requires, so it takes what is needed as its object:

• θέλει δύναμη
• θέλει υπομονή

Both nouns are feminine singular.

Greek often leaves out the article with abstract nouns when speaking in a general sense.

So:

• θέλει δύναμη και υπομονή = it requires strength and patience

This is more general than saying:

• θέλει τη δύναμη και την υπομονή = it requires the strength and the patience

Without the article, the sentence sounds broad and general, which fits the meaning well.

Yes. Greek, like English, often links two nouns with και without repeating extra words.

So δύναμη και υπομονή simply means:

• strength and patience

Both are objects of θέλει, and both are understood equally.

Very often, yes.

In many everyday contexts, ότι and πως can both mean that after verbs like λέω.

So these are both possible:

• Η δασκάλα μάς λέει ότι...
• Η δασκάλα μάς λέει πως...

They are very close in meaning here. Learners will often meet both.

Yes. Greek word order is more flexible than English, because the endings and articles help show each word’s role.

The neutral order here is:

• Η δασκάλα μάς λέει ότι...

But Greek could move elements around for emphasis, for example:

• Μάς λέει η δασκάλα ότι...

That still means basically the same thing, but the emphasis shifts a little. The original version is straightforward and natural.

A rough pronunciation guide is:

i dhaskála mas léi óti káthe mikró víma théli dhýnami ke ipomoní

A few useful notes:

• η / ι / υ / ει / οι often sound like ee
• δ sounds like th in this
• θ sounds like th in think
• β sounds like v
• γ before e/i can sound softer, but in βήμα the β is just v

And the written stress marks show where the main stress falls:

• δασκάλα
• μάς
• λέει
• ότι
• κάθε
• μικρό
• βήμα
• θέλει
• δύναμη
• υπομονή