Η βελονιά είναι μικρή.

A natural pronunciation is:

i velo-nyá í-ne mi-krí

More closely:

• Η = ee
• βελονιά = veh-loh-NYA
• είναι = EE-neh
• μικρή = mee-KREE

A rough full pronunciation: ee veh-loh-NYA EE-neh mee-KREE

Two notes:

• γιά / νιά combinations often sound like nya
• The accented syllable is stressed more strongly

Η is the definite article for a feminine singular noun. In this sentence, it means the.

So:

• Η βελονιά = the stitch

Be careful: capital Η looks like English H, but in Greek it is the letter eta, and in Modern Greek it is pronounced ee.

Greek articles change depending on gender.

Singular definite articles:

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

Since βελονιά is a feminine noun, it takes η:

• η βελονιά

If the noun were masculine or neuter, the article would be different.

Yes, βελονιά is feminine.

One clue is its article:

• η βελονιά

Another clue is the adjective form used with it:

• μικρή is feminine singular, so it matches βελονιά

Many Greek nouns ending in -ιά are feminine, though you should not rely on endings alone every single time. The article and adjective agreement are very helpful clues.

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

• gender
• number
• case

Here, βελονιά is:

• feminine
• singular
• nominative

So the adjective must also be feminine singular nominative:

• μικρή = small

Compare:

• ο άντρας είναι μικρός = the man is small
• η βελονιά είναι μικρή = the stitch is small
• το παιδί είναι μικρό = the child is small

είναι means is here.

It is the verb to be. In this sentence, it links the subject and the description:

• Η βελονιά = the stitch
• είναι μικρή = is small

So the structure is very similar to English:

• The stitch is small

Also, είναι is the same form for:

• he/she/it is
• they are

So context tells you whether it means is or are.

In a normal, complete sentence like this, Greek usually keeps είναι.

So the standard form is:

• Η βελονιά είναι μικρή

You may sometimes see the verb omitted in:

• headlines
• labels
• very informal or poetic language

But for a learner, the safe and correct pattern is to include it.

The accent mark shows which syllable is stressed.

• βελονιά → stress on the last syllable
• είναι → stress on the first syllable
• μικρή → stress on the last syllable

Stress matters in Greek pronunciation, and sometimes it can help distinguish forms. So learners should pay attention to accents from the beginning.

Yes, Greek word order is more flexible than English.

The neutral, straightforward order is:

• Η βελονιά είναι μικρή

But you could also hear:

• Μικρή είναι η βελονιά

That version puts more emphasis on μικρή.

Even though word order can change, the basic sentence for learners is best kept as:

• article + noun + είναι
  • adjective

βελονιά is singular: stitch

The plural is:

• βελονιές = stitches

So:

• Η βελονιά είναι μικρή = the stitch is small
• Οι βελονιές είναι μικρές = the stitches are small

Notice that both the article and adjective change in the plural:

• η → οι
• μικρή → μικρές

In standard Greek, a singular countable noun used as the subject of a sentence normally takes an article unless there is a special reason not to.

So:

• Η βελονιά είναι μικρή = the stitch is small

Without the article, βελονιά είναι μικρή sounds incomplete or unnatural in ordinary Greek.

If you wanted a stitch is small or one stitch is small, you would normally say:

• Μια βελονιά είναι μικρή

It can often correspond to both small and little, depending on context.

In this sentence, the most natural translation is:

• small

But in other contexts, μικρός / μικρή / μικρό can mean:

• physically small
• young
• little

For example:

• μικρό παιδί = small child / little child / young child

So the exact English word depends on the situation.

Here it is in the nominative case, because it is the subject of the sentence.

You can think of it as the thing being described:

• The stitch is small

That is why the article is also nominative:

• η βελονιά

And the adjective matches it:

• μικρή

The pattern is:

definite article + noun + verb to be + adjective

So:

• Η = the
• βελονιά = stitch
• είναι = is
• μικρή = small

This is one of the most useful Greek sentence patterns to learn early, because you can build many simple sentences from it:

• Η πόρτα είναι ανοιχτή = the door is open
• Η τσάντα είναι βαριά = the bag is heavy
• Η λέξη είναι σωστή = the word is correct