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Learn Hardcore Greek: Τα κάρβουνα είναι ζεστά. - The charcoal is hot.

Hardcore Greek
/Camping with friends
/Τα κάρβουνα είναι ζεστά.

Τα κάρβουνα είναι ζεστά.

Word

Τα κάρβουνα είναι ζεστά.

Meaning

The charcoal is hot.

Part of speech

sentence

Pronunciation

Course

Lesson

Camping with friends

Breakdown of Τα κάρβουνα είναι ζεστά.

τα κάρβουνα

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Questions & Answers about Τα κάρβουνα είναι ζεστά.

Why does the sentence start with τα?

Τα is the definite article for neuter plural nouns in Greek. It means the.

So in τα κάρβουνα, the article τα agrees with κάρβουνα, which is a neuter plural noun.

το κάρβουνο = the coal / the piece of charcoal
τα κάρβουνα = the coals / the charcoal

Greek articles change depending on gender, number, and case, unlike English the, which always stays the same.

Is κάρβουνα singular or plural?

Κάρβουνα is plural.

The singular is:

το κάρβουνο = the coal / the piece of charcoal

The plural is:

τα κάρβουνα = the coals / the charcoal

A learner may expect something like English, where charcoal is often uncountable, but Greek commonly uses the plural κάρβουνα when talking about coals or burning charcoal.

Why is it είναι and not a different form for plural, like are in English?

In Greek, είναι is used for both singular and plural in the present tense of to be for he/she/it and they.

So:

είναι = is
είναι = are

The meaning depends on the subject.

Examples:

Το κάρβουνο είναι ζεστό. = The coal is hot.
Τα κάρβουνα είναι ζεστά. = The coals are hot.

So Greek does not make the same is/are distinction here that English does.

Why is ζεστά used instead of ζεστός or ζεστή?

Because the adjective has to agree with the noun.

Κάρβουνα is:

neuter
plural

So the adjective must also be neuter plural:

ζεστός = masculine singular
ζεστή = feminine singular
ζεστό = neuter singular
ζεστά = neuter plural

That is why Greek says:

Το κάρβουνο είναι ζεστό.
Τα κάρβουνα είναι ζεστά.

This kind of adjective agreement is very important in Greek.

Does ζεστά mean hot or warm?

It can mean either hot or warm, depending on context.

The adjective ζεστός / ζεστή / ζεστό covers a range that in English may be translated as warm or hot.

With κάρβουνα, ζεστά will usually be understood as hot, because coals are normally thought of as giving off strong heat.

So even though the Greek word can sometimes match English warm, in this sentence hot is the most natural interpretation.

Can the word order change?

Yes. Greek word order is more flexible than English word order.

The neutral, straightforward order is:

Τα κάρβουνα είναι ζεστά.

But you may also see:

Ζεστά είναι τα κάρβουνα.
Είναι ζεστά τα κάρβουνα.

These alternatives can change the focus or emphasis, but the basic meaning stays the same.

English usually needs a more fixed order, while Greek can move elements around more freely.

Can Greek leave out είναι here?

Normally, in a standard sentence like this, είναι is kept:

Τα κάρβουνα είναι ζεστά.

In some informal speech, Greek can occasionally omit είναι, especially in certain contexts, but for learners it is best to use the full sentence with είναι.

So if you are learning standard Greek, treat είναι as necessary here.

How is this sentence pronounced?

A simple pronunciation guide is:

Ta KAR-vou-na EE-ne ze-STA

A few helpful notes:

τα sounds like ta
κάρβουνα has stress on the first syllable: KAR-vou-na
είναι is pronounced roughly EE-ne
ζεστά has stress on the last syllable: ze-STA

The accent marks show where the stress goes:

κάρβουνα
ζεστά

Stress matters in Greek, so it is worth paying attention to the written accents.

Why are there accent marks in κάρβουνα and ζεστά, but not in τα?

Greek uses accent marks to show the stressed syllable of a word.

κάρβουνα → stress on κάρ-
ζεστά → stress on -στά

But very short function words like τα often do not carry a written accent.

For learners, the accent mark is extremely useful because it tells you where to place the stress when speaking.

Is κάρβουνα more like coal or charcoal?

Usually it refers to charcoal or coals, especially in everyday contexts like grilling, braziers, or burning embers.

Depending on context, English translations may vary:

coal
charcoal
coals
embers (in some situations)

So the exact English word depends on what kind of burning material is meant, but the Greek form itself is very normal for talking about hot coals.

What would the singular version of the whole sentence be?

The singular version is:

Το κάρβουνο είναι ζεστό.

Notice how everything changes to singular neuter:

τα → το
κάρβουνα → κάρβουνο
ζεστά → ζεστό

But είναι stays the same.

This is a good example of how Greek article + noun + adjective all agree with each other.

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