Το μικρό αγόρι πήρε ένα κόκκινο κουβαδάκι, ενώ η αδερφή του μάζευε κοχύλια.

The little boy took a red little bucket, while his sister was collecting shells.

Breakdown of Το μικρό αγόρι πήρε ένα κόκκινο κουβαδάκι, ενώ η αδερφή του μάζευε κοχύλια.

• ένα: one
• παίρνω: to take
• κόκκινος: red
• η αδερφή: the sister

Questions & Answers about Το μικρό αγόρι πήρε ένα κόκκινο κουβαδάκι, ενώ η αδερφή του μάζευε κοχύλια.

Why is αγόρι neuter even though it means boy?

Because Greek grammatical gender does not always match biological sex. Αγόρι is a neuter noun, so it takes neuter forms like το μικρό αγόρι.

This is something English speakers often have to get used to:

• grammatical gender = a property of the noun
• natural gender = whether the person is male or female

So even though the referent is male, the noun αγόρι is still grammatically neuter.

Why do το μικρό and ένα κόκκινο all have those -ο endings?

They match the nouns they describe.

Both αγόρι and κουβαδάκι are:

• neuter
• singular

So the article and adjectives must also be in the neuter singular form:

• το μικρό αγόρι
• ένα κόκκινο κουβαδάκι

That is called agreement. In Greek, articles and adjectives agree with the noun in:

• gender
• number
• case

Why is it ένα and not έναν?