Η φωτογραφία είναι θολή.

A natural pronunciation is roughly:

ee fo-to-ghra-FEE-a EE-ne tho-LEE

A few notes:

• Η is pronounced ee.
• φ sounds like f.
• γ in φωτογραφία is the softer Greek g/gh sound, not a hard English g.
• θ sounds like th in think, not like th in this.
• The stressed syllables are marked by the accent marks:
  • φωτογραφία
  • είναι
  • θολή

Η is the feminine singular definite article, meaning the.

So:

• Η φωτογραφία = the photograph / the photo

Greek uses definite articles very often, sometimes more often than English. In this sentence, Η matches the noun φωτογραφία, which is feminine singular.

Yes, φωτογραφία is a feminine noun.

In this sentence, you can tell because:

• it takes the feminine article η
• the adjective also appears in a feminine form: θολή

Many Greek nouns ending in -ία are feminine, so φωτογραφία follows a common pattern.

Because adjectives in Greek usually agree with the noun they describe in gender, number, and case.

The noun φωτογραφία is:

• feminine
• singular
• nominative

So the adjective must match it:

• masculine: θολός
• feminine: θολή
• neuter: θολό

Examples:

• Ο ουρανός είναι θολός. = The sky is hazy/blurry.
• Η φωτογραφία είναι θολή. = The photo is blurry.
• Το τοπίο είναι θολό. = The landscape is blurry/hazy.

είναι means is here. It is the 3rd person singular form of to be.

So the structure is:

• Η φωτογραφία = the photograph
• είναι = is
• θολή = blurry

Very literally: The photograph is blurry.

A useful point: είναι can also mean are in other contexts, because the same form is used for both he/she/it is and they are in Modern Greek.

In normal, standard Greek, yes: if you want to say The photo is blurry, you use είναι.

So:

• Η φωτογραφία είναι θολή. = standard full sentence

In very informal speech, headlines, captions, or notes, Greek sometimes drops words, but for a learner, it is best to keep είναι.

The accent mark shows which syllable is stressed.

So:

• φωτογραφία
• είναι
• θολή

Stress matters in Greek pronunciation and can sometimes distinguish words, so it is important to learn words with their accents.

Yes, Greek word order is more flexible than English, but the neutral, most natural order here is:

• Η φωτογραφία είναι θολή.

You may also hear:

• Θολή είναι η φωτογραφία.

That puts more emphasis on θολή.

Still, for learners, the basic pattern subject + είναι + adjective is the safest and most useful.

Yes, φωτογραφία is the full standard word. In everyday speech, people also very often say:

• φωτο = photo

So you may hear:

• Η φωτογραφία είναι θολή.
• Η φωτο είναι θολή.

Both are common, but φωτογραφία is the full form.

No. Greek Η / η is a vowel letter, pronounced ee.

So in this sentence:

• Η is not an h sound
• it is pronounced ee

This often confuses English speakers because the capital Greek letter Η looks like the Latin capital H, but it does not sound like English h.

You would say:

• Οι φωτογραφίες είναι θολές.

Changes:

• Η → Οι = the for plural
• φωτογραφία → φωτογραφίες = photographs/photos
• θολή → θολές = blurry, agreeing with a feminine plural noun

So Greek changes both the noun and the adjective to match number.

No. θολός / θολή / θολό can be used for anything that is blurry, cloudy, murky, unclear, depending on context.

For example, it can describe:

• a blurry photo
• cloudy water
• an unclear image
• sometimes even something figurative, like an unclear memory or idea

So in this sentence it means blurry, but the adjective is not limited to photographs.