Το τακάκι είναι παλιό.

The brake pad is old.

Breakdown of Το τακάκι είναι παλιό.

• είμαι: to be
• παλιός: old
• το τακάκι: brake pad

Questions & Answers about Το τακάκι είναι παλιό.

What does το mean here?

το is the definite article here, equivalent to the in English.

In this sentence, το shows that τακάκι is:

• singular
• neuter
• in the nominative case (the basic subject form)

So το τακάκι means the ... with a neuter singular noun.

For comparison:

• ο = masculine singular the
• η = feminine singular the
• το = neuter singular the

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How do I know that τακάκι is neuter?

You can tell from two things:

1. It takes the article το
2. It ends in -ι, which is very commonly a neuter noun ending in Greek

So in το τακάκι, both the article and the noun pattern tell you it is neuter.

This matters because adjectives must agree with the noun in gender, number, and case.

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Why is it παλιό and not παλιός or παλιά?