Το διαζύγιο ήταν δύσκολο.

Το is the definite article, meaning the. Greek uses the article very often, sometimes more often than English does. Here, το matches διαζύγιο, which is a neuter singular noun.

So το διαζύγιο = the divorce.

If you removed το, the sentence would usually sound incomplete or unnatural in normal Greek, unless you were speaking in a very special style such as headlines or notes.

Διαζύγιο is neuter. In Greek, every noun has a grammatical gender: masculine, feminine, or neuter.

You usually learn a noun together with its article:

• ο for masculine
• η for feminine
• το for neuter

So the vocabulary item is best learned as το διαζύγιο.

Its gender is grammatical, not biological. A noun like divorce does not have natural sex, but Greek still assigns it a grammatical gender, and here that gender is neuter.

It is nominative singular, because it is the subject of the sentence.

In Το διαζύγιο ήταν δύσκολο, the thing that was difficult is the divorce, so το διαζύγιο is the subject.

For this noun, the nominative and accusative singular look the same, so the form itself does not change here. You understand its role from the sentence structure and meaning.

Because it agrees with διαζύγιο.

In Greek, adjectives must agree with the noun they describe in:

• gender
• number
• case

Since διαζύγιο is neuter singular nominative, the adjective must also be neuter singular nominative, so you get δύσκολο.

Compare:

• ο δύσκολος δρόμος = the difficult road
• η δύσκολη απόφαση = the difficult decision
• το δύσκολο διαζύγιο = the difficult divorce

Here the adjective is used after ήταν, but the agreement rule is the same.

Ήταν is the past form of είμαι, which means to be. Here it means was.

So:

• είναι = is
• ήταν = was

This is the normal past form used for a state or description in the past. Since difficult describes a state or condition, ήταν is exactly what you would expect here.

A useful extra point: ήταν can mean either he/she/it was or they were, depending on the subject. In this sentence, the subject το διαζύγιο is singular, so it means was.

Because Greek does not need one here.

English often says It was difficult, but Greek commonly uses the actual noun instead:

• Το διαζύγιο ήταν δύσκολο.

Greek also often leaves out subject pronouns when they are not needed. In this sentence, though, the subject is not an omitted it. The subject is explicitly stated: το διαζύγιο.

Yes. Greek word order is more flexible than English word order.

The most neutral version is:

• Το διαζύγιο ήταν δύσκολο.

But you could also hear:

• Ήταν δύσκολο το διαζύγιο.
• Δύσκολο ήταν το διαζύγιο.

These alternatives shift the emphasis a bit:

• starting with ήταν δύσκολο can foreground the description
• starting with δύσκολο emphasizes difficult

The original sentence is the most straightforward, neutral way to say it.

Because it is a predicate adjective, not an adjective directly inside the noun phrase.

Compare these two patterns:

• Το δύσκολο διαζύγιο = the difficult divorce
  Here δύσκολο is directly attached to the noun, so it is inside the noun phrase.

• Το διαζύγιο ήταν δύσκολο = the divorce was difficult
  Here δύσκολο comes after ήταν and describes the subject. That is called a predicate adjective, and it does not take its own article.

So Greek works like English here in that respect.

It can mean both.

Δύσκολος / δύσκολη / δύσκολο is a broad adjective meaning difficult, hard, or tough, depending on context.

In this sentence, most people would naturally understand it as something like:

• emotionally hard
• complicated
• painful
• difficult to go through

So it does not only mean a task that is technically difficult. It can also describe a hard life experience.

Yes. Ήτανε is a common alternative to ήταν in spoken Greek.

Both mean the same thing here:

• Το διαζύγιο ήταν δύσκολο.
• Το διαζύγιο ήτανε δύσκολο.

Ήταν is very common and perfectly standard. Ήτανε often sounds a little more conversational or natural in some speech styles, depending on the speaker.

A good approximate pronunciation is:

• διαζύγιο: stress on ζύ
• δύσκολο: stress on the first syllable, δύ
• ήταν: stress on the first syllable, ή

A few sound notes:

• δ sounds like th in this, not th in think
• ζ sounds like z
• γ before ι gives a sound close to an English y-like sound in this word

So διαζύγιο is roughly something like thia-ZEE-yo, and δύσκολο roughly THEE-sko-lo, but those are only approximations.

The written accent mark is important because it tells you where the stress goes.

Usually, yes.

Because it says το διαζύγιο, it normally refers to a particular divorce that is known from the context, not just the general idea of divorce.

So it would fit contexts like:

• a couple is discussing their own divorce
• a story has already introduced that event
• the speaker and listener both know which divorce is meant

Greek often uses the article with nouns in places where English might or might not. Still, in this sentence, the most natural reading is definitely the divorce, not divorce in general.