Η πατρίδα είναι μακριά.

A natural pronunciation is roughly:

ee pa-THEE-tha EE-ne ma-kree-A

A few notes:

• Η sounds like ee.
• τρί in πατρίδα has the stress: pa-TRI-da, but in Modern Greek the δ sounds like the th in this, so pa-THEE-tha is a better English-style approximation.
• είναι is pronounced EE-ne.
• μακριά is stressed on the last syllable: ma-kree-A.

Η is the feminine singular definite article, meaning the.

So:

• η πατρίδα = the homeland / the native land / the fatherland

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

Because πατρίδα is:

• feminine
• singular
• nominative (the subject of the sentence)

So the correct article is η.

Very roughly:

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

Since πατρίδα is a feminine noun, it takes η here.

πατρίδα is a noun. In this sentence it is the subject.

The basic structure is:

• Η πατρίδα = the subject
• είναι = the verb (is)
• μακριά = the complement (far / far away)

So the whole sentence is built just like The homeland is far away.

Yes. πατρίδα is a feminine noun in Greek.

That affects:

• the article used with it
• adjectives that agree with it, when applicable
• some of its case endings

For example:

• η πατρίδα = the homeland
• της πατρίδας = of the homeland

είναι means is here.

It is the 3rd person singular form of the verb είμαι (to be).

So:

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

Important: είναι can also be used for they are in Modern Greek, depending on the subject.

Greek uses accent marks to show which syllable is stressed.

In είναι, the stress is on the first syllable:

• EI-ne

The written accent helps learners and readers know where the stress falls. Stress is important in Greek and can sometimes distinguish words or forms.

In this sentence, μακριά means far or far away.

It functions as the complement after είναι:

• είναι μακριά = is far away

This is very natural Greek.

For a learner, the simplest way to understand it is: here it behaves like far / far away after is.

In English, words like far can feel adjective-like in is far and adverb-like in lives far away. Greek μακριά works very naturally in this kind of sentence with είναι.

You do not need to force it into an English grammar category too strictly at the beginning. The key pattern to learn is:

• είναι μακριά = is far away

Normally, in Modern Greek, you do use είναι in a sentence like this.

So:

• Η πατρίδα είναι μακριά. = correct, normal

Leaving it out would not be standard in ordinary Modern Greek prose or speech.

The normal, neutral order is:

• Η πατρίδα είναι μακριά.

Greek word order is more flexible than English, because Greek endings and articles give more grammatical information. But the basic order above is the most straightforward and neutral.

You may also hear variations for emphasis, such as putting μακριά later or earlier in a different context, but for learners, this sentence is the standard pattern.

Yes. That means My homeland is far away.

Here:

• μου = my

So:

• η πατρίδα = the homeland
• η πατρίδα μου = my homeland

This is a very common Greek pattern: the possessive pronoun often comes after the noun.

Because the stress falls there:

• ma-kri-A

Greek spelling marks the stressed syllable in most words of more than one syllable. If you put the stress in the wrong place, your Greek may sound unnatural or even be misunderstood.

Yes. Depending on context, πατρίδα can mean:

• homeland
• native country
• fatherland
• sometimes more emotionally, one’s roots / home country

It is often more emotionally loaded than a neutral word like country.

It is neutral and completely natural.

Nothing in it is especially formal or slangy. It could appear in:

• everyday speech
• writing
• literature
• songs
• emotional or poetic contexts, depending on the situation

You would make the noun and article plural, and usually the meaning would change accordingly.

For example:

• Οι πατρίδες είναι μακριά. = The homelands are far away.

Here:

• οι = plural the
• πατρίδες = plural of πατρίδα
• είναι = are here

Notice that είναι stays the same in the present tense for both he/she/it is and they are.

The sentence follows this very common pattern:

subject + form of “to be” + complement

So here:

• Η πατρίδα = subject
• είναι = is
• μακριά = complement

This is a useful Greek pattern to memorize, because you can build many simple sentences with it, for example:

• Το σπίτι είναι μεγάλο. = The house is big.
• Ο δρόμος είναι κοντά. = The road is near.
• Η πόλη είναι όμορφη. = The city is beautiful.