Η πέτρα είναι βαριά.

to be

Breakdown of Η πέτρα είναι βαριά.

• βαρύς: heavy
• η πέτρα: stone

Questions & Answers about Η πέτρα είναι βαριά.

What is Η at the beginning of the sentence?

Η is the feminine singular form of the definite article, so here it means the.

In this sentence:

• Η πέτρα = the stone

Greek articles change for gender, number, and case. Here πέτρα is a feminine singular noun, so it takes η.

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Why is πέτρα feminine? Stones are not biologically female.

In Greek, grammatical gender is not the same thing as real-world sex.

πέτρα is a grammatically feminine noun, so words that go with it, such as the article and adjective, must also be feminine. This does not mean the stone is female in any literal sense.

So:

• η matches the feminine noun πέτρα
• βαριά also matches it because adjectives agree with the noun

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Why does the adjective appear as βαριά and not in some other form?

Greek adjectives must agree with the noun they describe in:

• gender
• number
• case

Since πέτρα is feminine singular nominative, the adjective must also be feminine singular nominative.

So the forms are:

• masculine: βαρύς
• feminine: βαριά
• neuter: βαρύ

That is why the sentence uses βαριά.

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