Ο σκύλος μένει ακίνητος.

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.

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

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.

Yes, μένω has a few common meanings, and that can confuse learners.

Very often it means:

• stay
• remain
• live or reside

In this sentence, with ακίνητος, it means something like:

• remains
• stays

So μένει ακίνητος is literally something like remains motionless or stays still.

This is a very natural Greek pattern: μένω + adjective.

Because the adjective has to agree with the noun.

Σκύλος is:

• masculine
• singular
• nominative

So the adjective must also be:

• masculine
• singular
• nominative

That gives ακίνητος.

Compare:

• ο σκύλος είναι ακίνητος = the dog is motionless
• η γάτα είναι ακίνητη = the cat is motionless
• το ζώο είναι ακίνητο = the animal is motionless

This agreement is very important in Greek.

It is an adjective.

It describes the subject, ο σκύλος, not the verb by itself.

English often uses either an adjective or an adverb in similar situations, but Greek commonly uses an adjective after verbs like είμαι or μένω when describing the subject’s state.

So:

• μένει ακίνητος = he remains motionless / still

It is not functioning like an adverb meaning motionlessly.

Both are possible, but they are not exactly the same.

• είναι ακίνητος = he is motionless / still
• μένει ακίνητος = he remains motionless / still or stays still

So μένει adds the idea of continuing in that state.

That makes μένει ακίνητος feel a bit more dynamic:

• the dog does not move
• the dog continues to stay still

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

The neutral, straightforward order is:

• Ο σκύλος μένει ακίνητος.

But other orders may be possible for emphasis, such as:

• Ακίνητος μένει ο σκύλος.
• Μένει ακίνητος ο σκύλος.

These can sound more marked or literary depending on context.

For a learner, the safest default is the standard order:

• article + noun + verb + adjective

A simple learner-friendly pronunciation is:

o SKEE-los MEH-nee a-KEE-nee-tos

A few notes:

• σκ in σκύλος sounds like sk
• υ here sounds like ee
• the written accent shows which syllable is stressed:
  • σκύλος → SKY-los / SKEE-los
  • μένει → ME-nei
  • ακίνητος → a-KI-ni-tos

In modern Greek pronunciation:

• αι usually sounds like e
• ει usually sounds like ee

So μένει sounds roughly like MEH-nee.

The accent marks show which syllable is stressed.

In this sentence:

• σκύλος → stress on σκύ
• μένει → stress on μέ
• ακίνητος → stress on κί

Stress matters in Greek pronunciation, and it is written much more consistently than in English.

So when learning new Greek words, it is a good idea to memorize the accent together with the word.

Not necessarily.

In Greek, σκύλος is a grammatically masculine noun. That is its normal dictionary gender.

This does not always mean the actual dog must be male in every context. Greek grammatical gender and real-world biological sex are related sometimes, but they are not always identical.

If you specifically wanted to refer to a female dog, Greek can also use η σκύλα.

But as a general noun, ο σκύλος is the standard word for dog.

Normally, no, not in a neutral sentence like this.

Greek uses the definite article much more often than English does. So when you mean the dog, you usually say ο σκύλος.

Leaving out the article can happen in special contexts, such as:

• headings
• labels
• poetic style
• certain fixed expressions

But in ordinary prose or speech, Ο σκύλος μένει ακίνητος is the natural form.