Το κουπλέ είναι μικρό.

Το is the definite article, meaning the.

So το κουπλέ = the verse / the couplet / the verse section.

In Greek, articles are used very often, and they must match the noun’s gender, number, and case. Here, κουπλέ is treated as neuter singular, so the article is το.

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

Κουπλέ is a neuter noun, so it takes:

• το in the singular
• neuter adjective forms, like μικρό

This is something you usually have to learn together with the noun:

• το κουπλέ not just κουπλέ

A useful habit is to memorize Greek nouns with their article.

Greek adjectives must agree with the noun they describe in gender, number, and case.

Since κουπλέ is neuter singular, the adjective must also be neuter singular:

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

So:

• το κουπλέ είναι μικρό = correct

If the noun were masculine or feminine, the adjective would change.

Είναι is the verb is / are, from the verb είμαι = to be.

In this sentence, είναι means is:

• Το κουπλέ είναι μικρό. = The verse is small/short.

A very important point for English speakers: in Modern Greek, είναι is used for both he/she/it is and they are depending on context.

Examples:

• Το κουπλέ είναι μικρό. = The verse is small.
• Τα κουπλέ είναι μικρά. = The verses are small.

Here, yes: the basic order is very similar to English:

• Το κουπλέ = subject
• είναι = verb
• μικρό = predicate adjective

So the structure is:

The verse + is + small

Greek word order is often more flexible than English, though. You may also see different orders for emphasis, for example:

• Μικρό είναι το κουπλέ.

That still means the same thing, but it sounds more emphatic, like It’s the verse that is small or The verse is small with stress on small.

A simple pronunciation guide is:

to koo-PLE EH-neh mee-KRO

A bit more carefully:

• Το = to
• κουπλέ = koo-PLE
• είναι = usually pronounced something like EE-ne or EH-ne in normal speech, depending on style and speed
• μικρό = mee-KRO

The capitalized part shows the stressed syllable.

The accent marks show which syllable gets the stress.

In this sentence:

• κουπλέ → stress on -πλέ
• είναι → stress on εί-
• μικρό → stress on -κρό

Stress matters in Greek pronunciation, so it is important to notice the accent marks when learning new words.

No, κουπλέ is a loanword, ultimately from French couplet.

Even though it comes from another language, Greek treats it like a normal Greek noun:

• it has a gender: neuter
• it takes an article: το κουπλέ
• adjectives agree with it: μικρό

Loanwords are very common in Modern Greek, and many of them behave grammatically like regular Greek nouns.

Yes. The plural is typically κουπλέ as well, but the article and adjective show the number clearly:

• singular: το κουπλέ είναι μικρό
• plural: τα κουπλέ είναι μικρά

So even if the noun itself may stay the same in form, the surrounding words tell you whether it is singular or plural.

Normally, no, not in a neutral sentence like this.

Greek usually wants the article with a definite noun:

• Το κουπλέ είναι μικρό.

Leaving out the article would sound unnatural here unless you were speaking in a very special context, like notes, headings, or unusual poetic style.

So for normal everyday Greek, keep the article.

Not always. Like many adjectives, μικρός / μικρή / μικρό can mean slightly different things depending on context:

• small
• little
• sometimes short in the sense of length or duration

So in a music-related sentence like this, μικρό might naturally be understood as short rather than physically small, depending on the context.

The Greek grammar stays the same either way.