Το τακάκι είναι παλιό.

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

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.

Because the adjective has to agree with τακάκι, which is neuter singular.

The adjective old appears in different forms:

• παλιός = masculine singular
• παλιά = feminine singular
• παλιό = neuter singular

Since τακάκι is neuter singular, Greek uses παλιό.

So the structure is:

• το τακάκι = neuter singular noun phrase
• είναι παλιό = verb + neuter singular adjective

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

Here it means is.

A useful thing to know: είναι is used for both:

• he/she/it is
• they are

So Greek does not change this form between 3rd person singular and plural.

Examples:

• Το τακάκι είναι παλιό. = The ... is old.
• Τα τακάκια είναι παλιά. = The ... are old.

Because this sentence is using παλιό as a predicate adjective:

• Το τακάκι είναι παλιό.
• literally: The ... is old.

That is different from putting the adjective directly with the noun:

• το παλιό τακάκι
• the old ...

So:

• Το τακάκι είναι παλιό = it is making a statement about the noun
• Το παλιό τακάκι = it is just a noun phrase, not a full sentence

This is a very important distinction in Greek.

Normally, no. In an ordinary sentence like this, Greek usually keeps the verb είναι.

So:

• Το τακάκι είναι παλιό. = normal, complete sentence

Leaving out είναι would usually sound incomplete, except in special contexts such as:

• labels
• headlines
• notes
• very informal shorthand

For standard spoken and written Greek, keep είναι.

The most neutral word order here is:

• Το τακάκι είναι παλιό.

Greek word order is somewhat flexible, but changing it often changes the emphasis.

For example:

• Παλιό είναι το τακάκι.
  This puts extra focus on old.

But for learners, the safest pattern is:

• article + noun + είναι + adjective

That is the normal, straightforward way to say The ... is old.

A simple learner-friendly pronunciation is:

• to ta-KA-ki EE-ne pa-LYO

A few notes:

• τακάκι is stressed on -κά-
• είναι is stressed on εί-
• παλιό is stressed on the last syllable

The accents show you where the stress goes:

• τακάκι
• είναι
• παλιό

If you ignore the stress marks, your Greek may still be understood, but it will sound much less natural.

The dictionary forms are:

• τακάκι for the noun
• είμαι for the verb
• παλιός for the adjective

That means:

• nouns are usually listed in the singular basic form
• verbs are listed in the 1st person singular form
• adjectives are usually listed in the masculine singular form

So even though the sentence has παλιό, you would normally look up the adjective under παλιός.

It would become:

• Τα τακάκια είναι παλιά.

Changes:

• το → τα for the plural article
• τακάκι → τακάκια for the plural noun
• παλιό → παλιά because the adjective must agree with a neuter plural noun
• είναι stays the same

So this sentence is a good example of agreement:

• singular: Το τακάκι είναι παλιό.
• plural: Τα τακάκια είναι παλιά.