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Learn Hardcore Greek: Η οφειλή είναι μεγάλη. - The outstanding debt is large.

Hardcore Greek
/Resolving an electricity-bill problem
/Η οφειλή είναι μεγάλη.

Η οφειλή είναι μεγάλη.

Η οφειλή είναι μεγάλη.

The outstanding debt is large.

Breakdown of Η οφειλή είναι μεγάλη.

η οφειλή

outstanding debt

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Questions & Answers about Η οφειλή είναι μεγάλη.

How do you pronounce Η οφειλή είναι μεγάλη?

A natural pronunciation is approximately:

ee of-ee-LEE EE-ne me-GHA-lee

A more careful breakdown:

Η → ee
οφειλή → o-fi-LEE
είναι → EE-ne
μεγάλη → me-GHA-lee

A few notes:

η is pronounced like ee.
φ sounds like f.
γ before α here is the Greek voiced sound often approximated as a soft gh.
The stressed syllables are marked by the accent marks:
- οφειλή
- είναι
- μεγάλη

So the rhythm is roughly:

ee o-fi-LEE EE-ne me-GHA-lee

What does Η do here?

Η is the definite article, meaning the.

In this sentence:

Η οφειλή = the debt

Greek articles change depending on gender, number, and case. Here η is:

feminine
singular
nominative

So it matches οφειλή, which is a feminine singular noun and the subject of the sentence.

Why is the noun οφειλή feminine?

In Greek, every noun has a grammatical gender: masculine, feminine, or neuter.

οφειλή is a feminine noun, and you can see that from:

the article η
the adjective form μεγάλη, which is also feminine

Its gender is a property of the word itself, not necessarily of its meaning. Since debt is an abstract noun, “feminine” does not mean anything biological here; it is just a grammatical category.

Why is it μεγάλη and not μεγάλο or μεγάλος?

Because adjectives in Greek must agree with the noun they describe.

Since οφειλή is:

feminine
singular
nominative

the adjective must also be:

feminine
singular
nominative

So:

μεγάλος = masculine
μεγάλη = feminine
μεγάλο = neuter

That is why the sentence uses μεγάλη.

What case are the words in this sentence?

The key words are in the nominative.

Η οφειλή is the subject, so it is nominative.
μεγάλη is a predicate adjective after είναι, and in Greek it also appears in the nominative to agree with the subject.

So the structure is:

subject: Η οφειλή
verb: είναι
predicate adjective: μεγάλη

What form is είναι?

είναι is the 3rd person singular present tense of είμαι (to be).

So it means:

is

Examples:

Η οφειλή είναι μεγάλη. = The debt is large.
Το σπίτι είναι μεγάλο. = The house is big.

It is an irregular and very common verb, so it is worth memorizing early.

Can Greek leave out είναι, like some other languages do?

Normally, in standard modern Greek, είναι is not omitted in a sentence like this.

So you say:

Η οφειλή είναι μεγάλη.

not usually:

Η οφειλή μεγάλη.

You may sometimes see omissions in headlines, notes, poetry, or very informal styles, but in ordinary complete sentences, Greek usually keeps the verb to be in the present tense.

Why is there no separate word for a or an in Greek?

Greek does not use an indefinite article the way English does.

English distinguishes:

a debt
the debt

Greek has a definite article (ο, η, το), but no separate everyday article exactly equivalent to a/an.

So:

οφειλή can mean debt or a debt, depending on context
η οφειλή means the debt

In this sentence, the noun is definite, so Greek uses η.

Can the word order change?

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

The neutral order here is:

Η οφειλή είναι μεγάλη.

But other orders are possible for emphasis, such as:

Μεγάλη είναι η οφειλή.
= The debt is large / It is the debt that is large

The meaning stays basically the same, but the emphasis changes. For a learner, the given order is the most straightforward and standard one.

Why does Η have no accent mark, but the other words do?

Greek uses accent marks to show word stress.

οφειλή has an accent because the stress falls on the last syllable
είναι has an accent because the stress falls on the first syllable
μεγάλη has an accent because the stress falls on the second syllable

But the article η is a monosyllabic function word, and such words often do not take an accent mark in normal spelling.

So:

η = article the
ή = with an accent, a different word meaning or

That accent can matter a lot in Greek.

Is μεγάλη just big, or can it also mean great or serious?

μεγάλη literally means big/large, but like English big, it can be used in broader ways depending on context.

With something like οφειλή (debt), it usually means:

large
big
sometimes substantial

So Η οφειλή είναι μεγάλη most naturally means:

The debt is large
The debt is big

In context, it could also imply that the debt is serious or significant, but the basic meaning is size/extent.

How would I make this sentence negative?

You add δεν before the verb:

Η οφειλή δεν είναι μεγάλη.

That means:

The debt is not large.

So the pattern is:

subject + δεν + είναι + adjective

How would I ask this as a question?

In Greek, a yes/no question often has the same word order as the statement. The difference is usually shown by intonation in speech or a question mark in writing.

So you can write:

Η οφειλή είναι μεγάλη;

That means:

Is the debt large?

One thing to notice: the Greek question mark looks like a semicolon in English.

Do Greek speakers use the definite article more often than English speakers?

Often, yes. Greek uses the definite article very naturally and very frequently.

In this sentence, η is fully expected because you are talking about a specific debt:

Η οφειλή είναι μεγάλη.

English and Greek do not always match perfectly in article usage, so learners should not assume the English pattern will always transfer directly.

Still, in this exact sentence, the debt ↔ η οφειλή is a very straightforward match.

What is the basic grammar pattern of this sentence?

It follows a very common pattern:

article + noun + to be + adjective

So here:

Η = the
οφειλή = debt
είναι = is
μεγάλη = large

That gives:

Η οφειλή είναι μεγάλη.
The debt is large.

This is a useful model sentence, because you can swap in many other nouns and adjectives:

Η πόλη είναι μεγάλη. = The city is big.
Η τσάντα είναι μεγάλη. = The bag is big.

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