Η εξουσία έχει ευθύνη.

to have

Breakdown of Η εξουσία έχει ευθύνη.

• η ευθύνη: the responsibility
• η εξουσία: authority; power

Questions & Answers about Η εξουσία έχει ευθύνη.

Why does the sentence start with Η? Is that an H sound?

No. In Greek, Η here is the feminine singular definite article, meaning the.

Even though the capital Greek letter Η looks like the English H, in Modern Greek it is pronounced ee, not h. So Η εξουσία is pronounced roughly ee ex-oo-SEE-a.

So at the start of this sentence, Η is just the word the, not an h sound.

Why is the article η and not ο or το?

Because εξουσία is a feminine singular noun.

Greek definite articles change according to gender, number, and case:

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

Since εξουσία is feminine, it takes η in the nominative singular:

• η εξουσία

A native English speaker often has to get used to this, because English uses just the for everything.

How can I tell that εξουσία is feminine?