Ο ράφτης μετράει το παντελόνι.

A natural pronunciation is roughly:

o RAF-tis me-TRA-i to pan-de-LO-ni

A few notes:

• Ο sounds like o in not (short and clear).
• ράφτης has the stress on the first syllable: RAF-tis.
• μετράει has the stress on -τρά-: me-TRA-i.
• παντελόνι has the stress on -λό-: pan-de-LO-ni.

The accent marks in Greek show you where the stress goes, so they matter.

Because ράφτης is a masculine singular noun, and ο is the masculine singular definite article meaning the.

So:

• ο ράφτης = the tailor

Greek nouns have grammatical gender, so the article has to match the noun.

Because παντελόνι is a neuter singular noun, and το is the neuter singular definite article.

So:

• το παντελόνι = the trousers / the pair of trousers / the pants

Even though English often treats trousers/pants as plural, Greek παντελόνι is usually a singular neuter noun.

Here μετράει means measures.

It is the 3rd person singular present tense of the verb μετράω / μετρώ, which means to measure or to count, depending on context.

In this sentence:

• Ο ράφτης μετράει το παντελόνι = The tailor measures the trousers/pants

Because the subject is ο ράφτης (the tailor = he), the verb is in he/she/it form.

Both μετράει and μετρά can be correct.

This verb commonly appears in two present-tense patterns:

• μετράω
• μετρώ

So the 3rd person singular can be:

• μετράει
• μετρά

Both mean he/she/it measures.

In everyday Greek, μετράει is very common and sounds perfectly natural.

Good question. In Greek, the direct object is usually in the accusative case. But for many neuter singular nouns, the nominative and accusative forms are the same.

So:

• nominative: το παντελόνι
• accusative: το παντελόνι

That is why it looks unchanged.

By contrast, many masculine nouns do change:

• ο ράφτης = nominative
• τον ράφτη = accusative

In this sentence, το is simply the definite article meaning the.

So:

• το παντελόνι = the trousers/pants

Greek does also have short object pronouns such as τον, τη(ν), το, but here το is not a pronoun. It belongs with the noun παντελόνι.

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

The neutral/basic order here is:

• Ο ράφτης μετράει το παντελόνι.

But Greek can move things around for emphasis, for example:

• Το παντελόνι μετράει ο ράφτης.
• Ο ράφτης το παντελόνι μετράει.

These are possible, but the first version is the most straightforward and neutral for a learner.

Because Greek uses articles and case, it is often clearer who is doing what than in English, even when the order changes.

In a normal sentence like this, Greek usually does use the article:

• ο ράφτης
• το παντελόνι

Greek uses the definite article more often than English does.

If you wanted a tailor, you would say:

• ένας ράφτης

If you removed the article completely, it would usually sound less neutral, more like a label, headline, or a special stylistic choice.

The dictionary form is ράφτης, meaning tailor.

This is the nominative singular form, which is the form dictionaries normally list.

Useful forms:

• ο ράφτης = the tailor
• του ράφτη = of the tailor
• τον ράφτη = the tailor (as object)

This is a common masculine noun pattern.

Because -ης is a very common ending for masculine nouns in Greek.

Many job titles and person nouns use endings like:

• -ης
• -ας
• -ος

So ράφτης fits a normal masculine noun pattern. As you learn more Greek, you will see many nouns of this type.

Yes. Greek normally treats παντελόνι as a singular noun.

So Greek says:

• το παντελόνι

English often uses a plural form:

• the trousers
• the pants

This is just one of those places where Greek and English divide up reality differently. A single clothing item can be singular in Greek but plural in English.

It is in the present tense.

• μετράει = measures / is measuring

Depending on context, Greek present tense can translate into English in more than one way:

• The tailor measures the trousers
• The tailor is measuring the trousers

English chooses between simple present and present continuous more strictly than Greek does.

Yes, very important.

The accents show which syllable is stressed:

• ράφτης
• μετράει
• παντελόνι

If you put the stress in the wrong place, people may still understand you, but it will sound unnatural, and sometimes stress can even distinguish different words or forms.

So it is a good habit to learn each word together with its accent.

In theory, μετράω / μετρώ can mean both measure and count. But in this sentence, with a tailor and trousers, the natural meaning is clearly measure.

Context decides the meaning:

• with numbers or items in a series, it may mean count
• with clothes, body sizes, lengths, etc., it usually means measure

So here the learner should understand it as measures.