Questions on the Greek language

Hi ygrek and welcome to AE.
I'll start from your second question which is the easy one. Ime apo tin Afstralia is more correct, but ime apo Afstralia is also ok. In fact, in everyday discussions, Greeks use both forms for such expressions. For example one can say ime apo Athena (Athens).

As for your first question, there are indeed many ways to say the and I understand your confusion.
There are three things that you should know in order to use the correct form of the:
1) Whether the word that follows the "the" is masculine, feminine or neuter. For example ime apo ton Canada (the word Canada is masculine), ime apo tin Austria (Austria is feminine) or ime apo to Monaco (neuter).
2) Whether the word that follows the "the" is singular or plural. E.g. the houses are... = ta spitia ine... (plural and neuter).
3) The grammatical case (for an English speaker this would be a nightmare...)

The words stin and sto means to the or in the, depends on the sentence. For example, I live is Austria = zo stin Austria, I am going to the city = pao stin poli. Again, stin is feminine, ston is masculine and sto is neuter.

I know, I didn't give you many hints, but it's not easy to do so. The most important things are to know the "gender" of the words and the grammatical cases. And something to make you feel "better": If you say to a greek speaker: ime apo tin Afstralia or ime apo to Afstralia or ime apo ti Afstralia, he will undertand what you mean

Are there any hints for finding out the "gender" of the words we encounter in Greek?

A few examples, please

Originally posted by kotumeyil A few examples, please

For nouns: most common endings in nominative case - singular:
Masculine: -os,  -is [ης],  -as
Feminine:  -a,  -i [-η]
Neuter:  -o,  -i [ι],  -a

For adjectives, again nominative - singular, most common endings:
Masculine: -os
Feminine:   -i [-η]
Neuter:  -o

Do you know any Greek words kotumeyil?

Originally posted by Neoptolemos Do you know any Greek words kotumeyil?

Vre Kerata! Vre dayyus! Vre malaka!

Originally posted by Bashibozuk Originally posted by Neoptolemos Do you know any Greek words kotumeyil? Vre Kerata! Vre dayyus! Vre malaka!

ohooo vre komshi this list can continiue forever.

vre pezevengis, tsvatsiz, hajvanis, ai siktir,  imambajildis

few days ago ive visited my Greek-friends restaurant, i checked the menu while i whas reading i saw imambajildis on the list couldnt stop laughing for a while...

Originally posted by Neoptolemos Originally posted by DayI Originally posted by Bashibozuk Originally posted by Neoptolemos Do you know any Greek words kotumeyil? Vre Kerata! Vre dayyus! Vre malaka! ohooo vre komshi this list can continiue forever. vre pezevengis, tsvatsiz, hajvanis, ai siktir,  imambajildis few days ago ive visited my Greek-friends restaurant, i checked the menu while i whas reading i saw imambajildis on the list couldnt stop laughing for a while... What's imambajildi in Turkish (if it means anything)? BTW, did you try the food? It's good stuff!

imambayildi = imambajildis same food  
i did laugh for the name, imambajildis, they added that -is on the back but forgot to change imam to papaz

Originally posted by Neoptolemos Do you know any Greek words kotumeyil?

I know a few Greek words and sentences at the preliminary level. For example:

O Neoptolomeos  ehi ena aftokinito

By the way, imambayildi means "The imam liked it very much (because it was so delicious)"

What does "dayyus" mean?