Κονταίνω το παντελόνι.

Here κονταίνω means I shorten or I am shortening.

With clothes, it usually means making something shorter in length, often by altering it, like taking up the hem of a pair of pants.

The verb comes from κοντός, meaning short.

Κονταίνω is:

• 1st person singular
• present tense
• active voice

So it means I shorten or I am shortening, depending on context.

Greek present tense can cover both:

• a general action: I shorten pants
• an action happening now: I’m shortening the pants

Greek often leaves out subject pronouns when they are not needed.

The ending -ω in κονταίνω already tells you the subject is I.

So:

• Κονταίνω το παντελόνι. = I shorten / I’m shortening the pants.
• Εγώ κονταίνω το παντελόνι. also means the same thing, but εγώ adds emphasis, like I am the one shortening the pants.

Το is the definite article, meaning the.

So:

• το παντελόνι = the pants / the pair of pants
• ένα παντελόνι = a pair of pants

Greek often uses the article in places where English might sometimes not, especially when talking about a specific item.

In Greek, παντελόνι is very often treated as a singular noun for one garment.

So:

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

This is different from English, where pants and trousers are usually plural.

Greek can also use παντελόνια, but παντελόνι is completely normal when referring to one pair.

It is the direct object, so it is in the accusative case.

In this sentence:

• κονταίνω = the action
• το παντελόνι = the thing being shortened

Because παντελόνι is neuter singular, its nominative and accusative forms look the same:

• nominative: το παντελόνι
• accusative: το παντελόνι

So even though it is accusative here, the form does not change.

It can be both.

In this sentence, it is transitive:

• Κονταίνω το παντελόνι.
• I shorten the pants.

But it can also be intransitive, meaning become shorter:

• Το παντελόνι κονταίνει.
• The pants are getting shorter.

So the object το παντελόνι is important here: it shows that the speaker is doing the shortening.

No, not this sentence.

Κονταίνω το παντελόνι clearly means I shorten / I’m shortening the pants.

If you want The pants are getting shorter, Greek would be:

• Το παντελόνι κονταίνει.

The difference is:

• κονταίνω = I shorten
• κονταίνει = it gets shorter / it is getting shorter

Not necessarily.

The Greek present tense can mean:

• I am shortening the pants right now
• I shorten the pants as a regular activity
• I’m having the pants shortened only in some contexts, though the basic meaning is that the speaker performs the action

Context tells you which meaning is intended.

Yes. Greek word order is flexible.

The basic version here is:

• Κονταίνω το παντελόνι.

But you could also hear:

• Το παντελόνι το κονταίνω.

That version puts more emphasis on the pants, as if contrasting it with something else:

• The pants, I’m shortening them.

So the original sentence is a neutral, natural word order.

You would say:

• Κονταίνω το παντελόνι μου.

Here μου means my.

Greek often leaves possession implicit if it is obvious from context, so Κονταίνω το παντελόνι can sometimes naturally mean I’m shortening my pants, depending on the situation.

Roughly:

• Κονταίνω → kon-DE-no
• το παντελόνι → to pan-de-LO-ni

So the whole sentence is approximately:

• kon-DE-no to pan-de-LO-ni

The stress falls on:

• -ταί- in κονταίνω
• -λό- in παντελόνι