Ο δικαστής ακούει προσεκτικά.

The judge listens carefully.

Breakdown of Ο δικαστής ακούει προσεκτικά.

• προσεκτικά: carefully
• ακούω: to listen
• ο δικαστής: judge

Questions & Answers about Ο δικαστής ακούει προσεκτικά.

What does Ο do in this sentence?

Ο is the masculine singular definite article, meaning the.

Here it goes with δικαστής, so Ο δικαστής means the judge.

A few useful points:

• ο = masculine singular the
• The article changes depending on gender, number, and case
• In this sentence, ο δικαστής is the subject, so it is in the nominative case

So Ο is not optional in the same way English sometimes treats titles or roles; in Greek, the article is very commonly used with nouns like this.

Why does δικαστής end in -ής?

δικαστής is a masculine noun of a common pattern ending in -τής.

This ending often appears in nouns for:

• professions
• roles
• people who do something

Examples of similar nouns:

• μαθητής = student
• ποιητής = poet
• αθλητής = athlete

So δικαστής fits a very common masculine noun pattern.

Also, the accent matters: δικαστής, not δικαστης.

What form is ακούει, and who is doing the action?