Το αμάξωμα είναι παλιό.

A natural pronunciation is roughly:

to a-MAK-so-ma EE-ne pa-LYO

A few helpful notes:

• το = to
• αμάξωμα has the stress on μά
• είναι is usually pronounced EE-ne
• παλιό has the stress on the last syllable, and λιό sounds like lyo

If you want it chunked:

• Το αμάξωμα
• είναι παλιό

Greek stress matters, so try to keep the stressed syllables clear.

το is the definite article, meaning the.

So:

• το αμάξωμα = the car body / the bodywork

Greek articles change for gender, number, and case, unlike English the, which never changes.

Here το is:

• neuter
• singular
• nominative

It matches αμάξωμα, which is also neuter singular.

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

αμάξωμα is a neuter noun. One clue is its ending:

• nouns ending in -μα are very often neuter

Examples:

• το αμάξωμα
• το γράμμα
• το όνομα

So a learner can often guess that a noun in -μα is neuter.

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

Since αμάξωμα is:

• neuter
• singular

the adjective must also be:

• neuter
• singular

So you get:

• masculine: παλιός
• feminine: παλιά
• neuter: παλιό

Here:

• το αμάξωμα είναι παλιό

That is exactly the form you need for a neuter singular noun.

είναι means is or are, depending on context. It is the 3rd person singular/plural form of the verb to be.

In this sentence:

• Το αμάξωμα είναι παλιό = The car body is old

So είναι is the linking verb joining the subject and the adjective.

Very common forms of είμαι (to be) are:

• είμαι = I am
• είσαι = you are
• είναι = he/she/it is, they are

In normal standard Greek, yes, if you want to say is.

So:

• Το αμάξωμα είναι παλιό = correct standard sentence

If you remove είναι and say only:

• Το αμάξωμα παλιό

that is not the normal full standard structure for a basic statement like this.

Greek usually keeps the verb to be in this kind of sentence.

It is in the nominative case because it is the subject of the sentence.

In:

• Το αμάξωμα είναι παλιό

the subject is το αμάξωμα.

The adjective παλιό is also in the nominative because it is a predicate adjective and agrees with the subject.

So both the noun phrase and the adjective are nominative neuter singular.

It is a real and useful word, but it can sound a bit more specific or technical than very basic everyday car vocabulary.

It usually refers to:

• the body of a car
• the bodywork
• sometimes the vehicle body structure

In very casual conversation, people may more often talk about το αυτοκίνητο (the car) unless they specifically mean the body of the vehicle.

So this sentence is natural, but the noun is more specific than just saying the car.

Yes. Greek word order is more flexible than English, although the basic order here is very normal:

• Το αμάξωμα είναι παλιό

You may also hear different orders for emphasis, such as:

• Παλιό είναι το αμάξωμα

This can sound more contrastive or emphatic, something like:

• It’s the bodywork that is old
• The bodywork is old

So the original order is the safest neutral one, but Greek can move words around more easily than English.

Greek uses written stress marks to show which syllable is stressed.

So:

• παλιό is stressed on the last syllable

That tells you to say:

• pa-LYO

The accent is important because stress is part of the correct form and pronunciation of the word.

The same is true for:

• αμάξωμα → stress on μά
• είναι → stress on εί

The plural of αμάξωμα is:

• τα αμαξώματα = the car bodies / the bodyworks

Then the sentence becomes:

• Τα αμαξώματα είναι παλιά = The car bodies are old

Notice the changes:

• το → τα
• αμάξωμα → αμαξώματα
• παλιό → παλιά

The verb είναι stays the same.

Because in Modern Greek, είναι is used for both:

• he/she/it is
• they are

So:

• Το αμάξωμα είναι παλιό = singular
• Τα αμαξώματα είναι παλιά = plural

Even though the subject changes from singular to plural, είναι stays the same.

In most normal contexts, that would sound unnatural.

Greek often uses the article where English sometimes does not. Here, if you are talking about a specific car body, you normally say:

• Το αμάξωμα είναι παλιό

Leaving out the article would usually not be the standard choice in a simple statement like this.

So for learners, the safe version is definitely:

• Το αμάξωμα είναι παλιό