Ο σκύλος μένει ακίνητος.

The dog remains motionless.

Breakdown of Ο σκύλος μένει ακίνητος.

• ο σκύλος: the dog
• μένω: to remain
• ακίνητος: motionless; still

Questions & Answers about Ο σκύλος μένει ακίνητος.

Why is there an ο before σκύλος?

Ο is the masculine singular definite article, meaning the.

So in Ο σκύλος, Greek is saying the dog.

A few useful points:

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

Because σκύλος is a masculine noun, it takes ο in the nominative singular.

What case is σκύλος, and how can I tell?

Σκύλος is in the nominative singular.

You can tell because:

• it is the subject of the sentence
• it appears with the nominative masculine article ο
• the dictionary form of many masculine nouns ends in -ος, like σκύλος

So:

• ο σκύλος = nominative singular = the dog as the subject

What form is μένει?

Μένει is:

• present tense
• 3rd person singular
• from the verb μένω

That means it matches ο σκύλος = he/it in English grammar terms.

So the pattern is:

• μένω = I stay / remain
• μένεις = you stay / remain
• μένει = he, she, it stays / remains

Here it agrees with the dog.