Η πόλη είναι νότια.

Η is the feminine singular definite article, meaning the.

A few useful details:

• Its lowercase form is η.
• It is capitalized here only because it starts the sentence.
• Greek articles change form depending on gender, number, and case.

So Η πόλη means the city.

You can tell because it uses the article η, which is the nominative singular article for feminine nouns.

In Greek, every noun has a grammatical gender:

• masculine
• feminine
• neuter

πόλη is a feminine noun, so in its basic dictionary form you would usually learn it as η πόλη.

είναι is the present-tense form of είμαι, meaning to be.

Here it means is, because the subject is singular: η πόλη.

One important thing for learners:

• είναι is used for both he/she/it is and they are.
• Greek does not need a separate word for it here.

So:

• Η πόλη είναι... = The city is...

Because νότια is the form that fits this sentence.

Depending on the meaning you were shown, it can be understood in two main ways:

• as a feminine singular adjective from νότιος, agreeing with πόλη
• or as a direction word used adverbially, meaning something like south / to the south

That is why this form is very common after verbs like είναι.

It can be either, depending on the intended meaning.

• If the meaning given was southern, then νότια is an adjective agreeing with η πόλη.
• If the meaning given was south / to the south / in the south, then νότια is being used more adverbially.

This is common with direction words in Greek, so learners often meet some overlap here.

Because it is not being used as a separate noun phrase like the south.

In this sentence, νότια is part of what is being said about the city, after είναι. Greek often does this with adjectives and direction words.

Compare:

• Η πόλη είναι νότια.
• Η πόλη είναι στο νότο.

The second version is more explicitly in the south. The first is shorter and more direct.

Yes, but Η πόλη είναι νότια is the most neutral, straightforward order.

This is the basic pattern:

• subject + verb + complement

Greek word order is more flexible than English, so other orders are possible for emphasis, contrast, or style. For example, putting νότια first could sound more emphatic. But for a learner, the given order is the safest and most natural starting point.

A rough English-style pronunciation is:

ee PO-lee EE-ne NO-tya

A few points:

• Η sounds like ee
• πόλη has the stress on πό
• είναι has the stress on εί
• νότια has the stress on νό

This is only an approximation, but it is a useful starting point.

The accent mark shows which syllable is stressed.

So:

• πόλη → stress on πό
• είναι → stress on εί
• νότια → stress on νό

Stress matters in Greek pronunciation, so it is important to notice these marks when you learn new words.

No. They are different words.

• η = the for a feminine singular noun
• ή = or

They are pronounced the same in Modern Greek, but they have different meanings and different spelling. This is a very common beginner confusion.

Yes. That is a very natural alternative.

• Η πόλη είναι νότια can mean something like The city is south / to the south / southern, depending on context.
• Η πόλη είναι στο νότο more clearly means The city is in the south.

So the version with στο νότο is often more explicit.

The basic adjective forms are:

• νότιος = masculine
• νότια = feminine
• νότιο = neuter

Examples:

• ο νότιος άνεμος = the southern wind
• η νότια πόλη = the southern city
• το νότιο τμήμα = the southern part

This is useful because Greek adjectives normally agree with the noun they describe in gender, number, and case.