Το φόντο είναι μαύρο.

Το is the definite article in Greek, meaning the.

In Το φόντο είναι μαύρο, it tells you we are talking about the background, not just a background.

Greek uses articles very regularly, often more regularly than English, so learners should get used to including them.

• το φόντο = the background
• ένα φόντο = a background

Here, το is neuter singular, because φόντο is a neuter singular noun.

In Greek, every noun has a grammatical gender: masculine, feminine, or neuter.
Φόντο happens to be neuter, so it takes:

• the neuter article το
• the neuter form of adjectives, like μαύρο

So the pattern is:

• το φόντο
• το μαύρο φόντο
• Το φόντο είναι μαύρο

This is grammatical gender, not biological gender. Since background is an object, the gender is just part of how the noun behaves in Greek.

Φόντο is a loanword, ultimately from Italian fondo. In Modern Greek it is a normal everyday word meaning background.

Even though it is borrowed, it behaves like a regular Greek neuter noun in sentences such as this one.

A useful thing to know is that some loanwords in Greek do not change much across cases, and φόντο is often treated as fairly indeclinable in everyday use.

Είναι is the present-tense form of the verb to be.

Here it means is:

• Το φόντο είναι μαύρο = The background is black

A useful point for learners: είναι is used for both:

• he/she/it is
• they are

So:

• Το φόντο είναι μαύρο = The background is black
• Τα φόντα είναι μαύρα = The backgrounds are black

You understand singular or plural from the subject.

Because μαύρο is agreeing with the noun φόντο, which is neuter singular.

Greek adjectives change form to match the noun in gender, number, and case.

The adjective μαύρος means black, and its basic singular forms are:

• μαύρος = masculine
• μαύρη = feminine
• μαύρο = neuter

So:

• ο τοίχος είναι μαύρος = the wall is black
• η τσάντα είναι μαύρη = the bag is black
• το φόντο είναι μαύρο = the background is black

Because μαύρο is a predicate adjective here, not an adjective directly attached to the noun.

Compare:

• το μαύρο φόντο = the black background
  
  • here μαύρο directly describes φόντο
• το φόντο είναι μαύρο = the background is black
  
  • here μαύρο comes after είναι and tells you a quality of the subject

In English we also do this:

• the black background
• the background is black

So Greek is working in a very similar way here.

Usually, no, not if you simply mean The background is black.

Το φόντο είναι μαύρο is the normal sentence.

If you say το μαύρο, that usually means something more like the black one or refers to a specific black item already known from context.

So:

• Το φόντο είναι μαύρο = The background is black.
• Το φόντο είναι το μαύρο = The background is the black one.
  This would only make sense in a special context, for example if you are choosing among several backgrounds.

A natural pronunciation is roughly:

To FON-to EE-neh MAV-ro

More carefully:

• Το = to
• φόντο = FON-to
• είναι = EE-ne
• μαύρο = MAV-ro

A few details:

• φ sounds like f
• ντ in φόντο is pronounced d or sometimes a soft nd, depending on speaker and context
• αι in είναι sounds like e
• αυ in μαύρο sounds like av before a voiced sound like ρ

So μαύρο sounds like MAV-ro, not MAF-ro.

Greek uses accent marks to show which syllable is stressed.

In this sentence:

• φόντο → stress on the first syllable: FON-to
• είναι → stress on the first syllable: EE-ne
• μαύρο → stress on the first syllable: MAV-ro

These accents are important in writing because stress is phonemic in Greek and can sometimes help distinguish words or forms.

In standard Greek, you normally keep είναι in a sentence like this.

So:

• Το φόντο είναι μαύρο = correct
• Το φόντο μαύρο = not standard as a normal full sentence

You may occasionally hear omissions in headlines, notes, very informal speech, or poetic style, but for learners the safe rule is:

Use the verb είναι when saying X is Y.

The most neutral word order is:

Το φόντο είναι μαύρο.

But Greek word order is more flexible than English, especially for emphasis.

For example:

• Μαύρο είναι το φόντο.
  This puts more emphasis on black.
• Είναι μαύρο το φόντο.
  Also possible, depending on context and style.

Still, for a learner, the basic pattern is best:

subject + είναι + adjective

So: Το φόντο είναι μαύρο.

You add δεν before the verb:

Το φόντο δεν είναι μαύρο.

This is the standard way to negate a sentence with είναι.

Pattern:

• είναι = is
• δεν είναι = is not

You would make both the article and the adjective plural:

• Το φόντο είναι μαύρο. = The background is black.
• Τα φόντα είναι μαύρα. = The backgrounds are black.

Notice the changes:

• το → τα
• φόντο → φόντα
• μαύρο → μαύρα

The verb είναι stays the same.

Yes. Depending on context, Greek can also use παρασκήνιο or other words, but φόντο is very common, especially for:

• visual background
• photo/video background
• backdrop
• screen or design background

So in a sentence about color, image design, photography, or interface appearance, Το φόντο είναι μαύρο sounds very natural.