Παρά την αμφιβολία της, η έκπληξη στο πρόσωπό της φάνηκε αμέσως.

Here παρά means despite or in spite of.

So:

• Παρά την αμφιβολία της = Despite her doubt

This is a very common use of παρά when it is followed by the accusative case.

Greek uses the definite article much more often than English does.

So although English says despite her doubt, Greek normally says παρά την αμφιβολία της, literally despite the doubt of hers.

With possessive expressions like this, the article is very natural:

• η αμφιβολία της = her doubt
• το πρόσωπό της = her face

Leaving out the article here would sound unnatural in standard Greek.

In both places, της means her.

It is the weak genitive form of the personal pronoun, and after a noun it often works like a possessive:

• η αμφιβολία της = her doubt
• το πρόσωπό της = her face

It appears twice because the sentence mentions two things that belong to her:

1. her doubt
2. her face

So the Greek repeats the possessive marker where English would also repeat her if it named both nouns.

στο is a contraction of σε + το.

• σε = in / at / on / to
• το = the (neuter singular)

So:

• σε το πρόσωπο becomes στο πρόσωπο

This contraction is standard and extremely common in Modern Greek.

This happens because της is an enclitic, a small unstressed word that leans on the word before it.

The basic noun is:

• πρόσωπο

But when a word like πρόσωπο is followed by an enclitic such as της, Greek often adds an extra written accent:

• πρόσωπό της

This does not mean it is a different word or a different case. It is mainly a spelling/prosody rule showing how the stress behaves in the phrase.

So:

• το πρόσωπο = the face
• το πρόσωπό της = her face

It is in the accusative case, because in Modern Greek σε normally takes the accusative.

So in full form:

• σε το πρόσωπο

Here πρόσωπο is accusative singular.

However, πρόσωπο is a neuter noun, and neuter nominative and accusative are often identical in form. So it looks the same as the dictionary form.

φάνηκε is the 3rd person singular aorist of φαίνομαι.

• φαίνομαι = I appear / I seem / I am visible
• φάνηκε = it appeared / it became visible / it showed

In this sentence, the subject is η έκπληξη, so:

• η έκπληξη φάνηκε = the surprise appeared / became visible

Even though φαίνομαι looks like a middle/passive-form verb, here it does not mean a passive idea like was shown. It means something more like became evident or showed itself.

Because η έκπληξη is the subject of the verb φάνηκε.

The sentence is built like this:

• Παρά την αμφιβολία της = introductory phrase
• η έκπληξη στο πρόσωπό της = subject
• φάνηκε = verb
• αμέσως = adverb

So η έκπληξη is nominative because it is the thing that appeared.

It tells you where the surprise became visible.

So:

• η έκπληξη στο πρόσωπό της literally means the surprise on her face

This prepositional phrase modifies η έκπληξη and makes the image more specific. It is not just any surprise; it is the surprise visible on her face.

Greek word order is more flexible than English word order.

Putting Παρά την αμφιβολία της first highlights the contrast:

• Despite her doubt, ...

This is a very natural way to set the scene before the main clause.

The comma helps separate this introductory phrase from the rest of the sentence. Greek could rearrange the sentence, but this version sounds smooth and emphasizes the concessive idea right away.

αμέσως means immediately or at once.

Here it modifies φάνηκε:

• φάνηκε αμέσως = became visible immediately

Yes, Greek can often move adverbs around more freely than English. For example, you could also hear:

• Η έκπληξη στο πρόσωπό της αμέσως φάνηκε
• Αμέσως φάνηκε η έκπληξη στο πρόσωπό της

But the original placement is very natural and neutral.

Yes. A fairly literal breakdown is:

• Παρά = despite
• την αμφιβολία της = her doubt
• η έκπληξη = the surprise
• στο πρόσωπό της = on her face
• φάνηκε = appeared / became visible
• αμέσως = immediately

So a close structural gloss would be:

Despite her doubt, the surprise on her face appeared immediately.

This kind of breakdown can help you see how Greek builds the sentence, even if the best English translation may sound slightly different.