Complete Greek - language Transfer

TRANSCRIPTS

LANGUAGE
rRAN~f~

This transcript was created by volunteers. If you notice any errors in transcription or spelling ,
please contact: info @languagetransfer.org

"The transcripts have been provided for reference and clarification. The transcripts should be used
at an absolute minimum during the course and especially during the thinking exercises.
DO NOT LOOK AT THE TRANSCRIPTS WHILST YOU ARE BUiLDING YOUR
SENTENCES. This helps keep your process in your mind, and stops your transcript behaving
like an external brain cell! This is essential for speaking a language."
 Table of Contents

Transliteration Scheme ……………………………………………………………………………………... 5
Track 01 …………………………………………………………………………………………………….…...... 6
Track 02 ……………………………………………………………………………….......…………….…….... 9
Track 03 …………………………………………………………………………………………………….….... 12
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Track 39 ……………………………………………………………………………….......…………….…… 166
Track 40 ……………………………………………………………………………….......…………….…… 171
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Track 69 ……………………………………………………………………………….......…………….…… 314
Track 70 ……………………………………………………………………………….......…………….…… 319
Track 71 ……………………………………………………………………………….......…………….…… 324
Track 72 ……………………………………………………………………………….......…………….…… 333
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Track 74 ……………………………………………………………………………….......…………….…… 348
Track 75 ……………………………………………………………………………….......…………….…… 354
Track 76 ……………………………………………………………………………….......…………….…… 361
Track 77 ……………………………………………………………………………….......…………….…… 368
Track 78 ……………………………………………………………………………….......…………….…… 375
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Track 80 ……………………………………………………………………………….......…………….…… 384
Track 81 ……………………………………………………………………………….......…………….…… 389
Track 82 ……………………………………………………………………………….......…………….…… 395
Track 83 ……………………………………………………………………………….......…………….…… 401
Track 84 ……………………………………………………………………………….......…………….…… 406
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Track 86 ……………………………………………………………………………….......…………….…… 416
Track 87 ……………………………………………………………………………….......…………….…… 421
Track 88 ……………………………………………………………………………….......…………….…… 427
Track 89 ……………………………………………………………………………….......…………….…… 431
Track 90 ……………………………………………………………………………….......…………….…… 435
Track 91 ……………………………………………………………………………….......…………….…… 440
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Track 95 ……………………………………………………………………………….......…………….…… 459
Track 96 ……………………………………………………………………………….......…………….…… 464
Track 97 ……………………………………………………………………………….......…………….…… 468
Track 98 ……………………………………………………………………………….......…………….…… 475
Track 99 ……………………………………………………………………………….......…………….…… 480
Track 100 ……………………………………………………………………………….......…………….…. 485
Track 101 …………………………………………………………………………….......……….....……… 488
Track 102 …………………………………………………………………………….......……….....……… 492
Track 103 …………………………………………………………………………….......……….....……… 497
Track 104 …………………………………………………………………………….......……….....……… 501
Track 105 …………………………………………………………………………….......……….....……… 505
Track 106 …………………………………………………………………………….......……….....……… 511
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Track 115 …………………………………………………………………………….......……….....……… 558
Track 116 …………………………………………………………………………….......……….....……… 565
Track 117 …………………………………………………………………………….......……….....……… 570
Track 118 …………………………………………………………………………….......……….....……… 573
Track 119 …………………………………………………………………………….......……….....……… 579
Track 120 …………………………………………………………………………….......……….....……… 581

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Transliteration Scheme for Language Transfer – Greek Transcripts

General approach: Transliteration is provided at the first appearance of a phrase, but this
is not generally repeated for nearby subsequent occurrences. If a phrase reappears
further into the transcript (e.g., a following track), transliteration is generally repeated
there. The model is based on English pronunciation, with the sound indicated in square
brackets, e.g., [af]. Word stress is shown as in Greek, by an accent mark, e.g., γιατί [yatí].

α [a]
ε, αι [e]
ι, η, υ, ει, οι, υι [i]
ο, ω [o]
ου [u] Not [ou]
β [v]
γ [gh] Αs in εγώ [eghó]; not [g], the “hard g”
[y] Before [e], [i], as in γιατί [yatí]
δ [dh] As in “then”; not [d], the “hard d”
ζ [z]
θ [th] As in “thick”
κ [k]
λ [l]
μ [m]
ν [n]
ξ [ks]
π [p]
ρ [r] Rolled, as in Italian or Scottish
σ/ς [s] Usually
[z] Before some consonants, as in κόσμος [kózmos]
τ [t]
φ [f]
χ [kh] Before [a], [o], [u] and consonants, as in έχω [ékho]
[ch] Before [e], [i], as in έχει [échi]
ψ [ps]
αυ [af]/[av]
ευ [ef]/[ev]
μπ [b]/[mb]
ντ [d]/[nd]
γγ [g]/[ng]
τζ [dz]

5
Complete Greek, Track 01 – Language Transfer

Welcome to the all-new and re-mastered Complete Greek. For those of you that
don’t know, the Language Transfer project came to life in the divided capital of
Cyprus, Nicosia, where I, Mihalis, the founder of this project, began to make courses
in Greek and Turkish, to help unite the divided island of Cyprus. Five years on, the
methodology has grown immeasurably, which is why I wanted to re-master and re-
record the Greek course, including in this course all of the developments in the
methodology which have occurred over these past four or five years. If you already
started the previous Greek courses that were online, you should still start this course
from the beginning. Although a lot of the material or the content will be familiar to
you, the outlook will be very different. This is a journey that’s worth taking right from
the beginning again. This new course will also address reading and writing in Greek.

Now for those of you that are not familiar with this way of learning, you’re about to
experience a new, although extremely natural way of learning, that might make you
question how you were taught to learn and the relationship you were made to have
with learning and with information in most of our industrialised education systems.
During this course you will learn a great amount of Greek and a great amount about
language. You will become your own teacher, able to analyse the language that you
encounter around you, and to use that to improve and to fill out your Greek.

This course will be recorded with various volunteer students, whilst the LT project
travels around Europe, developing Complete Greek and Complete German in open
public workshops. So this course represents a real live learning experience, which is
edited for your use.

During the course, I’ll explain something about Greek and how it works; then I’ll ask
you to build a sentence from what I’ve explained. It’s extremely important that you
pause, relax, take your time to think through your sentence, and to say it out loud.
You may feel a voice or an impulse trying to force you to spit out your answer
quickly, and that’s probably left over from school. We don’t care about quick
answers, and we definitely don’t want automatic and memorised answers. What we
want to do here is to take our time to think through our sentence, piece it together,
and then say it out loud; and then un-pause and listen to the follow-up – you will
hear the student’s response and my reply.

It’s very important also that you don’t try to memorise during the course. You will
exercise everything that you are learning through the sentences that you are
creating, and nothing else. All you need to worry about is building those sentences,
and concentrating and engaging actively with the audio, following the explanations
and forming your own sentences. Enjoy the thinking process; enjoy building your
sentence. It’s this very thinking process that is installing Greek in your mind. It’s the
thinking process, not the answer, that is the most important part of our experience
together. We will think slowly to learn quickly. Don’t try to actively memorise; of
course, you need to remember, but not through memorisation. Memorisation is the
most inefficient way to remember. We will do many other things to make sure that

6
we remember what we learn together. Just listen and make sure you understand the
explanations; don’t worry about memorising. Memorisation is distracting, stressful,
and very much inhibits our learning process. Don’t worry about remembering words;
some you will forget, and that’s normal and expected. There will be many tips
throughout the course on how to find what you think you may have forgotten.

Don’t write! I know it’s very tempting to write. The structure we create together in
our minds is not very easy to reproduce on paper. Doing so, or trying to do so, will be
very unhelpful. If you write words or structures down that we see during the course,
you will be denying yourself of certain mental processes that are required for you to
find and use those structures. What that means is that piece of paper that you write
down on, acts something like an external brain cell. When you don’t have that, you
might find it quite difficult to speak Greek. So please, do not write. You can visualise,
that’s fine, and you will be helped in your visualisation, as I describe throughout the
course how letters look in Greek. But please don’t write; it really does change
everything, and all of the mental processes that are necessary for us to learn a
language in this exciting, exhilarating, and liberating way. This doesn’t mean to
demonise writing generally. Reading and writing in a language that you are learning
is a very good practice.

As you can understand by now, this course is not something you should have in the
background. It should be something that you engage with actively, when you have
energy to think, to concentrate, and to follow the explanations that are being given.
Try to find a time in your day where you have both the calmness and the energy to
relax and engage in this time that is for you. Do as much of the course as what feels
exciting, and then take a break. When you start to get tired, when you make careless
mistakes, it’s time to take a break. There’s no reason to push yourself or to force
yourself; learning is not about pain. Learning is about satiating curiosity, about
having fun. Also, 10 to 20 minutes a day is much better than four or five hours
crammed over the weekend. So just an audio or two a day will have a profound
effect.

The most important thing I can tell you is not to just listen and follow the audio.
Always pause, think through your own answer before hearing the volunteer
student’s reply, and then continue. If you don’t do this, everything will make sense
what you’re listening to, you will follow and it will be logical, but you will not be
having your own learning experience. You will only be witnessing somebody else’s
learning experience. The learning experience is in the thinking, so you must do that
yourself before you hear the volunteer student’s reply. If it’s been a while since
you’ve engaged in active learning, don’t worry; you will feel your concentration span
increase very rapidly. It’s also not necessary to memorise this advice; it will be
revisited constantly during the course.

As I mentioned, the Language Transfer project started in Cyprus, and since then the
project has grown beyond my wildest dreams, thanks to the users. The LT project so
far is not an organisation; let’s say it is just the fruit of the collaboration between
myself and you, the users of Language Transfer. The project is growing, and it would

7
be impossible without both the volunteer collaborations of Language Transfer users,
and the financial support. The Language Transfer project is independent,
unsponsored, unaffiliated, unfunded. This means that I maintain the freedom to
create the best and most profound learning experiences, without having to appease
the promotional desires of funders, for example. If you love this course and the way
the work is realised with the Language Transfer project, please consider joining the
Patreon Campaign – Patreon, that’s PATREON.com, patreon.com/languagetransfer,
which is a monthly crowd funding campaign to help keep me in the freedom to
continue giving what I love to give freely. So please help support and shape Language
Transfer, joining the Patreon Campaign where, with your donation, you can also vote
for the next language course to be created with the Thinking Method. Or, of course
you can make an occasional donation through the website,
www.languagetransfer.org. Thank you for joining us and let’s learn Greek!

8
Complete Greek, Track 02 – Language Transfer

Teacher: The first word we will learn in Greek is, μένω – I stay or, I’m staying. Μένω
[méno].

Student: Μένω.

T: Μένω. So this is I stay or I’m staying. It covers both in Greek. You may have
noticed that two words are becoming one here. We don’t need to say the word
for “I” in Greek; that’s included in μένω. Actually, it’s that [o] (ω) on the end that’s
showing us that it’s “I” – I stay, I’m staying. So μένω is, I stay or I am staying.

You will notice that most Greek words are built of parts, and a lot of these parts
we already know them from English, although we may not realise that we know
them. For example, in English we have the word perimeter, we have the word
period, periphery – this “peri” that we have in perimeter, period, periphery,
means around or near, in Greek.

If we stick that to the beginning of μένω – so we said that μένω means I stay or
I’m staying – if we stick this “peri” to the beginning of that, firstly how would it
sound, if we stick peri (περι) to μένω [méno]?

S: Περιμένω [periméno].

T: Περιμένω, good. So περιμένω, “around stay”, means, I wait or, I’m waiting.

S: Περιμένω.

T: Περιμένω. So tell me again, what is, I stay or I’m staying?

S: Μένω.

T: Μένω, good. And, I wait or I’m waiting, or I’m around staying?

S: Περιμένω.

T: Περιμένω, good. The word for don’t or not in Greek is, δεν [dhen].

S: Δεν.

T: This is spelt with δέλτα [dhélta], the Greek letter that looks like a d (δ), or in
capitals it looks like a triangle (Δ). Δεν/δεν.

S: Δεν.

T: So this is like the TH sound in the English word “then”, like, I came then I saw him;
it’s the same sound. So in Greek, we’re writing this sound with the letter δέλτα

9
 (δ), which looks like a D/d, but we shouldn’t let that confuse us. We can just look
back to the English word, “then”, and import the sound right over into Greek. It’s
the same sound. So if you want to say, I don’t stay or, I’m not staying, you can just
put that first, that δεν [dhen] before the verb. So how would that be?

S: Δεν μένω [dhen méno].

T: Δεν μένω, good. And I’m not waiting or, I don’t wait?

S: Δεν περιμένω [dhen periméno].

T: Very good, δεν περιμένω.

This [o] sound with verbs, words like μένω, περιμένω, that shows us that it’s “I”, is
written with a letter that looks like a “w” when it’s small (ω), or something like a
rounded tophat in capitals (Ω). This is the letter ωμέγα [omégha]. You don’t have
to worry about remembering the letter names or even how the letters look. I’m
just mentioning them in case you are exposing yourself to written Greek.

In fact, vowels were not previously written in the script that became the Greek
and the Latin script, and [o] was adapted from “w” in English. So we see that
connection there with this letter in Greek that looks like a W and produces an [o]
sound – the letter, ωμέγα [omégha]. Ωμέγα. In other scripts, such as Arabic for
example, we also see this connection, where W and O is actually the same letter.
Arabic, Greek, Latin – the English script – they all come from the same root, they
all come from the same parent script. So this [o] sound like in μένω [méno] or
περιμένω [periméno], looks like a “w” in Greek. So give me again, I stay or, I‘m
staying.

S: Μένω.

T: Μένω, good. And I wait or, I’m waiting.

S: Περιμένω.

T: Περιμένω. So we see that this [o] or this w-letter shows us that it’s “I”. If we want
to make, He stays or, He is staying, She stays/she is staying, It stays/it is staying,
we change this [o] sound to an [i] sound, then we get the version of the verb
which works for he, she or it. How would that sound?

S: Μένει [méni].

T: Μένει, brilliant, μένει. So μένει gives us, he stays, he’s staying, she stays, she’s
staying or, it stays, it’s staying – all of that with μένει. He waits or, She waits?

S: Περιμένει [periméni].

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T: Περιμένει. She isn’t waiting?

S: Δεν περιμένει [dhen periméni].

T: Δεν περιμένει. Very good.

Now, if you want to make it a question – Is she waiting? Is he waiting? – we do
something that in English will form the question, we invert the “is” and the “he”:
She is waiting – Is she waiting? He is waiting – Is he waiting? But you don’t have to
worry about that in Greek. In Greek, all you need to do to make a question is
make it sound like a question. So, if you want to say, Is he waiting? Is she waiting?
how would that be?

S: Περιμένει; [periméni?].

T: That’s it. Περιμένει; Isn’t she waiting?

S: Δεν περιμένει; [dhen periméni?].

T: Δεν περιμένει; Good. The word for “me” in Greek is the same as in English; you
just pronounce it more like how it’s written, με [me]. Με.

S: Με.

T: So that’s “me”. If you want to say, He’s waiting for me, firstly we don’t need the
for, we will say something like, He’s awaiting me, She’s awaiting me, and that me,
that με [me], is going to come before the verb, it’s going to come first. So how
would you say that, He is waiting for me, She is waiting for me.

S: Με περιμένει [me periméni].

T: Very good, με περιμένει. She’s not waiting for me. So this με [me] wants to come
just before the verb. What will come first is the not. So, Not she is waiting for me/
he is waiting for me.

S: Δεν με περιμένει [dhen me periméni].

T: Very good, δεν με περιμένει. Isn’t she waiting for me? Isn’t he waiting for me?

S: Δεν με περιμένει; [dhen me periméni?].

T: Δεν με περιμένει; Well done.

11
Complete Greek, Track 03 – Language Transfer

Teacher: So what was, I stay or, I’m staying?

Student: Μένω [méno].

T: Μένω, good. And, He stays, she stays, it stays.

S: Μένει [méni].

T: Μένει. Good. So we change the [o] sound to an [i] sound and we get he, she, or it.
How about, He’s not staying?

S: Δεν μένει [dhen méni].

T: Δεν μένει. I wait, I around stay?

S: Περιμένω [periméno].

T: Περιμένω. Very good. And, He waits, She waits?

S: Περιμένει [periméni].

T: Περιμένει. Very good. The word for, where in Greek is πού [pu]. Πού.

S: Πού [pu].

T: So how would you say, Where does he stay? Where does she stay? Or, Where is
she living? We also get that meaning there in Greek.

S: Πού μένει; [pu méni?].

T: Πού μένει; Very good. Where is he waiting? Where is she waiting?

S: Πού περιμένει; [pu periméni?].

Μ: Πού περιμένει; Very good. Where is he waiting for me? Where is he awaiting me?

S: Πού με περιμένει; [pu me periméni?].

T: Very good. Πού με περιμένει; This [i] sound with the verbs that gives us, he, she,
or it, is spelt with the letters in Greek that look like E (ε) and Ι (ι) – E and I,
otherwise known as έψιλον [épsilon] and γιώτα [yóta], together (ει). So E and I
together in Greek gives us [i]. So there’s a few ways of writing the [i] sound in
Greek, and this is one of them; E and I together just make [i], and we will see this
for the he, she, and it form with the verbs. What was, I stay or I’m staying?

12
S: Μένω.

T: Good. I wait.

S: Περιμένω.

T: Περιμένω. He waits, she waits?

S: Περιμένει.

T: Περιμένει. She’s not waiting, He’s not waiting.

S: Δεν περιμένει [dhen periméni].

T: Δεν περιμένει, very good. We’ve seen how περιμένω, for example, is μένω, I stay,
with this extra περι [peri] at the beginning, which means around, giving us the
meaning of wait: I around stay, I stay around, I wait. And we found this peri in
English. It’s not something we need to memorise or worry about remembering.
We have it there in English – period, periphery, etc.

We can look back at English again and find another word-building element used in
Greek. In English, we have the words, episode, epiphany, epicentre. This epi means
something like, on. So epicentre, no, is the strongest point of an earthquake, for
example – it’s on the centre. So how would it sound if we built, On stay? Firstly,
how would that sound?

S: Επιμένω [epiméno].

T: Επιμένω, επιμένω. So επιμένω means I insist. So in Greek, to stay on, I stay on, I
insist – επιμένω.

S: Επιμένω.

T: I’m not insisting, I don’t insist.

S: Δεν επιμένω [dhen epiméno].

T: Δεν επιμένω, very good. He’s insisting, she’s insisting, it’s insisting.

S: Επιμένει [epiméni].

T: Επιμένει, very good. The word for “why” in Greek is, γιατί [yatí]. Γιατί.

S: Γιατί [yatí].

T: Why is he staying? Why is she staying?

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S: Γιατί μένει; [yatí méni?].

T: Γιατί μένει; Why is he insisting?

S: Γιατί επιμένει; [yatí epiméni?].

T: Good. Γιατί επιμένει; Βravo. Why is he waiting, Why is she waiting?

S: Γιατί περιμένει; [yatí periméni?].

T: Very good, γιατί περιμένει; Why is he waiting for me?

S: Γιατί με περιμένει; [yatí me periméni?].

T: Good. Γιατί με περιμένει; So it’s not about, you know, thinking of the word, wait,
and then having the equivalent pop into your mind. It’s about thinking, “Oh, how
did we find that?” Just starting that chain of thought, relaxed, most of the time is
going to take you to the word. So we just want to go, for insist, for example. Now
what was insist, now what did it relate to? So, what do we start with?

S: Μένω [méno].

T: Μένω. And then what did we look at in English to find this word in Greek, insist?

S: Επι [epi].

T: Good.

S: Επιμένω [epiméno].

T: Επιμένω. Good. Why is he insisting?

S: Γιατί επιμένει; [yatí epiméni?].

T: Γιατί επιμένει; Good. Why is he waiting for me?

S: Γιατί με περιμένει; [yatí me periméni?].

T: Good, γιατί με περιμένει; Why isn’t he waiting for me?

S: Γιατί δεν με περιμένει; [yatí den me periméni?].

T: And the sound of δεν [dhen] is like the soft TH that we have in English, like in the
English word “then”. No? We shouldn’t get confused by the fact that this letter
looks like a D, and that we might visualise it in that way as well. We can just think
of the English sound, “then”.

14
 Γιατί δεν με περιμένει; [yatí dhen me periméni?]. Γιατί, we said, was, why. It’s
formed of two words actually, γιατί – για [ya] which means “for” or “because of”,
and τι [ti], which means “what”. Because of what – για-τι. Very similar to how, for
example, por qué is formed in Spanish, for example, or other Latin-based
languages. You have por meaning “because of”, or “for”, and then qué, meaning
“what”. Γιατί [yatí] – for what. So the word what is τι [ti].

S: Τι.

T: What is he waiting for? What is he awaiting? What is he awaiting?

S: Τι περιμένει; [ti periméni?].

T: Τι περιμένει; Very good.

15
Complete Greek, Track 04 – Language Transfer

Teacher: So we’ve been building up verbs, starting from a base verb, no, and adding
bits on to get different meanings. What was that base verb, I stay, or I’m staying?

Student: Μένω [méno].

Τ: Μένω, very good. And we saw also, we can change the endings of the verb to
refer to different people, so μένω – I stay or I’m staying. He stays, she stays, he is
staying, she is staying, it is staying – how is that?

S: Μένει [méni].

T: Μένει, very good. If we add an S (ς) to this, this gives us the version for “you”.

S: Μένεις [ménis].

T: Μένεις. Now this is the informal “you”. We have a formal and an informal you in
Greek. This is the informal one, so the one you’ll use practising Greek with your
friends, for example. So we add an S to μένει and we get?

S: Μένεις [ménis].

T: Μένεις, so this is you. So if you want to say, Where do you stay? Where do you
live?, how would it be? What was the word for, where?

S: Πού [pu].

T: Πού, good. So, Where do you stay? Where do you live?

S: Πού μένεις; [pu ménis?].

T: Πού μένεις; Where are you waiting for me?

S: Πού περιμένεις; [pu periménis?].

T: Good, and how about the “me” there?

S: Πού με περιμένεις; [pu me periménis?].

T: Very good, πού με περιμένεις; Good. What was the word for, Why, or literally, for
what?

S: Γιατί [yatí].

T: Γιατί, good. Why don’t you wait for me?

16
S: Γιατί δεν με περιμένεις; [yatí dhen me periménis?].

T: Very good. Γιατί δεν με περιμένεις; Very good. Why are you insisting? Why do you
insist?

S: Γιατί επιμένεις; [yatí epiménis?].

T: Γιατί επιμένεις; Why don’t you insist?

S: Γιατί δεν επιμένεις; [yatí dhen epiménis?].

T: Good. Γιατί δεν επιμένεις; So we said that, γιατί was formed of “for-what”, so
what again was the word for, What?

S: Τι [ti].

T: Τι, good. What are you waiting for?

S: Τι περιμένεις; [ti periménis?].

T: Τι περιμένεις; Very good. We said that it’s, What are you awaiting? So this “for”,
we’re not translating it, no? Tι περιμένεις; What are you awaiting? Are you
waiting for me? Are you waiting for me?

S: Με περιμένεις; [me periménis?].

T: Good. Με περιμένεις; Aren’t you waiting for me?

S: Δεν με περιμένεις; [dhen me periménis?].

T: Δεν με περιμένεις;

Let’s learn a new verb. The verb for “I do” or “I make”, is κάνω [káno]. Κάνω.

S: Κάνω.

T: Like, Κ-Α-Ν-Ο, and of course this is the o, the [o] that’s showing that it’s “I” with
the verbs, so it’s going to look like that letter which is a “w” (ω), the ωμέγα
[omégha], or like a curved top hat when it’s in capitals (Ω). I do, or I make, or I’m
doing, or I’m making – κάνω.

S: Κάνω [káno].

T: How would you say, He does, He’s doing, She does, She’s doing, It does, It is doing,
It is making?

S: Κάνει [káni].

17

T: Κάνει. You do?

S: Κάνεις [kánis].

T: Κάνεις, κάνεις. How would you say, What are you doing? You can think of “why”
to find “what”.

S: For what, τι για, τι, τι κάνεις; [ti kánis?].

T: Τι κάνεις; Very good. So this could mean, What are you doing? And it also means,
How are you? This is used in Greek like, How are you? Τι κάνεις; Actually, you
might have difficulties trying to make Greeks understand that you are asking,
What are you doing? and not, How are you? when you say, τι κάνεις; Mostly,
people are going to understand, How are you? They’re going to reply Kαλά [kalá]
mostly, “well”, καλά. But you might mean, you know, What are you doing? What
are you doing? Τι κάνεις; And they will repeat you, καλά. Maybe to make it clear
you mean, What are you doing? … You might want to say something like, What
are you doing now? The word for “now” is τώρα [tóra], τώρα: T-O-R-A.

S: Τώρα.

T: Good. So how would that be, What are you doing now?

S: Τι τώρα κάνεις; [ti tóra kánis?].

T: Don’t worry about, τώρα yet, because it will interfere beforehand, no? Worry
about it when you get there. The first bit is, What are you doing?

S: Τι κάνεις;

T: Τι κάνεις; And now the word for “now”.

S: Τώρα.

T: Good. Τι κάνεις τώρα; [ti kánis tóra?]. So here we would understand, What are
you up to now? rather than, How are you now? It makes it a little clearer. How
would you say, What is he doing? or, How is he?

S: Τι κάνει; [ti káni?].

T: Τι κάνει; And if you want to make it clear, What is he doing? maybe you will use
again the word for “now”, What is he doing now?

S: Τι κάνει τώρα; [ti káni tóra?].

T: Τι κάνει τώρα; Again, what is I do, or I make?

18

S: Κάνω [káno].

T: Κάνω, good. So we have κάνω for I do or I make. And we mentioned how we’re
not using the word for “I”, but of course we do have a word for “I” in Greek, and
you can use it if you like, maybe to be emphatic, for example. The word for “I” in
Greek is, εγώ [eghó]. Εγώ.

S: Εγώ.

T: So we have a new sound here, it’s like a “soft g” [gh], which hangs around in the
throat: εγώ, εγώ.

S: Εγώ.

T: Good, perfect. Does it look like a word in English? If you imagine how it would be
written, maybe?

S: Then it’s “ego”.

T: Ego, of course. When in English we say, you have a big ego, it means you have a
big “I”, no? Εγώ. So you can use this to be emphatic. Maybe you want to say, I’m
staying, you know, not somebody else. So how would that be?

S: Εγώ μένω [eghó méno].

T: Εγώ μένω, or μένω εγώ, it’s flexible. I’m waiting.

S: Εγώ περιμένω [eghó periméno].

T: Εγώ περιμένω, περιμένω εγώ. I’m insisting, I’m the one that’s insisting.

S: Εγώ επιμένω [eghó epiméno].

T: Bravo. I saw there you had an initial worry about remembering the word, and
then you said, “Okay, stay in control, look back at English”, and you found it. Well
done. Εγώ επιμένω – I am insisting, I’m the one that’s insisting.

I‘m not insisting.

S: Εγώ δεν επιμένω [eghó dhen epiméno].

T: Good, εγώ first. Εγώ δεν επιμένω. Because εγώ is like something extra that we
don’t really need; it’s like something you hook on right at the beginning or right at
the end – Εγώ δεν επιμένω [eghó dhen epiméno], Δεν επιμένω εγώ [dhen
epiméno eghó].

19
 “I know” in Greek, I know, is ξέρω [kséro]. Ξέρω.

S: Ξέρω.

T: You can think of this as K-S-E-R-O, no? Ξέρω. Now KS in Greek is one letter. The
letter looks like a capital E with a little tail (ξ), or in capitals it looks like three
horizontal lines (Ξ). This is one letter giving us [ks], the letter ξι [ksi], ξι. You don’t
need to worry about remembering these or anything, you don’t need to know the
names of the letters of course to speak Greek, but I will mention them as we go
through the course, just in case you find yourself wanting to clarify what letter
something is written with, then it’s good to know the letter names, and this way
you will pick them up as we’re discussing them. So this letter, ξι, is like the X in
English, only the [ks] sound doesn’t come at the beginning of a word in English.
Ξέρω, I know.

S: Ξέρω [kséro].

T: I don’t know.

S: Δεν ξέρω [dhen kséro].

T: Δεν ξέρω. He knows, or, She knows.

S: Ξέρει [kséri].

T: Ξέρει. You know.

S: Ξέρεις [kséris].

T: Ξέρεις. Why don’t you know? Why don’t you know?

S: Γιατί δεν ξέρεις; [yatí dhen kséris?].

T: Γιατί δεν ξέρεις; You know me.

S: Με ξέρεις [me kséris].

T: Very good. Με ξέρεις – You know me. You don’t know me.

S: Δεν με ξέρεις [dhen me kséris].

T: Δεν με ξέρεις, good. I know. Let’s put that emphasis for “I”. I know.

S: Ερώ; [eró?].

T: Εγώ, εγώ [eghó]. It’s more like a gargling sound, but without the heavy friction.
Εγώ, εγώ.

20

S: Εγώ.

T: Perfect.

S: Εγώ, εγώ ξέρω [eghó kséro].

T: Εγώ ξέρω.

21
Complete Greek, Track 05 – Language Transfer

Teacher: What was the word for, Where?

Student: Πού [pu].

T: Πού, good. Don’t you know where he’s staying? So you need to break up this
sentence in an intuitive place. Tell me in English, in English, not in Greek, what is
the first part you will focus on? Don’t you know where he’s staying?

S: Don’t you know?

T: Don’t you know? So let’s begin there, Don’t you know?

S: Δεν ξέρεις; [dhen kséris?].

T: Δεν ξέρεις; So the first bit of that unit, let’s say, is δεν, we get that out the way,
then we find the verb, then we have to think, “Who does the verb refer to?”, no,
and we go ξέρω, ξέρεις. Δεν ξέρεις. Where ... ?

S: Πού [pu].

T: He’s staying?

S: Μένει [méni].

T: Μένει, very good. Don’t you know where he’s staying? Δεν ξέρεις πού μένει;
[dhen kséris pu méni?]. Don’t you know where he’s waiting for me? So again we
start with, Don’t you know.

S: Δεν ξέρεις.

T: Δεν ξέρεις. Where ...

S: Πού.

T: He is waiting for me, he’s awaiting me …

S: Με περιμένει.

T: Very good. Δεν ξέρεις πού με περιμένει; [dhen kséris pu me periméni?]. What was
the word for “why” again?

S: Γιατί [yatí].

T: Γιατί. Doesn’t he know why you’re staying?

22
S: Doesn’t he know ...

T: Exactly, well done, that’s the first bit. Doesn’t he know ...

S: Δεν ξέρω … ξέρει.

T: Very good, δεν ξέρει. Why ... ?

S: Γιατί …

T: You’re staying …

S: Μένεις.

T: Very good. Δεν ξέρει γιατί μένεις; [dhen kséri yatí ménis?]. Doesn’t he know why
you’re staying? I don’t know what you’re waiting for.

S: Δεν ξέρω τι περιμένεις [dhen kséro ti periménis].

T: Very good, δεν ξέρω τι περιμένεις. Very good.

The verb for “I want”, I want, is θέλω [thélo]. Θέλω.

S: Θέλω.

T: Θέλω. This is the TH sound of English “thank”, for example, θέλω. It’s quite
different to the sound of “that”. So if we look at English, we have two separate TH
sounds, which are written in the same way: then, that, this, that’s one TH sound
that we have in English, and this sound is represented by the letter, δέλτα [dhélta]
in Greek, that letter that looks like a “d” (δ) or triangle in capitals (Δ). And then we
have the TH sound in English of thank, think. This much stronger [th] sound is the
sound that we have in, θέλω.

S: Θέλω [thélo].

T: So let’s practise both of these sounds together, saying I don’t want.

S: Δεν θέλω [dhen thélo].

T: Δεν θέλω. You have δεν with that δέλτα (δ) looking like a “d”, or in capitals looks
like a triangle (Δ), and the letter giving us the [th] sound of θέλω looks like a zero
or an O with a horizontal line running through the middle (Θ, θ). This is the letter
θήτα [thíta], θήτα. How would you say, He wants/she wants/it wants?

S: Θέλει [théli].

23
T: Θέλει, good. Θέλει is also used in some circumstances like “need”; you might say
θέλει νερό [théli neró], It wants water, or It needs watering, referring to a plant.
Or you might hear, θέλει αλάτι [théli aláti], It wants salt, It needs a bit of salt,
referring to some food. So you might hear θέλει used in that way as well, like
“need”. How would you say, You want?

S: Θέλεις [thélis].

T: Θέλεις. What do you want?

S: Τι θέλεις; [ti thélis?].

T: Τι θέλεις, Very good. I know, was … ?

S: Ξέρω [kséro].

T: Ξέρω. If you want to say, I want to know, there is not “to know” in Greek; to know
doesn’t exist. There is only, I know, you know, he knows, etc. So to say “I want to
know” in Greek, you must say “I want, I know”, and you connect these two verbs
with a sound that doesn’t mean anything. The sound is just connecting them,
making it very clear that rather than two separate sentences, “I want”, “I know”,
you are saying “I want to know”. So the sound that connects these verbs is να
[na]. Να.

S: Να.

T: So in Greek, to say “I want to know”, you will say “I want” να “I know”, and that’s
how you will get, I want to know. So how would that sound?

S: Θέλω να ξέρω [thélo na kséro].

T: Exactly. Θέλω να ξέρω, θέλω να ξέρω, I want to know. I don’t want to know, so
where do we begin?

S: I don’t want to, δεν θέλω …

T: Δεν θέλω.

S: Να ξέρω.

T: Δεν θέλω να ξέρω [dhen thélo na kséro]. I don’t want to know. Good. I don’t want,
να, I know. “Να” doesn’t have any meaning by itself; it’s a function word. It just
has some functions but no meaning. If you want to say, You want to know, of
course you will say, You want, να, you know. So how would that be?

S: Θέλεις να ξέρεις [thélis na kséris].

24
T: Θέλεις να ξέρεις. You want to know. You want, να, you know. Do you want to
know?

S: Θέλεις να ξέρεις; [thélis na kséris?].

T: Θέλεις να ξέρεις; Don’t you want to know?

S: Δεν θέλεις να ξέρεις; [dhen thélis na kséris?].

T: Δεν θέλεις να ξέρεις; Why don’t you want to know?

S: Γιατί δεν θέλεις να ξέρεις; [yatí dhen thélis na kséris?].

T: Very good. Γιατί δεν θέλεις να ξέρεις; What do you want to know?

S: Τι θέλεις να ξέρεις; [ti thélis na kséris?].

T: Very good. Τι θέλεις να ξέρεις; He wants to know.

S: Θέλει να ξέρει [théli na kséri].

T: Very good, θέλει να ξέρει. He wants to know where I’m staying.

S: Θέλει να ξέρει πού μένω [théli na kséri pu méno].

T: Very good, θέλει να ξέρει πού μένω. Very good. She wants to know why you’re
not waiting for me. So here we have a much bigger sentence, but all it is … it’s just
those small little structures that we made before, just more of them together, no?
So we shouldn’t be put off by the fact we have a long sentence; it’s exactly what
we’ve been doing until now, just a little bit more of it. So the first bit is, She wants,
She wants to know, but let’s start with She wants.

S: Θέλει.

T: Θέλει. She wants to know …

S: Θέλει να ξέρει.

T: Θέλει να ξέρει. Why ...

S: Γιατί.

T: Γιατί ... You’re not waiting for me. All of that part we need to treat it as one part,
because there’s just one verb there: You’re not waiting for me, and everything
else is revolving around that verb, no? So, You’re not waiting for me.

S: Δεν με περιμένεις.

25

T: Very good. She wants to know why you’re not waiting for me. Θέλει να ξέρει γιατί
δεν με περιμένεις [théli na kséri yatí dhen me periménis]. Well done. I don’t want
to wait. How would that be? I don’t want to wait.

S: Δεν θέλω να περιμένω [dhen thélo na periméno].

T: Very good. Δεν θέλω να περιμένω. Don’t you want to wait for me? So again, if we
think of this sentence as just one unit, we might mix all of the different bits of
information that we have there together. Don’t you want to wait for me? Don’t
we want to start with, Don’t you want. We don’t worry about anything else other
than, Don’t you want, then we worry about the next bit.

S: Δεν θέλεις;

T: Now we worry about, Τo wait for me.

S: Να περιμένεις, but where do you place the “me”?

T: Where does that “me” go generally?

S: In front of the verb.

T: Exactly, before the verb.

S: Να με περιμένεις.

T: Very good, very good. Δεν θέλεις να με περιμένεις; [dhen thélis na me
periménis?]. So splitting it up, we work our way through it. Why don’t you want to
wait for me? Why don’t you want to wait for me?

S: Γιατί δεν θέλεις με περιμένεις … να με περιμένεις;

T: Very good. Γιατί δεν θέλεις να με περιμένεις; [yatí dhen thélis na me periménis?].
Γιατί δεν θέλεις να με περιμένεις; Very good.

26
Complete Greek, Track 06 – Language Transfer

Teacher: With this structure that we've learnt using να [na], to say things like, I want
to know, θέλω να ξέρω, you could also say things like, I want you to know. All we
have to do is say: I want, να, you know – a very small change. So how would you
say that, I want you to know?

Student: Θέλω να ξέρεις [thélo na kséris].

T: Very good. Θέλω να ξέρεις, I want you to know. Do you want me to wait? So it's
very important to break this up, no? Do you want?

S: Θέλεις με περιμένω; [thélis me periméno?] Or is it, να περιμένεις [na periménis]?

T: The structure here in English is a little bit complicated: Do you want me to wait?
So you might feel like we need to translate this “me”. But if we take the in-
between steps to understand what's happening in Greek, so we think, okay, in
Greek, Do you want me to wait, is, Do you want, να, I wait, then we realise
actually we have no “me” here in Greek. So, Do you want?

S: Θέλεις.

T: Θέλεις, and we will connect it with?

S: Να.

T: Να, I wait.

S: Περιμένω.

T: That's it. Θέλεις να περιμένω; [thélis na periméno?]. Do you want that I wait? So
here in English we use the word “me”, but in Greek – much more literal: Do you
want, να, I wait. Θέλεις να περιμένω. And if you were to use the word for “I”,
what would that word be?

S: Εγώ [eghó].

T: Εγώ.

S: Εγώ (Laughing). It's awful.

T: No. It's good, it's good. You just have to relax.

S: Εγώ [eghó].

T: Good, εγώ. Not με [me], not me, no? Because it's I, I wait. So you could also hear,
Θέλεις να περιμένω εγώ; [thélis na periméno eghó?]. So what was the word for

27
 “me” in Greek?

S: Με.

T: Με. Are you waiting for me?

S: Με περιμένεις; [me periménis?].

T: Good. Με περιμένεις; The word for “you” is σε [se]. So we have με and σε. And
again, this is the informal you, the one we will use to speak with friends and
people we know. I'm waiting for you.

S: Σε περιμένω [se periméno].

T: Bravo. Σε περιμένω, σε before the verb, just like με. Σε περιμένω. Do you want me
to wait for you? Again, we could have a confusion with this “me”, no? If we just
scoot over thε sentence very quickly and try to translate it as a package, we might
want to put “me” in somewhere. But if we think, how is the structure in Greek?
Do you want me to wait for you? Let's work our way through it. Do you want?

S: Θέλεις;

T: Θέλεις. And then what comes?

S: Να.

T: Να. Do you want, να, I wait for you?

S: Σε περιμένω.

T: Very good. No με, no “me”. Θέλεις να σε περιμένω; [thélis na se periméno?]. Do
you want, να, I wait for you? What was the word for, Where, again?

S: Πού [pu].

T: Πού. Where do you want me to wait for you? So, Where do you want?

S: Πού θέλεις;

T: Πού θέλεις;

S: Να.

T: Να. Brilliant. I wait for you.

S: Σε περιμένω.

28
T: Very good. Πού θέλεις να σε περιμένω; [pu thélis na se periméno?]. Very good.

So there is an in-between step when structures vary slightly from how we would
say it in English – Do you want me to wait for you? We can take this in-between
step to think, how is the structure in Greek? Do you want, να, I wait for you. I
don't want him to know where I'm staying. So the first bit – I don't want …

S: Δεν θέλω.

T: Δεν θέλω. I don't want him to know.

S: Δεν θέλω να ξέρει.

T: Very good. Δεν θέλω να ξέρει, I don't want him to know … where I'm staying.

S: Πού μένω.

T: Very good. Δεν θέλω να ξέρει πού μένω [dhen thélo na kséri pu méno]. I don't
want him to know where I'm staying. Δεν θέλω να ξέρει πού μένω.

The word for “here” in Greek, here, is εδώ [edhó]. Εδώ.

S: Εδώ.

T: Very good. What sound do you think you hear there in the middle? The consonant
sound, which one is it? Εδώ.

S: It's the same as “thank” and θέλω [thélo].

T: Is it? The same as θέλω? Is it εθώ [ethó], or εδώ [edhó]?

S: So it's more “then”.

T: Very good. It's like the δεν [dhen], of δεν θέλω, no? Δεν. So again this word is
written with δέλτα [dhélta], the letter that looks like a “d” (δ) or like a triangle in
capitals (Δ). Εδώ, and this is the word for “here”.

S: Εδώ.

T: Εδώ is spelt Ε (or έψιλον [épsilon], Ε/ε), δέλτα (Δ/δ), and then the [o] sound there
is with the W shape, ωμέγα [omégha, Ω/ω]. So that's not just for the verb
endings; you will also find it in other places – εδώ. We said that the verb for “I
make” or “I do” is κάνω [káno]. How would you say What are you doing here?
What are you doing here?

S: Τι κάνεις ... here? (Laughing)

29
T: So, we might have lost the word, concentrating on the other bit, but we had a
little discussion about the sound in that word. So think about that … maybe that
brings the word back.

S: Εδώ [edhó].

T: Very good, ah? Τι κάνεις εδώ; [ti kánis edhó?]. I'm staying here.

S: Μένω εδώ [méno edhó].

T: Μένω εδώ. I don't want to wait for you here. So we begin with ... ?

S: I don't want.

T: Bravo.

S: Δεν θέλω.

T: Δεν θέλω, to wait for you here.

S: So, να περιμένω εδώ.

T: Yes, but we missed the “you”, actually.

S: Να σε περιμένω εδώ.

T: Very good. Δεν θέλω να σε περιμένω εδώ [dhen thélo na se periméno edhó]. I
want you to wait for me here.

S: Θέλω να περιμένεις εδώ.

T: So again you thought of the verb first, no, which is perfect. But then, maybe you
want to make a little check if you included all of the elements, because it's very
natural to think of that verb first. So did you mention all of the elements? I want
you to wait for me here.

S: Ah, με.

T: Good.

S: Να με περιμένεις εδώ.

T: Very good. Give it to me all together: I want you to wait for me here.

S: Θέλω να με περιμένεις εδώ [thélo na me periménis edhó].

T: Good. Θέλω να με περιμένεις εδώ. I want, να, you wait for me here.

30
Complete Greek, Track 07 – Language Transfer

Teacher: So we've learnt some verbs. What was, I stay?

Student: Μένω [méno].

T: Μένω. I wait, or I'm waiting?

S: Περιμένω [periméno].

T: I insist?

S: Επιμένω [epiméno].

T: Very good. I know?

S: Ξέρω [kséro].

T: Ξέρω. I want?

S: Θέλω [thélo ].

T: Θέλω. So these are verbs, and we change them for different people, as well. So
we have θέλω – I want. He wants/she wants?

S: Θέλει [théli].

T: You want?

S: Θέλεις [thélis].

T: Θέλεις. At school they usually describe verbs as “doing” words, but that can get
quite confusing. If you think “to be”, you’re not really doing anything, but that’s a
verb and we can recognise it as a verb by its form. It’s “to”: “to be”. In the same
way at school you may have heard that nouns are things. But then again, when we
get to words like “peace”, “dream”, you might be confused about whether that’s a
thing or not. So to identify different types of word, you want to look at the form of
the word. So we said that “to” words are verbs, “to stay”, “to wait”, and words
that we can put “the” or “a” in front of are nouns. For example, “the dream”,
that’s a noun. “The peace”, that’s a noun. Now, I’m not very concerned with
grammatical terminology, so generally during this course we’re not really going to
use a lot of grammatical terminology. It’s not very useful for us, but what is useful
for us is to be clear on what are different types of words – only because different
types of words behave differently. Verbs behave in one way, nouns behave in a
different way. We will see this throughout the course, but that’s about as deep as
we will get into grammatical terminology. We will talk about the language in a

31
 more logical way. So let’s learn a noun in Greek. The “mobile phone” in Greek is
το (that’s the word for “the”), το κινητό [to kinitó]. Το κινητό.

S: Το κινητό.

T: Good. Where is the accent, or the stress on the word, το κινητό?

S: At the end?

T: At the end! Very good. Το κινητό. This is actually quite literally the word “mobile”,
because κινητό is “kinetic”. We have the word “kinetic” in English, which means
“movement”, no? We have kinetic energy, energy that comes from movement. So
we are saying the same thing when we say “mobile”, something that moves. Το
κινητό – something kinetic. How would you say, I want the mobile phone?

S: Θέλω το κινητό [thélo to kinitó].

T: Very good. Θέλω το κινητό. Don’t you want the mobile?

S: Δεν θέλεις το κινητό; [dhen thélis to kinitó?].

T: Very good. Δεν θέλεις το κινητό; To get the word for “it” in Greek, we can just
take the word for “the”. So what is the word for “the” here in “the mobile”, το
κινητό?

S: To [to].

T: To. We can just take the word for “the” and put it before the verb. And there we
get the word for “it”. So if you want to say, I want it, how would that be?

S: Το θέλω [to thélo].

T: Το θέλω. Good. I want the mobile phone: Θέλω το κινητό. I want it: Το θέλω. We
just take the word for “the”, and we put it first, like με, like σε. Το θέλω. I don’t
want it.

S: Δεν το θέλω [dhen to thélo].

T: Δεν το θέλω. Good, δεν first. Δεν το θέλω. Το, με, σε wants to be next to the verb,
so δεν goes first. Δεν το θέλω. I’m doing it, I’m doing it, I’m making it.

S: Το κάνω [to káno].

T: Το κάνω. Very good. I want to do it/I want to make it.

S: Το θέλω να κάνω [to thélo na káno].

32
T: So here, your brain is actually being a bit too powerful, no? You’re doing it all
together and you put that “το” at the beginning, no? Because you can work fast,
but you don’t need to work fast to be correct. You need to work slowly to be
correct, no? So, actually what we want is, I want to do it/to make it. So the first bit
we think about is?

S: I want.

T: I want.

S: So, θέλω.

T: Θέλω! Not, το θέλω, θέλω. Now we think about, to make it/to do it.

S: Να το κάνω.

T: Very good, θέλω να το κάνω [thélo na to káno]. I want, να, I make it. Θέλω να το
κάνω. I want you to do it/I want you to make it.

S: Θέλω να το κάνεις [thélo na to kánis].

T: Good. Θέλω να το κάνεις. I want you to do it/to make it. What was the word for,
Here?

S: Εδώ [edhó].

T: Εδώ. I don’t want you to do it here.

S: Δεν θέλω να το κάνεις εδώ [dhen thélo na to kánis edhó].

T: Very good. And well done for taking your time, ah? Δεν θέλω να το κάνεις εδώ.
Δεν θέλω να το κάνεις εδώ. I don’t want you to do it here. Very well done.

33
Complete Greek, Track 08 – Language Transfer

Teacher: What was the word for I, which we can use to be emphatic if we like?

Student: Εγώ [eghó].

T: Εγώ. Very good, and the word for, Here?

S: Εδώ [edhó].

T: Εδώ. Where is the accent on these words? Where is the stress on these words,
εγώ, εδώ?

S: At the end.

T: At the end. Good. Έχω [ékho], έχω means “I have”.

S: Έχω.

T: Έχω. So we have the stress at the beginning, and we also have a new sound here,
another new sound for us in Greek. This sound is written with a letter that looks
like an X (χ) in Greek, and it gives us this [kh] sound, έχω [ékho].

S: Έχω.

T: A little bit of friction in the throat, έχω.

S: Έχω.

T: How would you say, I have the mobile phone/I have the mobile/I have the kinetic?

S: Έχω το κινητό [ékho to kinitó].

T: Έχω το κινητό. And what if you wanted to say, I have it?

S: Το έχω [to ékho].

T: Το έχω. Good. I don’t have it.

S: Δεν το έχω [dhen to ékho].

T: Δεν το έχω. Good. When this X in Greek, which gives us [kh] here in έχω, when it’s
followed by an [i] sound – when it’s followed by an [i] sound, it’s slightly softer
[ch]. Actually, we see this in the name of this letter, which is “χι” [chi], so you can
see it’s softer there, the letter χι. So how would, He has/she has/it has sound?

S: Έχει [échi].

34

T: Έχει. Good. It’s more like a “H”, no? Less friction. You will notice this in the Greek
word for “no”, which is, όχι [óchi]. Όχι.

S: Όχι.

T: Όχι. So we have, He has/she has/it has – έχει. And, You have?

S: Έχεις [échis].

T: Έχεις. Again, softer here because it’s followed by an [i] sound. How would you say,
What do you have?

S: Τι έχεις; [ti échis?].

T: Τι έχεις; Very good. And this can also be used like, What’s wrong? Τι έχεις; What’s
wrong/what’s up? How would you say, What does he have? or What’s up with
him? It could mean either: What does he have? What does she have? What’s up
with him? What’s up with her?

S: Τι έχει; [ti echi?].

T: Τι έχει; Very good. What was again the word for “mobile”, the mobile?

S: Το κινητό [to kinitó].

T: Το κινητό. Good, the mobile. “The car” in Greek is, το αυτοκίνητο [to aftokínito].
Το αυτοκίνητο.

S: Το αυτοκίνητο.

T: Again, we have a very literal similarity to English. Because in English you have
“mobile” and then you have “automobile”. This “auto” is αυτό [aftó], and αυτό is
actually written A-U-T-O. When you see the Greek letters here, it looks like AUTO,
and “AU” in Greek (αυ) gives you [af] or [av], depending on the word. So this is
literally the same word: auto-kinetic, auto-mobile, automobile – αυτοκίνητο.

S: Αυτοκίνητο.

T: Good. Do you have the car?

S: Έχεις το αυτοκίνητο; [échis to aftokínito?].

T: Very good. Έχεις το αυτοκίνητο; Do you have it?

S: Το έχεις; [to échis?].

35
T: Το έχεις; Don’t you have it?

S: Δεν το έχεις; [dhen to échis?].

T: Δεν το έχεις; Very good.

“She is/he is/it is”, all the same word in Greek, is είναι [íne]. Είναι.

S: Είναι.

T: How would you say, Where is it?/Where is he?/Where is she?

S: Πού είναι; [pu íne?].

T: Πού είναι; Where is the car?

S: Πού είναι το αυτοκίνητο; [pu íne to aftokínito?].

T: Πού είναι το αυτοκίνητο; I don’t know where it is. I don’t know … where … it is.

S: Δεν ξέρω να πού είναι … το είναι … [dhen kséro na pu íne … to íne …].

T: So let’s wind back to the beginning – Ι don’t know, that first bit.

S: Δεν ξέρω [dhen kséro].

T: Δεν ξέρω. Where?

S: Πού [pu].

T: Πού. It is/she is/he is.

S: Είναι [íne].

T: Eίναι. So we don’t need the word for “it” here, no? It’s included in the verb. Δεν
ξέρω πού είναι [dhen kséro pu íne], I don’t know where it is. And “is” is a verb,
because it comes from “to be”. We don’t say “he be”, but “he is”. Δεν ξέρω πού
είναι. So this could mean, I don’t know where it is/where he is/where she is. Do
you know where the car is? In Greek, the order will be, Do you know where is the
car? Do you know where the car is/Do you know where is the car?

S: Ξέρεις πού είναι το αυτοκίνητο; [kséris pu íne to aftokínito?].

T: Very good. Ξέρεις πού είναι το αυτοκίνητο; Το αυτοκίνητο is coming afterwards,
because it’s like extra information; we saw already that είναι includes “it is”. So
it’s, Do you know where it is? And then we clarify: το αυτοκίνητο. Ξέρεις πού είναι
το αυτοκίνητο; Don’t you know where she is?

36

S: Δεν ξέρεις να πού είναι … ? [dhen kséris na pu íne … ?].

T: Why να?

S: I don’t know, just because I think that you have to connect it?

T: “I want to know”, for example, you need to connect them, but here actually πού is
doing the job of connecting. So, Don’t you know (δεν ξέρεις), where she is?

S: Πού είναι [pu íne].

T: Good. Δεν ξέρεις πού είναι; [dhen kséris pu íne?].

What you think it means if you hear, πρόβλημα [próvlima]? Πρόβλημα? What
does that sound like?

S: Like “problem”.

T: Very good The [v] sound in Greek, most of the time, is written with the letter that
looks like a B. The letter name is “βήτα” [víta], and this is the grey area we get
between English and Greek with B’s and V sounds. We have “problem”, and then
πρόβλημα [próvlima] in Greek. We have the word “Bible” in English, which
actually just comes from the Greek word for book. The Bible is “the book”. “The
book” in Greek is, το βιβλίο [to vivlío]. So whilst it sounds remarkably different,
when you see that written, those two [v] sounds are written with the B letter in
Greek. This B letter is called βήτα (Β/β). So this βήτα that looks like a B, gives us a
V sound in Greek, and the word “alphabet” is actually alpha – άλφα [álfa], the
Greek name for A and βήτα – very possibly from the Arabic word for house, as the
hieroglyph that gave rise to this letter was actually the shape of a floor plan for a
house. So “the book” was, το βιβλίο, spelt with this letter βήτα and entering
English as “Bible”. I have the book, how would that be? I have the book.

S: Έχω το βιβλίο [ékho to vivlío].

T: I have it.

S: Το έχει [to échi].

T: I have it.

S: Το έχω [to ékho]. Το έχω.

T: Το έχω. Good. So if you think of the sentence too quickly or too rushed, you kind
of mash the different elements together and you came up with έχει, because έχει
is “it has”. But it’s not “it has”, it’s “I have it”. So as long as we’re sure of who is
doing the verb, who the verb is changing for, the rest of the elements will fit

37
 around it. I have it – έχω, το έχω. So we saw that “problem” was πρόβλημα.
“System” is σύστημα [sístima]. Σύστημα.

S: Σύστημα.

T: Many words that end in M or MA in English, have actually come from Greek, like
“problem” – πρόβλημα, “system” – σύστημα. You may notice that the accent is at
the beginning of the word: πρόβλημα, σύστημα. Other words like this – we have
“program”, which in Greek is, πρόγραμμα [próghrama]. Again we have the [gh] G
– πρόγραμμα, like in εγώ [eghó]. How do you think you would say “diagram”?

S: Διάγραμμα [dhiághrama].

T: Διάγραμμα. So the D is δέλτα, and then the G is like in εγώ. Διάγραμμα, diagram.
“Panorama” is πανόραμα; “aroma” – άρωμα [ároma]; “climate”, slightly different
– κλίμα [klíma].

38
Complete Greek, Track 09 – Language Transfer

Teacher: What was the word for, I have?

Student: Έχω [ékho].

T: Έχω, good. We saw that adding περι- [peri], meaning “around” or “near” to μένω
[méno], we got “to wait” from “to stay”. If we add περι- to έχω (so “to around
have”) we get the verb for “contain”. To contain, although we probably won’t use
it in the “I” form, no, – I contain. We will probably say, It contains. So how would
that sound?

S: Περιέχει [periéchi].

T: Περιέχει. What does it contain?

S: Τι περιέχει; [ti periéchi?].

T: Τι περιέχει; I don’t know what it contains.

S: Δεν ξέρω τι περιέχει [dhen kséro ti periéchi].

T: Δεν ξέρω τι περιέχει. Good. I don’t want to know what it contains. I don’t want to
know what it contains.

S: Δεν θέλω να ξέρω τι περιέχει [dhen thélo na kséro ti periéchi].

T: Very good. Δεν θέλω να ξέρω τι περιέχει, very good. Do you remember what was
the word for “problem”?

S: Πρόβλημα [próvlima].

T: Πρόβλημα. Good. This “προ-“ at the beginning of “problem”, or πρόβλημα,
actually means “towards”. It can be προ- or προς- in different words. “Problem”
actually means “towards throwing”, towards or before. I’m not sure how that
word came to be coined. But that’s where the word has its root. And actually you
can see it in English – I don’t know if you know in English the word “ballistic”, used
in military terms, like a ballistic missile, and also used in slang, in British English at
least. You can say “somebody went ballistic” – they went crazy. So ballistic is the
same as “blem” (βλήμα), it’s throwing – πρόβλημα. So also we have προς [pros] in
Greek, meaning towards. Again, what was, I have?

S: Έχω.

T: Έχω. Προσέχω [prosékho], προσέχω means “look after” or “take care”, of
something or yourself – both of these meanings in Greek. So how would you say,
Ηe’s taking care?

39

S: Προσέχει [proséchi].

T: Προσέχει. You are taking care/looking after.

S: Προσέχεις [proséchis].

T: Προσέχεις. I want you to look after yourself – we don’t need the word for
yourself. If we just say, I want you to look after, it will be understood to look after
yourself, not something else. So, I want you to look after yourself.

S: Θέλω να προσέχεις [thélo na prosékhis].

T: Very good. But the [kh] here a little softer with the [i] sound afterwards. Θέλω να
προσέχεις [thélo na proséchis]. I want you to look after the car.

S: Θέλω να προσέχεις το αυτοκίνητο [thélo na proséchis to aftokínito].

T: Very good. Θέλω να προσέχεις το αυτοκίνητο. Why don’t you look after the car?

S: What was “why” again?

T: Try to think of how it was built. Don’t worry about whether you have memorised
the words. Think about how you might be able to find it.

S: So is “why”, “what for”, γιατί [yatí]?

T: Bravo, well done. Γιατί. Why don’t you look after the car?

S: Γιατί δεν προσέχεις το αυτοκίνητο; [yatí dhen proséchis to aftokínito?].

T: Good. Γιατί δεν προσέχεις το αυτοκίνητο. Why don’t you look after it?

S: Γιατί δεν το προσέχεις; [yatí dhen to proséchis?].

T: Good. Γιατί δεν το προσέχεις. If you want to say, Why don’t you look after
yourself?, you would just use the verb without anything. Why don’t you look
after? And it will be understood – Why don’t you look after yourself? So how
would that be?

S: Γιατί δεν προσέχω … προσέχεις;

T: Very good. Γιατί δεν προσέχεις; [yatí dhen proséchis?]. Good. The verb for “I try”
in Greek is προσπαθώ [prospathó]. Προσπαθώ.

S: Προσπαθώ.

40
T: Good. What is the [th] TH sound we have in προσπαθώ? Is it like δεν [dhen] or is it
like θέλω [thélo]? Προσπαθώ.

S: More like θέλω.

T: Good. So it’s the one that looks like a zero or an O with a horizontal line running
through the middle (Θ/θ). Προσπαθώ actually means something like “towards
passion”. Πάθος [páthos] is “passion” in Greek, so προσπαθώ, I try – “towards
passion”.

S: Προσπαθώ [prospathó].

T: Προσπαθώ. Let’s make a little recap of the verbs we’ve learnt until now. What
was, I stay?

S: Μένω [méno].

T: Μένω. I wait?

S: Περιμένω [periméno].

T: Περιμένω. I insist?

S: Επιμένω [epiméno].

T: Επιμένω. I know?

S: Ξέρω [ksero].

T: Ξέρω. I want?

S: Θέλω [thélo].

T: Θέλω. I have?

S: Έχω [ékho].

T: Έχω. I contain? (Although we probably wouldn’t use it in the “I” form.)

S: Περιέχω [periékho].

T: Περιέχω, very good. And, I look after/I take care?

S: Προσέχω [prosékho].

T: So we can see how the accent usually comes just before the ending that we
change – μένω, περιμένω, επιμένω, θέλεις, ξέρει. The accent is just before that

41
 verb ending – that [o] (ω), that [i] (ει), that [is] (εις). But with, I try, we have the
accent on the end – προσπαθώ [prospathó]. So there’s a group of verbs in Greek
that have their accents on the end, like this one. Προσπαθώ. But this shouldn’t
confuse you. How would you say, He’s trying or, She’s trying?

S: Προσπαθέι [prospathí].

T: Good. The accent’s still on the end. Προσπαθέι. You’re trying.

S: Προσπαθείς [prospathís].

T: Προσπαθείς. You’re not trying.

S: Δεν προσπαθέις [dhen prospathís].

T: Δεν προσπαθέις. I’m trying to do it.

S: Προσπαθώ να το κάνω [prospathó na to káno].

T: Προσπαθώ να το κάνω. I’m trying to do it. Again, You’re trying?

S: Προσπαθεί ... προσπαθείς.

T: Προσπαθείς. Why don’t you try to do it? Why don’t you try to do it?

S: Γιατί δεν προσπαθέις να κάνει ... κάνεις; [yatí dhen prospathís na káni … kánis?].

T: Good. Because you thought of “do it”, and you thought “it does”, no? But what
we need to think is “you do it”. So κάνεις, and then how about that “it”?

S: Το κάνεις.

T: Good. Γιατί δεν προσπαθείς να το κάνεις; [yatí dhen prospathís na to kánis?]. Very
good. Why don’t you try to do it.

42
Complete Greek, Track 10 – Language Transfer

Teacher: As we mentioned on the first track, Complete Greek will be recorded on
the move throughout Europe, with various students. So we continue the course
with our second student. Hello.

Student: Hello.

T: So, we were looking at the verb προσπαθώ [prospathó]. Προσπαθώ, which
literally means something like “towards passion”, and this is “I try”, προσπαθώ.

S: Προσπαθώ [prospathó].

T: And we notice that the accent is on the ending, where generally with the verbs,
we didn’t have the accent on the ending. For example, I want, is?

S: Θέλω [thélo].

T: Θέλω, good. So with, θέλω, we have the accent just before the ending. Θέλω
[thélo] – the stress is there just before the ending. I wait?

S: Περιμένω [periméno].

T: Very good, περιμένω. So again we have the stress just before that [o] (ω) ending.
Περιμένω. But with a group of verbs in Greek, we will find the accent coming on
the end, like in προσπαθώ. How would you say, He’s trying, or She’s trying, or It’s
trying?

S: Προσπάθει [prospathí].

T: Προσπαθεί, good. And, You’re trying.

S: Προσπαθείς [prospathís].

T: Προσπαθείς, very good Another verb that has the accent on the end in Greek, is
the verb “I can”. I can, is μπορώ [boró]. Μπορώ.

S: Μπορώ.

T: Μπορώ. So the first sound here is a B, and we saw that the letter in Greek that
looks like a B, the βήτα [víta] (Β/β), this gives us a V sound – like in πρόβλημα
[próvlima], like in βιβλίο [vivlío], the word for book. So that’s spelt with this letter
βήτα that looks like a B, but what we actually pronounce is a V. And we
mentioned that the word Bible in English just comes from the Greek word for
book, βιβλίο. So, how is μπορώ [boró] spelt? To get the B sound in Greek, to get
this hard B sound, you actually write an M and a P together. An M shape and a P
shape together in Greek (ΜΠ/μπ) gives us this hard B, μπορώ.

43

S: Μπορώ.

T: How would you say, I can wait for you? I can wait for you.

S: Μπορώ να σε περιμένω [boró na se periméno].

T: Very good. Mπορώ να σε περιμένω. How would you say, I can do it?

S: Μπορώ να το κάνω [boró na to káno].

T: Very good. Μπορώ να το κάνω, very good. What was the word for, What? We
found it inside of the word for “why”. So give me the word for, Why, first.

S: Γιατί.

T: Γιατί! [yatí] And the word for, What?

S: Τι [ti].

T: Τι. Very good. What can I do? Ηow would you say that? What can I do? The first
bit is, What can I, so let’s start there.

S: Τι μπορώ [ti boró].

T: And now we need to connect the verbs.

S: Τι μπορώ να κάνω; [ti boró na káno?].

T: Very good. Τι μπορώ να κάνω; What was the word for, Now?

S: Τώρα [tóra].

T: Τώρα. Very good. I can’t do it now. So we want to divide this up and start with, I
can’t.

S: Δεν μπορώ [dhen boró].

T: Δεν μπορώ, I can’t do it now.

S: Δεν μπορώ να το κάνω τώρα [dhen boró na to káno tóra].

T: Very good. Δεν μπορώ να το κάνω τώρα. And just, I can’t, by itself? How is that?

S: Δεν μπορώ [dhen boró].

44
T: Δεν μπορώ, good. The sound there of, δεν [dhen] – you can just think of the
English word, “then”.

S: Δεν, ah okay.

T: Δεν μπορώ. Δεν μπορώ, I can’t, you will hear this a lot in Greek, used as an
expression, like, “Oh, it’s too much!” – you know when something is too cute,
maybe somebody sees something that’s too cute, and they’ll say, Δεν μπορώ.
Maybe something is too bad and somebody will say, δεν μπορώ! Δεν μπορώ!
Something is too loud: δεν μπορώ. You will hear this very often in Greek. What is,
He, She, or It can?

S: Μπορεί [borí].

T: Μπορεί. Good. He can do it.

S: Μπορεί να το κάνει [borí no to káni].

T: Very good, μπορεί να το κάνει. Μπορει can also mean “maybe” like, It can, it can
be. So, μπορεί να το κάνει, other than, He can do it/She can do it, might also mean
Maybe he’s doing it/Maybe she’s doing it. So you could say, Maybe you know –
you would say, It can, να, you know.

S: Μπορεί να ξέρεις [borí na kséris].

T: Μπορεί να ξέρεις. Maybe you know, but … , etc. No ? Μπορεί να ξέρεις. What was
the word for, Here?

S: Εδώ [edhó].

T: Εδώ, good. Maybe she’s waiting for me here, or, She can wait for me here. It could
mean either, no, depending on the context. So how would we build that? Maybe
she’s waiting for me here, or, She can wait for me here.

S: Μπορεί να με περιμένει εδώ [borí na me periméni edhó].

T: Very good. Μπορεί να με περιμένει εδώ. So, μπορεί να με περιμένει εδώ could
mean, Maybe she’s waiting for me here/maybe he’s waiting for me here, or He
can wait for me here/she can wait for me here. And you will understand by the
context, which meaning the speaker wants. Can you do it now?

S: Μπορείς να το κάνεις τώρα; [borís na to kánis tóra?].

T: Very good. Μπορείς να το κάνεις τώρα; Very good.

You can, using the word for “you”, emphasising you can, is εσύ μπορείς [esí
borís]. Εσύ μπορείς.

45

S: Εσύ μπορείς.

T: How would you say, You can’t, again using the word for “you”?

S: Εσύ δεν μπορείς [esí dhen borís].

T: Εσύ δεν μπορείς. I can, using the word for “I”?

S: Εγώ μπορώ [eghó boró].

T: Εγώ μπορώ. So we have εγώ and εσύ for ”I” and “you”, and we also saw that we
have με and σε, for “me” and “you”, which means that we have two different
words for “you” in Greek: I and you (εγώ, εσύ); me, you (με and σε). So the
difference between these two words for “you” in Greek, the difference between
εσύ and σε, is exactly the same as the difference between “I” and “me”, just in
English that word doesn’t change; it’s always “you”. “I see you, you see” but if I’m
referring to myself that word changes, no? “I see, you see me”. “I” becomes “me”.
So we have a similar change like that in Greek for the word for “you”. So let’s
practise that. How would you say, You know, emphasising “you”?

S: Εσύ ξέρεις [esí kséris].

T: Εσύ ξέρεις. Good. Εσύ ξέρεις. But, if I say, I know you, we won’t use εσύ, we will
use … ?

S: Σε [se].

T: Σε. So how is that? I know you.

S: Σε ξέρω [se kséro].

T: Σε ξέρω. Good. Using the word for “you”, to be emphatic, You know me. You know
me. How would that be?

S: Εσύ με ξερείς [esí me kséris].

T: Very good, εσύ με ξερείς. So here it’s εσύ, the verb is changing for “you”. Εσύ
ξερείς. Εγώ ξέρω. These two words, they look similar as well, εγώ, εσύ, in the
same way that με and σε look similar. So we understand they are from two
different groups of words. We can think of words like εγώ, εσύ [eghó, esí], as
belonging to one group, and words like με, σε, το [me, se, to], as belonging to
another group. The first set of words (εγώ, εσύ), are the ones that change the
verb. Εγώ θέλω, εσύ θέλείς [eghó thélo, esí thélis]. Εγώ ξέρω, εσύ ξέρεις [eghó
kséro, esí kséris]. And the second set, they don’t: we could say, for example, με
ξέρει, σε ξέρει, το ξέρει [me kséri, se kséri, to kséri]. Με, σε, το – they don’t
change the verb. How would you say, I know you, emphasising the word for “I”?

46

S: Εγώ σε ξέρεις – er ... ξέρω.

T: Εγώ σε ξέρω [eghó se kséro]. Very good.

47
Complete Greek, Track 11 – Language Transfer

Teacher: The verb for “I see” in Greek is, βλέπω [vlépo]. Βλέπω.

Student: Βλέπω.

T: Βλέπω.

S: Βλέπω.

T: That’s, I see. How would you say, I see, emphasising “I”?

S: Εγώ βλέπω [eghó vlépo].

T: Very good, εγώ βλέπω. How would you say, I see you?

S: Εγώ σε βλέπω [eghó se vlépo].

T: Very good. Εγώ σε βλέπω. And of course σε is this informal you, the you that we
were using with friends, for example – εγώ σε βλέπω. How would you say, you
see, emphasising the word for “you”?

S: Εσύ βλέπεις [esí vlépis].

T: Εσύ βλέπεις. Good. You see me.

S: Εσύ με βλέπεις [esí me vlépis].

T: Very good. Εσύ με βλέπεις. The word for “and” in Greek is και [ke]. Και.

S: Και.

T: When you see και written, it will look like a K, an A, and an I, the Greek letters that
look like K-A-I. So you will notice that A and I together in Greek (ΑΙ/αι) make [e].
KAI (και) [ke]. How would you say, I see it and I want to have it? I see it and I want
to have it. So, we will start with, I see it.

S: Το βλέπω [to vlépo].

T: Το βλέπω.

S: Και.

T: I want to have it.

S: Και το θέλω να έχω [ke to thélo na ékho].

48
T: I think that second part, you’re thinking of it as a package, rather than dividing it
up, no? You’re thinking of, I want to have it, as one big package. And it’s always
best to divide it up into the smallest pieces that we can. So the first bit is, I want …

S: Το θέλω [to thélo].

T: Just, I want …

S: Θέλω [thélo].

T: Θέλω. And then that το is coming later, because it’s, I want to have it. So in that
second part, you will deal with that το [to], and decide where to put it. So, το
βλέπω, I see it, και θέλω (and I want), to have it.

S: Θέλω να το έχω [thélo na to ékho].

T: Θέλω να το έχω. Good. So all together, I see it and I want to have it – not from
memory, but thinking it through again.

S: Το βλέπω και θέλω να το έχω [to vlépo ke thélo na to ékho].

T: Bravo, perfect. Το βλέπω και θέλω να το έχω. Very good. I don’t know and I don’t
want to know. So how would that be, I don’t know?

S: Δεν ξέρω [dhen kséro].

T: Δεν ξέρω. And …

S: Και [ke].

T: Και. I don’t want to know.

S: Δεν θέλω να ξέρω [dhen thélo na kséro].

T: Very good. Δεν ξέρω και δεν θέλω να ξέρω [dhen kséro ke dhen thélo na kséro]. I
don’t know and I don’t want to know. You might also hear in Greek, I don’t know it
and I don’t want to know it, using the word “it”. So how might that be, I don’t
know it.

S: Δεν το ξέρω [dhen to kséro].

T: Δεν το ξέρω. And I don’t want to know it.

S: Και δεν θέλω να το ξέρω [ke dhen thélo na to kséro].

T: Very good. Δεν το ξέρω και δεν θέλω να το ξέρω [dhen to kséro ke dhen thélo na
to kséro]. Very good.

49

Και εγώ [ke eghó], And I, και εγώ, means “me too”. Και εγώ.

S: Και εγώ.

T: For example, if you want to say, I also see it, I see it too, you will say, “I see it and
I”, or “And I, I see it”. So this is what you will say, to say, I also see it, I see it too.
So firstly, what is, I see it?

S: Το βλέπω [to vlépo].

T: Το βλέπω. I see it, and I?

S: Το βλέπω και εγώ [to vlépo ke eghó].

T: That’s it. Το βλέπω και εγώ. I see it too. So that’s how you will make that structure
in Greek, using the word for “and”. That, και εγώ, can also come at the beginning.

S: Και εγώ το βλέπω [ke eghó to vlépo].

T: Και εγώ το βλέπω. So it doesn’t change the essential structure, το βλέπω, it’s just
an add-on, no? An add-on to show, Me too, I also see it. How would you say, I also
want it?

S: Και εγώ θέλω [ke eghó thélo] … Και εγώ το θέλω [ke eghó to thélo].

T: Και εγώ το θέλω. Or?

S: Το θέλω και εγώ [to thélo ke eghó].

T: Very good. Το θέλω και εγώ. How would you say, I want to do it too; I also want to
do it?

S: Θέλω να το κανώ [thélo na to káno].

T: And then you can just add on the ending.

S: Θέλω να το κάνω και εγώ [thélo na to káno ke eghó].

T: Very good. Θέλω να το κάνω και εγώ, Και εγώ θέλω να το κάνω [ke eghó thélo na
to kanó]. I also want to do it. Me too, I want to do it. You remember how was, The
mobile phone?

S: Το κινητό [to kinitó].

T: Το κινητό. And, The auto-mobile, the automobile, the car?

50
S: Το αυτοκίνητο [to aftokínito].

T: I also want the car?

S: Θέλω το αυτοκίνητο και εγώ [thélo to aftokínito ke eghó].

T: Good. Θέλω το αυτοκίνητο και εγώ. Και εγώ θέλω το αυτοκίνητο. So θέλω το
αυτοκίνητο και εγώ, it means, Me also (me as well as other people) want the car.
But you could also say, I also want the car, but meaning, I want the car (as well as
other things). I want the car and the bicycle, for example. Now in English, when
you say, “I want the car, too”, it’s a little bit ambiguous. It could mean, “I also
want the car”, or “I want the car also, as well as other things”. It’s a little
ambiguous in English. In English, we understand by the context what’s going on.
But in Greek, if you want to show that difference (I want the car also, as well as
other things), you would just say, “I want and the car”.

S: Θέλω και το αυτοκίνητο [thélo ke to aftokínito].

T: Very good. Θέλω και το αυτοκίνητο, no? So this is not, Me too, I also want the car;
this is, I want the car as well as the other thing I mentioned. How would you say, I
also have the mobile phone? So, Me too, me as well, I have the mobile phone.

S: ‘Έχω το κινητό και εγώ [ékho to kinitó ke eghó].

T: Good. But if you wanted to say, I also have the mobile, as well as other things? I
also have the mobile. How would that be?

S: Έχω και το κινητό [ékho ke to kinitó].

T: Very good. Έχω και το κινητό. So, I have this one thing that you asked me about
already, and also I have the phone – Έχω και το κινητό. I have the car as well as
other things, as well as something else that we mentioned, no? I have the car,
also.

S: Έχω και το αυτοκίνητο [ékho ke to aftokínito].

T: Very good. Έχω και το αυτοκίνητο. The accent on αυτοκίνητο is on [kin]
(αυτοκίνητο), whereas the accent on κινητό is on the end. Έχω και το αυτοκίνητο.

51
Complete Greek, Track 12 – Language Transfer

Teacher: What was the word for, the mobile?

Student: Το κινητό [to kinitó].

T: Το κινητό. And the automobile, the car?

S: Το αυτοκίνητο [to aftokínito].

T: Very good, το αυτοκίνητο. The accent moves, no? We have το κινητό, and then το
αυτοκίνητο. I mentioned that this αυτό [aftó] that we put at the beginning, is
“auto”; it’s actually spelt with the Greek letters that look like A-U-T-O. And the AU
in Greek, together (αυ), gives us [af] or [av], αυτό.

So αυτό, other than “auto”, also means “this”, and the meanings are kind of
related, no? “Auto” is like “self”, no? Αυτοκίνητο [aftokínito] is self-moving,
automobile, no? And “this” and “self” are kind of related in their meaning. So,
αυτό also means “this”. How would you say, I want this?

S: Θέλω αυτό [thélo aftó].

T: Good, θέλω αυτό. Αnd we have αυτό after the verb. It’s only those small words
like με [me], σε [se], το [to] – we’ve seen those three so far – that come before
the verb. So, I want it, is?

S: Το θέλω [to thélo].

T: Το θέλω, but, I want this?

S: Θέλω αυτό [thélo aftó].

T: Θέλω αυτό, very good. I don’t want this.

S: Δεν θέλω αυτό [dhen thélo aftó].

T: Δεν θέλω αυτό. I don’t want it.

S: Δεν το θέλω [dhen to thélo].

T: Δεν το θέλω, very good. This mobile phone, is, αυτό το κινητό [aftó to kinitó],
αυτό το κινητό. So to say, this mobile, in Greek, we say “this the mobile”, “self the
phone”, “the phone itself” – this phone. So again we see the related meanings of
αυτό, as “auto” or “self” and “this”, no? So it’s something like “the phone itself”:
this or self the phone – αυτό το κινητό. Don’t you want this mobile phone?

S: Δεν θέλεις αυτό το κινητό; [dhen thélis aftó to kinitó?].

52

T: And what was, I have?

S: Έχω [ékho].

T: Έχω. You have?

S: ‘Εχεις [échis].

T: Εχεις. Don’t you have this mobile phone?

S: Δεν έχεις αυτό το κινητό; [dhen échis aftó to kinitó?].

T: Good. Δεν έχεις αυτό το κινητό; What was the word for, problem – do you
remember?

S: Πρόβλημα [próvlima].

T: Πρόβλημα, πρόβλημα. Good. How would you say, This problem?

S: Αυτό το πρόβλημα [aftó to próvlima].

T: Very good. Αυτό το πρόβλημα. I don’t have this problem.

S: Δεν έχω αυτό το πρόβλημα [dhen ékho aftó to próvlima].

T: Very good. Δεν έχω αυτό το πρόβλημα. So, αυτό means “this”. But in Greek, there
are three genders for nouns. Nouns are generally words we can put “the” in front
of, we’ve mentioned – the problem, the phone. The nouns that we’ve seen so far
are neuter nouns. In Greek, we have masculine, feminine, and neuter. English also
has three genders; just they don’t appear as often as they do in Greek. In English,
we have “he”, which is masculine, “she”, which is feminine, and “it”, which is
neuter – it’s not masculine or feminine, it’s like no gender. So that gives us our
three genders, masculine, feminine, and neuter.

You might say, well, you can say that about any language, but you can’t. For
example, in Turkish, “he”, “she”, and “it” is all the same word. Turkish, for
example, doesn’t make that differentiation between feminine, masculine, and
neuter. It doesn’t exist. So English already makes this difference, between
masculine, feminine, and neuter, and Greek does as well, but Greek does it with
all nouns. The nouns that we’ve learnt so far have been neuter nouns. What was,
the problem?

S: Το πρόβλημα [to próvlima].

T: Το πρόβλημα. The aroma?

53
S: Το άρωμα [to ároma].

T: Το άρωμα, good, the accent at the beginning, το άρωμα. So these are neuter
nouns, and neuter nouns take “το”, for “the”. The car?

S: Το αυτοκίνητο [to aftokínito].

T: Το αυτοκίνητο. And neuter nouns also take, αυτό for “this”. So if you want to say,
this car?

S: Αυτό το κινητό [aftó to kinitó].

T: That means, this mobile phone.

S: Αυτό το αυτοκίνητο [aftó to aftokínito].

T: Yes. Αυτό το αυτοκίνητο. Very good. The masculine word for “this” is, αυτός
[aftós]. Aυτός.

S: Aυτός.

T: Aυτός. And, αυτός also means “he”, this masculine thing, this masculine person –
he, αυτός. And this S (ς) that we find on αυτός, is a common masculine ending in
Greek. So, we can say, He wants it, using the word for “he”, and how would that
be?

S: Αυτός το θέλει [aftós to théli].

T: Very good. Αυτός το θέλει. That S (ς) ending, that is masculine, not for the verb,
for the noun. So that’s why it’s very nice for us to understand what … what are the
different types of words, because this affects how they behave. We mentioned
that with nouns we have this S as a masculine ending, but if we put an S (ς) on the
verb, who will it refer to?

S: To “you”.

T: Exactly, no? So here we’re talking about nouns. Αυτός – this S makes it masculine.
Αυτός το θέλει, and we stay with θέλει. He is waiting for me?

S: Αυτός με περιμένει [aftós me periméni].

T: Very good. Αυτός με περιμένει. How would you say, He, too, he’s also waiting for
me? He’s also waiting for me.

S: Και αυτός με περιμένει [ke aftós me periméni].

54
T: Very good. Και αυτός με περιμένει. Με περιμένει και αυτός [me periméni ke
aftós]. Very good.

So we have αυτό [aftó] for “this” with neuter nouns, and αυτός [aftós] for
masculine nouns, and this S (ς) is a common masculine ending we will see for
nouns throughout Greek.

55
Complete Greek, Track 13 – Language Transfer

Teacher: So what was the word for, This, for neuter nouns?

Student: Αυτό [aftó].

T: Αυτό, good. And what do we do to make that masculine?

S: Αυτός [aftós].

T: Αυτός. So this is the word for “this” for masculine nouns, and also the word for
“he” – αυτός. So most nouns ending in s/ς, in Greek, are masculine, although not
all of them. And of course it’s important to know the difference between types of
words. When we talk about how a word behaves, it depends on the type of word
we’re talking about. So we saw already how verbs behave, words like μένω
[méno], no? If you want to say, He stays, we say?

S: Μένει [méni].

T: Μένει. And, You stay?

S: Μένεις [ménis].

T: Μένεις. So here we are discussing verbs. But then, when we look at nouns, we will
have a different set of guidelines of how they behave and how to manipulate
them. So, s/ς with a verb, it’s referring to you, but s/ς with a noun is showing us
that the noun is masculine, most of the time. For example, the word δρόμος
[dhrómos] means “road”, and this is a masculine noun, δρόμος. We have it in
English: aerodrome, hippodrome – hippodrome actually means “horse road”; it’s
an ancient word for horse, hippo. Actually, hippopotamus, it’s Greek, it means
“river horse”. Ποταμός [potamós] is the word for river in Greek. So the
hippopotamus is a river horse. You’ll begin to get the feeling of which words in
English originate from Greek, and you’ll be able to pick them apart – either to
internalise words you’ve already come across, or to find new words and their
meanings, like in hippopotamus. The first bit is not very useful, because that’s an
ancient word, but the second bit, ποταμός, is useful – that’s the word for river.
Masculine nouns use “ο” [o] for “the”. So, The road, is?

S: Ο ντρόμος [o drómos].

T: Ο δρόμος [o dhrómos].

S: Ο δρόμος [o dhrómos].

T: And the letter here is the δέλτα [dhélta], like in “then”, no? Ο δρόμος.

S: Ο δρόμος.

56

T: Ο δρόμος, ο δρόμος. How would you say, the river?

S: Ο ποταμός [o potamós].

T: Ο ποταμός, very good. This road? So we will say, This the road.

S: Αυτός ο δρόμος [aftós o dhrómos].

T: Αυτός ο δρόμος, very good. So, the s/ς is for masculine nouns, not for plural. So
we have to be careful as well not to assume a plural where we don’t have one. For
example, ο καφές [o kafés], ο καφές, is “the coffee”, but we might see that and
read “the coffees”. But it’s not a plural. What is this s/ς showing us here?

S: That it’s masculine.

T: It’s masculine, exactly – ο καφές. So there are some exceptions, there are many
words that end in s/ς that are not masculine. But generally, the s/ς will show you
that the word is masculine. To be sure, you will see the word for “the” or the word
for “this” – ο καφές. This coffee?

S: Αυτός ο καφές [aftós o kafés].

T: Αυτός ο καφές. And then you are sure this is a masculine noun.

S: That’s why all the guys are called Κώστας [Kóstas], Χρίστος [Khrístos], …

T: Exactly, exactly. Or my name, Μιχάλης [Mikhális]. This s/ς on Μιχάλης is a
masculine ending. Well done. Speaking of names, ο άντρας [o ándras] means “the
man”, the man.

S: Ο άντρας.

T: Αντρέας [Andréas] in Greek, and Andrew in English, just comes from the word,
άντρας. These names mean “manly”. Αντρέας/Andrew, it means like “the manly
one”. Or even Alexander: -ander in Alexander is άντρας. Alexander means
something like “the defender of men”; it’s a battle term. So we have, ο άντρας,
the man. How would you say, this man?

S: Αυτός ο άντρας [aftós o ándras].

T: Αυτός ο άντρας, good. What was the word for, here?

S: Εδώ [edhó].

T: Εδώ. You remember the word for, he is/she is/it is?

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S: Είναι [íne].

T: Είναι. How would you say, The man is here?

S: Ο άντρας είναι εδώ [o ándras íne edhó].

T: Ο άντρας είναι εδώ. What was the word for, why?

S: Γιατί [yatí].

T: Γιατί. Γιατί – you can also use like “because”. Before, I gave the similarity to Latin
languages, like porque that you have in Spanish, or something similar in French
and Portuguese. These words can also be used like “why” or “because”, because
the literal meaning is either “for what” or “because of what” – γιατί. And it works
for “because” and for “why”. So you could say, This man is here because he’s
waiting for me. So let’s begin with, This man is here.

S: Αυτός ο άντρας είναι εδώ [aftós o ándras íne edhó].

T: Because?

S: Γιατί.

T: He is waiting for me.

S: Με περιμένει [me periméni].

T: Very good. Αυτός ο άντρας είναι εδώ γιατί με περιμένει [aftós o ándras íne edhó
yatí me periméni]. How would you say, He is here because he’s waiting for me?

S: Αυτός είναι εδώ γιατί με περιμένει [aftós íne edhó yatí me periméni].

T: Very good. Αυτός είναι εδώ γιατί με περιμένει. How would you say, He sees?

S: Αυτός βλέπει [aftós vlépi].

T: Αυτός βλέπει, good. He sees you?

S: Αυτός σε βλέπει [aftós se vlépi].

T: Αυτός σε βλέπει, good. He also sees you?

S: Και αυτός σε βλέπει [ke aftós se vlépi].

T: Very good, και αυτός σε βλέπει. Σε βλέπει και αυτός [se vlépi ke aftós]. Doesn’t he
see you?

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S: Δεν σε βλέπει; [dhen se vlépi?].

T: And if we want to use the word for “he”, we can just stick it at the beginning or
stick it on the end. So let’s do that using the word for “he”, as well. Doesn’t he see
you?

S: Αυτός δεν σε βλέπει; [aftós dhen se vlépi?].

T: Very good. Αυτός δεν σε βλέπει; Δεν σε βλέπει αυτός; [dhen se vlépei aftós?].
Doesn’t he wait for you?

S: Δεν σε περιμένει; [dhen se periméni?].

T: Δεν σε περιμένει; Isn’t he also waiting for you?

S: Και αυτός δεν σε περιμένει; [ke aftós dhen se periméni?].

T: Και αυτός δεν σε περιμένει; Δεν σε περιμένει και αυτός [dhen se periménei ke
aftós]? I would say it’s slightly more natural to have it on the end, and if you have
it at the beginning, it’s more emphatic. Δεν σε περιμένει και αυτός; Or, if we really
want to emphasise that: Και αυτός δεν σε περιμένει;

The word “apology” in English comes from Greek – απολογία [apoloyía]. This
actually means “from speech, from reason, from thought”, something like this.
Από [apó] means “from”, and λογία [loyía], as we have in psychology, biology, is
something like reasoning, thought, speech, dialogue. Psychology, for example, is
the dialogue of the soul. Ψυχή [psichí] is “soul” in Greek. This is why you have the
“ps” in English for psychology – ψυχή. Discourse of the soul, so we think about it
as something of the mind, no, but here in Greek we are using the word soul, even
though both words actually might refer to the same thing. So από, like in
απολογία, apology, means “from”. How would you say, He is from here?

S: Αυτός είναι από εδώ [aftós íne apó edhó].

T: Αυτός είναι από εδώ. Very good. He is not from here?

S: Αυτός δεν είναι από εδώ [aftós dhen íne apó edhó].

T: Very good. Αυτός δεν είναι από εδώ. How would you say, He is also from here?

S: Και αυτός είναι από εδώ [ke aftós íne apó edhó].

T: Very good. Και αυτός είναι από εδώ. If you want to ask, “Where is he from?”, in
Greek, you will ask “From where is he?” So you will start with the word “from”.
From where is he?

S: Από πού είναι; [apó pu íne?].

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T: Από πού είναι; And of course, without the word αυτός [aftós], this could mean,
Where is he from/where is she from/where is it from? Από πού είναι; But if you
wanted to clarify that you meant “he”, what would you do?

S: Από πού είναι αυτός; [apó pu íne aftós?].

T: Από πού είναι αυτός; And this αυτός is flexible. You could also say: Αυτός, από
που είναι; [aftós apó pu íne?]. Just that it’s slightly more emphatic – Αυτός, από
πού είναι; The most natural order, as you gave me: Από πού είναι αυτός;

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Complete Greek, Track 14 – Language Transfer

Teacher: Give me again the word for, this, for neuter nouns.

Student: Αυτό [aftó].

T: And for masculine?

S: Αυτός [aftós].

T: Good. And, the problem?

S: Το πρόβλημα [to próvlima].

T: Το πρόβλημα. This problem?

S: Αυτό το πρόβλημα [aftó to próvlima].

T: Αυτό το πρόβλημα. The man? You can think of Andreas, Andrew.

S: Ο άντρας [o ándras].

T: Ο άντρας. And, this man?

S: Αυτός ο άνδρας [aftós o ándras].

T: Αυτός ο άνδρας. The feminine word for “this”? So the word for “this”, referring to
feminine nouns is, αυτή [aftí]. Αυτή.

S: Αυτή.

T: And this, as you may have guessed, is also the word for “she” – αυτή. This [i] (η)
ending is a common feminine ending. So again we are talking about nouns, not
verbs. We already saw in the verbs, we have the ending [i] (ει) – for he, she and it.
Verbs cannot be feminine or masculine in Greek, only nouns. So this is why, whilst
we avoid grammatical terminology, we really want to be clear on groups of words,
what are different groups of words, because they behave differently. The [i]
sound for the verbs, we actually mentioned that it’s like E (ε) and I (ι) together
(περιμένει, μένει). This EI together (ει) gives us the [i] sound for verbs. The
feminine [i] sound, as in αυτή, is spelt with a letter that looks like an “n” (η). When
you finish up that “n”, you carry on that vertical line down, hanging below the line
of writing. And then capitals, this letter actually looks like a capital H. So with
some Greek letters you will notice a stark contrast between the small letter and
the capital letter, and this [i] sound, which we find very often ending feminine
words, is a good example of this. The small [i] is like a small “n” (η), and then the
capital looks like a capital H. So αυτή in capitals looks like “AYTH”. But this is not
[th] (θ). TH in capitals in Greek is not [th], it’s [ti] (τη), because “th” in Greek we

61
 know as in, θέλω [thélo], we write with that circle, with the horizontal line
running through it (Θ/θ). So, if you are in Greece, for example, looking around the
city and looking at words that you find around, which is often in capitals, don’t get
confused when you see TH, thinking that’s a [th]. No, that H is a [i] sound. How
would you say, She knows me, using the word for “she”?

S: Αυτή με ξέρει [aftí me kséri].

T: Very good. Αυτή με ξέρει. So the [i] of αυτή [aftí] is written with that “n”, or that H
in capitals, and then the [i] of ξέρει [kséri], as it’s a verb, its written EI (ει), no? But
it’s the same sound. Αυτή με ξέρει. What was, I can? It started with a [b].

S: Μπορώ [boró].

T: Μπορώ. She can.

S: Μπορεί [borí].

T: And using the word for “she”?

S: Αυτή μπορεί [aftí borí].

T: Αυτή μπορεί. She can do it.

S: Αυτή μπορεί να το κάνει [aftí borí na to káni].

T: Very good. Αυτή μπορεί να το κάνει. What was, I try, or, “towards passion”?

S: Προσπαθεί [prospathí].

T: I try.

S: Ah, προσπαθώ [prospathó].

T: Προσπαθώ. Good. She is trying?

S: Προσπάθεi [prospáthí].

T: Better with the accent on the ending with this verb, no? Προσπαθεί [prospathí].
She is trying to do it.

S: Αυτή προσπαθεί να το κάνει [aftí prospathí na to káni].

T: Good. Αυτή προσπαθεί να το κάνει. Προσπαθεί να το κάνει αυτή [prospathí na to
káni aftí]. She is here.

S: Αυτή είναι εδώ [aftí íne edhó].

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T: Αυτή είναι εδώ. She is also here.

S: Και αυτή είναι εδώ [ke aftí íne edhó].

T: Και αυτή είναι εδώ. She is also from here. What was the word for, from? We can
look at “apology”.

S: Από [apó].

T: Από, good. She is also from here.

S: Και αυτή είναι από εδώ [ke aftí íne apó edhó].

T: Very good. Και αυτή είναι από εδώ. Very good. So we might find ourselves using
words like, αυτός, αυτή, more than words like, εγώ, εσύ, just because the form of
the verb can refer to he, she, or it. They all share the same verb form, so you
might find yourself using these words a little more often to clarify. But usually,
from the context, you know who you’re talking about. So let’s practise, I want him
to wait, and we will use the word for “him” or “he” in Greek: I want, να, he waits –
he. And that “he” on the end is clarifying who we mean. So, I want him to wait.

S: Θέλω να περιμένει αυτός [thélo na periméni aftós].

T: Good. Θέλω να περιμένει αυτός. And usually, once you’ve mentioned who you
are talking about, you don’t need to mention it again, unless you are having a
conversation where you are switching between “she” and “he”, and you will have
to use them, no? So these words in Greek, you only use them for clarity or for
emphasis. Θέλω να περιμένει. Θέλω να περιμένει αυτός. If you want to be
emphatic, or if you want to clear up any doubt. I want her to do it.

S: Θέλω να το κάνει αυτή [thélo na to káni aftí].

T: Θέλω να το κάνει αυτή, θέλω να το κάνει αυτή. Good. Απολογία (apology), is a
feminine noun. Feminine nouns take [i] (“η”) for “the”. So how would you say, The
apology?

S: Η απολογία [i apoloyía].

T: Η απολογία. How do you think this [i] is written, if you have to guess?

S: Η?

T: Exactly. With the H in capitals, or the letter that looks like an “n” (η) in small
letters. So this is what we associate with the feminine [i], this particular letter (η).
Η απολογία [i apoloyía]. And if you wanted to say, This apology?

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S: Αυτή η απολογία [aftí i apoloyía].

T: Good. Αυτή η απολογία. Good. Η πόλη [i póli], η πόλη, is “the city”. Η πόλη.

S: Η πόλη.

T: We have this word in English, no? We have “cosmopolitan”, for example.
“Cosmos” in Greek (κόσμος [kózmos]) is “world”. “Cosmopolitan” means like a
worldly city. Κόσμος, what gender does it look like?

S: Masculine.

T: Masculine. It is. So how would you say, the world?

S: Ο κόσμος [o kózmos].

T: Ο κόσμος, very good. This world?

S: Αυτός ο κόσμος [aftós o kózmos].

T: Αυτός ο κόσμος, very good. Again tell me how was, the city?

S: Η πόλη [i póli].

T: Η πόλη. This city?

S: Αυτή η πόλη [aftí i póli].

T: Αυτή η πόλη, good. So we’ve seen that nouns in Greek can be neuter, they can be
masculine, or they can be feminine. And we will explore this throughout the
course and see how we can identify which are which. But generally, when you
look up a word, you want to learn it with the word for “the”, so if you were to
look up the word for “city” in the dictionary, you would see πόλη, and then you
would also see next to it a little symbol to show, or an abbreviation to show, that
it’s feminine – which means that instead of telling yourself πόλη, you should tell
yourself, η πόλη. That makes a very big difference, because when you want to use
the word, you probably won’t be wondering “oh, what gender is it?”. You would
have learnt it as, η πόλη. This is important, because adjectives, describing words,
so these are words we can usually put “is” in front of. “It is big/yellow/tall”.
Describing words change to match nouns. For example, the word for “big” is
μεγάλος [meghálos]. Μεγάλος.

S: Μεγάλος.

T: Of course this is where we get words like “mega” from, in English. Μεγάλος would
be used to refer to something masculine. So, for example, if you were to say, The
world is big, how would you say it?

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S: Ο κόσμος είναι μεγάλος [o kózmos íne meghálos].

T: Good. Ο κόσμος είναι μεγάλος. If you want to say, The car is big, μεγάλος is going
to change to look neuter, to match, the car. So let’s try that. The car is big.

S: Το αυτοκίνητο είναι μεγάλο [to aftokínito íne meghálo].

T: Very good. You lose the S to make it look neuter. Το αυτοκίνητο είναι μεγάλο.
How do you think you would make μεγάλο feminine?

S: Μεγάλη [megháli].

T: Μεγάλη, of course. How would you say, The city is big?

S: Η πόλη είναι μεγάλη [i póli íne megháli].

T: Η πόλη είναι μεγάλη. Very good. This city is big.

S: Αυτή η πόλη είναι μεγάλη [aftí i póli íne megháli].

T: Very good. Αυτή η πόλη είναι μεγάλη. So when we come across new nouns, we
want to try to learn them with the word for “the”. So, if you look the noun up in
the dictionary, try to find the symbol or the abbreviation that shows you the
gender, or if you ask somebody for the word, ask them for the word for “the”. So
instead of saying “How do you say bed?”, ask “How do you say the bed?”. This
way, when you have to manipulate that noun, when you have to match adjectives
to that noun, you are not then in that moment wondering, for the first time, “Oh,
what is the gender of this word?”, and having to guess it. Does that make sense?
Because you look very thoughtful.

S: No, I’m just thinking that I should have done that with German.

T: Ah. Okay, good.

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Complete Greek, Track 15 – Language Transfer

Teacher: What was, I can?

Student: Μπορώ [boró].

T: Μπορώ. I can do it?

S: Μπορώ να το κάνω [boró na to káno].

T: Very good. Μπορώ να το κάνω. So we saw “να” as connecting these two verbs.
And we also mentioned that it’s not “to”. The translation of να is not “to”. Να
doesn’t have a translation. Να is a function word. It has a function, no? Μπορώ να
το κάνω. Actually in this very sentence in English, we also don’t have “to”. I can do
it, rather than, I can to do it. So να is not “to”. Να is a word with some functions.

You can also start the sentence with να, to give the meaning or the function of
“shall”. For example, if you say with a question tone to your voice, Να περιμένω,
this in Greek is understood as, “Shall I wait?”. Να περιμένω; So you can start the
sentence with να, and here να has a different function. It’s giving us the feeling of
“shall” or “should”. Να περιμένω; “Shall I wait?”. “Should I wait?”. How would you
say, Should I wait for you?

S: Να σε περιμένω; [na se periméno?].

T: Να σε περιμένω; And we must include this intonation tone as well. Να σε
περιμένω;

S: Να σε περιμένω;

T: How would you say, Where shall I wait for you? Where should I wait for you?

S: Πού να σε περιμένω; [pu na se periméno?].

T: Πού να σε περιμένω; You could also say, Shall I wait for you here? How would that
be?

S: Να σε περιμένω εδώ; [na se periméno edhó?].

T: Να σε περιμένω εδώ; Very good. So περιμένω is, I wait. We wait, is περιμένουμε
[periménume]. Περιμένουμε.

S: Περιμένουμε.

T: So we have [ume] (-ουμε) for “we”. Περιμένουμε.

S: Περιμένουμε.

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T: Shall we wait?

S: Να περιμένουμε; [na periménume?].

T: Να περιμένουμε; Good. What was, I do, or I make?

S: Κάνω [káno].

T: Κάνω. We do. We make?

S: Κάνουμε [kánume].

T: Κάνουμε. What shall we do?

S: Να τι κάνουμε?

T: So where do we start in English? What.

S: Τι. Τι να κάνουμε; [ti na kánume?].

T: Τι να κάνουμε. No? So maybe you are going to head out with some friends, and
you say, Τι να κάνουμε; What should we do? What shall we do? What should I do?

S: Τι να κάνω; [ti na káno?].

T: Τι να κάνω; Where should we do it? Where shall we do it?

S: Πού το κάνουμε; [pu to kánume?].

T: Πού το κάνουμε means, Where are we doing it? But if you want to get that
meaning of should or shall …

S: Πού να το κάνουμε; [pu na to kánume?].

T: Good. Πού να το κάνουμε; Where shall/where should we wait for you?

S: Πού να σε περιμένουμε; [pu na se periménume?].

T: Very good. Πού να σε περιμένουμε. Good. Σε [se], other than “you”, also means
“to” or “in” or even “on”. So these words are not related, they just sound the
same – σε in Greek. If you want to say, in the car, σε το αυτοκίνητο [se to
aftokínito] contracts to, στο αυτοκίνητο [sto aftokínito]. So, σε το, contracts to
στο. You can imagine many years of σε το, σε το … στο, στο – it just stuck
together. So στο means “in the”. How would you say, We are waiting in the car?

S: Περιμένουμε στο αυτοκίνητο [periménume sto aftokínito].

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T: Περιμένουμε στο αυτοκίνητο. We are waiting for you in the car.

S: Σε περιμένουμε στο αυτοκίνητο [se periménume sto aftokínito].

T: Σε περιμένουμε στο αυτοκίνητο. Should we wait for you in the car?

S: Να σε περιμένουμε στο αυτοκίνητο [na se periménume sto aftokínito].

T: Να σε περιμένουμε στο αυτοκίνητο; [na se periménume sto aftokínito?]. So it
must make a question intonation: Να σε περιμένουμε στο αυτοκίνητο; And this
way we will understand, Shall we? You could also change the intonation to give
the feeling of “let’s”. So imagine if you want to say, Let’s wait in the car, you can
again use “να” and just change the tone of voice. How would that sound? Let’s
wait in the car.

S: Να περιμένουμε στο αυτοκίνητο [na periménume sto aftokínito].

T: Να περιμένουμε στο αυτοκίνητο. So a very affirmative tone of voice. Να
περιμένουμε στο αυτοκίνητο. There the meaning changes: Let’s wait in the car, as
opposed to, Να περιμένουμε στο αυτοκίνητο; (Shall we wait in the car?) So you
can achieve all of that in Greek just with your tone of voice, and this να at the
beginning, that is alerting us to the fact that something extra is going on. It’s not a
simple, Περιμένουμε στο αυτοκίνητο (we are waiting/we wait in the car). This να
shows us that something else is going on and we will tune into the tone of voice to
understand what exactly that is. Να περιμένουμε στο αυτοκίνητο; (Shall we wait
in the car?) Να περιμένουμε στο αυτοκίνητο. (Let’s wait in the car.) How would
you say, Shall we wait in this car? Shall we wait in this car?

S: Να περιμένουμε σε αυτό το αυτοκίνητο; [na periménume se aftó to aftokínito?].

T: Very good. Να περιμένουμε σε αυτό το αυτοκίνητο; Very good. Tell me again
what was, it is/he is/she is?

S: Είναι [íne].

T: Είναι. How would you say, It is in the car?

S: Το είναι [to íne] ... ?

T: “It is” is all included in, είναι. You don’t need the word for “it”. Είναι all by itself is
just, it is/he is/she is. So, It is in the car.

S: Είναι στο αυτοκίνητο [íne στο αυτοκίνητο].

T: Very good. Είναι στο αυτοκίνητο. “I am” in Greek is, είμαι [íme]. Είμαι.

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S: Είμαι.

T: So very similar to “It is”, but instead of that N (ν), we have an M (μ). Actually
sounds like “I’m” in English. Είμαι.

S: Είμαι.

T: I’m here.

S: Είμαι εδώ [íme edhó].

T: Είμαι εδώ. I am also here.

S: Είμαι και εδώ [íme ke edhó].

T: That means, I’m also here (as well as somewhere else), which is a bit difficult
physically.

S: Και εγώ είμαι εδώ [ke eghó íme edhó].

T: Very good. Kαι εγώ είμαι εδώ. Είμαι εδώ και εγώ [íme edhó ke eghó]. Είμαι και
εδώ, it means, I’m here as well as somewhere else, which might fit in some
context, but, I’m also here, me as well as you, as well as someone else: Είμαι εδώ
και εγώ, Και εγώ είμαι εδώ. I’m in the car.

S: Είμαι στο αυτοκίνητο [íme sto aftokínito].

T: Good. Είμαι στο αυτοκίνητο. I’m not in the car?

S: Δεν είμαι στο αυτοκίνητο [dhen íme sto aftokínito].

T: Δεν είμαι στο αυτοκίνητο. The word for, You are, is είσαι [íse]. Είσαι.

S: Είσαι.

T: So this is our informal “you”, again. And we see that we have the S (σ/ς) for you
again, as we do in θέλεις, περιμένεις. Here just the verb “to be” is irregular, like in
English. We have “be”, “am”, “is”, “are”, and that’s all the same verb. So here in
Greek as well it’s irregular, although we are seeing some logic to it: είμαι, we are
having the “μαι” [me] in there for “me/I”; είσαι having the S in there that refers to
“you”, as in σε [se], as in εσύ [esí], as in our verbal endings. How would you say,
You are, emphasising the word for you?

S: Εσύ είσαι [esí íse].

T: Εσύ είσαι. Good. How would you say, I am, using the word for “I”?

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S: Εγώ είμαι [eghó íme].

T: Εγώ είμαι. I also want to mention that the [e] of, είμαι, είναι, είσαι, that [e] sound
οn the end, is written AI (αι) in all of these cases. Είμαι/είναι/είσαι [íme/íne/íse].
Like in, και [κε], the word for “and”, which was K-A-I. So this is another example of
that AI (αι) in Greek, together giving us [e]. Again, You are?

S: Εσύ είσαι [esí íse].

T: Εσύ είσαι. The word for “well” is καλά [kalá]. Καλά.

S: Καλά.

T: How would you say, Are you well?

S: Είσαι καλά; [íse kalá?].

T: Είσαι καλά; So the K [k] is softer in Greek. Now, depending on your native
language, you might feel like you’re hearing a G. Many English speakers for
example, native English speakers, might feel like they’re hearing a G on καλά. But
it’s actually a soft K, not as plosive, not as hard as we would say it in English. In
English we would say it like, Κκαλά, no? But in Greek it’s softer, καλά. But it’s a K.
Are you well?

S: Είσαι καλά; [íse kalá?].

T: Είσαι καλά; How would you say, Be well? You should be well. You ought to be well.
How do you think you might build that?

S: Να είσαι καλά [na íse kalá].

T: Να είσαι καλά. Good. You will hear very often in Greek, Να ’σαι καλά [na’se kalá],
να ’σαι καλά. Να ’σαι is just να and είσαι contracted. Να ’σαι καλά, Be well. You
will often hear this also when you do something for somebody: Να ’σαι καλά – Be
well, like a “thank you”. Να ’σαι καλά, as a goodbye. Be well – να ’σαι καλά, you
will hear this. How would you say, Are you here?

S: Είσαι εδώ; [íse edhó?].

T: Είσαι εδώ; Where are you?

S: Πού είσαι; [pu íse?].

T: Πού είσαι; This is something else you will hear very often in Greek as well, as a
term of endearment. Πού είσαι; Where have you been? So it’s something like
Where have you been? But also, you can use it with somebody that you never met

70
 before. I don’t know, for example if you meet a cute child, you can just say, Πού
είσαι; This is just a term of endearment, which shouldn’t be taken too literally.

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Complete Greek, Track 16 – Language Transfer

Teacher: How would you say, We are waiting here?

Student: Περιμένουμε εδώ [periménume edhó].

T: Περιμένουμε εδώ. Good. So that’s our standard, simple sentence, let’s say.
Περιμένουμε εδώ. But if we stick να at the beginning, we’re going to understand
that something else, some extra feeling, now, it’s coming with this sentence. So in
these cases, starting the sentences with να — να is just alerting us to the fact that
there is something else going on. But what that is exactly, we’re going to show it
with the tone of voice. So, if you wanted to say, for example, Shall we wait here?

S: Να περιμένουμε εδώ; [na periménume edhó?].

T: And if you wanted to say, Let’s wait here?

S: Να περιμένουμε εδώ.

T: Να περιμένουμε εδώ. So just with the tone of voice and that little να, that is
alerting the ear of the listener, you can achieve these different meanings that we
use – shall or should or let’s – to show, in English. Shall we wait for you here?

S: Να σε περιμένουμε εδώ; [na se periménume edhó?].

T: Να σε περιμένουμε εδώ; Do you want us to wait for you here?

S: Θέλεις να σε περιμένουμε εδώ; [thélis na se periménume edhó?].

T: Very good. Θέλεις να σε περιμένουμε εδώ; Very good. The house, in Greek, is, το
σπίτι [to spíti]. Το σπίτι.

S: Το σπίτι.

T: What gender is this?

S: Ah, neutral.

T: Neuter, very good. How would you say, I am in the house?

S: Είμαι στο σπίτι [íme sto spíti].

T: Είμαι στο σπίτι. I’m in the house, or I’m at home. And with some structures or
with some words, you can actually leave out the στο. Like, Είμαι στο σπίτι, you will
often hear in Greek, or maybe most often hear in Greek, Είμαι σπίτι [íme spíti].

S: Είμαι σπίτι.

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T: This person is not saying, I am a house. It’s understood, I’m in the house/I’m at
home. You couldn’t say, for example, Είμαι αυτοκίνητο. That really does sound
like, I am a car. So you could only do it sometimes. But of course if you say, Είμαι
στο σπίτι, it’s perfectly correct. How would you say, Are you at home?

S: Είσαι στο σπίτι; [íse sto spíti?].

T: Είσαι στο σπίτι/Είσαι σπίτι; Good. So we had είμαι for, I am, and είσαι – this S
occurring again for “you” – for, You are. Είσαι. Aren’t you at home?

S: Δεν είσαι στο σπίτι; [dhen íse sto spíti?].

T: Δεν είσαι στο σπίτι/Δεν είσαι σπίτι; Why aren’t you at home?

S: Γιατί δεν είσαι στο σπίτι; [yatí dhen íse sto spíti?].

T: Γιατί δεν είσαι στο σπίτι; Shall we do it?

S: Να το κάνουμε; [na to kánume?].

T: Να το κάνουμε; And how would you say, Let’s do it?

S: Να το κάνουμε.

T: Να το κάνουμε. The word for “after” or for “later”, used a lot like “later” in Greek,
is, μετά [metá]. Μετά.

S: Μετά.

T: We have this in English: a metaphor, metaphysics, no? Μετά is after, beyond.
Beyond physics – metaphysics. Shall we do it later?

S: Να το κάνουμε μετά; [na to kánume metá?].

T: Good. Να το κάνουμε μετά; Let’s do it later.

S: Να το κάνουμε μετά.

T: Να το κάνουμε μετά. Good. What shall we do later?

S: Τι κάνουμε μετά; [ti kánume metá?].

T: So, Τι κάνουμε μετά; is just a straightforward sentence, What are we doing later.

S: Ah, okay. Τι να κάνουμε μετά; [ti na kánume metá?].

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T: Very good. Τι να κάνουμε μετά; So again this is a great example of the differences
between the standard sentence, Tι κάνουμε μετά; (What are we doing later?),
and then the feeling that that να gives us: Τι να κάνουμε μετά; (What shall we do
later?). The word for “day” in Greek is, μέρα [méra].

S: Μέρα.

T: Μέρα. It’s a feminine word. So how would you say, the day?

S: Η μέρα [i méra].

T: Η μέρα. Good. The word for “good” is, καλός [kalós]. Καλός.

S: Καλός.

T: What version of the adjective did I give you?

S: Masculine.

T: The masculine. How do you think we’d say, Good day?

S: Καλή μέρα [kalí méra].

T: Καλημέρα [kaliméra]. And you hear this all the time in Greek. Καλημέρα. It’s one
word, so rather than καλή μέρα, the accent moves because it’s joined together as
one word, καλημέρα. You will hear this very often in Greek. Σήμερα [símera],
σήμερα, is “today”.

S: Σήμερα.

T: Σήμερα. What shall we do today?

S: Τι να κάνουμε σήμερα; [ti na kánume símera?].

T: Very good. Τι να κάνουμε σήμερα; Let’s do it today.

S: Να το κάνουμε σήμερα [na to kánume símera].

T: Να το κάνουμε σήμερα. Very good. Where should I wait for you today?

S: Πού να σε περιμένω σήμερα; [pu na se periméno símera?].

T: Very good. Πού να σε περιμένω σήμερα; Very good. So, we’ve seen how, with
nouns, we can have masculine, feminine, or neuter nouns. And we also saw that
names are masculine or feminine as well. The names in Greek actually go with the
words for “the”. So for example, if we speak about Andreas, we will speak about,
ο Αντρέας. If we speak about Alexandros, we will speak about, ο Αλέξανδρος. We

74
 will say, the Alexander is waiting for you. So we don’t say, Alexander is waiting for
you, in Greek. We say, the Alexander is waiting for you. How would that be?

S: Ο Αλέξανδρος σε περιμένει [o aléksandhros se periméni].

T: Very good. Ο Αλέξανδρος σε περιμένει. What was, here?

S: Εδώ [edhó].

T: Εδώ. The word for “there” is εκεί [ekí]. Εκεί.

S: Εκεί.

T: Good. Alexander is waiting for me there. The Alexander is waiting for me there.

S: Ο Αλεξάνδρος με περιμένει εκεί [o aleksándhros me periméni ekí].

T: Ο Αλέξανδρος με περιμένει εκεί [o aléksandhros me periméni ekí]. Good. We can
also use να, to say something like, Let him wait. Let him wait. How do you think
you would do that?

S: Να περιμένει [na periméni].

T: Να περιμένει – Let him wait! Let him wait for me. How would that be?

S: Να με περιμένει [na me periméni].

T: Να με περιμένει. Let him wait for me there.

S: Να με περιμένει εκεί [na me periméni ekí].

T: Να με περιμένει εκεί. Good. So, if you are going to say something like, Maria is at
home now, again you will say, The Maria is at home now. What is, the Maria?

S: Η Μαρία είναι στο σπίτι τώρα [i maría íne sto spíti tóra].

T: Or, H Μαρία είναι σπίτι τώρα [i maría íne spíti tóra]. Very good. Maria is not at
home. She’s waiting for you here.

S: Μαρία δεν είναι στο σπίτι [maría dhen íne sto spiti].

T: Good. And … ?

S: Ah, Η Μαρία. Η Μαρία δεν είναι στο σπίτι [i maría dhen íne sto spiti].

T: Very good. Η Μαρία δεν είναι στο σπίτι. Η Μαρία δεν είναι σπίτι [i maría dhen íne
spiti]. She’s waiting for you here.

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S: Αυτή σε περιμένει εδώ [aftí se periméni edhó].

T: Good. And for … for sure, we wouldn’t need “αυτή” here, because we already
mentioned Maria. So it’s very unnecessary. We know who we’re talking about, so
we don’t need to say, Αυτή σε περιμένει. Η Μαρία δεν είναι σπίτι. Σε περιμένει
εδώ. Generally, if we don’t need to use these words, like he, she, I – we generally
won’t, unless we want to be emphatic. How would you say, Where is Maria?

S: Πού είναι Μαρία; Πού είναι η Μαρία; [pu íne i maría?].

T: Very good. Πού είναι η Μαρία; Η Μαρία πού είναι; [i maría pu íne?]. Very good.

76
Complete Greek, Track 17 – Language Transfer

Teacher: So we saw that in Greek, we have gender, no? The nouns, words that we
put “the” or “a” in front of – so “the road”, “a road”, “the apology”, “an apology”.
Nouns can be either masculine, feminine, or neuter (no gender) in Greek. So, for
example, we had “apology”, you remember how that was? Apology? So just start and
see where it takes you.

Student: Απολο … γιo?

T: Close enough, huh? Απολογία [apoloyía].

S: Απολογία.

T: Απολογία, no? So apology is a feminine word. So how is, The apology?

S: Η απολογία [i apoloyía].

T: Very good. Η Απολογία, very good. So feminine nouns take [i] (Η/η) for “the”. We
also saw, η πόλη [i póli]. That’s another feminine word, η πόλη, “the city”, as in
“cosmopolitan”. And what was the word for, this, for feminine words?

S: Αυτή [aftí].

T: Αυτή, good. That’s “this”. But if you want to say, This apology?

S: Αυτή η απολογία [aftí i apoloyía].

T: Very good. You say “this the apology”, αυτή η απολογία. Very good. And this will
blend together in spoken, no? So in spoken Greek it will just sound like, αυτή-
απολογία. No? It’s all going to blend together. But that’s still happening – αυτή η
απολογία. And we said that this [i] (η) sound that we have for feminine, αυτή, [i]
is written with that letter that looks like a “n” with a long tail finishing below the
line, or a H in capitals (η/Η). What else does this αυτή mean, other than “this” or
“this one” for feminine nouns, what else does it mean, αυτή?

S: She.

T: Good, she. So how would you say, She wants, emphasising she?

S: Αυτή θέλει [aftí théli].

T: Αυτή θέλει. Good. What was the word for, what?

S: Τι [ti].

T: Τι, τι. “Something” – the word for something in Greek is κάτι [káti]. Κάτι.

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S: Κάτι.

T: And that’s related, if you think about it. “What” doesn’t refer to anything
particularly, and “something” is the next step up, no, to not referring to anything
particularly. So we have τι – what, and κατι – something. So how would you say,
She wants something from the house? So let’s start with, She wants.

S: Αυτή θέλει [aftí théli].

T: Something?

S: Κάτι.

T: From. What’s, from?

S: Από [apó].

T: Από, good. So in απολογία, we have, from, there starting the word – από the
house.

S: Από το σπίτι [apó to spíti].

T: Very good. Θέλει κάτι από το σπίτι [théli káti apó to spíti]. And you might also
hear, you will commonly hear, Θέλει κάτι άπ’ το σπίτι [théli káti áp’to spíti]. So,
από το, can contract to, άπ’ το [áp’to].

S: Απ’ το.

T: Απ’ το. We saw this as well with στο – σε το (“to the”) can contract to, στο. So the
same thing is happening; we’re just losing the last vowel of σε (στο), από (άπ’ το).
We also saw the word, δρόμος [dhrómos] for road, and what kind of noun is
δρόμος?

S: Ο δρόμος [o dhrómos].

T: Good. So what does that mean, ο δρόμος? What kind of noun is it?

S: Μasculine.

T: Masculine, very good. And then how would you say, this road?

S: Αυτός ο δρόμος [aftós o dhrómos].

T: Very good. Αυτός ο δρόμος, very good. You might know the word “palindrome”.
Do you know this word, palindrome? Or maybe there’s something similar in
Spanish, palindromo?

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S: Palindromo, yes, but I don’t know what it means.

T: Well actually it means a word that’s spelt the same way forward and backwards,
so like “mum”.

S: Mum, okay.

T: It’s spelt the same forward and backwards, and if we divide it up, “palindrome”,
we see that we have “pali” which in Greek means “again” – πάλι [páli], and
“drome”. What is drome?

S: Way.

T: Way, road. Exactly so it’s again “road”, no? Palindrome reads the same way
forward and backwards. But from this we can take, πάλι which means “again”.

S: Πάλι.

T: So how would you say, he, and let’s emphasise he. He doesn’t want to do it again.

S: Αυτός δεν θέλει να κάνει πάλι [aftós dhen théli na káni páli].

T: Very good, very good, you took it through very well, but we just missed the “it”,
the it. He doesn’t want to do it again.

S: Ah, okay. Αυτός δεν θέλει να το κάνει πάλι [aftós dhen théli na to káni páli].

T: Very good. Αυτός δεν θέλει να το κάνει πάλι. Very good. And we mentioned as
well before, that αυτή/αυτός, is spelt with A-U, and that this combination of AU
are the Greek letters that look like a and u, is giving us [af]. The word for book, do
you remember the word for book? It was related to Bible.

S: Βιβλίο [vivlío].

T: Very good, βιβλίο, very good. It’s written with the βήτα [víta] that looks like a B,
but we pronounce V there, no? Βιβλίο. Very good. The book?

S: Ο βιβλίο [o vivlío].

T: What gender is βιβλίο?

S: Um, masculine, no – το βιβλίο [to vivlío].

T: Το βιβλίο, it’s neuter. We’ve seen that our masculine nouns end in S. Το βιβλίο,
neuter. How would you say, This book?

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S: Αυτό το βιβλίο [aftó to vivlío].

T: Good, αυτό το βιβλίο. Very good. The word for “thing” is πράγμα [prághma]. So
there we have the G from the throat, like in εγώ [eghó]. Πράγμα.

S: Πράγμα.

T: So that means “thing”. Can you relate that to anything?

S: Pragmatic?

T: Pragmatic, exactly. So pragmatism, pragmatic, there we just have the word for
“thing” in Greek. Πράγμα. The words that we saw that end in MA in Greek, that
are similar or the same in English, they are also neuter words. So we saw, το
άρωμα [to ároma], το πανόραμα [to panórama], το διάγραμμα [to diághrama]. So
“το” in Greek, το πρόβλημα [to próvlima], το σύστημα [to sístima]. How would
you say, This thing?

S: Αυτό το πράγμα [aftó to prághma].

T: Good. Αυτό το πράγμα (“this the thing”). And of course πράγμα is neuter, ending
MA, like πρόβλημα, etc. Give me again the word for, what?

S: Τι [ti].

T: Τι. And the word for, something?

S: Κάτι [káti].

T: Κάτι. And what was why?

S: Γιάτι [yáti].

T: Γιατί [yatí]. So, γιατί means “because of what” or “for what”. This για all by itself
means “because of” or “for”. So αυτό, αυτό – we don’t just use this for neuter
nouns, but also for situations, no? A situation, for example, doesn’t have any
gender. If we say “because of this”, what is the “this”? Is it masculine; is it
feminine? No, it’s nothing, it’s neuter. So για by itself is “because of” or “for”. If
you want to say, Because of this?

S: Για αυτό [ya aftó].

T: Για αυτό. What was, I do, or I make?

S: Κάνω [káno].

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T: Κάνω. So if you want to say a sentence in English like, That’s why I’m not doing it.
That’s why I’m not doing it – you will say, “Because of this I’m not doing it”, in
Greek. Sο how would that be?

S: Για αυτό δεν το κάνω [ya aftó dhen to káno].

T: Good. Για αυτό δεν το κάνω. What was, I can? I can, or I’m able to. It was a bit of
an odd verb in that it carried the accent on the ending. Do you remember how
that was? I can?

S: Μπορώ, μπορώ [boró].

T: Μπορώ. So, if you want to say, That’s why I can’t do it ... Because of this I can’t do
it.

S: Για αυτό δεν μπορώ να κάνω [ya aftó dhen boró na káno].

T: And the “it”?

S: Okay. Να το κάνω.

T: Very good. Για αυτό δεν μπορώ να το κάνω [ya aftó dhen boró na to káno]. That’s
why we can’t do it again. So we will just begin with the first thing. What’s the first
thing we have to think about? That’s why we can’t do it again.

S: Για αυτό.

T: Good. We can’t.

S: Δεν μπορούμε [dhen borúme].

T: Very good. Δεν μπορούμε. Do it again.

S: Να το κάνουμε πάλι [na to kánume páli].

T: Very good, very good. Για αυτό δεν μπορούμε να το κάνουμε πάλι [ya aftó dhen
borúme na to kánume páli]. “For example”, in Greek. For example, if you want to
say, for example, something you can throw in the middle of many sentences, no,
is “for paradigm”. For paradigm. So how would that be?

S: Για παραδίμε? Παράδειγμα.

T: Good. Παράδειγμα. Για παράδειγμα [ya parádhighma]. For example.

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Complete Greek, Track 18 – Language Transfer

Teacher: So we said, βήτα [víta], the βήτα (Β/β), the letter that looks like a B, is
pronounced like a V sound in Greek, like in the word, book, which is … ?

Student: Βιβλίο [vivlío].

T: Βιβλίο. Or, problem, which is … ?

S: Πρόβλημα [próvlima].

T: Πρόβλημα, good. Which frees up the V letter, no? That means that we have a V
letter in Greek that is free to make another sound. The V letter in Greek, or the
letter that looks like a V in Greek, gives us the N sound [n]. So that means κάνω
[káno] – I do, or I make – is spelt k-a-v-w. Let’s say W, that [o] sound – we saw it’s
written with the ωμέγα [omégha] (ω/Ω) when it’s the verb ending for “I”, no, [o]
that looks like a W (ω) in small letters. Now it might look like “kavw”, no? This is
κάνω [káno].

S: Κάνω.

T: Να/να, like when we say, θέλω να κάνω, then is not written “n-a”; to our eyes it is
written “v-a”. So this letter that looks like a V gives us an [n] sound in Greek. Also
the word for yes in Greek, which is, ναι [ne], is written with that letter that looks
like a V, and then a-i; AI (αι) gives us [e]. We saw that in the word for, and, spelt
k-a-i (και [ke]). What was, And?

S: Και [ke].

T: Και. This might have something to do with the connection between the names
Victor and Nicholas. These are the same name from Greek and Latin. Nicholas is
the Greek and means “Victor of the people” or “over the people” – who knows?
We have νικάω [nikáo], which means “to win” or “to defeat”. That’s a verb you
can use still in Greek, νικάω – to win, or defeat. Actually the brand name Nike
comes from the same root. And then, ο λαός, which is “the people”. So Nicholas –
νικάω ο λαός – Νικόλαος, in Greek. Nicholas – Νικόλαος. What gender is, ο λαός –
the people?

S: Masculine.

T: Masculine. You might be familiar with the English “layman” or “layperson”? You
know this word in English?

S: Yes.

T: It refers to somebody that’s not a professional. So this just means “people
person”. So we have the V giving us a [n], an N sound in Greek. But if you see the

82
 name Nicholas written, with a capital N, you will see a capital N in Greek. So this
letter changes quite drastically between its small version, which looks like a V, and
its big version that looks like a capital N. We already saw how Greek can
sometimes vary quite a bit between small and capital letters. We saw this with the
feminine [i] ending (η/Η), no, like in the word for she, which is … ?

S: Αυτή [aftí].

T: Αυτή. And how do we spell that [i] sound?

S: With a long “n”.

T: Yeah, like an “n” that carries on down below that line. And in capitals, what does
that letter look like? It changes quite drastically.

S: H?

T: Like a capital H. So we’ve seen a couple of examples of the small and big letters
varying quite a lot in Greek. We have the small V giving us [n], and then the big N.
We have our [i] sound, used notably as a feminine ending, with its two versions
looking either like an “n”, whose tail goes down beyond the line, or its capital, like
a capital H. We saw the ωμέγα [omégha] (ω/Ω), giving us the [o] sound, notably
with verbs, to show that it is “I”: εγώ [eghó], θέλω [thélo], περιμένω [periméno],
and we saw how that’s written with a W as a small letter (ω), and then as a
capital, we have that rounded top hat shape (Ω). We’ve also mentioned the U, as
in AU (αυ), giving us, αυτό [aftó], but when that’s a capital, it looks like a Y
(“ΑΥΤΟ”). It looks like a capital Y. So that’s another one that changes quite
drastically. Don’t worry about memorising these of course. We will reconsider the
examples many times. For now, we just want to understand that small and capital
letters can vary quite drastically in Greek.

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Complete Greek, Track 19 – Language Transfer

Teacher: “The catastrophe”. Τhe catastrophe in Greek is, η καταστροφή [i katastrofí].
Η καταστροφή.

Student: Η καταστροφή.

T: So catastrophe, or καταστροφή in Greek, actually means “downturn”. So that first
part, κατ/κατα [kat/kata], it means “down”. And actually we have the word κάτω
[káto] in Greek meaning down or under. So that κατ is a common part of other
words; we’re going to come across it a lot. But also is a word in itself, you will hear
that used very commonly in Greek – κάτω. For example, you can say “I am
downstairs”, you know: I am down, I am outside, like waiting in somebody’s
building. You remember how was, I am?

S: Είμαι [íme].

T: Είμαι. Good. So, I am down?

S: Είμαι κάτω [íme káto].

T: Είμαι κάτω. How would you ask, Are you down?

S: Είμαι κάτω; No …

T: In the word, είμαι, we have the [m] there that’s relating to like “me” and “I”, no?
What is the sound that relates to you, with the verbs?

S: S?

T: Αn S. If you were to replace that [m] with a [s] …

S: Umm. Είσαι?

T: Good, είσαι. So, Are you down? Are you downstairs?

S: Είσαι κάτω; [íse káto?].

T: Good. Είσαι κάτω; Are you down? Are you downstairs? And for he, she, and it? It
is, she is, it is – what did we have?

S: Είναι [íne].

T: Είναι. It is down, it’s down, she’s down.

S: Είναι κάτω [íne káto].

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T: Good, good. Κατεβαίνω [katevéno]. Κατεβαίνω means “to go down” or “to get
off”, a train, for example, you know? To get down from the train or the bus or
what have you. Κατεβαίνω.

S: Κατεβαίνω.

T: He is doing down.

S: Αυτός κατεβαίνω [aftós katevéno].

T: You don’t need the αυτός really. No? We should hear it in the ending of the verb.
So how would that be?

S: Ah! Κατεβαίνει [katevéni].

T: Very good. Κατεβαίνει. He is getting down off the train. “The train” is, το τρένο [to
tréno].

S: Τρένο.

T: Good , το τρένο. So, He is getting down off the train – from the train.

S: Κατεβαίνει από το τρένο [katevéni apó to tréno].

T: Very good. Κατεβαίνει από το τρένο. Or what could we hear instead of, από το?

S: Απ’ το [áp’to].

T: Απ’ το. Very common in spoken Greek, uh? Κατεβαίνει άπ’ το τρένο [katevéni
áp’to tréno]. Aren’t you getting off here? Aren’t you getting off/getting down
here? What was the word for, here?

S: Εδώ [edhó].

T: Εδώ. Very good, εδώ. So when you are trying to remember a word, rather than
seeing if you remember the whole word, just see if you can remember how it
starts, and that’s usually enough to trigger you to get the whole word – εδώ. So,
Aren’t you getting down here?

S: Δεν κατεβαίνεις εδώ; [dhen katevénis edhó?].

T: Very good. Δεν κατεβαίννεις εδώ; “I understand” in Greek is, καταλαβαίνω
[katalavéno]. Καταλαβαίνω.

S: Καταλαβαίνω.

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T: Good. So that’s all one word. And it is just like English if you think about it. In
English you say “under-stand”. Here we have κατα [kata] of course, giving us
“under”, and λαβαίνω [lavéno] comes from the word meaning something like “to
take” or “to receive”. So in Greek you say to under-take or to under-receive.
Καταλαβαίνω. Now this is a long word. If you were to look that up in the
dictionary, you might have a hard time digesting that, no? Lots of vowels, a long
word. You might mix some of the vowel sounds up: “katalev” … how was it? But if
you are very conscious of the fact that it’s built of κατα [kata] and λαβαίνω
[lavéno], and you digest it that way when you come across the word, it stays in
your memory much easier, no? And this isn’t memorising, this is thinking about
the language in a certain way, and the result of that is just remembering it better.
Κατα, καταλαβαίνω. I don’t understand.

S: Δεν καταλαβαίνω [dhen katalavéno].

T: Δεν καταλαβαίνω. Good. So we had [e] sound with κατεβαίνω – to go down. And
then an [a] sound κατα, καταλαβαίνω. So what we have in common is the κατ
[kat], but we might have κατε [κατε], κατα [κατα], when it’s forming part of
another word. I don’t understand you. How would that be?

S: Δεν σε καταλαβαίνω [dhen se katalavéno].

T: Δεν σε καταλαβαίνω. Δεν σε καταλαβαίνω. Very good. We don’t understand you.

S: Δεν σε καταλαβαίνομε [dhen se katalavénome].

T: Ουμε [ume]. We have ουμε [ume] for “we”. Δεν σε καταλαβαίνουμε [dhen se
katalavénume]. The word for “we” is εμείς [emís]. Εμείς.

S: Εμείς.

T: So if you wanted to be emphatic. So maybe somebody is telling you, I don’t know
why he doesn’t understand me. And you might, you know, reply emphatically, We
don’t understand you. What are you talking about? We don’t understand you,
using the word for “we”, how would that be?

S: Εμείς δεν σε καταλαβαίνουμε [emís dhen se katalavénume].

T: Very good. Εμείς δεν σε καταλαβαίνουμε. Very good. “I drink”, in Greek, is πίνω
[píno]. Πίνω.

S: Πίνω.

T: Πίνω. For [p] in Greek, for the [p] sound, we have the letter (π/Π) which is like
that mathematical sign, no? Which is that endless number that has something to
do with a circle. We’ve all seen that around somewhere; it looks like two vertical
lines with a horizontal line sitting on the top. Or you can think of a square with the

86
 bottom line missing; it’s that shape. And then the [n] sound, what does it look like
there?

S: Like “vo”? Like a V.

T: Like a v, in small letters. Of course in capitals it looks like a capital N. Πίνω, I drink.
I don’t drink?

S: Δεν πίνω [dhen píno].

T: Δεν πίνω. What if you wanted to emphasise “I”? I don’t drink.

S: Εγώ δεν πίνω [eghó dhen píno].

T: Εγώ δεν πίνω. Do you drink?

S: Πίνεις; [pínis?].

T: Πίνεις; Πίνεις; And if you wanted to be emphatic. Do you drink?

S: Εσυ πίνεις; [esí pínis?].

T: Εσυ πίνεις; Good. We don’t drink, emphasising the word for “we”. We don’t drink.

S: Εμείς δεν πίνουμε [emís dhen pínume].

T: Very good. Εμείς δεν πίνουμε. Καταπίνω [katapíno]. What do you think that might
mean, if you have to use your imagination? Καταπίνω.

S: To drink under something?

T: Exactly, well that’s the first thing you should do, no? You should firstly translate it
literally and see if that gives any ideas. So, to drink down. Does that give you any
ideas? Or just visualising it – drink down.

S: To swallow.

T: To swallow, to swallow, no? Καταπίνω, I swallow. So you will really see this κατα
[kata] doing the rounds in Greek. You will really find it around a lot. Another
example – we have, φέρνω [férno], which means “I bring”. Φέρνω.

S: Φέρνω.

T: Good. And again the N sound [n] there, written like a V shape. Φέρνω is what you
have in the word “periphery”. We have περι [peri]; we know what that means –
around. And, to bring around – the “periphery”. Φέρνω. I’m bringing it. How
would that be?

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S: Το φέρνω [to férno].

T: Το φέρνω. We are bringing it.

S: Το φέρνουμε [to férnume].

T: Το φέρνουμε. We are bringing the car.

S: Φέρνουμε το αυτοκίνητο [férnume to aftokínito].

T: Very good. Φέρνουμε το αυτοκίνητο. Did you get there and just think about how
the word was built and where it comes from?

S: Yeah, I knew it was, αυτό, and then I didn’t know what it …

T: Did you think about the moving?

S: Yeah.

T: Good. Αυτοκίνητο, self-moving. Φέρνουμε το αυτοκίνητο. I under-bring, I under-
bring. Καταφέρνω [kataférno] means “I manage” – in the sense of to manage to
do something. So for example, if you want to say, I’m managing to do it. I am
managing to do it. How would that be?

S: Καταφέρνω να κάνω [kataférno na káno].

T: Good. And your special “it”?

S: Καταφέρνω να το κάνω [kataférno na to káno].

T: Καταφέρνω να το κάνω. So you have to make an extra thought to make sure you
put it in. Καταφέρνω να το κάνω. Because of this … Because of this, I don’t
manage to do it again. Because of this.

S: Για αυτό [ya aftó].

T: I don’t manage.

S: Δεν καταφέρνω [dhen kataférno].

T: Δεν καταφέρνω. Τo do it again.

S: Να το κάνω πάλι [na to káno páli].

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T: And there you remember the το, very good. Nα το κάνω πάλι. Για αυτο δεν
καταφέρνω να το κάνω πάλι [ya aftó dhen kataférno na to káno páli]. Very good.
Are you managing to do it?

S: Καταφέρνεις να το κάνεις; [kataférnis na to kánis?].

T: Καταφέρνεις να το κάνεις;

89
Complete Greek, Track 20 – Language Transfer

Teacher: So we saw in, καταστροφή (catastrophe) the use of κατ [kat], no, which can
be κατα [kata] like καταλαβαίνω, I understand, κατε [kate] like κατεβαίνω, I go
down. But we also have the second part of that word to look at: καταστροφή. We
said this word meant, downturn, no? Kαταστροφή. Στροφή [strofí] in Greek is
“turning”, στροφή – turning, or the turning, η στροφή. How would you say, this
turning?

Student: Αυτή η ιστροφή [aftí i istrofí].

T: Αυτή η στροφή [aftí i strofí].

S: But στροφή with [s], or with [i-s]?

T: Ah, with [s]. And your mind would love it to be [i-s], because of course you’re a
Spanish speaker. If you think, you have Spain/España, student/estudiante. So
that’s a language transfer that will come from Spanish, and you might notice that
you put extra vowels around in Greek when you start “s-t”, “s-p”. And just being
aware of that will really help you cut it, and notice it if it happens.

S: Στροφή.

T: Good. How would you say, It is this turning? It’s this turning.

S: Είναι αυτή η στροφή [íne aftí i strofí].

T: Είναι αυτή η στροφή. Good. So when we have “ph” for an F sound in English,
when we use “ph” to make an F sound in English, it usually means that the word
has come from Greek, or at least the word has been built of Greek parts. And we
can expect it to be the same or similar in Greek. So we’ve seen this already with
the word καταστροφή/catastrophe, which we have in English and Greek. Of
course that F sound there in catastrophe is produced with “ph” in English. What
was, I stay, or I’m staying?

S: Μένω [méno].

T: Μένω. And we said that if we say “I on-stay”, I stay on, we get the verb for, insist –
epiphany, episode …

S: Επιμένω [epiméno].

T: Επιμένω, good. We can use here, επιστρέφω [epistréfo]. Επιστρέφω means …
maybe you can guess what it means? If we have στρέφω from στροφή, meaning
“turn”, no? And we have επι [epi] – to turn on. Again if you visualise that, to turn
on, what might it mean, επιστρέφω? So what happens when you turn on a point?

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 So imagine yourself walking. You stop, and then you turn. What do you think you
might be doing?

S: Return.

T: Returning. Returning, no? So, επιστρέφω is, I’m returning, I’m coming back. How
would you say, We’re returning?

S: Επιστρέφουμε [epistréfume]?

T: Επιστρέφουμε. Very good. We have “philosophy” in English. We have two PHs.
We have the PH of philo which means “love” in Ancient Greek, and we use this in
modern Greek, φίλος [fílos] to mean “friend”. And then σοφία [sofía] is “wisdom”.
So philosophy is a love of wisdom. So we said that φίλος is friend in Modern
Greek. And we can tell by this S (ς) ending that it refers to a male. Φίλος is friend
for a male friend. So how would you say, the friend?

S: Ο φίλος [o fílos].

T: Ο φίλος. My friend, is “the friend my”, ο φίλος μου [o fílos mu], “the friend my”. Ο
φίλος μoυ.

S: Ο φίλος μoυ.

T: Good. How would you say, My friend is waiting for me, or “awaiting me” in Greek?

S: Ο φίλος μoυ με περιμένει [o fílos mu me periméni].

T: Good. Ο φίλος μoυ με περιμένει. My friend is bringing it. So periphery, that [feri]
that should help you remember, I bring. What is, I bring?

S: Περι ... φέρνω [férno]?

T: Φέρνω.

S: Αh, φέρνω.

T: Just by itself, uh? Φέρνω. So, Μy friend is bringing it?

S: Ο φίλος μου το φέρνει [o fílos mu to férni].

T: Very good. Ο φίλος μου το φέρνει. So we said that, ο φίλος, of course, refers to a
male friend. And how would you make that refer to a female friend?

S: Η φίλη [i fíli].

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T: Η φίλη. Of course, η φίλη. So, My female friend is waiting for me. How would that
be?

S: Ο φίλη ... ο φίλη μου? [o fíli mu?].

T: Ο φίλη μου? It’s a bit of a contradiction there.

S: Yes. H φίλη μου? [i fíli mu?].

T: Η φίλη μου, very good … is waiting for me.

S: Με περιμένει [me periméni].

T: Very good. Η φίλη μου με περιμένει [i fíli mu me periméni]. How would you say,
My friend is returning tomorrow? Tomorrow in Greek is αύριο [ávrio]. Αύριο,
tomorrow.

S: Αύριο.

T: Αύριο. My friend is returning tomorrow, and we mean a female friend.

S: Η φίλη μου περι ...

T: Returns. So you don’t remember it, but that’s not important. You know how to
find it. So we visualise something, we thought about something. How would you
do …

S: Περι, no? Go around?

T: So the “turn” actually was the verb, not the περι. But on – turn on.

S: Επι?

T: Good, ah? To turn on, to on-turn?

S: Επιστρέφει? Επιστρέφω!

T: Επιστρέφω [epistréfo]. Very good, ah? Επιστρέφω. So that’s, I return. And when
we find that, not from memory, but thinking about how we split the word up,
thinking about what we related it to – when we arrive at the word through that
process, that process is internalising it. And it’s actually much more efficient than
rote memorisation, even though it’s something that you do slowly. So, My friend
is returning tomorrow? And tomorrow was, αύριο.

S: Η φίλη μου επιστρέφει αύριο [i fíli mu epistréfi ávrio].

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T: Good. Η φίλη μου επιστρέφει αύριο. Good. My friend is not returning tomorrow.
Let’s talk about a male friend this time. My friend is not coming back tomorrow.

S: Ο φίλη μου … ο φίλος μου δεν επιστρέφει αύριο [o fílos mu dhen epistréfi ávrio].

T: Very good. Ο φίλος μου δεν επιστρέφει αύριο. So in the word μου, the word for
“my”, we have that M again relating back to me, no? What was the consonant
sound that was relating to “you”, in Greek?

S: The … S?

T: The S. So, μου might become?

S: Σου [su].

T: Σου. Very good. So, your friend?

S: Ο φίλος σου [o fílos su].

T: Ο φίλος σου. Very good. You remember the word for, where?

S: Πού [pu].

T: Πού. Where is your friend – the friend yours?

S: Πού είναι ο φίλος σου; [pu íne o fílos su?].

T: Πού είναι ο φίλος σου; Very good. And the word order is quite flexible in Greek.
You might hear, Ο φίλος σου πού είναι; Πού είναι ο φίλος σου; Because this, ο
φίλος σου, is like extra information, let’s say. If we knew who we were talking
about, we would just say, Πού είναι; and that makes it very flexible. O φίλος σου
πού είναι; Πού είναι ο φίλος σου; Is your friend (female friend) … is your friend
bringing it? Is your friend bringing it? Female friend.

S: Bring … ?

T: So think of … what did we think of to … ?

S: Περιφέρνω?

T: Φέρνω [férno].

S: Φέρνω.

T: Φέρνω. So, Is your female friend bringing it?

S: Η φίλη σου το φέρνει; [i fíli su to férni?].

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T: Good. Η φίλη σου το φέρνει; Το φέρνει η φίλη σου; [to férni i fíli su?]. Again, we
can have that flexibility. How would you say, Isn’t your friend bringing it?

S: Δεν το φέρνει η φίλη σου; [dhen to férni i fíli su?].

T: Good. Δεν το φέρνει η φίλη σου; Η φίλη σου δεν το φέρνει; [i fíli su dhen to
férni?].

S: Η φίλη σου δεν το φέρνει;

T: Very good. So we have that structure, δεν το φέρνει, which is quite a rigid order,
but then that extra information is very flexible. Δεν το φέρνει η φίλη σου; Η φίλη
σου δεν το φέρνει; Very good.

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Complete Greek, Track 21 – Language Transfer

Teacher: “I learn”, in Greek, is μαθαίνω [mathéno]. Μαθαίνω.

Student: Μαθαίνω.

T: And this is of course where mathematics comes from. They are sharing a root,
these two words, mathematics and μαθαίνω, I learn, in Greek. How would you
say, He learns/she learns/it learns?

S: Μαθαίνει [mathéni].

T: Μαθαίνει. Good. “The child”, in Greek, is, το παιδί [to pedhí]. Το παιδί.

S: Το παιδί.

T: So first … the first interesting thing here is that it’s neuter, no? The child in Greek
is neuter. It doesn’t have a gender yet, no? It’s not masculine, it’s not feminine,
it’s a child. Το παιδί.

S: Το παιδί.

T: So how would you say, The child learns?

S: Το παιδί μαθαίνει [to pedhí mathéni].

T: Το παιδί μαθαίνει. So the child is like he, she, or it, no? We are using μαθαίνει.
And we can also connect παιδί to something in English. In English we have
pedagogy, no? Pedagogical, which is about learning, so we have the relationship
there between children and learning; pediatrician, a child doctor. So μαθαίνω is, I
learn. “Course”, like a course or a class is, μάθημα [máthima]. Μάθημα.

S: Μάθημα.

T: Good. What gender does it look like?

S: Το μάθημα [to máthima].

T: Yeah, neuter.

S: Neutral (?).

T: Το μάθημα. Good. So it could have been feminine. It ends in an A like απολογία,
apology. But MA (μα) shows us that it is neuter, like πρόβλημα [próvlima],
πρόγραμμα [prógrama]. So the word for class or course is literally like “math”,
with [ma], μάθημα. Μάθημα. The course, the class?

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S: Το μάθημα.

T: Το μάθημα. “I start” in Greek, I start, is αρχίζω [archízo]. Αρχίζω.

S: Αρχίζω.

T: Good. And this [ch] sound that we have there, is written with that X (χ). It looks
like an X; the bottom part of the X is much longer and it goes below the line, but it
looks like an X. Αρχίζω.

S: Αρχίζω.

T: Good. So you could say, The course starts tomorrow. What was the word for
tomorrow?

S: Αύριο [ávrio].

T: Αύριο. Good. So how would you say that, The course starts tomorrow?

S: Το μάθημα αρχίζει αύριο [to máthima archízi ávrio].

T: Very good. Το μάθημα αρχίζει αύριο. And the verb, start, αρχίζει, no? It’s
changing for, το μάθημα, no? Which is like it. Which makes το μάθημα much
more flexible in Greek than it is in English, for example. In English, it’s generally
the word order showing us who is doing what and what’s going on, but we don’t
need that in Greek. We have αρχίζει showing us. So you could move that, so give
me the same sentence, The course starts tomorrow. But let’s play around a little
bit with the order. Let’s start with tomorrow, for example.

S: Αύριο αρχίζει το μάθημα [ávrio archízi to máthima].

T: Αύριο αρχίζει το μάθημα. That’s a possible order in Greek. You could mix it up a
little bit more: you could start with the verb.

S: Αρχίζει το μάθημα αύριο [archízi to máthima ávrio].

T: Good. Αρχίζει το μάθημα αύριο. So you have this very flexible word order in
Greek, and you can use it to stress different things. And rather than looking at
rules about what stresses what, you should just listen out for it, because in a real
life context, that emphasis that is achieved in the language is also going to be
accompanied by hand expressions, and facial expressions, and a context that will
really help you interiorise it. How would you say, I have class?

S: Έχω μάθημα [ékho máthima].

T: Έχω μάθημα. Good. So here we have the [kh] a little bit more harsh, έχω [ékho],
because it is followed by an O. Έχω μάθημα. But we mentioned briefly that if we

96
 are following that with an [e] or [i] sound, it’s going to sound softer, this [ch] that
you write like X. How would you say, She has class?

S: Έχει μάθημα [échi máthima].

T: Good. There it’s softer again, because it’s followed by that [i] sound. Έχει. Έχει
μάθημα. The word for “there is” in Greek, there is, is υπάρχει [ipárchi]. Υπάρχει.

S: Υπάρχει.

T: Υπάρχει, there is. So this is what we use for there is in Greek, but actually this verb
we will translate as “exists”, “it exists”. What we’re actually saying there is, “it
exists”, for “there is”. Now, υπάρχει, there is, is actually built of υπο [ipo], no? We
have this in English like hypo, hypoglycemic – low blood sugar. Hypoglycemia.
Αίμα [ema], αίμα in Greek is “blood”, neuter, no? Ending MA, το αίμα, the blood.
So in υπάρχει we have υπο [ipo] like in hypoglycemia, and αρχή [archí], the
beginning, the start. So υπο means something like “below”, similar in meaning to
this κατε/κατα [kate/kata] that we saw – below. And αρχή is the “beginning”, η
aρχή, the beginning, the start. So υπάρχει – you can see it got a little bit
contracted and crushed together there – υπάρχει is something like, below the
start, meaning “there is”, or “exists”. Very odd, no?

S: Yeah.

T: How would you say, There is a problem? There is problem – we don’t need the
word for “a” there. We could just say, There is problem.

S: Υπάρχει πρόβλημα [ipárchi próvlima].

T: Υπάρχει πρόβλημα. How would you say, There’s no problem? There isn’t a
problem.

S: Δεν υπάρχει πρόβλημα [dhen ipárchi próvlima].

T: Very good. Δεν υπάρχει πρόβλημα. So, υπάρχει is built of υπο [ipo] and αρχή
[archí], below start, meaning “to exist”, interestingly or mind-blowingly. And we
also saw that we have the verb, αρχίζω [archízo], I start. We also have, using this
υπο, υπομονή [ipomoní], υπομονή. Υπο [ipo] means below, no? And μονή is
actually coming from μένω [méno], and this means “patience”. To below-stay, no?
“Patience”. So tell me again, There is a problem.

S: Υπάρχει πρόβλημα [ipárchi próvlima].

T: Υπάρχει πρόβλημα. There is problem. We don’t need the word for “a” there. But
you can use the word for “a” if you want. A problem is, ένα πρόβλημα [éna
próvlima]. So how would that be?

97
S: Υπάρχει ένα πρόβλημα [ipárchi éna próvlima].

T: Υπάρχει ένα πρόβλημα. So, ένα is the word for “a”, for neuter nouns. So, you
remember the word for, house?

S: Σπίτι [spíti].

T: Σπίτι. Good. A house?

S: Ένα σπίτι [éna spíti].

T: Ένα σπίτι. Yes. Σπίτι was neuter and the “i” on the end is written like the Latin or
the English i (ι) that we have, no? Not like that feminine ending (η), no? So that’s
how we know it’s not feminine. Ένα σπίτι, a house. And what happens when
something is masculine? What happens when a noun or an adjective is masculine?
What does it tend to have on the end?

S: An S?

T: An S. So what do you think “ένα” might be for masculine nouns?

S: Ένας [énas].

T: Ένας. Yes, it is. You remember how to say coffee in Greek?

S: Καφέ [kafé]?

T: But it’s masculine.

S: Καφές [kafés]?

T: Καφές, good. Καφές. And that will feel a bit uncomfortable with us, because we
will feel like it’s a plural, no? But no, this is just a masculine ending in Greek. So, a
coffee, is?

S: Ένας καφές [énas kafés].

T: Ένας καφές. What was the word for here?

S: Εδώ [edhó].

T: Εδώ. How would you say, Τhere is a coffee here?

S: Υπάρχει ένας καφές εδώ [ipárchi énas kafés edhó].

T: Very good. Υπάρχει ένας καφές εδώ. Very good. So we have, υπάρχει with both
υπο [ipo] and αρχή [archí]. Something like below-start, which means “there is”, or

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 “there exists” would be the more literal translation, no? Even there is a song
actually, a very famous song in Greek, υπάρχω [ipárcho]. What does υπάρχω
mean?

S: I am here?

T: Well literally, “I exist”, but actually in this song it’s used a little bit like, I am here
or there, I am present, no? The lyrics are something like, I am always present by
you in your eyes when they cry, or something like this. It’s a love song. You can
listen to it to practice your Greek. Υπάρχω.

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Complete Greek, Track 22 – Language Transfer

Teacher: Καλημέρα [kaliméra].

Student: Καλημέρα.

T: Καλημέρα. Good day, we mentioned this, no? Literally “good day”. Καλή [kalí] is
good, for feminine nouns, no? And then we have μέρα [méra] (day). So, the day,
is?

S: Η μέρα [i méra].

T: Η μέρα, no? Καλημέρα, η μέρα. Good. What was the word for, here?

S: Εδώ [edhó].

T: Εδώ. The word for “there”. The word for “there” was εκεί [ekí]. Εκεί.

S: Εκεί.

T: So we have εδώ and εκεί. If you want to say “that day”, you will say εκείνη η μέρα
[ekíni i méra]. So we saw when we say “this problem”, for example, we say “this
the problem”; in the same way, we’re going to say “that the problem”. So, that
day, εκείνη η μέρα. How would you say, that road? What was the word for road?

S: Δρόμος. Εκείνος ο δρόμος [ekínos o dhrómos].

T: Bravo, very good. Εκείνος ο δρόμος. So now, with what you know about Greek,
you could find just one version of εκείνος; we saw εκείνη [ekíni], and you know
what to do with it. Εκείνη, εκείνος, εκείνο [ekíno]. A way to refer to a person that
is quite common in Greek is, άτομο [átomo]. Άτομο. What does άτομο mean?

S: Atom?

T: Atom, no? That’s very interesting. So a person is an atom, no? And it’s true, no?
We are just each individually one cell of the big picture, and that’s reflected there
in Greek. So “a person”, ένα άτομο. What gender is that, ενα άτομο?

S: Mmm, neutral.

T: Neutral, good, neuter. How would you say, that person?

S: Εκείνο το άτομο [ekíno to átomo].

T: Very good. Εκείνο το άτομο. Very good. “Good evening” is καλό βράδυ [kaló
vrádhi] with δέλτα (δ/Δ). Βράδυ.

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S: Καλό βράδυ.

T: And it’s used exclusively for goodbye, rather than good evening, which in English
we use to say hello as well. So maybe it’s a little bit more like good night, but
βράδυ means evening. What gender is βράδυ, if we say καλό βράδυ?

S: Mmm. Neutral?

T: Neuter. Good. Καλό [kaló], we know there we have the neuter ending. So how
would you say, that evening?

S: Εκείνο το βράδυ [ekíno to vrádhi].

T: Very good, εκείνο το βράδυ. Good. So we’ve seen a little bit in Greek how
adjectives – describing words – change in their own way, no? We have, καλός
[kalós], καλή [kalí], καλό [kaló]. But [kaló], apart from an adjective, is also a verb!
Now, καλό as an adjective is written k-a-the Greek L, which we will talk about, and
o – an “o” like the English O. But καλώ [kaló] as a verb, how would it have to be
written, that final [o] sound?

S: Like a M.

T: Like an upside-down M, yes. Or like a W.

S: A “W”, okay.

T: Καλώ [kaló]. Good, with the ωμέγα [oméga] (ω/Ω), showing you that it’s a verb in
writing, no? So we have καλό, good, or καλός or καλή, and then καλώ as a verb
means “I invite” or “I call”. You have both of these meanings. So καλώ as a verb
means, I invite, or I call, and we have the accent on the end, no? Like μπορώ
[boró], I can, προσπαθώ [prospathó], I try. How would you say, I’m inviting you?

S: Σε καλώ [se kaló].

T: Σε καλώ. The word for “him” is τον [ton]. Τον.

S: Τον.

T: Τον. That’s spelt with a T, an O, and how do we get that N sound?

S: From a V.

T: From a V, good. The letter looks like V (τον). So that means him, so if you want to
say, I’m inviting him?

S: Τον καλώ [ton kaló].

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T: Τον καλώ. Good. How would you say, We’re inviting him?

S: Τον καλούμε [ton kalúme].

T: Τον καλούμε. Τον καλούμε. We’re inviting him, if you want to emphasise the we?

S: Εμείς τον καλούμε [emís ton kalúme].

T: Good. Εμείς τον καλούμε. Good. We, we’re inviting him. The word for us, so we’ve
seen the word for we, which is εμείς. The word for us is μας [mas]. So how would
we say, He’s inviting us?

S: Μας καλεί [mas kalí].

T: Good, and you’re keeping the accent on the end there, μας καλεί. Now you would
know that this is a verb in writing, because the [i] sound on the end there is
spelled EI (ει). We mentioned briefly that EI also gives us this [i] sound, and it’s
used with the verb ending for he, she, or it, no? Μας καλεί. How would you
emphasise the word for he? He’s inviting us.

S: Αυτός μας καλεί [aftós mas kalí].

T: Good. Αυτός μας καλεί. Good. You’re inviting us. How would you say, You’re
inviting us?

S: Μας καλείς [mas kalís].

T: Μας καλείς.

S: Μας καλείς.

T: Aren’t you inviting us?

S: Δεν μας καλείς; [dhen mas kalís?].

T: Very good. Δεν μας καλείς; Aren’t you inviting us? Good. Παρακαλώ [parakaló],
παρακαλώ means “I plead” or “request”, and actually it’s used like “please” in
Greek. You will hear this a lot: παρακαλώ, please.

S: Παρακαλώ.

T: So παρα [para], we also have in English, we have it in parasite, paranormal, …

S: Paranoid.

T: Paranoid is from νους [nus] (mind), or νους. Paranoia – beside or beyond the
mind. So παρα means something like beyond or alongside. So we have, καλώ, I

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 invite, or I call, and παρακαλώ, beyond or alongside that. We have “I plead” used
like “please”, no? When we plead something, we are inviting somebody to do
something for us. So παρακαλώ which is “plead”, or you know, “please”. You will
also hear, I plead, as please (παρακαλώ), and also, I plead you, as please. So how
would that sound? I plead you?

S: Σε παρακαλώ [se parakaló].

T: Σε παρακαλώ. You will hear that as well. Παρα [para], we can put with our verb
for “I stay”. What was, I stay?

S: Μένω [méno].

T: Μένω. And how will it sound if you put παρα there with it?

S: Παραμένω [paraméno].

T: Παραμένω. Παραμένω means “I remain”, I remain, so very similar in meaning to, I
stay, no? Just maybe a little bit more insisting, I don’t know. Maybe you would like
to say, We’re staying here, like, We’re not going anywhere. There you would say,
We’re remaining here. How would that be?

S: Παραμένω? Παραμένουμε εδώ [paraménume edhó].

T: Παραμένουμε εδώ. We’re remaining here, like, we’re staying put. We’re not going
anywhere. Παραμένουμε εδώ. How would you say, We’re remaining there?

S: Παραμένουμε εκεί [paraménume ekí].

T: Παραμένουμε εκεί. Very good.

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Complete Greek, Track 23 – Language Transfer

Teacher: Now we’re going to learn to talk about the future in Greek. The word for
“will” in Greek like, I will do it, I will wait, is θα [tha]. Θα.

Student: Θα.

T: Θα. Now θα is spelt with that letter that looks like a zero with a horizontal line
running through the middle (Θ/θ), which gives us TH – θα. And it really is “will”. It
literally is the very same word. “Will” in English is just the word for want in
German, ich will [ich vil], which in German is spelt “W-I-L-L”. We literally in English
just took the German word for want, and used it to go into the future. And Greek
does something very similar. Θα in Greek is a contraction of θέλει να [théli na].
Θέλει να has contracted to produce θα, so θέλει να, like “it wants”. We don’t
know who wants, the universe, or maybe there’s like almost a superstitious
feeling there of talking about the future. The Cypriot version – there’s a different
version in Cyprus of this θα – it’s ένα [éna]. Ένα. And this is also a contraction of
θέλει να, just a different contraction. So you might hear that if you go to Cyprus.
So, if you say, I will wait, or I will be waiting, you will use this θα, and then you will
say, I wait. So how is that?

S: Θα περιμένω [tha periméno].

T: Θα περιμένω. I will wait, or I will be waiting. We get both there. I will wait for you,
or, I’ll be waiting for you. The θα will go first.

S: Θα σε περιμένω [tha se periméno].

T: Θα σε περιμένω. I will do it, or, I will be doing it? What is, I do?

S: Κάνω [káno].

T: Κάνω. Good. So the θα again is going to come first, no? I will do it, I will be doing
it.

S: Θα το κάνω [tha to káno].

T: Θα το κάνω. Good. You remember the word for “after”, or “later”, used like later?
We have it in “metaphysics”, which is something like beyond or after physics;
“metamorphosis”, which means the after-form.

S: Μετα [meta].

T: Μετά [metá], μετά.

S: Μετά.

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T: So, I will do it later, I will do it after?

S: Θα το κάνω μετά [tha to káno metá].

T: Good. Θα το κάνω μετά. And you remember the word for “tomorrow”?

S: Αύριο [ávrio].

T: Αύριο. This [av] is spelt AU (αυ). We’ve seen AU can make an [af] sound like in
αυτό, αυτός, αυτή [aftó, aftós, aftí], or an A-V [av] sound like in αύριο [ávrio].
Much more common though is [af]. The [av] situation occurs much less. So AU
gives us [af] or [av]. And the same with EU. EU (ευ/ΕΥ) will give us [ef] or [ev]. So
for example, the word “euphoria”; we know this is Greek because we have an “f”
spelt with a PH, no? Euphoria. This in Greek is, ευφορία [ef-foría]. Ευφορία. This
EU (ευ), this [ef], means good or well, and then “phoria” actually means φέρνω
again: bringing, good bringing, like in periphery. Eυφορία. What gender is it if you
had to guess?

S: Ah, feminine.

T: Feminine, good. The euphoria – η ευφορία [i ef-foría]. Ευχαριστώ [efkharistó],
ευχαριστώ, in Greek means “I thank” or “thank you”, used like, thank you.

S: Ευχαριστώ.

T: Ευχαριστώ. And it means something like “I good happy”. This [ef] at the beginning
of words, most of the time it’s something like good, no? And χαρά [khará] means
happiness, or joy, or wellness. So we are saying something like, I good joy you, I
good wellness you, when we say “thank you”. Ευχαριστώ. How would you say, We
thank?

S: Ευχαριστούμε [efkharistúme].

T: Ευχαριστούμε. And you use this quite a lot in Greek. If you say thank you in a shop
and you are accompanied, it’s very common to say ευχαριστούμε, or especially if
you are at a restaruant or a café, or something like this, you will thank on behalf
of the people you are with. Ευχαριστώ, I thank; ευχαριστούμε, we thank. So in
ευχαριστώ we have EU (ευ) pronounced [ef] as in ευφορία, euphoria. To see an
example of it pronounced like a V – we said this is less common, but it still
happens – we have Europe, Ευρώπη [evrópi]. Ευρώπη.

S: Ευρώπη.

T: Good. So you will notice your own patterns to understand how it’s pronounced.
We see both in αύριο [ávrio] and Ευρώπη [evrópi], that the R is creating the V
sound, as opposed to the F sound. So you should look out for your own patterns,
but generally it’s [ef] or [af], but it could be [ev] or [av]. So we said that ευχαριστώ

105
 was built of good and joy. And, μία χαρά [mía khará], μία χαρά – “a joy”, a joy – is
a very common response to, τι κάνεις; [ti kánis?]. How are you? Τι κάνεις; Πώς
είσει; [pos íse?]. Μία χαρά – a joy. So there we get the feminine word for “a” as
well, μία [mía].

S: Μία [mía].

T: So how would you say, a day? ... What was, good day?

S: Mία μέρα [mía méra].

T: Mία μέρα. Good. Mία μέρα. A day. Αn apology? Αn apology?

S: Mία απολογία [mía apología].

T: Mία απολογία [mía apoloyía], pronounced like a Y. Απολογία.

S: Απολογία.

T: Good. And we also saw the word for “a” for neuter words, no? How was, a
problem?

S: Ένα πρόβλημα [éna próvlima].

T: Ένα πρόβλημα. A house?

S: Ένα σπίτι [spíti].

T: Ένα σπίτι. And for masculine, what did we have instead of ένα, for masculine?

S: Ένας [énas].

T: Ένας, ένας, good. So, a road. How would you say that, a road?

S: Ένας δρόμος [énas dhrómos].

T: Or, a coffee.

S: Ένας καφές [énas kafés].

T: Ένας καφές. So for “a”, we have ένα [éna] and ένας [énas], and then μία [mía],
looking very different to the other ones.

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Complete Greek, Track 24 – Language Transfer

Teacher: How was the word for “will” in Greek, which is actually a contraction of,
θέλει να [théli na]?

Student: Θα [tha].

T: Θα. Very good. So if you say, for example, We will do it tomorrow, or We’ll be
doing it tomorrow, how would that be?

S: Θα το κάνουμε αύριο [tha to kánume ávrio].

T: Good. Θα το κάνουμε αύριο. We won’t be doing it tomorrow? The negation (the
δεν) [dhen] is going to come first. We won’t be doing it tomorrow.

S: Δεν θα το κάνουμε αύριο [dhen tha to kánume ávrio].

T: Very good. Δεν θα το κάνουμε αύριο. So we get through quite a lot of information
there, before we get to the verb, no? Δεν, θα, το … we don’t know what’s going
on until we get to the verb. Δεν θα το κάνουμε αύριο. (We won’t do it tomorrow.
We won’t be doing it tomorrow.)

So we’ve been translating the future, like, θα κάνω [tha káno], for example, as I
will do, or I will be doing. I’ve been giving both of those translations. Now, in fact,
in Greek, we have two different verb forms to show which one we mean –
whether we want to say, I will do, or I will be doing. But most of the time we have
two different verb forms to make that difference clear. But κάνω is an exception.
So, θα κάνω can mean, I will do, or I will be doing. The same with περιμένω
[periméno] – θα περιμένω [tha periméno], for example, could mean, I will wait,
or I will be waiting. But otherwise, we have a way to show this difference in
Greek. With the great majority of verbs, we have an alternative verb form to use,
to show that we mean, I will do it, rather than, I will be doing it; I will write, rather
than, I will be writing.

“Photography” is not a Greek word, but it’s built of Greek parts. It was coined by
an Englishman, I believe – photography is not a Greek thing, but it’s been built of
Greek parts, this word. We have the PH, giving us [f], letting us into that. So
photography means “writing with light”. I write, in Greek is, γράφω [ghráfo], and
we have the [gh] G, like in εγώ [eghó], the word for “I”. Γράφω [ghráfo], εγώ
γράφω.

S: Γράφω.

T: Θα γράφω [tha ghráfo] means, I will be writing – only, I will be writing, not I will
write. See, if we use the standard form of the verb with θα, we get, I will be
writing. So, like for example, if I said to you, What will you do when you graduate?
Θα γράφω [tha ghráfo] – I will be writing. So we’re not looking for exact

107
 translations, no, between English and Greek, because in English, it’s quite strange
to say, I will be writing, in this context.

In Greek, what we want to look at is, do we refer to an ongoing period of time, or
do we refer to a closed period of time? What will you do when you graduate? – I
will write. This is ongoing – I will be writing – even though that’s an odd thing to
say in English. So, we’ll say, Θα γράφω [tha ghráfo] in Greek – something like, I
will be writing. Now, if we want to say, I will write it, we are referring to
something specific and closed in time, then we will need to use our alternative
form of the verb. So other than γράφω [ghráfo], we have also, γράψω [ghrápso].

S: Γράψω.

T: Γράψω. So we have γράφω and γράψω. So if you want to say, for example, I will
write it, we have a closed period of time referring to that “it”, so we will use our
alternative form of the verb to show that. How would that be?

S: Θα το γράψω [tha to grápso].

T: And more like [gh], like in εγώ [eghó], θα το γράψω [tha to ghrápso]. How would
you say, He will write it?

S: Θα το γράψει [tha to ghrápsi].

T: Θα το γράψει. But, if somebody says to you, What will he do once he graduates?
and you will say, He will write, then what you want is something like, He will be
writing. So you won’t change to the alternative form; we will stay with our
standard form of the verb. So, He will be writing?

S: Θα το γράφει [tha to ghráfi].

T: Well you said “το” there; you said “it”. And “το” gives us a feeling of something
actually quite closed, and is quite specific, so there it would fit better, γράψει: θα
το γράψει [tha to ghrápsi]. But that’s not a hard and fast rule; it all just depends
on the context. If we were to say something like, He will write it every morning,
there we would be referring to an open, ongoing period of time, so we would stay
with our standard verb form, γράφει [ghráfi]. So we can use this alternative
version, γράψω [ghrápso], only in some situations, like after θα [tha]. We already
saw that γράφω [ghráfo] without a θα [tha] – or something else that makes us
have to choose beween γράφω [ghráfo] and γράψω [ghrápso] – γράφω means, I
write, or I’m writing – το γράφω [to ghráfo], I write it, I’m writing it.

Only in some structural situations we have to think about, do we mean an open,
ongoing period of time, or a closed one. But only in some situations, not all the
time in the language. So, after θα [tha], we have to think about whether we want
γράφω [ghráfo] or γράψω [ghrápso], looking at the context. Also, after να [na].
We’ve seen already that θα [tha] is just a contraction of θέλει να [théli na]. So, if

108
 you say, for example, I want to write, you have your να [na] there, which means
you’re going to have to think about what you mean. So let’s imagine we want to
say, I want to write, and we mean in life, generally, like, I want to be a writer. Is
this an open, ongoing time, or is this a closed time? I want to write, in the sense
of, I want to be a writer.

S: Open.

T: Open, ongoing. I want to be a writer, no? So what form of the verb do you use?

S: Γράφω [ghráfo].

T: Γράφω, our normal, standard version of the verb. So how would that be, I want to
write, in this context?

S: Θέλω να γράφω [thélo na ghráfo].

T: Θέλω να γράφω. Good. But if you say, for example, I want to write tomorrow – is
this an open period of time or a closed period of time?

S: Closed.

T: It’s closed now, in which case you’ll have to use, γράψω [ghrápso] to show that.
So how would that be?

S: Θέλω να γράψω αύριο [thélo na ghrápso ávrio].

T: Good, θέλω να γράψω αύριο. If you said, I want to write it – that by itself (I want
to write it), without any other context, does it sound like an open, ongoing period
of time, or a closed one? I want to write it.

S: Closed.

T: So how would that be, I want to write it?

S: Θέλω το γράψω [thélo to ghrápso].

T: Slower, slower.

S: Θέλω να το γράψω [thélo na to ghrápso].

T: Very good, θέλω να το γράψω. Good. We’ve encountered ύπο [ípo] meaning
something like below or under: hypoglycemia (low blood sugar), hypothermia
(low body temperature). Υπογράφω [ipoghráfo], υπογράφω, what do you think
that might mean, υπογράφω? I under write.

S: Sign.

109

T: Good. Υπογράφω, I under write, I sign. Υπογράφω, I sign. Now, if you want to say,
I will sign it, is this an open period of time, or a closed one?

S: Closed.

T: So what might υπογράφω [ipoghráfo] change to? If γράφω [ghráfo] becomes
γράψω [ghrápso], υπογράφω … ?

S: Υπογράψω [ipoghrápso].

T: Good. So, I will sign it?

S: Θα υπογράψω … θα το υπογράψω [tha to ipoghrápso].

T: Θα το υπογράψω, good. But imagine a context, it’s all about context, no? If we
want to say, for example, I will be signing, like it will be my job, I will be the one
that’s responsible for signing all of the documents that will be coming – well, is
this an open or a closed period?

S: Open.

T: It’s an open one, no? So, I will be signing?

S: Θα γράφω … θα υπογράφω [tha ipoghráfo].

T: Very good, θα υπογράφω. So we’re not really looking for direct translations of, I
will write, I will be writing. The question we want to ask ourselves is, if we’re
referring to something that feels like an open period of time, or a closed period of
time. And that distinction, that difference between the two, is going to become
much clearer as we continue to analyse and use Greek.

And also, it’s worth mentioning again that this doesn’t happen with every single
verb. There are an important group of quite common verbs that don’t have
alternative forms – the ones we’ve been using in this kind of sentence structure
until now. So, έχω [ékho], ξέρω [kséro], περιμένω [periméno], κάνω [káno] –
these verbs don’t have an alternative form. They don’t change. But the great
majority of verbs in Greek do have an alternative form.

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Complete Greek, Track 25 – Language Transfer

Teacher: If we say, I want to write well, I want to write well, what do we mean? What
do we refer to? Do we refer to an open, extended period of time, or do we refer
to a closed period of time? I want to write well.

Student: Open?

T: Open. I want to write well. That sounds like generally, in life, no? The word for
“well” is καλά [kalá].

S: Καλά.

T: Καλά, obviously related to good, no: καλός/καλή/καλό [kalós/kalí/kaló], and we
can feel that in English, as well. Sometimes, when somebody asks us in English,
how are we, we can reply, I’m well, or we can reply, I’m good, in more colloquial
English. So, of course those words are connected. I want to write well.

S: Θέλω να γράφω καλά [thélo na ghráfo kalá].

T: Very good. So we’re using γράφω [ghráfo]; we’re using our standard, ordinary
version of the verb, which gives us an open feeling of time. I want to write well,
θέλω να γράφω καλά. If you say, I want to write it well, I want to write it well,
does anything change? Is it still an open period of time?

S: No, “it”.

T: Exactly. I want to write it well, we’re referring to something specific, so that’s a
closed period of time: I want to write it well. So how would that be?

S: Θέλω να το γράψω καλά [thélo na to ghrápso kalá].

T: Θέλω να το γράψω καλά. Good. How would you say, I want you to write it well?

S: Θέλω να το γράψεις καλά [thélo na to grápsis kalá].

T: And again we want more of a [gh] sound then – [gh], no? Θέλω να το γράψεις
καλά [thélo na to ghrápsis kalá]. Do you remember the word for, book?

S: Βιβλίο [vivlío].

T: Βιβλίο. And how would a book be?

S: Ένα βιβλίο [éna vivlío].

T: Ένα βιβλίο. How would you say, I want to write a book?

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S: Θέλω να γράψω ένα βιβλίο [thélo na ghrápso éna vivlío].

T: Very good. Θέλω να γράψω ένα βιβλίο. So the first thing you asked yourself, is
this open or closed, to write a book? Closed. Θέλω να γράψω ένα βιβλίο. “Books”
is βιβλία [vivlía], the plural – βιβλία, books.

S: Bιβλία.

T: I want to write books, and you mean, I want to be a book-writer; I want to be
somebody that writes books.

S: Θέλω να γράφω βιβλία [thélo na ghráfo vivlía].

T: Θέλω να γράφω βιβλία. And with that, γράφω [ghráfo], with that open, ongoing
feeling, we understand, I want to be somebody that writes books, I want to be a
book-writer. The word for “two”, like the number 2 in Greek, is δύο [dhío]. Δύο.

S: Δύο.

T: This is δέλτα [dhélta] (Δ/δ), which looks like a “d”, or a triangle in capitals, “u”,
and then “o”. So the U in Greek, when it’s not in combination, like in AU (αυ),
giving us [av] or [af], or EU (ευ), giving us [ev] or [ef], the “u” (not in combination)
by itself gives us an “i” [i] sound. So, D-U-O, δύο [dhío]. That’s where we got “duo”
from in English; it was just misunderstood in English. In English, they took δύο
[dhío], no, and it looks like “duo”, and they took that and used that to describe,
you know, a set of two, usually in music, a musical duo, for example. But this is
pronounced [dhío] in Greek.

S: Δύο.

T: How would you say, I want to write two books?

S: Θέλω να γράψω δύο βιβλία [thélo na ghrápso dhío vivlía].

T: Good. Θέλω να γράψω δύο βιβλία. Very good. So this is closed, no? It’s not any
more I want to write books; it’s, I want to write two books. Very good. So, we
need to look at how we are referring to time, and to understand the code in which
we refer to time in Greek. We need to listen. We need to actively listen to how
these two different forms are used in context, and there we will really develop a
great understanding of how we can switch between these two forms.

Now, many courses and course books, and also native speakers when you ask
them, will oversimplify this phenomenon to: Oh, you use the alternative form
after να [na], or in the future. And that’s not the case; that’s a gross simplification,
which will lead to many confusions later of not understanding why the alternative
form is, or isn’t being used. We want to do what we’ve been doing here – asking
ourselves if we’re referring to an ongoing or open period of time, in which case

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 we used the standard verb form, or to a closed period or amount of time, in which
case we use the alternative version. And we will always be listening out to see
whether Greek agrees with our conclusions about whether something is an open
or closed period of time.

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Complete Greek, Track 26 – Language Transfer

Teacher: How was, I learn, or I’m learning, related to the English “maths”?

Student: Μαθαίνω [mathéno].

T: Μαθαίνω. So μαθαίνω by itself is, I learn, or I’m learning, no? But after θα, θα
μαθαίνω will only give us, I will be learning, this open feeling. So, μαθαίνω has an
alternative version to give us that closed feeling in time. Μαθαίνω becomes,
μάθω [mátho].

S: Μάθω.

T: So just the EN [en] disappears; μαθαίνω [mathéno] becomes μάθω [mátho]. So, if
you say, for example, I want to learn, and you mean generally in your life, I want
to learn, how would it be?

S: Θέλω να μαθαίνω [thélo na mathéno].

T: Θέλω να μαθαίνω. Good. And if you’re referring to something specific like, I want
to learn to drive, or I want to learn it?

S: Θέλω να το μάθω [thélo na to mátho].

T: Good. Θέλω να το μάθω. You could actually say, I want to learn to do it. How
would that be? So we start at the beginning: I want.

S: Θέλω [thélo].

T: I want to learn.

S: Θέλω να μάθω [thélo na mátho].

T: To do it.

S: Να κάνω … να το κάνω [na to káno].

T: Very good. Θέλω να μάθω να το κάνω [thélo na mátho na to káno], no? Just as in
English we can have a few “to” verbs there together – I want to learn to do it.
Same in Greek, we just keep going with the να [na], no? Θέλω να μάθω να το
κάνω. So, μαθαίνω [mathéno] becomes μάθω [mátho] in its alternative form.
What was, I bring?

S: Φέρνω [férno].

T: Φέρνω is, I bring, or I’m bringing. Good. How would you say, I’m bringing it?

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S: Το φέρνω [to férno].

T: Το φέρνω. How would you say, I will be bringing?

S: Θα φέρνω [tha férno].

T: Θα φέρνω. So, like I said, we’re not working with direct translations; we want to
imagine the situation, no? I will be bringing is a very weird thing to say in English,
but what we are thinking about is an open period of time, so maybe I’m talking
about travelling much more often. I’m going to travel much more often, so I will
be bringing much more treats, no? There it makes perfect sense. Θα φέρνω. But if
you want to say something like, I will bring it, and you refer to one act of bringing
something, no? There you are referring to a closed period of time; you need the
alternative version of, φέρνω. The alternative version of φέρνω is, φέρω [féro].
Φέρω.

S: Φέρω.

T: So that’s actually what we have in “periphery”. What we have in periphery is the
alternative version; we have φέρω. So what happens between φέρνω [férno] and
φέρω [féro]?

S: The N (ν) disappears.

T: The N disappears. Just like what happened between, μαθαίνω [mathéno] and … ?

S: Μάθω [mátho].

T: Μάθω. So actually we are identifying a pattern here. The pattern to get our
alternative version of the verb: many times you can just get rid of the N (μαθαίνω
– μάθω, or in this case the EN [en]). Φέρνω – φέρω. I will bring it?

S: Το φέρω … Θα το φέρω [tha to féro].

T: Θα το φέρω. She will bring it?

S: Θα το φέρει [tha to féri].

T: Θα το φέρει. You remember how was, I manage? I under-bring.

S: Καταφέρνω [kataférno].

T: Καταφέρνω.

S: Καταφέρνω.

T: Καταφέρνω. So the alternative version of, καταφέρνω is ... ?

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S: Καταφέρω [kataféro].

T: Καταφέρω. How would you say, I will manage it?

S: Θα το καταφέρω [tha to kataféro].

T: Θα το καταφέρω. How was, I’m going down?

S: Καταβαίνω [katavéno]?

T: Κατεβαίνω [katevéno].

S: Κατεβαίνω [katevéno].

T: There we have an [e], [e]. Κατεβαίνω.

S: Κατεβαίνω.

T: Κατεβαίνω. What do you think the alternative version of, κατεβαίνω, might be?

S: Κατεβ ...

T: That was it!

S: Κατέβω [katévo].

T: Κατέβω, κατέβω. It’s kind of harder to take something off than to change it. It
would be easier to change it like, γράφω/γράψω [ghráfo/ghrápso]. We have to
think a little bit more to take something out. So κατεβαίνω [katevéno] becomes
κατέβω [katévo].

S: Κατέβω.

T: How would you say, I will go down?

S: Θα κατέβω [tha katévo].

T: Θα Κατεβώ. Θα Κατεβώ. We saw that the word for “in” or “on” is, σε [se]. Σε.

S: Σε.

T: Like in the house – σε το σπίτι [se to spíti], which becomes στο σπίτι [sto spíti].
You can use this σε like in, σε λίγο [se lígho], in a bit, σε λίγο. Meaning like, in a
little while, in a bit, in a little while. And of course that’s with γάμα [gháma], the
[gh] of εγώ [eghó]. Σε λιγο. I will come down – I will go down, in a bit?

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S: Θα κατέβω σε λίγο [tha katévo se lígho].

T: Θα κατέβω σε λίγο. We will go down in a bit.

S: Θα κατέβουμε σε λίγο [tha katévume se lígho].

T: Θα κατέβουμε σε λίγο. Very good. And we’ve seen how we can also begin with,
να [na] to get the feeling of “let’s”, no? So again, we have to think about whether
we want the standard, open verb feeling, or the alternative, closed feeling. So if
we say, for example, Let’s go down, mostly we’ll be referring to a specific occasion
or a specific visit or reason, no? So that’s closed. So how would that be: Let’s go
down?

S: Να κατέβω … Να κατέβουμε [na katévume].

T: Να κατέβουμε. Good. Let’s is let us, no? It’s “us”, it’s “we”. Να κατέβουμε. Let’s
go down in a bit. How would that be? Let’s go down in a bit.

S: Να κατέβουμε σε λίγο [na katévume se lígho].

T: Να κατεβούμε σε λίγο. We could also say, Shall we, just by changing the tone of
voice. Shall we go down in a bit?

S: Να κατέβουμε σε λίγο; [na katévume se lígho?].

T: Να κατεβούμε σε λίγο; Very good. What was, I understand? It also started with
κατα [kata] in this case.

S: Κατα … καταλαβαίνω [katalavéno].

T: Καταλαβαίνω. Good. How do you think the alternative version might be?

S: Καταλαβώ [katalavó]?

T: Good. Καταλάβω [katalávo]. I want you to understand.

S: Θέλω να κατα ... λάβεις.

T: Θέλω να καταλάβεις [thélo na katalávis]. I want you to understand me.

S: Θέλω να με καταλάβεις [thélo na me katalávis].

T: Θέλω να με καταλάβεις. So that would mean, I want you to understand me, in a
specific situation – in a specific situation, referring to something closed, a closed
period of time. But if you meant in life, generally, I want you to understand me … ?

S: Θέλω να με καταλαβαίνεις [thélo na me katalavénis].

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T: Very good. Θέλω να με καταλαβαίνεις. So we go back to our standard, our open
form of the verb. Θέλω να με καταλαβαίνεις.

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Complete Greek, Track 27 – Language Transfer

Teacher: We were looking at how we use our two different verb forms in Greek, no?
And we’ve also noticed some patterns between the two forms in themselves, no?
So for example, we had, I learn: μαθαίνω [mathéno] and μάθω [mátho]. We had, I
go down: κατεβαίνω, κατέβω [katevéno, katévo]. I understand: καταλαβαίνω,
καταλάβω [katalavéno, katalávo]. Also, I bring: φέρνω, φέρω [férno, féro]. So we
see how we’ve been removing the N (ν) or the EN (αιν), and that’s a pattern.
μαθαίνω/μάθω, φέρνω/φέρω. And this φέρω, of course, is the part that we find
building other vocabulary normally, no? Like in periphery, euphoria: looks much
more like that alternative form, φέρω. We saw πίνω [píno], I drink. Πίνω.

Student: Πίνω.

T: How do you think the alternative form of, πίνω might be?

S: Πίω [pío].

T: Good, πιω [pyó].

S: Πιω.

T: Good, so we lose the N and it sounds like πιω. Good. So if you wanted to say for
example, I want to drink, and you mean like, now, for example.

S: Θέλω να πίω [thélo na pío].

T: Good, and the accent’s on the end – θέλω να πιω [thélo na pyó]. The accent falls
on the end here when we change it from πίνω to πιω.

S: Ah, θέλω να πιω.

T: Good. I don’t want to drink?

S: Δεν θέλω να πιω [dhen thélo na pyó].

T: Δεν θέλω να πιω. So this is a closed feeling, so it would mean like, now at the
party we’re talking about. But imagine you want to say something like, I don’t
want to be a person that drinks, you know? I don’t want to be a drinker. If you say,
I don’t want to drink, and that’s your meaning, how would it be?

S: Θελω ... Δεν θέλω να πίνω [dhen thélo na píno].

T: Very good. Δεν θέλω να πίνω. Perfect. So we go back to our standard form of the
verb, and that gives us our open feeling, our ongoing feeling. “I take” in Greek is
παίρνω [pérno].

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S: Παίρνω [pérno].

T: Παίρνω. That’s, I take, or I’m taking. So that’s like P-E-R-N-O, παίρνω. So you
could say for example, I take the train. The train is, το τρένο [to tréno].

S: Παίρνω το τρένο [pérno to tréno].

T: Παίρνω το τρένο. How would you say, We’re taking the train?

S: Παίρνουμε το τρένο [pérnume to tréno].

T: Παίρνουμε το τρένο. So the verb by itself, and when I say by itself, I mean not
introduced by θα or να, or some other things we will see as well, that can be, I
take, or I’m taking, no? We don’t have to worry about the alternative form in that
situation. I take the train, I’m taking the train, παίρνω το τρένο [pérno to tréno].
The alternative form of παίρνω, so that form of the verb that will give us a closed
feeling in time, is πάρω [páro]. Πάρω.

S: Πάρω [páro].

T: Πάρω. So again we’re losing the N, no? But there’s another change there, the [e]?

S: The vowel.

T: Yeah, well done. The [e] of παίρνω changes to an [a] in πάρω. So that’s a bit
irregular, it’s a bit random. But again it’s fitting into the same pattern. So we have
παίρνω [pérno] and πάρω [páro].

S: Παίρνω, πάρω.

T: Good. How would you say, We’re taking the train? Give me that again. We’re
taking the train.

S: Παίρνουμε το τρένο [pérnume to tréno].

T: Παίρνουμε το τρένο. If you wanted to say, Let’s take the train. So we saw how we
can get this let’s feeling, by beginning with να, and showing that we mean let’s, in
the tone of voice. So how would that be? Let’s take the train?

S: Να πάρω το τρένο … Να πάρουμε το τρένο [na párume to tréno].

T: Very good. Let’s is, let us: να πάρουμε το τρένο. Very good. How would you say,
Let him take the train, like Let him take the train, in the sense of “I’m not going to
pick him up, let him take the train”. You can do this as well starting with να [na].

S: Mhm ... Να πάρει το τρένο [na pári to tréno].

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T: Very good. Να πάρει το τρένο, no? Να πάρει το τρένο. We saw καλώ [kaló], which
was, I call, or I invite, καλώ as a verb, no? Not καλό [kaló] like good. And for, to
call, we can also say, παίρνω τηλέφωνο [pérno tiléfono], to take phone.

S: Παίρνω το τηλέφωνο [pérno to tiléfono], or … ?

T: No, just, παίρνω τηλέφωνο [pérno tiléfono].

S: Mhm. Παίρνω τηλέφωνο.

T: Good. So in order to say, for example, I will call you, you will say, I will take you
phone. How would that be?

S: But, I will?

T: What’s will in Greek.

S: Θέλω [thélo]?

T: It’s built of θέλω.

S: Ah, θα [tha]!

T: Θα, good. Ιt’s built of, θέλει να [théli na]. Good. So, I will take you phone, I will call
you.

S: Θα σε πάρω το τηλ ... πάρω τηλέφωνο.

T: Τηλέφωνο. Very good. Θα σε πάρω τηλέφωνο [tha se páro tiléfono]. Very good. If
you were to say then, I don’t want you to call me, you would say, I don’t want, να,
you take me phone.

S: Δεν θέλω να με πάρεις τηλέφωνο [dhen thélo na me páris tiléfono].

T: Very good. Δεν θέλω να με πάρεις τηλέφωνο. I don’t want you to call me, I don’t
want you to take me phone, huh? Very good.

S: Okay.

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Complete Greek, Track 28 – Language Transfer

Teacher: We also saw “I write”, as in photography, no (writing with light), which was
γράφω [ghráfo].

Student: Γράφω [gráfo].

T: So the [gh] is like in, εγώ [eghó]. Γράφω [ghráfo].

S: Mhm, εγώ [egó], γράφω [gráfo].

T: But less like “guh” [g], so try it, [gh].

S: [gh].

T: Better.

S: Γράφω [ghráfo].

T: Γράφω. Good.

S: Γράφω.

T: And what was the closed version, the alternative version of this verb?

S: Γράψω ... γράψω [ghrápso].

T: Good, γράψω. Very good. Γράψω. So, if you say, I will write, most of the time in
future, we will be using this closed version – most of the time, not necessarily. I
will write, how would that be?

S: Θα γράψω [tha ghrápso].

T: Θα γράψω. Good. So, most of the time, I will write, we will be referring to a
specific situation, no? Θα γράψω. But maybe we will say something like, I’ll still be
writing. “Still” gives us an ongoing feeling. So the word for “still” in Greek is ακόμα
[akóma] or ακόμη [akómi]. It doesn’t really make a difference at all which one you
use; there’s just two coexisting versions, ακόμα and ακόμη.

S: Aκόμα, ακόμη.

T: I will be writing still?

S: Θα γράφω ακόμα [tha ghráfo akóma].

T: Θα γράφω, good. There we have a open feeling, no? Θα γράφω ακόμα. Good. So
this is also a pattern, uh? The movement from γράφω [ghráfo] to γράψω

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 [ghrápso] is also a pattern. You’ll also notice maybe that it’s the stressed syllable
that changes between the two different versions, γράφω, γράψω – the one that
takes the stress, the same with μαθαίνω [mathéno] and μάθω [mátho]. It’s the
stressed syllable there that disappeared. So when we move between our two
forms, it’s the syllable that takes the stress that’s going to change. We also saw, “I
return”, something like, I on-turn, if that helps.

S: Περι ... επι ... επιγράφω [epighráfo]? No, επιστρόφη [epistrófi] ... επιστρόφω
[epistrófo], no. Επιστρέφω [epistréfo].

T: Very good. Really good what you did there, uh? You just started not asking
yourself, “Do I know? Don’t I know?” – not worrying about that; you just started
trying to find it and you got there. Very good. Επιστρέφω, I return, I’m coming
back, I’m going back. Επιστρέφω, good.

S: Επιστρέφω [epistréfo].

T: So we have like, επι [epi], and then στρέφω [stréfo], like in καταστροφή
[katastrofí], no? So the alternative form of επιστρέφω, might be?

S: Επιστρέψω [epistrépso].

T: Επιστρέψω. Good, επιστρέψω. So, I return, or I’m returning, by itself, both
meanings, we get with ... ?

S: Επιστρέφω [epistréfo].

T: Επιστρέφω. Good. But then after να, after θα, we need to think about what we
mean. So if we say something like, I can’t come back?

S: Δεν μπορώ να επιστρέψω [dhen boró na epistrépso].

T: Δεν μπορώ να επιστρέψω. No? Most of the time we will be referring to a specific
returning, no? But you never know. You might be saying something like, I can’t
come back at 5 o’clock, but today I can come back. Generally I can’t come back at
5 o’clock, but today I can come back. Well, in this case, I can’t come back at 5
o’clock, we mean generally, no? So how would that be, I can’t come back?

S: Δεν μπορώ να επιστρέφω [dhen boró na epistréfo].

T: Good. “At 5 o’clock” is, η ώρα πέντε [i óra pénde]. Η ώρα πέντε.

S: Η ώρα πέντε.

T: Good. So we have η ώρα [i óra] which means “the hour”, and that’s a feminine
noun, and πέντε [pénde] which means “five”, like the pentagon shape with five
sides, or the pentagram, the musical notation with five lines. So we have, πέντε

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 meaning “five”. Η ώρα πέντε. I can’t come back at 5 o’clock generally, we mean.
“Generally” is γενικά [yeniká]. Γενικά.

S: Okay, γενικά. Δεν μπορώ να επιστρέφω ...

T: Very good.

S: … η ώρα πέντε …

T: Good.

S: ... γενικά.

T: Very good. So there we have a perfect context to justify επιστρέφω. Δεν μπορώ
να επιστρέφω η ώρα πέντε γενικά [dhen boró na epistréfo i óra pénde yeniká].
Or, γενικά δεν μπορώ να επιστρέφω η ώρα πέντε [yeniká dhen boró na epistréfo i
óra pénde]. But … the word for “but” is, αλλά [alá]. Αλλά.

S: Αλλά.

T: Good. Today I can come back. “Today”, you remember the word for today? It has
the word day inside it in Greek …

S: Μέρα [méra]?

T: Μέρα, it has inside. Today, what was it?

S: Σήμερα [símera].

T: Σήμερα. Good, σήμερα. But today, I can come back.

S: Αλλά σήμερα μπορώ να επιστρέψω [alá símera boró na epistrépso].

T: Very good. Very good.

S: Η ώρα πέντε [i óra pénde].

T: Well yeah, if you want it. So all together we’ll have something like, Generally I
can’t come back at 5 o’clock, but today I can come back. Γενικά δεν μπορώ να
επιστρέφω η ώρα πέντε αλλά σήμερα μπορώ να επιστρέψω [yeniká dhen boró na
epistréfo i óra pénde alá símera boró na epistrépso]. So we see we really need to
look at the context to decide which version of the verb we need, but not all the
time in Greek. Only after να, after θα, and some other situations we will see. We
saw briefly that we can use, “It can”, like “maybe”. How was, It can? Μπορώ is, I
can.

S: Μπορεί [borí].

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T: Μπορεί. So μπορεί we can use like maybe, so if you say something like, Maybe he
is coming back still, and you mean, on the road. Maybe he’s still on the road. Is
this an ongoing thing or a closed thing? So how would that be, Maybe he’s still
coming back?

S: Μπορεί να επιστρέφει ακόμα [borí na epistréfi akóma].

T: Very good. Μπορεί να επιστρέφει ακόμα, or ακόμη [akómi]. So this would mean,
Maybe he’s still on the road, no? Maybe he’s still in the act of coming back. That
open, ongoing feeling. But if you wanted to say something like, you know, Maybe
he will still come back, you know. Maybe it’s still a possibility that he returns, no?
Then here we have a closed feeling. It’s out there in the future; it’s far away. But
that doesn’t make it ongoing; it’s closed. It’s his act of returning. Maybe he will
still return.

S: Μπορεί να επιστρέψει ακόμα [borí na epistrépsi akóma].

T: Very good. Μπορεί να επιστρέψει ακόμα. Very good.

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Complete Greek, Track 29 – Language Transfer

Teacher: Another time we have to think about whether we want our open or our
closed version of the verb … we’ve seen after να [na] after θα [tha]. Another time
that we will think about it is after the word “if”. If is easy to remember, because
interestingly it’s like, να backwards, αν [an].

Student: Αν.

T: Which is spelt like A (άλφα [álfa]), and like a V-shape, which gives us that N, αν. So
if is αν, and after αν we have the option to use either version of the verb, which
means we are also obliged to think about which one we want. If we say something
like, We can do it if you’re coming back tonight; if you’re coming back tonight,
what do we mean? Do we mean, “We can do it if you’re on the road coming back”
(Open), or do we mean, “We can do it if you have come back” (Closed)?

S: Closed.

T: It’s a closed thing. So how would you say that, We can do it if you’re coming back
tonight. So the first bit is, We can do it; We are able to do it.

S: Μπορούμε να το κάνουμε [borúme na to kánume].

T: Very good. Μπορούμε να το κάνουμε. The word for “tonight” is απόψε [apópse].
Απόψε.

S: Απόψε.

T: If you’re coming back tonight.

S: Αν επιστρέψεις [an epistrépsis].

T: Very good. And tonight was … ?

S: Απόψε.

T: Very good. Μπορούμε να το κάνουμε αν επιστρέψεις απόψε [borúme na to
kánume an epistrépsis apópse]. So this was a particularly interesting sentence,
because in English we were saying, If you’re coming back tonight, which, if we just
look at that seems open and ongoing, no? But if we look at the meaning, we see
that what we are referring to isn’t the journey, you know, if you are coming back;
what we mean is, if you come back, if you have come back. So we’ve seen three
situations where we need to think about how we want to represent time, and
choose between our two verb forms. We’ve seen after θα, after να, and after αν.
And we’ve also seen some patterns, like with I write, γράφω [ghráfo] to γράψω
[ghrápso], like επιστρέφω [epistréfo] to επιστρέψω [epistrépso], which is, I return.
“I cook” is μαγειρεύω [mayirévo]. Μαγειρεύω.

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S: Μαγειρεύω.

T: Good. Μαγειρεύω, I cook. So, if you say something like, I don’t know if she cooks,
is it an ongoing open feeling, or is it a closed feeling? Don’t decide too quickly.
Have a really good think about it. Is it an open feeling, or is it a closed feeling: I
don’t know if she cooks.

S: Open.

T: Open, no? Because we’re talking about her ability to cook, if she cooks generally,
so that’s an open feeling. So how would you say that, I don’t know if she cooks?

S: Δεν ξέρω αν αυτή μαγειρεύει [dhen kséro an aftí mayirévi].

T: Good. Δεν ξέρω αν μαγειρεύει. Or, δεν ξέρω αν αυτή μαγειρεύει. Or, αν
μαγειρεύει αυτή. So there we have the open feeling. The closed version, the
alternative version of, μαγειρεύω is μαγειρέψω [mayirépso]. Μαγειρέψω. So the
pattern that we saw for example between γράφω and γράψω; επιστρέφω,
επιστρέψω, is F to PS, or V to PS. We can hear the V and F are very similar sounds,
[f], [v]. So they are joining together for this rule that we found: F or V to PS.
Μαγειρεύω, μαγειρέψω, I cook. “I travel”, is ταξιδεύω [taksidhévo]. Tαξιδεύω.

S: Tαξιδεύω.

T: So how might you expect the closed version of ταξιδεύω to be?

S: Tαξιδέψω [taksidhépso].

T: Tαξιδέψω. Very good. If you say, I want to travel, and you mean soon, you mean
this year. How would it be?

S: Θέλω να ταξιδεύω [thélo na taksidhévo].

T: So just because it’s soon, it doesn’t make it ongoing, no? We are referring to the
event, the act of travelling, which is one closed thing. So how would that be, I
want to travel?

S: Θέλω να ταξιδέψω [thélo na taksidhépso].

T: Θέλω να ταξιδέψω. Soon, next year, in a month, wouldn’t make it open. It’s still
closed; we’re just saying when you want that closed thing to happen, no? But if
you were to say something like “often”, no? I want to travel often, and that makes
the meaning of that verb, ταξιδεύω open, ongoing. The word for “often” is, συχνά
[sikhná]. Συχνά.

S: Συχνά.

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T: So how would it be, I want to travel often?

S: Θέλω να ταξιδεύω συχνά [thélo na taksidhévo sikhná].

T: Θέλω να ταξιδεύω συχνά. So if we go back to, I cook (μαγειρέυω). If you were to
say, I want to cook, and you mean like now, with you guys, tonight, this weekend.
How would it be?

S: Θέλω να μαγειρε ... μαγειρέψω.

T: Good, θέλω να μαγειρέψω [thélo na mayirépso]. But if you say, I want to cook
more often – the word for “more” is πιο [pyó]. Πιο.

S: Πιο.

T: So how is, more often?

S: Πιο συχνά [pyó sikhná].

T: Very good. Πιο συχνά. So if you were to say, I want to cook more often?

S: Θέλω να μαγειρέψω ... Νo, μαγειρεύω πιο συχνά.

T: Very good. Θέλω να μαγειρεύω πιο συχνά [thélo na mayirévo pyó sikhná]. No?
That’s an ongoing feeling. I want to be cooking more often. Good.

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Complete Greek, Track 30 – Language Transfer

Teacher: “The journey” is, το ταξίδι [to taksídhi].

Student: Το ταξίδι.

T: You might hear, κάλο ταξίδι [kálo taksídhi] in Greek, good journey. Like, bon
voyage, no? So we have ταξίδι – journey, and ταξιδεύω – I travel. The word for
“work” is δουλειά [dhuliá]. Δουλειά.

S: Δουλειά.

T: Good, with δέλτα [dhélta] (Δ/δ), very good. Δουλειά. “The work” is, η δουλειά [i
dhuliá].

S: Η δουλειά.

T: So what gender is this?

S: Feminine.

T: Feminine. “I work” is, δουλεύω [dhulévo]. Δουλεύω.

S: Δουλεύω.

T: So this “εύω” [évo] to get the verb, you will see around in Greek, like in ταξίδι/
ταξιδεύω, δουλειά/δουλεύω.

S: Δουλεύω.

T: Work to I work. How was tomorrow?

S: Αύριο [ávrio].

T: How would you say, I will work tomorrow?

S: Θα δουλέψω αύριο [tha dhulépso ávrio].

T: Θα δουλέψω αύριο. Very good. So you could get, δουλέψω by yourself from
δουλεύω. But, like we said, it just depends on context, and sometimes context is
just in the mind. In this case, both work. Θα δουλέψω αύριο. Here we have the
feeling of, I will work tomorrow – we refer, we choose here to refer to tomorrow
as a closed period of time. But we could also say, θα δουλεύω αύριο, and all this
means is, I will be working tomorrow, and it’s equally as correct; it’s just the
feeling changes – the feeling of how we’re referring to time changes. So in some
situations, in some situations, it just depends on what’s in your mind. In other
situations, one sounds right and the other one sounds wrong. But in this case,

129
 “What are you doing tomorrow?”, θα δουλεύω [tha dhulévo], θα δουλέψω [tha
dhulépso], both are fine. You can also use, δουλεύει [dhulévi] like, it works, in the
sense of like, it functions, you know? So, imagine you have something that doesn’t
work, and you say something like, “Give it a try, maybe it will work”. So how
would that be, Maybe it works, in this sense of, Maybe it will work. We think it’s
not working, but we’re going to give it a try, and we say, Maybe it will work. Is
that open or is that closed?

S: Μπορεί να δουλέψει [borí na dhulépsi].

T: Good. Correct. Μπορεί να δουλέψει. Good. So it’s not working, but maybe it
might; that’s like an event, you know? Maybe it will work. But if I want to say,
Maybe it works, so we don’t know if it works or not; we’re just saying, Maybe it
works. Is that an open, ongoing thing or a closed thing?

S: An open thing.

T: Yes, right? We’re talking about its state. If it’s working or not. So how would that
be, Maybe it works?

S: Μπορεί να δουλεύω ... δουλεύει [borí na dhulévo … dhulévi].

T: Good. Μπορεί να δουλεύει. How would you say, I want to work still? And what
you mean in this case is, I don’t want to retire; I want to work still. Or maybe a
little more Greek sounding, Still I want to work. Still I want to work.

S: Ακόμα θέλω να δουλεύω [akóma thélo na dhulévo].

T: Very good. Ακόμα θέλω να δουλεύω. Very good. So we’ve seen a little about the
movement between the noun, the words you can put “the” or “a” in front of, “the
journey” (το ταξίδι [to taksídhi]), “the work” (η δουλειά [i dhuliá]), and the verb –
ταξιδεύω [taksidhévo], δουλεύω [dhulévo]. Other examples include, “a plant”
(φυτό [fitó]). That’s the noun, “a plant” (ένα φυτό [éna fitó]), and it’s neuter. And
φυτεύω [fitévo], “I plant”, no? “I plant a plant”. Or, for example, between the
word “fish” (ψάρι [psári]), “a fish” (ένα ψάρι [éna psári]), also neuter, and I fish,
I’m fishing (ψαρεύω [psarévo]). So this is useful to notice, because it might help
you guess the meaning of new words you come across, and also guess words you
might not know.

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Complete Greek, Track 31 – Language Transfer

Teacher: “Agoraphobia”, in English, agoraphobia, describes the fear of open or public
spaces, like crowded spaces with a lot of people, no? We have the PH there,
suggesting to us that this is from Greek. And “phobia” is, φόβος [fóvos] in Greek, ο
φόβος [o fóvos], which means “the fear”. Agora – αγορά [aghorá] in Greek – is
“the marketplace”, η αγορά [i aghorá]. And again we have the [gh] there, like in
γράφω [ghráfo], εγώ [eghó]. Η αγορά, the market.

Student: Η αγορά.

T: So actually, η αγορά was market or open space. The market was set up in an open
space. So this is where this word comes from: agoraphobia – the fear of open or
public spaces like the marketplace. From, η αγορά, we can get, αγοράζω
[aghorázo]. Αγοράζω, which means “I buy”.

S: Αγοράζω.

T: Αγοράζω. This is the second time we’ve seen ζω [zo] on the end giving us the verb.
Αγορά to αγοράζω, and we also saw αρχή, η αρχή [i archí] – the beginning – and, I
start, I begin?

S: Αρχίζω [archízo].

T: Αρχίζω. Good. How would you say, I’m buying it?

S: Το αγοράζω [to aghorázo].

T: Το αγοράζω. So, I buy it; I’m buying it. When the verb is by itself not introduced by
θα, να, αν, we just have, αγοράζω: I buy or I’m buying. To get the closed version,
the alternative version form of the verb, αγοράζω, we change the Z to an S, and
we get αγοράσω [aghoráso].

S: Αγοράσω.

T: Good. And especially native English speakers are going to have to be really careful
with this difference, because the S by itself in English often sounds like a Z
anyway, like in “is”, IS, or like the second S in “houses”, houses. So that can be
quite confusing for English speakers. You will have to listen to yourself pronounce
to make sure you get that change: αγοράζω, αγοράσω [aghorázo, aghoráso]. The
word for “day” we saw was, μέρα [méra], and today … ?

S: Σήμερα [símera].

T: Σήμερα. Good. How would you say, I will buy it today?

S: Θα το αγοράσω σήμερα [tha to aghoráso símera].

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T: Good. Θα το αγοράσω σήμερα. Good. So if you’re a native English speaker, your
ear is going to tune very quickly to this difference between [s] and [z], and you will
notice it much more than you ever did. Αγοράσω. What was, the book?

S: Το βιβλίο [to vivlío].

T: Good. Το βιβλίο. And how was, books, the plural? What did βιβλίο become?

S: Βιβλία [vivlía].

T: Βιβλία. “The books” is τα βιβλια [ta vivlía]. So not only does βιβλίο become βιβλία
to become plural, το becomes τα [ta] if you say, the books.

S: Τα βιβλία.

T: Τα βιβλία. So how would you say, I’ll buy the books today. I will buy the books
today?

S: Θα αγοράζω τα βιβλία σήμερα [tha aghorázo ta vivlía símera].

T: Here I heard a Z. Αγοράζω [aghorázo]. So it sounds like, I will be buying the books
today, like open, ongoing, which might fit in some contexts, but much more
common would just be, I will buy the books today, a closed event, a closed period
of time. Θα αγοράσω τα βιβλία σήμερα [tha aghoráso ta vivlía símera]. Now if you
want to say, I’m buying them today, and you refer to the books, just as we did
when we said, αγοράζω το βιβλίο, and then, το αγοράζω, for “I buy it”. Αγοράζω
τα βιβλια (“I buy the books”), and to say, I buy them, what might you do?

S: Τα αγοράζω [ta aghorázo].

T: Very good. Τα αγοράζω. So that “τα” then becomes “them”, referring to the
books. How would you say, I want us to buy them today? I want we buy them
today.

S: Θέλω να τα αγοράζουμε σήμερα [thélo na ta aghorázume símera].

T: Good. What this feels like is something like, I want us to be buying them today,
which might work in some context, uh? We will always … most of the time we
could find a context where it will fit, but in this case the context is very heavily
leaning to a closed period, no?

S: Θέλω να τα αγοράσουμε σήμερα [thélo na ta aghorásume símera].

T: Very good. Θέλω να τα αγοράσουμε σήμερα. Let’s buy them today?

S: Να τα αγοράσουμε σήμερα [na ta aghorásume símera].

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T: Very good. Να τα αγοράσουμε σήμερα. I want to buy them often. What was the
word for often?

S: Συχνά [sikhná].

T: Συχνά. Good. So how would you say that, I want to buy them often?

S: Θέλω να τα αγοράσω ... No, … αγοράζω συχνά. (Laughs.)

T: Very good. Θέλω να τα αγοράζω συχνά [thélo na ta aghorázo sikhná]. Αγοράζω,
our normal, standard version of the verb, because we are referring to something
open and ongoing there with συχνά, the word for often. Good. Give me again,
what was, I start, or I’m starting?

S: Αρχίζω [archízo].

T: Αρχίζω. So the closed version of αρχίζω might be ... ?

S: Αρχίσω [archíso].

T: Αρχίσω. Very good. So if you say something like, Maybe it’s starting soon. Maybe
it’s starting soon, here again we have a kind of situation where both are fine; it
just depends on what you have in your mind. Maybe it’s starting soon and you
imagine starting as something like an ongoing thing that’s taking place soon. Or
maybe it starts soon. In this case both work. “Soon” is σύντομα [síndoma].
Σύντομα.

S: Σύντομα.

T: How would that be, Maybe it’s starting soon, Maybe it starts soon?

S: Μπορεί να αρχίζει ... [borí na archízi].

T: Either one!

S: … αρχίσει σύντομα [archísi síntoma].

T: Σύντομα [síndoma].

S: Σύντομα [síndoma].

T: Good. So give it to me altogether, Maybe it’s starting soon.

S: Μπορεί να αρχίζει σύντομα [borí na archízi síndoma].

133
T: Yeah, in this case we could have, Maybe it’s starting, maybe it starts, whatever
feeling there would fit: μπορεί να αρχίζει σύντομα, μπορεί να αρχίσει σύντομα.
So that’s another pattern, Z to S: αγοράζω/αγοράσω [aghorázo/aghoráso],
αρχίζω/ αρχίσω [archízo/ archíso]. Very good.

134
Complete Greek, Track 32 – Language Transfer

Teacher: So we saw the pattern of Z to S, between our standard and our closed
version of the verb, like in the verb, “I buy”, αγοράζω/αγοράσω [aghorázo/
aghoráso]. We saw also with, “I start”, αρχίζω [archízo], and then the closed
version, αρχίσω [archíso]. But this doesn’t mean necessarily that all Z’s will
become S’s. You might find other patterns as well. For example, “I play”, is παίζω
[pézo]. Παίζω.

Student: Παίζω.

T: So this is spelt P, which is the letter that looks like the mathematical symbol (Π/π),
the pi, no; AI (αι), which gives us the [e] sound, like in και [ke], the word for “and”,
like in ναι [ne], the word for “yes”; ZO (ωμέγα [omégha]). Παίζω, “I play”. The
“point” version of παίζω is παίξω [pékso].

S: Παίξω.

T: So here it doesn’t become S, it becomes [ks], KS, or that’s just one letter in Greek
(Ξ/ξ), [ks]. Παιξω.

S: Παίξω.

T: Παίξω. How would you say, Where is your child? How was, my friend. Do you
remember how to say, my friend?

S: Ο φίλος μου [o fílos mu].

T: Ο φίλος μου – a male friend. Or a female friend?

S: Η φίλη μου [i fíli mu].

T: Very good, uh? So, “the child” is, το παιδί [to pedhí]. We saw it’s neuter, and μου
[mu] which is “my”, to become “your” – what does that M change to?

S: Σου [su].

T: An S, σου.

S: Σου.

T: Good. So, your child, is going to be “the child your”.

S: Το παιδί σου [to pedhí su].

T: Good. Το παιδί σου. Where is, where is your child?

135
S: Πού ... πού είναι το παιδί σου; [pu íne to pedhí su?].

T: Good. Πού είναι το παιδί σου; Where is your child? You might want to say, “Oh he
will still be playing”. You can say that like in the same way as English, He will still
be playing, like you suppose it, no? He will still be playing, using “will” in that way
to show assumption. You can do exactly the same there in Greek. So how would
that be, He will still be playing?

S: Θα παίζω [tha pézo] ... Νo ...

T: Tο παιδί, no?

S: Si, si, το παιδί.

T: So, not παίζω, but …

S: Ah! Θα παίζει ακόμα [tha pézi akóma].

T: Θα παίζει ακόμα, no? He will still be playing: he will still be out there playing,
probably. And of course ακόμα there, the word for “still”, gives us that open,
ongoing feeling, so we stay with παίζει [pézi]; we don’t switch to παίξει [péksi].
What was the word for book again?

S: Το βιβλίο [to vivlío].

T: Βιβλίο. Good, or, το βιβλιο, the book. And what was books?

S: Βιβλία [vivlía].

T: Βιβλία. So we saw that to make this neuter noun plural, the O changed to an A.
Βιβλίο, βιβλια. Or, το βιβλίο, τα βιβλία. Το παιδί, the child, also a neuter word, to
make that plural, you will add an A. Παιδί doesn’t end in an O, so you will add that
A onto the end. And it’s also accented, it takes the stress. So how would that
sound?

S: Τα παιδιά [ta pedhiá]?

T: Good. Παιδιά, or the children, τα παιδιά. “They want”. They want, is θέλουν
[thélun]. Θέλουν.

S: Θέλουν.

T: So for they, we have ουν [un] as an ending. How would you say, The children
want it, and the children is like “they”, no?

S: Τα παιδιά το θέλουν [ta pedhiá to thélun].

136
T: Very good. Τα παιδιά το θέλουν. How would you say, The children want them, like
the books? The children want them?

S: Τα παιδιά τα θέλουν [ta pedhiá ta thélun].

T: Very good. Τα παιδιά τα θέλουν. Τα θέλουν τα παιδιά [ta thélun ta pedhiá].
Flexible. How would you say, The children are playing?

S: Τα παιδιά παίζουν [ta pedhiá pézun].

T: Very good. Τα παιδιά παίζουν. Παίζουν τα παιδιά [pézun ta pedhiá]. The children
are playing. How would you say, The children want to play? So we said that παίζω
[pézo] becomes … ?

S: Παίξω [pékso].

T: Παίξω. Good. So, The children want to play.

S: Τα παιδιά θέλουν να παίξουν [ta pedhiá thélun na péksun].

T: Very good. Τα παιδιά θέλουν να παίξουν. Good. So this would refer to something
closed, no? Like the children here, these children want to play. But if you meant
generally, Children want to play, you know like, all children want to play – in a
sentence like that in Greek, you will still say, The children want to play, when you
refer to all children in the world. You will still say, The children want to play. So
how would that be? Children want to play?

S: Τα παιδιά θέλουν να παίζουν [ta pedhiá thélun na pézun].

T: Very good. Τα παιδιά θέλουν να παίζουν. Generally, γενικά [yeniká], generally
speaking. Άλλο [álo], άλλο in Greek, means “other”.

S: Άλλο.

T: “The other guy” is, ο άλλος [o álos].

S: Ο άλλος.

T: The other girl, would be … ?

S: Η άλλη [i áli].

T: Η άλλη. Good. So I gave you the neuter first, no? Άλλο. Το άλλο βιβλίο [to álo
vivlío], the other book. Το άλλο σπίτι [to álo spíti], the other house. But, ο άλλος,
the other guy, or the other one, if you’re referring to a masculine thing like, the
other road. How would you say that, the other road?

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S: Ο άλλος δρόμος [o álos dhrómos].

T: Ο άλλος δρόμος. Good. But, ο άλλος by itself can be the other guy, or the other
one. Αλλάζω [alázo], αλλάζω means, “I change”.

S: Αλλάζω.

T: So again we have the ZO ending (ζω) giving us the verb from άλλο: αλλάζω. If you
say, I will change, αλλάζω changes like παίζω changes. So how would that be, I
will change? And this could mean like a change of clothes, for example.

S: Θα αλλάξω [tha alákso].

T: Good. Θα αλλάξω. And, I won’t change?

S: Δεν θα αλλάξω [dhen tha alákso].

T: Δεν θα αλλάξω. How would you say, I won’t change it? I will not change it?

S: Δεν θα το αλλάξω [dhen tha to alákso].

T: Very good. Δεν θα το αλλάξω. I won’t change them?

S: Δεν θα τα αλλάξω [dhen tha ta alákso].

T: Very good. Δεν θα τα αλλάξω. What was, It can, or maybe?

S: Μπορεί [borí].

T: Μπορεί. How would you say, Maybe they are changing it, and you mean right
now (Maybe they are in the act of changing it.).

S: Μπορεί να το αλλάζουν [borí na to alázun].

T: Μπορεί να το αλλάζουν. We saw that the word for “soon” was, σύντομα [sídoma/
síndoma]. Σύντομα. So we could also say something like, Maybe they’re changing
it soon, Maybe they will change it soon.

S: Μπορεί να το αλλάζουν ... αλλάξουν σύντομα [borí na to alázun … aláksun
sídoma].

T: Very good. Μπορεί να το αλλάξουν σύντομα [borí na to aláksun sídoma]. So the
“soon” there might feel like something ongoing, but it’s not. It’s just the when.
We’re still referring to something closed, and σύντομα, soon, tells us when that’s
happening. How would you say, The other guy will change it? The other guy will
change it.

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S: Ο άλλος θα το αλλάξει [o álos tha to aláksi].

T: Very good. Ο άλλος θα το αλλάξει. Θα το αλλάξει ο άλλος [tha to aláksi o álos].
The other guy won’t change it.

S: Ο άλλος δεν θα άλλαξει ... δεν θα το αλλάξει.

T: Ο άλλος δεν θα το αλλάξει [o álos dhen tha to aláksi]. Good. So we saw, ουν [un]
for they, no? Δουλεύω was, “I work”. How is, They work?

S: Δουλεύουν [dhulévun].

T: Δουλεύουν. Παίζω, I play, and They play?

S: Παίζουν [pézun].

T: Παίζουν. Good. Αγοράζω [aghorázo] is I buy, or I’m buying. And, They buy, they’re
buying?

S: Αγοράζουν [aghorázun].

T: Αγοράζουν. And then our closed version of the verb, δουλεύουν [dhulévun] would
become?

S: Δουλέψουν [dhulépsun].

T: Δουλέψουν. Παίζουν [pézun], would become?

S: Παίξουν [péksun].

T: Παίξουν. Αγοράζουν [aghorázun] would become?

S: Αγοράσουν [aghorásun].

T: Αγοράσουν. Good. So we see all these different patterns, but actually we’re just
seeing one thing happen in all of these patterns, if we think about it. Generally
speaking, going from the standard, open, ongoing, version of our verb to our
closed version in Greek, we can only move to one of three sounds: S (αγοράζω/
αγοράσω [aghorázo/aghoráso]); KS (παίζω/παίξω [pézo/pékso]); or PS (γράφω/
γράψω [ghráfo/ghrápso]). Which is actually just to one sound, an S. We are
always moving to an S, no? We saw some exceptions. We saw like N’s fall away.
But generally speaking in Greek, for our closed version of the verb, we are moving
to S, be it PS, KS, or just an S.

In real life, when you’re trying to find the alternative form of a verb, you can run
through these options in your head, and the one you heard before is going to
jump out at you. So that’s a very good trick. Just have a quick run through those,

139
 and even if you’ve heard it and you haven’t realised, it’s going to stand out. So
maybe you come across a verb like νομίζω [nomízo], which means “I believe”, and
you need the closed version of that verb. So you will just run through the
possibilities – νομίξω, νομίψω, νομίσω [nomíkso, nomípso, nomíso], and if you’ve
heard one of those before it’s going to stand out.

S: How do you know?

T: You mean if you’ve never heard it?

S: Yes.

T: Well you don’t know, no? But it’s always worth just giving a quick run through.
That quick run through is going to take less than a second, no? And you will never
know if you’ve heard it before, but if you have heard it a few times you will really
have a strong feeling of which one it should be.

S: Mhm, okay.

T: And of course you can always ask whoever you’re practicing with, no? You can
say, θα … how is, θα ... , and that should trigger in them the closed version.

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Complete Greek, Track 33 – Language Transfer

Teacher: The word for “perfect” in Greek, perfect, is τέλειο [télio]. Τέλειο.

Student: Τέλειο.

T: How would you say, It is perfect?

S: Είνάι τέλειος [íne télios]. Τέλειο [télio].

T: It depends, no? It depends … it depends what you are talking about, no? Είνάι
τέλειο [íne télio], that could be a neuter thing, no? Τέλειος would be a masculine
thing, or you also often hear like, it’s an expression like “great!” – τέλεια! [télia].
Τέλεια. Τέλεια, what does it look like? What gender does it look like?

S: Plural … ?

T: Plural. Plural what?

S: Neutral plural.

T: Very good. I was expecting you to go for feminine first, which is – it is also the
feminine. The A can also be feminine, like we saw in απολογία [apoloyía],
apology. Μέρα [méra], day. But here the A is neuter plural, because the neuter
plural … so that plural that we learnt: βιβλίο [vivlío] to βιβλία [vivlía], for example,
that also gives us the adverb. Now the adverb just means the word that has “-ly”
usually in English. So, perfectly, perfectly. And perfectly, τέλεια in Greek, is used
quite often like an expression. Τέλεια.

S: Τέλεια.

T: Good. Τελειώνω [telióno], τελειώνω is, “I finish”. So literally maybe like, I perfect,
no? But it’s, I finish, in modern standard Greek. Τελειώνω.

S: Τελειώνω.

T: Τελειώνω. Good. How would you say, They finish, or They’re finishing?

S: Τελειώνουν [teliónun].

T: Very good. Τελειώνουν. So τελειώνω is our standard version of the verb, and our
closed version of the verb that we might need to use after θα [tha] or να [na] or
αν [an], we’ve also seen, is τελειώσω [telióso].

S: Τελειώσω.

T: So how would you say, I will finish it tomorrow?

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S: Θα το τελειώσω αύριο [tha to telióso ávrio].

T: Very good. Θα το τελειώσω αύριο. I will finish it tomorrow. The word for “when”
in Greek was πότε [póte]. Πότε.

S: Πότε, πότε.

T: Good. How would you say, When will you finish it? When will you finish it?

S: Πότε θα το τελειώσεις; [póte tha to teliósis].

T: Very good. Πότε θα το τελειώσεις; So we have, τέλειο [télio] – perfect, and then
τελειώνω [telióno], the verb – I finish. The word for “soon” was σύντομα [sídoma].
Σύντομα.

S: Σύντομα [síntoma].

T: Like with a D: σύντομα [sídoma].

S: Σύντομα.

T: Good. They will finish it soon.

S: Θα το τελειώσουν σύντομα [tha to teliósun sídoma].

T: Very good. Θα το τελειώσουν σύντομα. Maybe they’ll finish it soon. So we said
that we could get the meaning of maybe with, It can.

S: Μπορεί [borí].

T: Good so, Maybe they’ll finish it soon.

S: Μπορεί να θα να το τελειώσουν [borí na tha na to teliósun] ... ?

T: Yeah, so I think you went just a little bit too fast, no? We got a little cluster of να’s
and θα’s there in the middle. Actually, we will never have να and θα together,
ever. Because when we make that choice between the ordinary, standard form of
the verb, or the closed form, we receive that information, that context, no? So,
Maybe they’ll finish it soon, is “It can, να, they finish it soon”. But of course when
we say, They finish, we have to make a decision. So let’s go back to the beginning:
It can?

S: Μπορεί.

T: They finish it soon.

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S: Να το τελειώσουν σύντομα [na to teliósun sídoma].

T: Μπορεί να το τελειώσουν σύντομα [borí na to teliósun sídoma]. Very good. The
word for “cold” in Greek is κρύο [krío]. Κρύο.

S: Κρύο.

T: And that’s spelτ K – the greek K (κ); the R sound, which is actually spelt with a P
(ρ), the letter looks like a P gives us an R. And then we have the U (υ) there, the I
sound there is a U. We saw how the U out of combination can give us an I sound
like in δύο [dhío], δύο, the word for two, or where we get “duo” from in English.
And then finally the O, the one what looks like the English O (ο). So it will look like
K-P-U-O (κρύο [krío]). Κρύο.

S: Κρύο.

T: How would you say, It is cold?

S: Είναι κρύο [íne krío].

T: Είναι κρύο. If you’re referring to the climate, you will say, It makes cold. So how
would that be, It makes cold?

S: Κάνει κρύο [káni krío].

T: Κάνει κρύο. Very good. You could also say, It has cold, for the climate, uh? Έχει
κρύο [échi krío]. Now to say, “I am cold”, you could say, κρυώνω [krióno].

S: Κρυώνω.

T: So this is κρύο [krío] with the νω [no] on the end, just like we saw with τέλειο,
τελειώνω [télio, telióno]. And then we get a verb, so this is a verb. I am colding, I
am colding, I am cold. Κρυώνω.

S: Κρυώνω.

T: Good. How would you say, Are you cold?

S: Κρυώνεις; [kriónis?].

T: Very good. Κρυώνεις; Aren’t you cold? Aren’t you cold?

S: Δεν κρυώνεις; [dhen kriónis?].

T: Δεν κρυώνεις; Good. So how would you say, I don’t want to be cold?

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S: Δεν θέλω να κρυώνω [dhen thélo na krióno] … δεν θέλω να κρυώσω [dhen thélo
na krióso].

T: Very good. Δεν θέλω να κρυώσω. So this would be referring to a specific situation,
no? I’ll take my jacket because I don’t want to get cold, I don’t want to be cold.
Δεν θέλω να κρυώσω. But κρυώνω, you might want to use in a different
circumstance, you know, if you’re referring to ongoing time. So we’ve seen:
τελειώνω [telióno] to τελειώσω [telióso], κρυώνω, κρυώσω [krióno, krióso], which
makes Ν quite an interesting letter, no? Because we’ve seen that the Ν can … ?

S: Disappear …

T: … can disappear, no? We have παίρνω/πάρω [pérno/páro], for I take;
φέρνω/φέρω [férno/féro], for I bring; μαθαίνω/μάθω [mathéno/mátho] for I
learn. The Ν can also show us that the verb is not changing at all: κάνω, περιμένω
[káno, periméno]. Κάνω and περιμένω don’t have alternative forms. So Ν can
either disappear, can just stay with no change, or here as we’ve seen, turn to an S.
“I arrive”, or “I’m arriving”, is φτάνω [ftáno].

S: Φτάνω.

T: Φτάνω. I really like this word. It’s fun to have the F and the T together, no? It’s
odd to find these two sounds together in this way at the beginning of a word. We
have them together in English, no? “After”, for example, but they’re two separate
syllables. But starting a syllable [ft], is very weird in English.

S: [ft] is difficult.

T: Yes it is a bit difficult for you as a Spanish speaker for sure, because again it’s like
the ST, where you’d want to put the E before, no? Φτάνω. How would you say, It
arrives, she arrives, he arrives?

S: Φτάνει [ftáni].

T: Φτάνει.

S: Φτάνει.

T: Φτάνει, it arrives, is also an expression. It’s a way of saying, “enough”. You just say
φτάνει – enough. How would you say, It’s not enough?

S: Δεν φτάνει [dhen ftáni].

T: Δεν φτάνει. Very good. Very good on the pronunciation there; it’s a bit difficult to
put that all together. Δεν φτάνει. Actually, in standard Greek, you will hear that Ν
being dropped, δε φτάνει [dhe ftáni].

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S: Δε φτάνει.

T: Δε φτάνει. So it’s not incorrect to say, δεν φτάνει, but you’ll notice in Greek that
before some letters, the Ν of δεν and some other words we’ll see tends to be left
off before certain letters, and F is one of them. So, δε φτάνει. And also in writing.
So δεν in writing you can find is δε or δεν. What was again the word for when?

S: Πότε [póte].

T: Πότε. When will you arrive?

S: Πότε φτάνεις; [póte ftánis?].

T: That’s, When are you arriving, no? That works, πότε φτάνεις; But you could also
say, When will you arrive?

S: Πότε θα φτάσεις; [póte tha ftásis?].

T: Good. Πότε θα φτάσεις; No? Good. In a little bit, in a little bit ... ?

S: Σε λίγο [se lígho].

T: Σε λίγο. Very good. I will arrive in a bit, I will arrive in a bit.

S: Θα φτάσω σε λίγο [tha ftáso se lígho].

T: Good. Θα φτάσω σε λίγο.

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Complete Greek, Track 34 – Language Transfer

Teacher: What was, I arrive, or I’m arriving?

Student: Φτάνω [ftáno].

T: Φτάνω. Good. And, Τhey arrive?

S: Φτάνουν [ftánun].

T: Φτάνουν, good. And I should mention that we have a variation on the “they”
form: -ουν [un] or -ουνε [une], with all verbs, so you might hear φτάνουν [ftánun]
or φτάνουνε [ftánune]. It doesn’t make any difference. You can use either. Maybe
you notice that some people’s individual dialects, their idiolects – we all have our
individual dialect – that a certain person might prefer one over the other, and also
dialects of certain regions, they might prefer one over the other. But it’s not
something you have to worry about. Φτάνουν or φτάνουνε.

If you want to stress the word for “they”, you know, if you want to say, they’re
arriving, not us, well you need to know the word for “they”, no? This will depend
on if you have a male group, a mixed group, or a female group. So they is the
plural of he, she, and it. And that’s not obvious in English, because those words
don’t look like each other. They doesn’t look like he or she. But if you think about
it, you obviously know two he’s, you refer to them as they. And two she’s, you
refer to them as they. And two it’s is they. So they is the plural of he, she, and it.
What is the word for she in Greek.

S: Αυτή [aftí].

T: Αυτή. So we need the plural of the word αυτή, if we are referring, for example, to
an all-female group, no? This is αυτές [aftés]. Αυτές.

S: Αυτές.

T: Good. So this means they, referring just to females or to feminine things, no? So
how would you say, They want, and you’re emphasizing the word for they, that
feminine group? They want?

S: Αυτές θέλουν [aftés thélun].

T: Very good. Αυτές θέλουν. Αυτές θέλουνε [aftés thélune]. What was the word for
but?

S: Αλλά [alá].

T: Good. Αλλά. We – and we will emphasize the word for “we” – We don’t want but
they want, they do. We don’t want but they do.

146

S: Εμείς δεν θέλουμε αλλά αυτές θέλουνε [emís dhen thélume alá aftés thélune].

T: Very good. Εμείς δεν θέλουμε αλλά αυτές θέλουν [emís dhen thélume alá aftés
thélun] ... αυτές θέλουνε [aftés thélune]. So, for they do, we just repeat they
want: αλλά αυτές θέλουν. What was the word for, It is, he is, she is?

S: Είναι [íne].

T: Είναι, good. The word for, “They are”, is also είναι – it doesn’t change.

S: Είναι.

T: How would you say, She is?

S: Αυτή είναι [aftí íne].

T: Αυτή είναι. And, They are, for our female group?

S: Αυτές είναι [aftés íne].

T: Good. So it doesn’t change: είναι αυτή, είναι αυτές [íne aftí, íne aftés]. Έίναι. How
would you say, Ιt is there? Do you remember the word for, there?

S: Έκει [éki]?

T: Εκεί [ekí], good. So, It is there?

S: Εκεί είναι [ekí íne].

T: You could put εκεί first, εκεί είναι. That would just be a bit emphatic, like, Τhere it
is’, no? But the most normal order would be ... ?

S: Είναι εκεί [íne ekí].

T: Είναι εκεί, good. How would you say, They are there?

S: Αυτές είναι εκεί [aftés íne ekí].

T: Good. So this would be for women or for feminine objects, no? Αυτές είναι εκεί.
And as you did, we can say the word αυτές if we need to clarify, which you might
need to, with so many different meanings for είναι [íne]. We saw that the word
for “that”, like “that day”, for example, we built on the word for “there”. How was
that word? The word for, that?

S: Εκεί … [ekí … ] – it depends on the word?

147
T: Good, good. So give me one of them.

S: Ah. Εκείνος, εκείνη, εκείνο [ekínos, ekíni, ekíno].

T: Good, good, very good. So how would that be then for the feminine plural for
those (feminine things), or even for, those females, those girls?

S: Eκείνες [ekínes].

T: Very good. So, εκείνες can mean those, those ones, referring to feminine things,
or those girls, those women. So if you were to say, those want, those girls want,
how would it be?

S: Εκείνες θέλουν [ekínes thélun].

T: Good. Εκείνες θέλουν. How would you say, Those females – they over there – are
doing it?

S: Εκείνες κάνουν... εκείνες το κάνουν [ekínes to kánun].

T: Good. Εκείνες το κάνουν, or εκείνες το κάνουνε [ekínes to kánune]. So this also
means that we have the main plural pattern for feminine nouns. Nouns were
those words we can put “the” or “a” in front of like, “the day”, for example. How
was day in Greek? Καλη [kalí] …

S: Μέρα [méra].

T: Yes, we have that popular greeting, καλημέρα [kaliméra], and that’s of course
literally “good day”, so we have μέρα for day. So μέρα is feminine and is going to
become plural, just like αυτή [aftí] to αυτές [aftés]. So that ES (-ες) ending to get
the plural is going to work also for μέρα. So how would you say that, days?

S: Μέρες [méres].

T: Yes, μέρες, good. If you want to say, the days, the days, the word for “the” is the
same sound as with the singular. So, we have, η μέρα [i méra] and, the days?

S: Οι μέρες [i méres].

T: Οι μέρες. Good. So this οι [i] sounds the same, the word for “the” (Η/η [ι]); it
doesn’t change here, but it’s spelt differently. It’s spelt OI (οι). So OI in Greek also
just gives us [i]; the combination of OI gives us the [i] sound. And it’s associated
with plurals. So when you write “the days”, that’s spelt with OI, οι μέρες [i méres].
How would you say, those days?

S: Eκείνες οι μέρες [ekínes i méres].

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T: Very good. Eκείνες οι μέρες. And, these days?

S: Αυτές οι μέρες [aftés i méres].

T: Αυτές οι μέρες. So αυτές [aftés] is they, and also these.

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Complete Greek, Track 35 – Language Transfer

Teacher: So tell me again what was the word for she, and also the word for this,
referring to feminine things?

Student: Αυτή [aftí].

T: Good, and the word for they, referring to females or feminine things, and also the
word for these, referring to feminine things?

S: Αυτές [aftés].

T: Αυτές, good. The plural of αυτός [aftós] is entirely more interesting. The plural of
αυτος is αυτοί [aftí]. But this αυτοί is spelt OI (οι). So I mentioned that the OI
spelling of the [i] sound is associated with plurals. We’ve seen how the [i] sound,
which is used a lot in the grammar, no, to show different things like the verb
ending or the feminine, is spelt in a different way depending on what it’s showing.
We saw the feminine [i] with that N- or H-shaped letter (η/Η); we saw the [i] on
the end of the verb like κάνει [káni], φτάνει [ftáni], τελειώνει [telióni], which is
like EI (ει); and now the plural [i] sound, OI (οι). So, the plural of αυτός (αυτοί),
sounds just like “she”, but it’s spelt differently. If you wanted to say, for example,
They are finishing, not us. Let’s start with, They are finishing, emphasizing that
male or mixed group.

S: Αυτοί τελειώνουν [aftí teliónun].

T: Good. Αυτοί τελειώνουν. They’re finishing (Αυτοί τελειώνουν), not us. So for, not
us, we could say, “no we”. You remember the word for “no”? I mentioned it really
briefly.

S: Δεν [dhen]?

T: That’s the word for “not”, but the word for “no” is όχι [óchi].

S: Όχι.

T: Όχι. And the word for, we?

S: Εμείς [emís].

T: Yeah. So how would that be, not us?

S: Όχι εμείς [óchi emís].

T: Good. They’re finishing, not us. Αυτοί τελειώνουν, όχι εμείς [aftí teliónun, óchi
emís]. We’re still going. So this also means we have the main plural pattern for

150
 masculine nouns as well, so we can think of a masculine noun that we’ve come
across, like the word for, road. How was that?

S: Δρόμος [dhrómos].

T: Δρόμος. So how would roads be?

S: Δρόμοι [dhrómi].

T: Δρόμοι. And how is that spelt, that [i] sound on the end?

S: OI (οι).

T: Good. The roads … first give me, the road. What is the word for the, for masculine
singular, the road?

S: Ο δρόμος [o dhrómos].

T: Good. Ο δρόμος. Now, the roads, is οι δρόμοι [i dhrómi].

S: Οι δρόμοι.

T: Good. And how is the [i] spelt?

S: OI.

T: Good.

S: Both, both?

T: Both of them, of course. Well actually, that’s where I was going. If you would say,
these roads, how would that be?

S: Αυτοί οι δρόμοι [aftí i dhrómi].

T: Good. And of course all spelt OI, OI, OI, all the way down. Αυτοί οι δρόμοι. Good.
And, those roads?

S: Eκείνοι οι δρόμοι [ekíni i dhrómi].

T: Very good. Eκείνοι οι δρόμοι. How was, I arrive?

S: Φτάνω [ftáno].

T: How would you say, When are they arriving? Stressing the word for they. So,
When are they arriving?

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S: Πότε φτάνουν αυτοί; [póte ftánun aftí?].

T: Πότε φτάνουν αυτοί; [póte ftánun aftí?]. You can just stick αυτοί on the end
there, or you could have it at the beginning, αυτοί πότε φτάνουν; [aftí póte
ftánun?]. You remember the word for, world? Like in cosmopolitan, a worldly city.

S: Κόσμος [kósmos].

T: Κόσμος [kózmos]. So if you wanted to say, worlds?

S: Κόσμοι [kózmi].

T: Κόσμοι. Good. Maybe you would use that speaking metaphorically. The word for
“other” – other or another, was άλλο [álo] for neuter.

S: Άλλο.

T: Άλλο, good. How would you say, other worlds?

S: Άλλοι κόσμοι [áli kózmi].

T: Άλλοι κόσμοι, good. So the masculine plural sounds like the feminine, although it
looks different. So αυτός [aftós] becomes αυτοί [aftí]. And this connection
between feminine and plural is seen in many languages, which is quite interesting.
In German you have, for example, sie [zi] for “they” and sie for “she”. In Arabic
you have plural objects behaving like “she”. So in different languages you find this
connection between plural and feminine. I don’t know why it is; there are various
ideas about it. Maybe it’s because women create more people. Women are the
only people that create more people. How would you say, He wants, and we’re
stressing the word for he?

S: Αυτός θέλει [aftós théli].

T: Αυτός θέλει. And, They want, stressing the word for, they?

S: Αυτοί θέλουν [aftí thélun].

T: Αυτοί θέλουν, good. And, She wants?

S: Αυτή θέλο … αυτή θέλει [aftí théli].

T: Αυτή θέλει. Very good. And, They want, talking about females?

S: Αυτοί θέλουν [aftí thélun].

T: That would be masculine or a mix, but we want the feminine. How is the
feminine?

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S: Αυτές θέλουν [aftés thélun].

T: Αυτές θέλουν. Very good. So we’ve seen now the main plural pattern for
masculine, feminine, and neuter. We’ve seen αυτή [aftí] to αυτές [aftés] for
feminine, αυτός [aftós] to αυτοί [aftí] for masculine, and for neuter, we also saw
the plural, αυτό [aftó] to … ?

S: Αυτά [aftá].

T: Αυτά. So we have αυτό to αυτά, like βιβλίο [vivlío], βιβλία [vivlía] – the books;
παιδί [pedhí], παιδιά [pedhiá] – the children. House? How might that become?

S: Σπίτι [spíti].

T: Good. So how do you think you would make it plural, as it’s, το σπίτι [to spíti].

S: Τα σπίτια [ta spítia].

T: Τα σπίτια, very good.

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Complete Greek, Track 36 – Language Transfer

Teacher: The verb, “I lose”, or “I’m losing”, is χάνω [kháno]. Χάνω.

Student: Χάνω.

T: So that’s spelt with the letter that looks like an X (χ), and you should be careful
there, because the K can look a little bit like an X in Greek. This X kind of really
hangs below the line. XAV (which gives us the N sound), and then the W (ω,
ωμέγα [omégha]), that gives us the O. Xάνω, I lose, I’m losing. What do you think
the closed version of χάνω might be?

S: Χάσω [kháso]?

T: Χάσω, χάσω, good. How would you say, I will lose it?

S: Θα χάσω … θα το χάσω [tha to kháso].

T: Θα το χάσω, good. And, I will lose them?

S: Θα τα χάσω [tha ta kháso].

T: Θα τα χάσω. And this is them, only for neuter objects or for children, no? We saw
that, παιδί, παιδιά [pedhí, pedhiá] is neuter so, τα χάσω, it could refer to, The
children, I will lose them. What was, I have?

S: Έχω [ékho].

T: Έχω [ékho]. He has, she has, it has?

S: Έχει [échi].

T: Έχει [échi]. So here we see that the Χ/χ [ch] is a little softer – έχει – because it’s
followed by an [i] sound that softens it. We’re going to see that of a couple of
others letters in Greek too: έχω [ékho], it’s harder there than έχει [échi], a little
softer. You have?

S: Έχεις [échis].

T: Έχεις, good. We have?

S: Έχουμε [ékhume].

T: Yeah, and there it’s more brutal again, no? Έχουμε, έχουμε, more friction. They
have?

S: Έχουν [ékhun].

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T: Έχουν, good. Now what if you wanted to stress the word for they, and you’re
referring to a masculine group or a mixed group. They have?

S: Αυτοί έχουν [aftí ékhun].

T: Αυτοί έχουν, good. And what if you’re referring to a female group?

S: Αυτές έχουν [aftés ékhun].

T: Αυτές έχουν, good. So something that’s really cool that we can do with what we
know already – we don’t need to learn anything new – is to talk about the past in
Greek. Now we have a few ways to talk about the past, both in Greek and in
English. Compare, I lost it, I have lost it, and I was losing it. Now we’re going to
learn, with what we know already, how to build, I have lost it. The first bit is, I
have.

S: Έχω [ékho].

T: Έχω. Now to get the “have” past, the have past of lost, no, I have lost it … To build
this, we start with the closed version of the verb, χάσω [kháso].

S: Χάσω.

T: And then we go into the “he, she, it” form. We take off the [o] (ω), and we add an
[i] sound or an EI (ει), in writing. And we get … how would that sound?

S: Χάσει [khási].

T: Χάσει. Sο Έχω χάσει [ékho khási] is, “I have lost”. So χάσει [khási] is always χάσει.
It has nothing to do with “he, she, it” here. This is just the form that we use to get
that “have” past. So, Έχω χάσει, is “I have lost”. If you want to say, I have lost it …
and the it, we must have it up front. So we have the it first: It I have lost.

S: Το έχω χάσει [to ékho khási].

T: Good. Το έχω χάσει. I haven’t lost it?

S: Δεν το έχω χάσει [dhen to ékho khási].

T: Good. Δεν το έχω χάσει. Very good. So you never have to think about open or
closed here in this “have” past. It’s always just, χάσει. We have lost?

S: Έχουμε χάσει [ékhume khási].

T: Έχουμε χάσει, έχουμε χάσει. He has lost, she has lost?

155
S: Έχει χάσει [échi khási].

T: Good. They haven’t lost it?

S: Δεν έχουν χάσει [dhen ékhun khási].

T: Good. And the “it”?

S: Δεν το έχουν χάσει [dhen to ékhun khási].

T: Very good. Δεν το έχουν χάσει. They haven’t lost it, very good. “I forget”, in Greek,
I forget, is ξεχνάω [ksekhnáo]. Ξεχνάω.

S: Ξεχνάω.

T: And a difficult one, we have to think our way through, no? So the first sound is KS,
[ks].

S: [ks].

T: There that’s one letter in Greek. That’s the letter that looks like a kind of curvy
capital E with a little tail (Ξ/ξ). Something like that. So that’s the first part, ξε [kse],
the [ks] with an E, ξε.

S: Ξε [kse].

T: Ξεχνάω [ksekhnáo].

S: Ξεχνάω.

T: Ξεχνάω. So if you wanted to say, She is forgetting?

S: Ξεχνάει [ksekhnái].

T: Ξεχνάει, ξεχνάει. She’s forgetting me, she forgets me?

S: Με ξεχνάει [me ksekhnái].

T: Με ξεχνάει, good. I mentioned briefly that “him” was τον [ton] and “her” was την
[tin]. So we have τον and την for him and her. So if you wanted to say something
like, She’s forgetting him ... So, She’s forgetting?

S: Αυτή ξεχνάει [aftí ksekhnái].

T: Good. So we don’t need αυτή but we can put it. Ξεχνάει, αυτή ξεχνάει. And now,
She’s forgetting him.

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S: Αυτή τον ξεχνάει [aftí ton ksekhnái].

T: Good. Τον ξεχνάει [ton ksekhnái], or, αυτή τον ξεχνάει. How would you say, She’s
forgetting her?

S: Αυτή την ξεχνάει [aftí tin ksekhnái].

T: Very good. Αυτή την ξεχνάει, or just, την ξεχνάει [tin ksekhnái]. What was again, I
lose?

S: Χάνω [kháno].

T: Χάνω, χάνω. And, I forget?

S: Ξεχνάω [ksekhnáo].

T: Ξεχνάω, good. So actually these two words, these two verbs, are related. It’s not
very obvious from χάνω, ξεχνάω [kháno, ksekhnáo], but it’s very obvious from the
closed forms of the verbs. We’ve seen that χάνω becomes χάσω [kháso]. Ξεχνάω
becomes ξεχάσω [ksekháso], and we can feel the connection in the meaning, no?
When you forget something, you lose it, no? So you have χάνω, I lose, and then
ξεχνάω, I forget. But the closed forms of those verbs are χάσω [kháso] and
ξεχάσω [ksekháso]. So how would you say, I have forgotten?

S: Έχω χάσω … χάσει … έχω χάσει [ékho khási].

T: That would be, I have lost, no? But it’s a very small step from there.

S: Yeah. Έχω ξεχάσει [ékho ksekhási].

T: Very good. Έχω ξεχάσει. I haven’t forgotten?

S: Δεν έχω ξεχάσει [dhen ékho ksekhási].

T: Very good. Δεν έχω ξεχάσει. I haven’t forgotten him?

S: Δεν τον έχω ξεχάσει [dhen ton ékho ksekhási].

T: Very good. Δεν τον έχω ξεχάσει. He – and we’ll use the word for he – He hasn’t
forgotten her? He hasn’t forgotten her?

S: Αυτός δεν την έχει ξεχάσει [aftós dhen tin ékhi ksekhási].

T: Very good. Αυτός δεν την έχει ξεχάσει. The word for “shop”, in Greek, is μαγαζί
[maghazí], or, το μαγαζί [to maghazí]. Like I said, like I mentioned briefly, you
want to learn your nouns with the word for “the”, so you can interiorise when you
come across it, what gender it is. So, το μαγαζί, “the shop”.

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S: Το μαγαζί.

T: How do you think you would say, The shops?

S: Τα μαγαζιά [ta maghaziá].

T: Good. Τα μαγαζιά. So, if we have an O we change it to an A to get our plural for
neuter nouns. But if we don’t, we just stick an A on the end, no? Μαγαζί, μαγαζιά
[maghazí, maghaziá]. The verb for, “I close”, or “I’m closing”, is κλείνω [klíno].
Κλείνω.

S: Κλείνω.

T: How do you think the closed version of that might be?

S: Κλείσω [klíso]?

T: Κλείσω, good. The closed version of, to close, κλείσω. So, if you want to say, The
shops have closed – let’s go through that bit by bit. The shops is the first bit.

S: Τα μαγαζιά.

T: Τα μαγαζιά. Have … ?

S: Έχουν [ékhun].

T: Έχουν, good. The shops is they. Τα μαγαζιά έχουν [ta maghaziá ékhun] … closed?

S: Κλείσει [klísi].

T: Κλείσει, very good. Τα μαγαζιά έχουν κλείσει [ta maghaziá ékhun klísi]. You cοuld
also say something like, The shops will have closed. Now when we say that out of
context, it’s a bit difficult to understand what we mean when we say that in
English. But if I give you the context, it’s clear. You know, you’re about to go out
to buy something, and I tell you the shops will have closed. In English I can use
that to show something like a probability – they will have closed by this time, no?
We can do exactly the same thing in Greek. So how would you say that? The shops
will have closed?

S: Τα μαγαζιά θα έχουν κλείσει [ta maghaziá tha ékhun klísi].

T: Very good. Τα μαγαζιά θα έχουν κλείσει, no? The shops will have closed.

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Complete Greek, Track 37 – Language Transfer

Teacher: We saw that, αρχή [archí], αρχή, was “start”, or “the start”, η αρχή [i archí].
And we had, υπάρχει [ipárchi], built of υπο [ipo] and αρχή, so like the “under-
start”, meaning “there is”. Υπάρχει.

Student: Υπάρχει.

T: So, υπάρχει, there is, is it exists. Υπάρχει. So if you want to say, There are, instead
of there is, you would say, They exist. How would that be?

S: Υπάρχουν [ipárkhun].

T: Υπάρχουν. Very good. So you could say, for example, There are two – two was
related to “duo”, in English.

S: Δύο [dhío].

T: Very good. So, There are two?

S: Υπάρχουν δύο [ipárkhun dhío].

T: Υπάρχουν δύο. Good. And, There is one? The word for “one” is the same as the
word for “a”. So if you could remember, a book, for example.

S: Υπάρχει ένα [ipárchi éna].

Τ: Ένα, if you mean a neuter thing … or what else could that be? What if you meant a
masculine thing?

S: Ένας. Υπάρχει ένας [ipárchi énas].

T: Ένας. Or a feminine thing? Do you remember the feminine word for “a”?

S: Μία [mía].

T: Μία. So that’s also “one”, no? All of that is also “one”. Υπάρχει ένα, υπάρχει ένας,
υπάρχει μία [ipárchi éna/énas/mía]. Very good. But, There are two?

S: Υπάρχουν δύο [ipárkhun dhío].

T: Υπάρχουν δύο. And then we had, αρχίζω [archízo], no? So, αρχή – “start”, and
“the start”, η αρχή [i archí], and then, αρχίζω, “I start”, the verb. Αρχίζω.

S: Αρχίζω.

T: And what was the closed version of, αρχίζω?

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S: Αρχίσω [archíso].

T: Αρχίσω, with an S, very good. So how would you say, I have started?

S: Έχω αρχίσει [ékho archísi].

T: Έχω αρχίσει, very good. So we start with, “I have”, έχω [ékho], and then we need
to find “started”, no? So we go to our closed version of the verb and we use the
he/she/it form. Αρχίζω, αρχίσω, αρχίσει [archízo, archíso, archísi]. Η ταινία [i
tenía], η ταινία, is “the movie”. Η ταινία.

S: Η ταινία.

T: So what gender is ταινία?

S: Feminine.

T: Feminine, good. So how would you say, The movie has started?

S: Η ταινία έχει αρχίσει [i tenía échi archísi].

T: Good. Η ταινία έχει αρχίσει. Very good. How would you say, The movies have
started? So, η ταινία is the movie. How do you think you would get, the movies?
You could look back to another feminine word that goes into plural to remind
yourself, or to find that ending for the feminine plural. Like αυτή [aftí] becomes?

S: Αυτές [aftés].

T: Good. So there you have the main plural pattern for feminine nouns.

S: Yes. Οι ταινίες [i teníes].

T: Οι ταινίες. Very good. So how would you say, The movies have started?

S: Οι ταινίες … Οι ταινίες έχουν αρχίσει [i teníes ékhun archísi].

T: Very good. Οι ταινίες έχουν αρχίσει. With an S. Αρχίσει, good. So actually in this
“have” past, we don’t need to think about the open and closed version of the
verb. We are just building it from the closed version always, no? And this “have”
past kind of by definition is closed in feeling, no? It has started. That’s always a
closed feeling. So we don’t have to think about that; that’s just how we build this
“have” past. We start with the closed version, αρχίσω, and we find the he/she/it
version, αρχίσει. “I finish”, or “I’m finishing”, was τελειώνω [telióno]. Τελειώνω.

S: Τελειώνω.

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T: How was the closed version of, τελειώνω? You can run through the options – the
possible options – and see which ones …

S: With … I think it is without N …

T: Try it out loud.

S: I think it is without an N.

T: No, no. I mean try it out loud. Try building it out loud.

S: Τελει … τελειώσω [telióso].

T: Bravo! There you found it, uh? Because you can just run through the options and
the one that you used before is going to just sound right. So you can run through
τελειώψω, τελειώξω, τελειώσω [teliópso, teliókso, telióso]. And then you’ll
remember: Oh yes, it was τελειώσω. Τελειώσω, very good. So you can say, The
movie has finished.

S: Η ταινία έχει τελειώσει [i tenía échi teliósi].

T: Very good. Η ταινία έχει τελειώσει. Very good. The movies have finished?

S: Οι ταινίες έχουν τελειώσει [i teníes ékhun teliósi].

T: Very good. Οι ταινίες έχουν τελειώσει. Very good.

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Complete Greek, Track 38 – Language Transfer

Teacher: Sometimes the difference between the open, the standard, and the closed,
the alternative version of the verb is totally random – totally random. And this is
because actually, historically, the two versions have often come from different
verbs. But now they came together to form one verb. Now that might sound really
strange, but it actually even happens in English. You have “I go”, and then “I
went”. Went is not the past of go, in the literal sense of that verb. Went comes
from a different verb. Went comes from the old verb, to wend. But now go and
went, they got married, they came together to form the full set, no? Otherwise
we’d have something like “goed”, no? So that happens in English as well. So we’ll
find this in Greek. For example, “I see”, or “I’m seeing”, was βλέπω [vlépo].
Bλέπω.

Student: Βλέπω.

T: Good. Now the closed version of βλέπω is δω [dho]. Δω. That’s δέλτα (Δ/δ)
[dhélta], and the ωμέγα (Ω/ω) [omégha] giving us the O [o] sound. Δω.

S: Δω.

T: This might be connected to θωρώ [thoró], which is how we say, “I see”, “I’m
seeing”, in Cyprus. It’s an alternative, ancient form. I don’t know if that’s
connected, but they are clearly from different verbs. Βλέπω, “I see”, “I’m seeing”,
in standard Greek, and δω, the closed version. How would you say, We’ll see, We
will see?

S: Θα δούμε [tha dhúme].

T: Θα δούμε. Very good. We’ll see, θα δούμε. Good. How would you say, I don’t
want, I don’t want them to see me? I don’t want – να – they see me?

S: Δεν θέλω να με δουν [dhen thélo na me dhun].

T: Good. Δεν θέλω να με δουν. Δεν θέλω να με δούνε [dhen thélo na me dhúne].
Very good. I don’t want them to see me. How would you say, Have you seen it?
Have you seen it? You have seen it?

S: Το έχεις δει; [to échis dhi?].

T: Very good. Το έχεις δει. And how is that δει [dhi] spelt?

S: Δει . [dh] …

T: … with δέλτα [dhélta].

S: Δέλτα - E - I.

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T: Very good. EI (ει) gives us the he/she/it form of the verbs. Which is what we use
here, no, for our “have” past. Δει. Tο έχεις δει; Have you seen it? How would you
say, Have you seen them? – talking about neuter things.

S: Τα έχεις δει; [ta échis dhi?].

T: Τα έχεις δει; Good. Have you seen him? How was, him?

S: Τον [ton].

T: Τον.

S: Τον έχεις δει; [ton échis dhi?].

T: Τον έχεις δει; Her. Have you seen her?

S: Την έχεις δει; [tin échis dhi?].

T: Very good. Την έχεις δει; So we have τον and την for him and her. But that’s also
masculine it and feminine it if we know what we’re talking about. So, for example,
if you wanted to say, Have you seen it, and this it refers to, the movie, no? And
because you know that the movie is, η ταινία, that it’s feminine – there you will
say, Have you seen her, referring to the movie. So this her can also be feminine it.
So how would you say that, Have you seen it? – and you mean, the movie?

S: Την έχεις δει; [tin échis dhi?].

T: Good. Την έχεις δει; Have you seen it? Feminine it. So for, I see, we have, βλέπω
and δω. Very different. “I eat”, or “I’m eating”, is τρώω [tróo]. Τρώω.

S: Τρώω.

T: Eh, we have “trophic” in English, no, like the trophic levels of a food chain. So
that’s related. Of course we have PH in trophic, suggesting to us that it’s from
Greek. Τρώω. “You eat”, is τρως [tros]. That’s a little bit weird. We have the S for
you, but it’s not the [is] (εις), like in θέλεις [thélis], no? Τρως.

S: Τρως.

T: What are you eating?

S: Τι τρως; [ti tros?].

T: Τι τρως; “We eat” is weird in the same way. We have τρώμε [tróme], rather than
τρούμε [trúme]. Τρώμε.

163
S: Τρώμε [tróme].

T: We eat. How do you think, They eat, might be?

S: Τρων [trón].

T: Actually it will be strange to hear, τρων. It sounds a little bit weird. In this case we
will have, τρώνε [tróne].

S: Τρώνε.

T: Good. The closed version of τρώω, the closed version of τρώω is, φάω [fáo]. Φάω.

S: Φάω.

T: Which is maybe where the PH of trophic comes, no? In trophic we have both. We
have τρωω and then [f] giving us the F in Greek, so that’s easy to remember.
Τρώω, φάω. Trophic. So, φάω is the closed version of τρώω. So if, for example,
you want to say, I don’t want to eat?

S: Δεν θέλω να φάω [dhen thélo na fáo].

T: Good. Δεν θέλω να φάω. F-A-O. Φάω. Δεν θέλω να φάω. And of course this would
mean, I don’t want to eat, like now, or a specific instance. It’s a closed period. But
if you meant generally, like, I don’t want to eat (unhealthy things), you would say
δεν θέλω να τρώω [dhen thélo na tróo]. How would you say, What shall I eat?
What shall I eat? How do we get that feeling?

S: Τι θα φάω; [ti tha fáo?].

T: Τι θα φάω would be, What will I eat. And I guess you could use it like that. Τι θα
φάω; What will I eat, no, as a suggestion. But to make it much clearer that you’re
saying something like “shall”: What shall I eat. So first is, What.

S: Τι ...

T: And then it’s, Shall I eat.

S: … να φάω; [na fáo?].

T: Good. Τι να φάω; [ti na fáo?]. Τι να φάω;

S: Τι να φάω;

T: What shall I eat? Very good. What shall we eat?

S: Τι να φάμε; [ti na fáme?].

164

T: Τι να φάμε; And we can change the tone of voice to say, We should eat.

S: Να φάμε [na fáme].

T: Να φάμε. Good. And you can also say, Ας φάμε [as fáme], ας φάμε, in Greek. This
ας [as] is like “let’s” as well. Ας φάμε, let’s eat.

“Come”, like the order, “Come!”, in Greek, is έλα [éla]. Έλα.

S: Έλα.

T: Έλα. How would you say, Come to eat? How do you think you would build that?

S: Έλα να φας [éla na fas].

T: Very good! Έλα να φας. Έλα να φας. How would you say, Come and see, Come to
see?

S: Έλα να … έλα να δεις [éla na dhis].

T: Good. Έλα να δεις. Έλα να δεις. Come see. Come see it?

S: Έλα να το δεις [éla na to dhis].

T: Έλα να το δεις. Very good. Come and see us, like, Come and visit us, Come and see
us?

S: Έλα να μας δεις [éla na mas dhis].

T: Good. Έλα να μας δεις. Very good.

165
Complete Greek, Track 39 – Language Transfer

Teacher: How was, my friend? My friend. The word for friend, we can relate it to, like,
“philos” in philosophy, which means the love of wisdom. How is, my friend, the
friend my?

Student: Ο φίλος μου [o fílos mu].

T: Ο φίλος μου. Very good. And, my friends? Imagine we have a masculine or a
mixed group? My friends.

S: Οι φίλοι μου [i fíli mu].

T: Οι φίλοι μου. Very good. And, My friend, talking about a female?

S: Η φίλη μου [i fíli mu].

T: Η φίλη μου. The same, no? But written differently, but to the ear, it’s the same.
How would you say, She is my friend?

S: Αυτή είναι η φίλη μου [aftí íne i fíli mu].

T: Αυτή είναι η φίλη μου. And how would you say, They are my friends? Again
talking about mixed or masculine.

S: Αυτοί είναι οι φίλοι μου [aftí íne i fíli mu].

T: Exactly the same! Αυτοί είναι οι φίλοι μου. Because είναι [íne] can be, he/she/it
is, or they are, no? So here we will understand by the context, but there’s
definitely some room for confusion, no? But if you were to say, feminine friends,
no? My friends, and you mean feminine friends, how would that be?

S: Οι φίλες μου [i fíles mu].

T: Very good. Οι φίλες μου. My friends, feminine. Οι φίλες μου. And, your friends,
feminine?

S: Οι φίλες σου [i fíles su].

T: Good. Οι φίλες σου. Very good. Your friends, your female friends. So μου [mu],
what we use for my, is actually “to me”. And σου [su], what we use for your, is
actually something like “to you”. And other languages deal with possession in a
similar way: Turkish, Arabic, for example. In Arabic – or Egyptian Arabic at least –
you know if you want to say, “I have a house”, you would say “andi bet” (at me
house), no? And we did something very similar when we say, ο φίλος μου [o fílos
mu]: the friend to me. So μου is “to me”, and σου is “to you”. And you will use
these words when you mean, to me, instead of, me. So, for example, if you say

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 He’s telling me, what we mean there is, to me. So we won’t use με [me], we will
use μου [mu]. So let’s practice that. “I say”, or “I tell”, or “I’m saying”, “I’m
telling”, is λέω [léo]. Λέω.

S: Λέω.

T: As if it were LEO (Λ-Ε-Ω). Λέω.

S: Λέω.

T: “You say”, is λες [les]. Λες. So it’s a little bit irregular, like τρώω, τρως [tróo, tros].
Λέω, λες [léo, les].

S: Λες.

T: How would you say, What do you say? What do you say? And you can use this
like, What do you think? What do you say, what do you think?

S: Τι λες; [ti les?].

T: Τι λες; Good. Now you can also say, What are you saying to me? – which you can
use like, What are you on about, what are you talking about? So here we don’t
need με [me], me, we need, to me. What is, to me?

S: Μου [mu].

T: Good. So, What are you telling me?

S: Τι μου λες; [ti mu les?].

T: Τι μου λες; What are you talking about? What are you on about? Τι μου λες;
Good. So that sounds quite different to, τι λες; [ti les?], which is, What do you
think? Like, we want to go to the cinema – What do you think? Τι λες; And, τι μου
λες; What are you on about? “We say”, or “We tell” is, λέμε [léme]. Λέμε.

S: Λέμε.

T: So we see again like the S for you in λες, and the M for we in λεμε, but they are a
little bit irregular, no? We don’t have λούμε [lúme], we have λέμε. How would
you say, We say them, and that them is neuter plural. I know it sounds weird in
English, but it means something in Greek. We say them, how is that?

S: Τα λέμε [ta léme].

T: Τα λέμε. And this is used like, ciao in Greek. Τα λέμε, τα λέμε. We say them –
those neuter things. Like, We catch up. Like, We’ll catch up. Τα λέμε.

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S: Τα λέμε.

T: And how do you think, They say, they tell, might be? Λέω, λες, λέμε [léo, les,
léme] ... If you continue that pattern, how might it be, They say, they tell?

S: Λένε [léne].

T: Λένε, good! Very good. Λένε. So when you find one version of a verb that is not as
you expect it to be, you can still use that to guess how the other versions might
be, because we will find patterns within that, as we’ve seen: τρώω, τρως, τρώμε,
τρώνε [tróo, tros, tróme, tróne]. Λέω, λες, λέμε, λένε [léo, les, léme, léne]. The
word for “how”, in Greek, how, is πώς [pos]. Πώς.

S: Πώς.

T: If you say, How do they say you? So, How do they say you? That means, How do
they call you, what are you called? What’s your name? So how would you say that,
What’s your name? Or, How do they say you? And what you do you think you
would use?

S: Πώς σε λένε; [pos se léne?].

T: Πώς σε λένε; And you used σε here, because it’s, How do they say you? rather
than, How do they say to you, no? It’s, How do they call you? So it’s, σε [se] rather
than σου [su]. But what if you wanted to say, What are they saying to you? What
are they saying to you?

S: Πώς … τι … Τι σου λένε; [ti su léne?].

T: Τι σου λένε; Good, What are they telling you? Τι σου λένε; The closed version of
λέω, the closed version of λέω is, πω [po].

S: Πω.

T: Πω. P – ωμέγα [omégha]. So that pi (π) and ωμέγα. Πω.

S: Πω.

T: So like βλέπω [vlépo] and δω [dho] for, I see, and τρώω [tróo] and φάω [fáo] for,
I’m eating, we have a crazy shift there from λέω [léo] to πω [po]. How would you
say, I shall, I should, you know that feeling starting with να, tell you?

S: Να σου πω [na su po].

T: Να σου πω. And you will hear this very often in Greek, as a way of kind of opening
up conversation or starting a sentence, Να σου πω, like, Οh I wanted to tell you
something, you know? Να σου πω, is very, very common in Greek; you will hear

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 that around. So that is literally, να – that feeling of shall – to you I tell. Να σου πω.
What should I tell you? What shall I tell you?

S: Τι να σου πω; [ti na su po?].

T: Τι να σου πω; Τι να σου πω; Also used very often in Greek like, you know, What
do you want me to say? Or, What do you want me to do?, even. Tι να σου πω;
What do you want me to say? So we have τι for what, and something was, κάτι
[káti], κάτι.

S: Κάτι.

T: How would you say, I want to tell you something?

S: Θέλω να σου πω κάτι [thélo na su po káti].

T: Good. Θέλω να σου πω κάτι. Good. What was, I can, or I’m able to?

S: Μπορώ [boró].

T: Μπορώ. How would you say, I can’t tell you?

S: Δεν μπορώ να σου πω [dhen boró na su po].

T: Δεν μπορώ να σου πω. Very good. How would you say, I can’t see you?

S: Δεν μπορώ να σε δω [dhen boró na se dho].

T: Very good! Δεν μπορώ να σε δω. Very good. And you went back to, σε [se], no?
Because it’s not, see to you, it’s see you. Δεν μπορώ να σε δω. What have you
said? What have you said?

S: Τι έχεις πει; [ti échis pi?].

T: Τι έχεις πει;

S: Τι έχεις πει;

T: What has she told you? What has she said to you?

S: Τι σου έχει πει; [ti su échi pi?].

T: Very good. Τι σου έχει πει; So again we don’t want to work too much with direct
translations, no? Because we saw that in English, both translations are possible.
What has she said to you? (to you), and, What has she told you? So what we’re
looking for is the meaning. If what we mean is, to you, and then we want to put

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 σου. Tι σου έχει πει; What has she said to you? What has she told you? Why
hasn’t she told me yet? Why hasn’t she told me yet?

S: Γιατί δεν μου έχει πει ακόμα; [yatí dhen mu échi pi akóma?].

T: Very good. Γιατί δεν μου έχει πει ακόμα;

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Complete Greek, Track 40 – Language Transfer

Teacher: Δίνω [dhíno], δίνω is, “I give”, or “I’m giving”. Δίνω.

Student: Δίνω.

T: Again with δέλτα [dhélta], no? Δίνω. So how would you say, We’re giving?

S: Δίνουμε [dhínume].

T: Δίνουμε. Good. And, You’re giving?

S: Δίνεις [dhínis].

T: Δίνεις, good. The closed version, the closed version of δίνω is, δώσω [dhóso],
δώσω.

S: Δώσω.

T: So we have the N to S shift, but we also have a vowel change, so that’s a bit
irregular, no? We go from δίνω to δώσω. How would you say, They have given me
the book? They have given me the book.

S: Μου έχουν δώσει το βιβλίο [mu ékhun dhósi to vivlío].

T: Very good, μου [mu] because to give, is give to me, μου. Μου έχουν δώσει το
βιβλίο. And you could also say, They have given me it. They have given it to me. So
in English we have those two ways of saying it: They have given me it; They have
given it to me. But in Greek, it’s going to be, “me it”, but μου comes first. So you
will say, “Me it they have given”.

S: Μου το έχουν δώσει [mu to ékhun dhósi].

T: Good. Μου το έχουν δώσει. They have given me it. They have given it to me.
We have given you it. We have given you it.

S: Σου το έχουμε δώσει [su to ékhume dhósi].

T: Very good. Σου το έχουμε δώσει. Very good. The word for “already”, already, is
ήδη [ídhi]. Ήδη.

S: Ήδη.

T: It’s like I – δέλτα [dhélta] – I. Ήδη.

S: Ήδη.

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T: Good. So you could say, We have given you it already.

S: Σου το έχουμε δώσει ήδη [su to ékhume dhósi ídhi].

T: Very good. Σου το έχουμε δώσει ήδη, or, ήδη σου το έχουμε δώσει [ídhi su to
ékhume dhósi]. Σου το [su to] can contract, it can stick together and build στο
[sto].

S: Στο.

T: Στο. We saw another example of this, of σε το [se to]. But in this case it was “in
the” like, in the house. Σε το σπιτι, στο σπιτι [se to spíti, sto spíti]. And in this case,
στο σπιτι, we always contract. But with σου το, it’s much more optional, no? But
you can contract that together to say, στο. So using that contraction, στο [sto],
how would you say, We have given you it already?

S: Ήδη στο έχουμε δώσει [ídhi sto ékhume dhósi].

T: Good. Ήδη στο έχουμε δώσει. Or, στο έχουμε δώσει ήδη [sto ékhume dhósi ídhi].
Now, if you wanted to say, We have given you them already. We have given you
them already, how would that be?

S: Στα [sta].

T: Very good.

S: Στα έχουμε δώσει ήδη [sta ékhume dhósi ídhi].

T: Very good. Στα έχουμε δώσει ήδη, or, σου τα έχουμε δώσει ήδη [su ta ékhume
dhósi ídhi]. But very good; you can make that contraction of, σου τα, and you get
στα. Στα έχουμε δώσει ήδη. How would you say, We want to give you them? We
want to give you them.

S: Θέλουμε να στα έχουμε δώσει [thélume na sta ékhume dhósi].

T: Ooh, that means, We want to have given you …

S: No, no sorry. Θέλουμε να στα δώσει ... δώσουμε [thélume na sta dhósi …
dhósume].

T: Very good. So we just had to let go of that “have” past, which had nothing to do
with this, no? We want to give you them. Θέλουμε να στα δώσουμε [thélume na
sta dhósume]. Γράφω [ghráfo], γράφω, was … ?

S: Write.

T: Write. I write. What was the closed version of, γράφω?

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S: Γράψω [ghrápso].

T: Γράψω. Good. How would you say, Have you written to me? Have you written to
me?

S: Μου έχεις γράψει; [mu échis ghrápsi?].

T: Very good. Μου – to me – μου έχεις γράψει; Very good. “Us”, the word for us, is
μας [mas]. Like M-A-S, μας. So kind of like us with a M, but M-A-S, μας.

S: Μας.

T: Μας. Μας is also “to us”, so μας doesn’t change. It’s always μας, so we don’t have
the situation like με/μου [me/mu], σε/σου [se/su]. We just have μας and μας. So
how would you say, Have you written to us?

S: Μας έχεις γράψει; [mas échis ghrápsi?].

T: Μας έχεις γράψει; The word for when … do you remember the word for when?

S: Πότε [póte].

T: Πότε, good. So it starts with P. We saw that we had πού [pu] for where, begins
with P, πώς [pos] the word for how, also with P. Most of the question words
actually in Greek do begin with P. That can help us remember them. Πότε, when.
When will you write to us.

S: Πότε θα μας γράψεις; [póte tha mas grápsis?].

T: Good. And try the γράψεις [ghrápsis] a bit more [gh].

S: Πότε θα μας γράψεις; [póte tha mas ghrápsis?].

T: Much better. Πότε θα μας γράψεις; When will you write to us?

When will you see us?

S: Πότε θα μας δεις; [póte tha mas dhis?].

T: Good. We had βλέπω [vlépo] and δω [dho], good. Πότε θα μας δεις; Very good.
The word for “if”, was like, να, backwards. How was that?

S: Αν [an].

T: Αν. And the word for “tonight”, was απόψε [apópse].

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S: Απόψε.

T: Απόψε, good.

S: Απόψε.

T: If you see him tonight, can you tell me? And in Greek, here it’s much more
common, Can you tell me it, because we’re referring to something specific there,
no? If you see him tonight, can you tell me it? So the first bit is, If you see him.

S: Αν τον βλέπεις [an ton vlépis].

T: Good, but after αν, no, we need to think about, do we want the open or the
closed version?

S: The closed.

T: So, αν τον βλέπεις would mean, If you are seeing him. But in this context we can
feel that it refers to the act of just seeing him, you know? Like, if he’s there, if you
see him, let me know. So that’s a closed period.

S: Αν τον δεις [an ton dhis].

T: Very good. Αν τον δεις.

S: Αν τον δεις απόψε [an ton dhis apópse].

T: Αν τον δεις απόψε, can you tell me it? Can you tell me, can you tell me it?

S: Μπορείς να μου το πεις; [borís na mu to pis?].

T: Good, λέω [léo] and πω [po] for tell, or say. So, μπορείς να μου το πεις; So, If you
see him tonight, can you tell me it? Αν τον δεις απόψε, μπορείς να μου το πεις;
[an ton dhis apópse, borís na mu to pis?]. So we have, αν for if, and when, how
was, when?

S: Πότε [póte].

T: Πότε. “When”, if it’s not a question word – so we said that most of the question
words begin with P – when, when it’s not a question word, like in, Tell me when
you see him, no, isn’t πότε [póte], it’s, όταν [ótan]. Όταν.

S: Όταν.

T: So we have αν [an] for if, and όταν [ótan] for when – when, when it’s not a
question word, which is very close to if in meaning. We don’t realize how close it
is to if in meaning, because in English, when and if look so different. But we can

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 feel how the meanings are so similar like, you know, if we say, Can you tell me
when you see him, or, Can you tell me if you see him. It’s a very close meaning. So
αν is if, and όταν, when, our non-question when. So, let’s build a sentence, Can
you tell me when the movie is finishing? Can you tell me?

S: Μπορείς να μου πεις [borís na mu pis].

T: Good. Μπορείς να μου πεις … when ... ?

S: Όταν [ótan] ...

T: Now after όταν, just like after αν, you need to make a decision about whether you
want the open or the closed version of the verb. So, what we’re going to say is,
When the movie is finishing. Is this open ongoing or closed, When the movie is
finishing?

S: Open.

T: Very good. Open. So we stick with the normal verb. Όταν, the movie is finishing.

S: Όταν η ταινία τελειώνει [ótan i tenía telióni].

T: Very good.

S: Όταν η ταινία τελειώνει.

T: Very good. Μπορείς να μου πεις όταν τελειώνει η ταινία [borís na mu pis ótan
telióni i tenía], or, όταν η ταίνια τελειώνει [ótan i tenía telióni]. What if you were
to say, Can you tell me when the movie finishes? Is that open or closed?

S: Closed.

T: Closed, no? So here it’s closed, just because you referred to it in a different way.
We don’t mean, When the movie is finishing – when it’s finishing up – in the act of
finishing – when it’s about to finish. Νo, we mean, When it finishes, or, When it
has finished. That’s a closed feeling. So how would that be? Can you tell me when
the movie finishes?

S: Μπορείς να μου πεις όταν η ταινία τελειώσει; [borís na mu pis ótan i tenía
teliósi?].

T: Very good! Μπορείς να μου πεις όταν η ταινία τελειώσει; όταν τελειώσει η
ταινία; [ótan teliósi i tenía?]. Very good. And you could also say, When it has
finished, which gives practically the same meaning as, When it finishes, with the
closed version, no? Because the closed version of the verb gives us that feeling.
But we could also say this. We could also say, Can you tell me when the movie has
finished?

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S: Μπορείς να μου πεις όταν η ταινία έχει τελειώσει; [borís na mu pis ótan i tenía
échi teliósi?].

T: Very good. Μπορείς να μου πεις όταν η ταινία έχει τελειώσει; Or, όταν έχει
τελειώσει η ταινία; [ótan échi teliósi i tenía?]. Very good. So that gives us very,
very similar meaning to, όταν τελειώσει [ótan teliósi], όταν έχει τελειώσει [ótan
échi teliósi], no? But if you want to give a slightly different meaning of when the
movie is finishing – finishing up – then we could say τελειώνει [telióni].

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Complete Greek, Track 41 – Language Transfer

Teacher: Πρέπει [prépi], πρέπει in Greek means something like, “It is necessary”. We
see it’s a verb and it’s in the “he/she/it” form. Πρέπει.

Student: Πρέπει.

T: That means, “It is necessary”. And you can use this to say, “have to”. But πρέπει
doesn’t change for different people. You won’t say πέρπω, πρέπουν [prépo,
prépun]. You will just say πρέπει, meaning, “It is necessary”, να [na], and then
whatever you want to say. So, for example, you could say something like, You
have to tell me when it’s finishing. So how would that first bit be? It is necessary,
να, you tell me?

S: Πρέπει να μου πεις [prépi na mu pis].

T: Very good. When (non-question when)?

S: Όταν [ótan].

T: It is finishing.

S: Όταν τελειώνει [ótan telióni].

T: Bravo. Πρέπει να μου πεις όταν τελειώνει [prépi na mu pis ótan telióni]. You need
to tell me – you should tell me – you have to tell me – when it is finishing. But of
course we could have said, when it finishes, which is a closed feeling. Both are
going to fit, just like in English. So how would that be? You have to tell me when it
finishes. You have to tell me when it finishes.

S: Πρέπει να μου πεις όταν τελειώσει [prépi na mu pis ótan teliósi].

T: Very good. Όταν τελειώσει. The word for “early, early”, is νωρίς [norís], Nωρίς.

S: Νωρίς, νωρίς.

T: Νωρίς. You have to tell me if it finishes early. So the first bit, You have to tell me.

S: Πρέπει να μου πεις [prépi na mu pis].

T: Πρέπει να μου πεις, if it finishes early. What’s “if”?

S: Αν τελειώσει νωρίς [an teliósi norís].

T: Very good. Πρέπει να μου πεις αν τελειώσει νωρίς [prépi na mu pis an teliósi
norís]. How was, I write, I’m writing?

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S: Γράφω [ghráfo].

T: Γράφω. And we saw υπογράφω [ipoghráfo], which means “to below write”, which
is “to sign”.

S: Sign.

T: We also have διαγράφω [dhiaghráfo], διαγράφω. Now δια [dhia] means
“through” or “away from”. These little words tend to have a lot of meanings, no,
in vocabulary building. But, through is a nice one to think of here because, if we
imagine it quite literally, to write through, what do you think it might mean,
διαγράφω – To write through; To through write? What do you do when you write
through something?

S: Make a line?

T: To write through? You cross something out.

S: Yeah.

T: So, διαγράφω, διαγράφω, is “I delete”. So we get that.

S: Διαγράφω.

T: How would you say, I have deleted it?

S: Έχω διαγράψει [ékho dhiaghrápsi].

T: Very good. And the “it”? I have deleted it.

S: Tο έχω διαγράψει [to ékho dhiaghrápsi].

T: Το έχω διαγράψει. How would you say, I have to delete it?

S: Πρέπει να το διαγράψω [prépi na to dhiaghrápso].

T: Good. Πρέπει να το διαγράψω. So we don’t want to let it confuse us that both of
these things, we do with “have” in English. I have deleted it. I have to delete it. So,
the “have” past of course is, έχω [ékho], but “have to”, in the sense of must, is
πρέπει [prépi]. Περιγράφω [perighráfo], περιγράφω, “to around write”, if you had
to guess, what do you think it might mean? This is just imagination, no? There’s
no way really to know, but it’s a very good practice to start guessing, because you
know then we interiorise a lot of the Greek we come across, if we just get in the
habit of picking it apart always. So, περιγράφω means around-write. What might
that mean?

S: To describe?

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T: Ooh. Good. This is it! This describe. How did you think of it?

S: I’m writing around something.

T: Yes exactly, very good. Describe. Good. And in English it’s formed in a similar way,
no? De, which means from or away from; scribe, which means write. How would
you say, I want you to describe it to me. I want you to describe me it?

S: Θέλω να μου το περιγράψεις [thélo na mu to perighrápsis].

T: Very good. Θέλω να μου το περιγράψεις. How would you say, They have
described me it. They have described it to me? How would you say that?

S: Μου το έχουν περιγράψει [mu to ékhun perighrápsi].

T: Μου το έχουν περιγράψει. How would you say, They have to describe it to me?

S: Πρέπει να μου το περιγράψουν [prépi na mu to perighrápsun].

T: Very good. Πρέπει να μου το περιγράψουν. I say, or I tell, was … ?

S: Λέω [léo].

T: λεω, good. And the closed version?

S: Πει … πω [pi … po].

T: Πω.

S: Πω.

T: How would you say, I will tell you when I have deleted it? So the first bit is, I will
tell you.

S: Θα σου πω [tha su po].

T: Good. Θα σου πω. When?

S: Όταν [ótan].

T: When I have deleted it.

S: Όταν έχω διαγράψω … διαγράψει [ótan ékho dhiaghrápso … dhiaghrápsi].

T: Good. And the “it”? When I have deleted it.

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S: Όταν το έχω διαγράψει [ótan ékho dhiaghrápsi].

T: Θα σου πω όταν το έχω διαγράψει [tha su po ótan to ékho dhiaghrápsi]. Very
good. And of course there is no alternative version of έχω [ékho], so we don’t
have to worry about όταν and έχω there. There’s no alternative version of έχω.
And we could get the same meaning actually if we say, I will tell you when I delete
it. It’s the same, no? I will tell you when I have deleted it. I will tell you when I
delete it. If we use the closed version for, when I delete it, we get exactly the same
meaning. So how would that be? I will tell you when I delete it.

S: Θα σου πω όταν το διαγράψω [tha su po ótan to dhiaghrápso].

T: Θα σου πω όταν το διαγράψω. Very good.

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Complete Greek, Track 42 – Language Transfer

Teacher: So we have λέω [léo], which is “I say” or “I tell”, no, and πω [po], which is
the closed version. So we said that when we get these really crazy irregularities
between the standard and the closed form of the verbs, like in λέω, πω, for “I say”
or “I tell”, or βλέπω, δω [vlépo, dho], for “I see”, τρώω, φάω [tróo, fáo], for “I
eat”. When that happens, we can suspect that those two originated from different
verbs. Much like go and went in English. Apart from λέω, we also have επιλέγω
[epilégho] and διαλέγω [dhialégho]; both of these mean “to choose”. Now you
notice there we have λέγω with the [gh], with the γάμα [γ, gháma], like in εγώ,
no? Now that [gh] fell away in λέω. Historically, λέω [léo] was λέγω [légho]. But
you could imagine with such a common verb, so much λέγω, λέγω, λέγω, λέγω, it
became λέω. But in the other verbs, the G (γ) pops back out, so we get επιλέγω,
διαλέγω, both of these meaning, “to choose”.

Student: Eπιλέγω, διαλέγω [epilégho, dhialégho].

T: How would you say, What are you choosing?

S: Τι επιλέγεις; [ti epilégis?].

T: Good. Τι επιλέγεις; [ti epiléyis?]. Τι διαλέγεις; [ti dhialéyis?]. The closed version of
these verbs has nothing to do with πω [po]. We get from επιλέγω: επιλέξω
[epilékso]. And we get from διαλέγω: διαλέξω [dhialékso]. That’s where we get
dialect from – διαλέξω, a choice of different words and elements from the
language, the dialect. So how would we say, What have you chosen?

S: Τι έχεις επιλέξει; [ti échis epiléksi?].

T: Τι έχεις επιλέξει; Τι έχεις διαλέξει; [ti échis dhialéksi?]. How would you say, Υou
have to choose?

S: Πρέπει να επιλέξεις [prépi na epiléksis].

T: Πρέπει να επιλέξεις. Πρέπει να διαλέξεις [prépi na dhialéksis]. And I said that
διαλέξει [dhialéksi], we can relate to dialect, and actually λέξη [léksi], λέξη in
Greek means “word”.

S: Word.

T: Μία λέξη [mía léksi].

S: Μία λέξη.

T: So what gender is that?

S: Feminine.

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T: Feminine. Now we saw the plural pattern for feminine of αυτή [aftí] to αυτές
[aftés], no? Μέρα, μέρες [méra, méres] – “day, days”. That’s the most common
feminine plural pattern, but we will come across others. For example, the plural of
λέξη is λέξεις [léksis], λέξεις.

S: Λέξεις.

T: Λέξη and λέξεις. We’ve already seen another word as well that has that plural
pattern. What was the word for city, like in “cosmopolitan”?

S: Πόλη [póli].

T: Πόλη. And the plural of city is formed in the same way, so how would you say
cities?

S: Πόλεις [pólis].

T: Πόλεις, good. We had, I buy, from agoraphobia, the fear of the open spaces, or
the public spaces, coming from marketplace. How was that, I buy?

S: Αγοράσω [aghoráso]?

T: Αγοράζω [aghorázo].

S: Αγοράζω.

T: And what was the closed version of, αγοράζω?

S: Αγοράσω [aghoráso].

T: Αγοράσω. How would you say, I have bought it?

S: Έχω αγοράσει [ékho aghorási].

T: Good, and the ‘”it”?

S: Το έχω αγοράσει [to ékho aghorási].

T: Το έχω αγοράσει. And, I have to buy it?

S: Πρέπει να το αγοράσω [prépi na to aghoráso].

T: Good. Πρέπει να το αγοράσω, πρέπει να το αγοράσω. How would you say, I have
to buy them, and we mean neuter things?

S: Πρέπει να τα αγοράσω [prépi na ta aghoráso].

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T: Πρέπει να τα αγοράσω. If we want the word for them, for feminine, we can use
the plural pattern that we see between πόλη [póli] and πόλεις [pólis], and
between λέχη (word) and λέχεις (words). So we went from το [to] to τα [to]. And
we can go from την [tin] for her, to τις [tis] ...

S: Τις [tis].

T: … for them, for feminine. So that’s just like the plural pattern that we found in
λέχη, λέχεις [léksi, léksis] and πόλη, πόλεις [póli, pólis]. We get τις [tis]. Τις. So if
you wanted to say, I have to buy them, and you were referring to feminine
objects, how would it be?

S: Πρέπει να τις αγοράσω [prépi na tis aghoráso].

T: Good. Πρέπει να τις αγοράσω. And if you wanted to say, I have to see them, and
you meant females, a group of females, or of feminine things, how would it be? I
have to see them.

S: Πρέπει να τις βλέπω … δω [prépi na tis vlépo … dho].

T: Good. Δω [dho]. But you might also want to say something like, I have to see them
more often, no? “More often” was πιο [pyo], the word for more, συχνά [sikhná].
Πιο συχνά [pyo sikhná]. So how would that be, I have to see them more often?

S: Πρέπει να τις δω πιο συχνά [prépi na tis dho pyo sikhná].

T: So there’s a contradiction there between, δω [dho], which is closed, and πιο
συχνά which is open and ongoing. So we need to go back to the standard form of,
I see, I’m seeing, which is … ?

S: Βλέπω [vlépo].

T: Βλέπω, good. So, I have to see them more often, and we mean feminine them?

S: Πρέπει να τις βλέπω πιο συχνά [prépi na tis vlépo pyo sikhná].

T: Very good. Πρέπει να τις βλέπω πιο συχνά.

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Complete Greek, Track 43 – Language Transfer

Teacher: So we saw some strange closed versions of the verbs, no, where the verb
changes completely in its closed form. So, for example, we had, I see, which is … ?

Student: Βλέπω [vlépo].

T: Βλέπω. And then the closed version is?

S: Δω [dho].

T: Δω. Very different. How would you say, We will see?

S: Θα βλέπουμε [tha vlépume].

T: Ok. This will be more like, We will be seeing, no?

S: Yeah. Θα δούμε [tha dhúme].

T: Θα δούμε. No? We’ll see. Θα δούμε. Shall we see?

S: Να δούμε; [na dhúme?].

T: Να δούμε; Very good. I like how you change your tone of voice there. Να δούμε;
Because if you were to say with a more affirmative tone of voice – give me that.

S: Να δούμε [na dhúme].

T: Να δούμε. What would that mean?

S: We shall see.

T: Yeah, like, Let’s see. What was, I eat?

S: Τρώω [tróo].

T: Τρώω. Good. And, We eat?

S: Τρώμε [tróme].

T: Τρώμε. So it’s irregular, but we still have the ME (με) of “-ουμε” [ume], no? But
here τρώμε [tróme]. And the closed version of, τρώω [tróo]?

S: Φάω [fáo].

T: Φάω. Good. And, Shall we eat?

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S: Να φάμε; [na fáme?].

T: Να φάμε; Very good. Να φάμε; So again, just the ΜΕ (με) for we. Να φάμε; Let’s
eat.

S: Να φάμε [na fáme].

T: Να φάμε. Να φάμε. We also have another word for let’s, which is very common,
and that’s ας [as], ΑS. Ας.

S: Ας.

T: So using, ας, you could say, Let’s see.

S: Ας δούμε [as dhúme].

T: Let’s eat.

S: Aς φάμε [as fáme].

T: Aς φάμε. And again, we’re using the closed version, no? We’re referring to a
closed period of time. Ας δούμε. But you know, we might say something like, Let’s
see it more often, no, in which case we could use βλέπουμε [vlépume]. What was,
I say, or I tell?

S: Λέω [léo].

T: Λέω. And we mentioned that this verb is used in some colloquial ways. You could
say, for example, τα λέμε [ta léme]. We said that this is used like, See you later,
you know. Τα λέμε – literally, We’ll talk about them … things. We’ll talk again. See
you again. Τα λέμε.

S: Τα λέμε.

T: We could say, What are you saying?

S: Tι λες; [ti les?].

T: Tι λες; Tι λες; You could also hear, λες και [les ke]. Λες και, followed by, I don’t
know, for example, Λες και ηταν φάντασμα [les ke ítan fántasma], As if it were a
ghost. Λες και. “As if”, “as though”. What are you saying to me?

S: Tι μου λες; [ti mu les?].

T: Tι μου λες; Good. So we have μου [mu], “to me”, no? You also might hear, Tι με
λες; [ti me les?], depending on dialect, like in Thessaloniki, for example, or
Salonica, you could hear, Tι με λες; So, if you do hear that, don’t think that you’ve

185
 misunderstood the rules about when to use με [me], and when to use μου [mu].
This is just a change in dialect. We could also have, ψέματα λες [psémata les].
Ψέματα λες.

S: Ψέματα λες.

T: You’re lying. Lies you say. Ψέματα λες. So this verb is used in quite a few colloquial
ways. Λέω [léo]. You could say, But what am I saying? The word for “but” would
be μα [ma]. Μα.

S: Μα.

T: But what am I saying?

S: Mα τι λέω; [ma ti léo?].

T: Mα τι λέω; No? When you think you’ve said something stupid, you can say, Mα τι
λέω; Or if you’ve forgotten something. Mα τι λέω; What is the closed version of
λέω [léo]?

S: Πω [po].

T: Πω. How would you say, Let’s say?

S: Aς πούμε [as púme].

T: Aς πούμε. And you will hear this all the time in Greek. Aς πούμε. Aς πούμε, like,
like “like”, you know, sometimes how you use “like” in English, to just to kind of
interject a sentence, maybe to give you a second more to think, no? Aς πούμε. So
this is very common. So, ας [as] is like να [na]. Ιt doesn’t really mean anything by
itself, but it’s actually from the verb, αφήνω [afíno]. Aφήνω, which means, “I
leave”, in the sense of, “I leave something” or “I leave someone”, or “I would like
to leave a message”. Aφήνω.

S: Aφήνω.

T: Whose closed version is αφήσω [afíso]. Aφήσω.

S: Aφήσω.

T: And this is, of course, where we get ας [as] from. So we have αφήνω, “I leave”,
like, to leave something or someone. How would you say, I’m leaving it here?

S: Το αφήνω εδώ [to afíno edhó].

T: Very good. Το αφήνω εδώ. Shall I leave it here?

186
S: Nα το αφήσω εδώ; [na to afíso edhó?].

T: Very good. Very good. Nα το αφήσω εδώ; So you could say, Where shall I leave
you? Like, to drop you off. Where shall I leave you? What was, Where?

S: Πού [pu].

T: Πού. Good. So, Where shall I leave you?

S: Πού να σε αφήσω; [pu na se afíso?].

T: Very good. Πού να σε αφήσω; Shall I leave you it here? Shall I leave you it here?
Shall I leave it here for you? But in Greek, you know we just can say, “you it”.

S: Να σε το αφήσω εδώ; [na se to afíso edhó?].

T: But here “you” is not like, to leave you, it is to leave something, to you, for you. So
rather than σε [se], we would use?

S: Nα σου το αφήσω εδώ; [na sou to afíso edhó?].

T: Good. Nα σου το αφήσω εδώ; And, σου το [su to], you can also contract. To?

S: Nα στο αφήσω εδώ; [na sto afíso edhó?].

T: Very good. Nα στο αφήσω εδώ; Both are fine, no? Nα σου το αφήσω εδώ; Nα στο
αφήσω εδώ; So we see that other than “to you”, σου [su] can also be like “for
you”, if the translation fits better like this. No? Like in this case, Shall I leave it here
for you? Nα σου το αφήσω εδώ; “A message”, in Greek is, ένα μήνυμα [éna
mínima]. Ένα μήνυμα.

S: Ένα μήνυμα.

T: So what gender is μήνυμα [mínima]? Ένα μήνυμα.

S: Ένα [éna] is neutral.

T: Neuter. Good. So how would you say, The message?

S: Tο μήνυμα [to mínima].

T: Tο μήνυμα. Very good. Shall I leave you a message?

S: Να σου αφήσω ένα μήνυμα; [na su afíso éna mínima?].

T: Good. But in Greek, you don’t really need the ένα [éna]. So much more common
would be, Να σου αφήσω μήνυμα; [na su afíso mínima?].

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S: Να σου αφήσω μήνυμα;

T: How would you say, They have left you a message? So, They have left you a
message.

S: Σου έχουνε αφήσει μήνυμα [su ékhune afísi mínima].

T: Very good. Σου έχουν αφήσει μήνυμα [su ékhun afísi mínima]. Σου έχουνε αφήσει
μήνυμα. We’ve seen that with the “they” form, we can have “-ουν” [un] or
“-ουνε” [une]. Έχουν, έχουνε. Let’s leave a message.

S: Nα αφήσουμε μήνυμα [na afísume mínima].

T: Good. Nα αφήσουμε μήνυμα. Or maybe more common than, να [na] for “let’s”
would be?

S: Ας [as]. Ας αφήσουμε μήνυμα [as afísume mínima].

T: Ας αφήσουμε μήνυμα. So actually, ας and, αφήσουμε are coming from the same
verb, no? So we have με [me] and μου [mu], no? Mε for “me”, and μου for “to
me”, or maybe “for me”; σε [se] and σου [su], σε for “you”, and then σου for “to
you”, and maybe “for you”. What was the word for him, like in, I see him?

S: Τον [ton].

T: Τον. “To him”, or sometimes “for him”, as we’re seeing, might be, if we have
με/μου [me/mu], σε/σου [se/su], τον [ton] and … ?

S: Του [tu].

T: Του. Very good. Let’s leave him a message. Let’s leave him message.

S: Του αφήσουμε μήνυμα [tu afísoume mínima]. Ας του αφήσουμε μήνυμα [as tu
afísoume mínima].

T: Very good. Ας του αφήσουμε μήνυμα. Very good. Have you left him a message?

S: Του έχεις αφήσει μήνυμα; [tu échis afísi mínima?].

T: Very good. Του έχεις αφήσει μήνυμα; But just, Have you left him?, would be?

S: Του έχεις αφήσει; [tu ékhis afísi?].

T: Ι would be waiting to hear what you’ve left him.

S: Umm?

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T: But just, Have you left him? Not, left him something, but left him?

S: Τον έχεις αφήσει; [ton échis afísi?].

T: Very good. Τον έχεις αφήσει; Very good. Where have you left it?

S: Πού το έχεις αφήσει; [pu to échis afísi?].

T: Πού το έχεις αφήσει; And this is a neuter it, no? We could also have a masculine
it, as well. So, how would that be?

S: Πού … masculine it?

T: Same as him.

S: Πού τον έχεις αφήσει; [pu ton échis afísi?].

T: If we are talking about a masculine thing, we will just use him. Πού τον έχεις
αφήσει; Very good.

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Complete Greek, Track 44 – Language Transfer

Teacher: What was, the message?

Student: To μήνυμα [to mínima].

T: To μήνυμα. And, the house?

S: To σπίτι [to spíti].

T: To σπίτι. And, the car?

S: To αυτοκίνητο [to aftokínito].

T: To αυτοκίνητο. Very good. The self-moving, no, the self-kinetic, the auto-mobile.
And, the cars?

S: Tα αυτοκίνητα [ta aftokínita].

T: Tα αυτοκίνητα. Very good. How was, the houses?

S: Τα σπίτια [ta spitya].

T: Τα σπίτια. Very good. So we saw that to get the plural with neuter nouns, we
change the [o] (ο) to an [a] (α) – αυτοκίνητο, αυτοκίνητα [aftokínitο, aftokínita] –
and we do the same with the word for “the” of course, το [to] to τα [ta] – το
αυτοκίνητο, τα αυτοκίνητα [to aftokínitο, ta aftokínita]. And if we don’t end with
an [o], like in σπίτι [spíti], we just add it, the A (α), on the end: σπίτια. Το σπίτι, τα
σπίτια [to spíti, ta spítya]. But we can’t very well add an A to an A. “Messages” is
μηνύματα [minímata]. Μηνύματα.

S: Μηνύματα.

T: So actually it’s like we add the plural the (τα [ta]) onto the end. But also when we
do that, we add another syllable, so the accent moves: μήνυμα, μηνύματα
[mínima, minímata]. The stress moves: μήνυμα, μηνύματα.

S: Μήνυμα, μηνύματα.

T: Very good. So we saw the word for problem, in Greek, do you remember?

S: Το πρόβλημα [to próvlima].

T: Πρόβλημα. Very good. Tο πρόβλημα. So problems, would be?

S: Τα προβλήματα [ta provlimata].

190
T: Good. Προβλήματα. Tα προβλήματα. Very good. I mentioned briefly the
expression, “you’re lying”, “lies you say”: ψέματα λες [psémata les]. Ψέματα λες.
So, lies is ψέματα. And this is another situation of adding τα [ta] to get the plural,
because the noun already ends in A (α). So how would the singular, lie, be?

S: Ψέμα [pséma].

T: Ψέμα. Very good. And this [ps], we mentioned how it’s just one letter in Greek,
this PS (ψ), written as one letter. Looking like that fork, no, the letter that looks
like a fork (Ψ/ψ). What was, I leave? Like, to leave something or, to leave
someone?

S: Αφήνω [afíno].

T: Αφήνω, A-F-I-N-O. And the closed form?

S: Αφήσω [afíso].

T: Αφήσω. Where shall I leave you? Where shall I leave you?

S: Πού να σε αφήσω; [pu na se afíso?].

T: Very good. Πού να σε αφήσω; So this would be like, Where shall I drop you off?
No? Πού να σε αφήσω; Let’s leave him here.

S: Ας τον αφήσουμε εδώ [as ton afísume edhó].

T: Very good. Ας τον αφήσουμε εδώ. Να τον αφήσουμε εδώ [na ton afísume edhó].
So with να [na] you would kind of need more voice to show that it’s “let’s”,
whereas with ας [as] it’s not so necessary. Ας τον αφήσουμε εδώ. Let’s leave him
a message.

S: Ας τον αφήσουμε μήνυμα [as ton afísume mínima].

T: So here we’re not leaving him, no? We’re leaving a message, to him, for him.

S: Ας του αφήσουμε μήνυμα [as tu afísume mínima].

T: Very good. Ας του αφήσουμε μήνυμα. We’ve left him many messages. What was
the word for very or a lot?

S: Πολλοί [polí].

T: Πολλοί. Very good. With two L’s (λλ), but pronounced in the same way, this word
very, or a lot, means many, and it also agrees with the noun it refers to. So to say
many messages, we won’t have πολλοί μηνύματα [polí minímata]; Πολλοί will
change to match this neuter plural. So how would that be, many messages?

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S: Πολλά μηνύματα [polá minímata].

T: Πολλά μηνύματα. Very good. So, We’ve left him many messages.

S: Του έχουμε αφήσει πολλά μηνύματα [tu ékhume afísi polá minímata].

T: Very good. Του έχουμε αφήσει πολλά μηνύματα. We’ve left him many messages.
What was her, or feminine it?

S: Την [tin].

T: Την. Good. We have τον [ton] and την [tin], no, for “him” and “her”. Where have
you left her? or, Where have you left it?, referring to a feminine thing?

S: Πού την έχεις αφήσει; [pu tin échis afísi?].

T: Very good. Πού την έχεις αφήσει; And we saw the plural of την [tin], which is?

S: Τις [tis].

T: Τις. So this is for “them”, referring to females or feminine objects. Την [tin] is spelt
T-[íta]-N, so with the I [i] sound that looks like an “n”, that has the tail going below
the line. But then τις [tis], the plural, is spelt with γιώτα [yióta] (Ι/ι), which is the I
sound in Greek that looks like the English “I”. Where have you left them (females)?

S: Πού τις έχεις αφήσει; [pu tis échis afísi?].

T: Very good. Πού τις έχεις αφήσει; So this could refer to people or objects, no?
Where have you left them? (feminine things), or Where have you left them?
(feminine people, females). Της [tis] is also used for “to her”, but spelt with ήτα
[íta] like την [tin], so spelt with T (τ) and the “i” sound [i] that looks like the “n”,
with the tail going below the line, and then the Greek “s” (σ/ς). Της.

S: Της.

T: So, we saw that the τις [tis] of the plural is spelt with the γιώτα [yióta] (Ι/ι), that
looks like an I, and then της [tis] for “to her”, with ήτα [íta], that looks a little bit
like an “n”. But of course, to the ear, they’re both the same. You don’t have to
worry about remembering that, of course; I just mention so that you can notice
the difference whenever you read it, and just be reminded of it in that way. So,
we have την [tin] for “her”, and τις [tis] for “them”, the plural of “her”, and also
for “to her” – της [tis]. So, Where have you left her? How is that?

S: Πού την έχεις αφήσει; [pu tin échis afísi?].

T: Very good. Πού την έχεις αφήσει; What have you left her (for her)?

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S: Τι της έχεις αφήσει; [ti tis échis afísi?].

T: Very good. Τι της έχεις αφήσει; No? Because it’s, What have you left to her, for
her? What have you bought her? What was, I buy?

S: Αγοράζω [aghorázo].

T: Αγοράζω. Good – related to “agorophobia”, no, which is the fear of open spaces,
like the αγορά [aghorá], the market. Αγοράζω. What have you bought her?

S: Τι της έχεις αγοράσει; [ti tis échis aghorási?]

T: Very good, very good. Τι της έχεις αγοράσει; And you moved from αγοράζω
[aghorázo] to αγοράσει [aghorási], the Z (ζ) to the S (σ), to get the closed form.
Very good. How did we express the idea of have to, like, I have to?

S: Πρέπει να [prépi na].

T: Πρέπει να. Good. And, πρέπει [prépi], we said literally, is like, “it is necessary”,
something like that, no? And it doesn’t change, depending on the person. But
actually, often when I get this word I think of my cousins, who say πρέπω [prépo].
Let me explain. Do you know what is a forced native?

S: No.

T: So a forced native is, like, for example, you know: you are born in the UK, you
learn Greek from your parents, and you’re not a native because you don’t really
have all of the exposure to the language to be a native. But you’re a forced native,
’cause you’re kind of a native. Most of the time you sound native until you make
some crazy language transfer from English or something else, and you say
something like πρέπω [prépo], no, or an overgeneralisation of the very same
language of Greek, no, and you never realise it, So, I mention this because many
of you may be learning Greek to practice with forced natives that you have in your
cities, or whatever. So if their grammar confuses you, and you think it’s wrong,
you might just be right. How would you say, I have to see her, or I have to see it (a
feminine thing)?

S: Πρέπει να την βλέπω [prépi va tin vlépo]. Ah. Πρέπει να την δω [prépi va tin dho].

T: Good. Πρέπει να την δω. It could be possible, πρέπει να την βλέπω, but this
would be, “I have to be seeing her”. The translation is not very comfortable, but
we can understand the context, you know, like, I have to see her more often, is the
nice example – πιο συχνά [pyo sikhná], more often. We would use βλέπω [vlépo].
Πρέπει να την βλέπω πιο συχνά [prépi va tin vlépo pyo sikhná]. Otherwise, we
refer to a closed moment in time, πρέπει να την δω [prépi va tin dho]. And, I have
to see them (referring to females)?

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S: Πρέπει να τις δω [prépi va tis dho].

T: Πρέπει να τις δω. I have to tell her.

S: Πρέπει να ... Hmm? Πρέπει να της πω [prépi na tis po].

T: Good. Πρέπει να της πω. Because this is “to her”, no? We could also have, πρέπει
να της το πω [prépi na tis to po]. I have to tell her it, depending on the context.
You have to see him. You have to see him.

S: Πρέπει να τον δεις [prépi na ton dhis].

T: Very good. Πρέπει να τον δεις. You have to tell him.

S: Πρέπει να του πεις [prépi na tu pis].

T: Πρέπει να του πεις. To him. Πρέπει να του πεις. Πρέπει να του το πεις [prépi na tu
to pis]. The plural of του [tu] is τους [tus]. Tους.

S: Tους.

T: And this is the word for “to them”, masculine or mixed, and also for feminine “to
them”. It counts for everyone when it’s “to them”, for masculine or feminine, or
even neuter “to them”. Neuter also is τους [tus], “to them”. So, whenever we
mean “to them”, we use τους. So, I have to tell them.

S: Πρέπει να τους πω [prépi na tus po].

T: Good. You have to leave them a message.

S: Πρέπει να τους αφήσεις μήνυμα [prépi na tus afísis mínima].

T: Very good. Πρέπει να τους αφήσεις μήνυμα. Very good. So, τους [tus], the plural
of του [tu], works for “to them”, but also just for plain old “them”, not “to them”,
just “them” – for masculine or mixed gender, no? So, if you want to say, We see
them, masculine or mixed genders?

S: Τους δούμε [tus dhúme].

T: But now it’s just, We see them, no? So, would you use δούμε [dhúme], the closed
version?

S: Ah. Τους βλέπουμε [tus vlépume].

T: Τους βλέπουμε. No? I have to see them.

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S: Πρέπει να τους δω [prépi na tus dho].

T: Very good. Πρέπει να τους δω. I have to see them, and we mean a female group?

S: Πρέπει να τους δω [prépi na tus dho].

T: Is it see “them” or “to them”?

S: Ah, okay. Πρέπει να τις δω [prépi na tis dho].

T: Πρέπει να τις δω. But, I have to tell them, and this works for both masculine and
feminine?

S: Πρέπει να τους πω [prépi na tus po].

T: Πρέπει να τους πω. Πρέπει να τους το πω [prépi na tus to po], depending on the
context. What was the word for something?

S: Κάτι [káti].

T: Κάτι. I have to leave them something.

S: Πρέπει να τους αφήσω κάτι [prépi na tus afíso káti].

T: Very good. Πρέπει να τους αφήσω κάτι. And this works for masculine and
feminine, no? Τους [tus] for “to them” works for masculine and feminine. Very
good. Πρέπει να τους αφήσω κάτι.

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Complete Greek, Track 45 – Language Transfer

Teacher: What was, I have to, or It is necessary?

Student: Πρέπει [prépi].

T: Πρέπει. Good. How would you say, We have to eat them? And let’s talk about
neuter “them”. We have to eat them.

S: Πρέπει να τα φάμε [prépi na ta fáme].

T: Πρέπει να τα φάμε. And if you meant masculine things?

S: Πρέπει να τους φάμε [prépi na tus fáme].

T: Very good. Πρέπει να τους φάμε. So τους [tus], the plural of του [tu], works for
“to them”, but also just plain old “them”, for masculine. Πρέπει να τους φάμε.
And if we meant feminine things?

S: Πρέπει να τις φάμε [prépi na tis fáme].

T: Πρέπει να τις φάμε. Very good. So let’s say something like, We have to eat them
quickly because they will get cold. So, We have to eat them. You can choose the
gender.

S: Okay. Πρέπει να τους φάμε [prépi na tus fáme].

T: Πρέπει να τους φάμε. “Quickly” is γρήγορα [ghríghora].

S: Γρήγορα.

T: Good. So we have the [gh] sound with both of those G’s there. Γρήγορα
[ghríghora], γρήγορα. And you may be familiar with the name, “Gregory” or
Γρηγόρης in Greek, and this is related to the meanings, of like, wakefulness and
speed and quickness. So we have γρήγορα [ghríghora], “quickly”. So, We have to
eat them quickly.

S: Πρέπει να τους φάμε γρήγορα [prépi na tus fáme ghríghora].

T: Πρέπει να τους φάμε γρήγορα. “Because”, we could have, for what.

S: Γιατί [yatí].

T: Γιατί. We could use, for what, which is most common like “why”. We could also
use επειδή [epidhí], for “because”. Επειδή.

S: Επειδή.

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T: They will get cold. Do you remember the word for cold?

S: Κρύο [krío].

T: Κρύο. Very good. Κρύο. And do you remember how we turned this into a verb, to
get cold?

S: Κρυώνω [krióno].

T: Κρυώνω. Very good. Κρυώνω. So now we can say, They will get cold.

S: Θα κρυώνουν [tha kriónun].

T: That means, They will be getting cold. We might use this in some context, but
here, I think if we’re saying, you know, Let’s eat them quickly; they will get cold.
It’s more like a closed element of time that you’re referring to, no? That thing that
you don’t want to happen, that they get cold.

S: Θα κρυώσουν [tha kriósun].

T: Θα κρυώσουν. Very good. We have the N to S there for the closed version. Πρέπει
να τους φάμε/τα φάμε/τις φάμε γρήγορα, γιατί/επειδή θα κρυώσουν/θα
κρυώσουνε [prépi na tus fáme/ta fáme/tis fáme ghríghora, yatí/epidhí tha
kriósun/tha kriósune]. Very good. So, generally speaking, to get our closed
version, no, of the verb, we go to an S sound, be it [ks], [ps] or just [s], no, all of
which is one letter: KS [ks] is one letter (Ξ/ξ), PS [ps] is one letter (Ψ/ψ), and then
of course S [s] is also just one letter (Σ/σ). So, for example, we had παίζω [pézo], “I
play”, to παίξω [pékso]; αλλάζω [alázo], “I change”, to αλλάξω [alákso]; δουλεύω
[dhulévo], “I work”, to δουλέψω [dhulépso]; αρχίζω [archízo], “I start”, to αρχίσω
[archíso]; αγοράζω [aghorázo] to αγοράσω [aghoráso]. But, also as we’ve seen,
anything can happen, no? We go from λέω [léo] to πω [po], from τρώω [tróo] to
φάω [fao], from βλέπω [vlépo] to δω [dho]. What was, I stay?

S: Μένω [méno].

T: Μένω. Μένω, in its closed form, becomes μείνω [míno]. Μείνω.

S: Μείνω.

T: M - I (ει) - Ν - Ο (ω). But not περιμένω [periméno]. Περιμένω doesn’t change. So, I
will wait?

S: Θα περιμένω [tha periméno].

T: Θα περιμένω. But, I will stay?

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S: Θα μείνω [tha míno].

T: Θα μείνω. If you want to ask someone if they have somewhere to stay, you could
just ask, Do you have where to stay? What was the word for, where?

S: Πού [pu].

T: So, Do you have where to stay?

S: Έχεις πού να μείνεις; [échis pu na mínis?].

T: Very good. Έχεις πού να μείνεις; Good. Shall we stay here?

S: Να μείνουμε εδώ; [na mínume edhó?].

T: Να μείνουμε εδώ; Let’s stay here.

S: Να μείνουμε εδώ [na mínume edhó].

T: Να μείνουμε εδώ. Or … ?

S: Ας μείνουμε εδώ [as mínume edhó].

T: Ας μείνουμε εδώ. Good. So this μένω [méno] to μείνω [míno] change is quite
interesting, because, as we saw, another sub-pattern that we had was losing the
syllable with N in the closed form, no? Like μαθαίνω [mathéno], “I learn”, and
μάθω [mátho]; καταλαβαίνω [katalavéno], “I understand” and καταλάβω
[katalávo]; κατεβαίνω [katevéno] and κατέβω [katevó], “I go down”. Κατεβαίνω
and κατέβω. Φέρνω [férno], φέρω [féro], “I bring”. So we saw this pattern of
losing the N, and these verbs becoming shorter. But μένω [méno] didn’t want to
just become μω [mο], no? Μένω to mείνω [míno]. Στέλνω [stélno], στέλνω,
στέλνω, “I send”, does both of these things in its closed form. It loses the N and
the E [e] turns to an I [i]. So, στέλνω [stélno], “I send”, in its closed version, how
would it be?

S: Στείλω [stílo].

T: Στείλω. Very good. I will send him it tomorrow. I will send him it tomorrow.

S: Θα του στείλω ... θα του το στείλω αύριο [tha tu stílo … tha tu to stílo ávrio].

T: Very good. Θα του το στείλω αύριο. Very good. So when we have him/it, the
person one goes first, no, then we have “του το” [tu to]. So here in English we
don’t say, “send it to him” if we say “I will send him it”, no? We can say either, “I
will send it to him”, “I will send him it”. So we’re not looking for direct
translations, no? We’re looking for the meaning, the overall meaning. Am I
sending him? Am I going to put him in a box and send him? Or, like, going to send

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 to him, or for him. Θα του το στείλω αύριο. Στέλνω [stélno], actually, we can find
this in English. “Apostle”. An apostle is από-στελ [apó-stel], στέλνω, no, like “from
sending” – the messenger, no, like the religious messenger. From “sending”.
Actually, as you’re a native German speaker, stellen is from the same root, “to
put”, in German. I will send you something.

S: Θα σου στείλω κάτι [tha su stílo káti].

T: Very good. Θα σου στείλω κάτι. So by now we are very well versed, no, in finding
our alternative version of the verb, finding our closed form of the verb. And just
like we want to get the gender of a noun, when we come across it, when we come
across a verb, we also want to try to get the closed version of it, the alternative
version, when we come across it. Unfortunately, they’re not included in
dictionaries, and we will work on some vocabulary cards that will include them,
which might be ready by the time you hear this, but you will also want to be able
to get it by yourself, no? So, how? If you’re speaking with somebody, imagine you
ask for, or you come across the verb στέλνω [stélno], “I send”, and you decide
that you’d like this verb in your vocabulary bank – you want to keep this. So
you’re going to try to find out what is the closed version, too, so that you are free
to use this verb, no? So you can ask a native: you go ah, okay, “στέλνω”, and “θα
στ ...” [stélno, tha st …], and they will understand, and they will say, θα στείλω
[tha stílo], no? They will understand what you’re asking. Of course you could also
have θα στέλνω [tha stélno], no, but most of the time, this will trigger στείλω
[stílo], if you say “θα ... ” [tha …], without any context. You could also try to trick
an online translator, into giving you the other verb form, although it might give
you a random version of it that doesn’t make sense in the sentence that you’re
putting, no? But you can put “I will” or “[I] want” in the verb that you want in the
translator, to try to see if it gives you some alternative form. But be careful, there.

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Complete Greek, Track 46 – Language Transfer

Teacher: “I put”, I put, in Greek is βάζω [vázo]. Βάζω.

Student: Βάζω.

T: And the closed version is pretty strange, it’s βάλω [válo]. Βάλω.

S: Βάλω.

T: I’m putting it here?

S: Το βάζω εδώ [to vázo edhó].

T: Το βάζω εδώ. Shall I put it here?

S: Να το βάλω εδώ; [na to válo edhó?].

T: Να το βάλω εδώ; Let’s put it here.

S: Να το βάλουμε εδώ [na to válume edhó].

T: Good. Να το βάλουμε εδώ. Or … ?

S: Ah! Ας το βάλουμε εδώ [as to válume edhó].

T: Good. Ας το βάλουμε εδώ. The word for “salt”, salt, in Greek is αλάτι [alati].
Αλάτι.

S: Αλάτι.

T: A-L-A-T-I. Αλάτι.

S: Αλάτι.

T: So, if you say, for example, We have to put salt on it. Now, let’s imagine it’s a
masculine “on it”. We wouldn’t say τον [ton], because that would mean that
we’re to put that masculine thing somewhere, rather than “to put on it”. We have
to put salt on it.

S: Πρέπει να του βάλουμε αλάτι [prépi na tu válume aláti].

T: Very good. Πρέπει να του βάλουμε αλάτι. So, even on occasion, you may find the
translation of του [tu], μου [mu], σου [su], like “on it”, “on him”, “on me”, no?
Πρέπει να του βάλουμε αλάτι. What if it was a feminine thing you have to put salt
on, We have to put salt on it?

200
S: Πρέπει να την βάλουμε αλάτι [prépi na tin válume aláti].

T: So this would literally …

S: Πρέπει να της βάλουμε αλάτι [prépi na tis válume aláti].

T: Very good. Πρέπει να της βάλουμε αλάτι. And what if they were feminine things,
plural? We have to put salt on them.

S: Πρέπει να τους βάλουμε αλάτι [prépi na tus válume aláti].

T: Very good. Τους [tus] for masculine and for feminine. And for neuter as well, no?
If we have τα [ta], “to them” is also τους [tus], for “to them”, “on them”, “for
them”. Πρέπει να τους βάλουμε αλάτι. Very good. I have to eat.

S: Πρέπει να φάω [prépi na fáo].

T: Good. I have eaten.

S: Έχω φάει [ékho fái].

T: Έχω φάει. Good. So we don’t want to confuse, I have eaten, with I have to eat,
no? We don’t focus on the word “have”, as much as we do on the meaning behind
it. What it is we’re doing with it? I have to send it.

S: Πρέπει να το στείλω [prépi na to stílo].

T: I have sent it.

S: Το έχω στείλει [to ékho stíli].

T: Very good. Το έχω στείλει. I will have sent it, how would you say that? I will have
sent it.

S: Θα το έχω στείλ ... στείλει [tha to ékho stíl … stíli].

T: Very good. Θα το έχω στείλει. I will have to send it.

S: Θα πρέπει να το στείλω [tha prépi na to stílo].

T: Θα πρέπει να το στείλω. Very good. What was the word for, when?

S: Πότε [póte].

T: Πότε. Good. When will you send it?

S: Πότε θα το στείλεις; [póte tha to stílis?].

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T: Very good. Πότε θα το στείλεις; So we have πότε [póte], “when”, and τότε [tóte].
Τότε is “then”. But then, in the sense of time, no? Like, “by then”. For example,
“by then” is μέχρι τότε [mékhri tote]. “By then” or “until then”. Μέχρι τότε.

S: Μέχρι τότε.

T: I will have sent it by then. I will have sent it by then.

S: Θα το έχω στείλει μέχρι τότε [tha to ékho stíli mékhri tóte].

T: Very good. Θα το έχω στείλει μέχρι τότε. So maybe somebody says, you know,
Can you show it to me tomorrow? And there you will reply, I will have sent it by
then. No? You can do that in English and in Greek. Θα το έχω στείλει μέχρι τότε.
What was the word for, for?

S: Για [ya].

T: Για. Good. Για να [ya na], για να, is “so”, “so that”, no? In the sense of, I will send
it to you so that you see it. No? There you can use για να , “for na”. So, I will send
it to you so that you see it.

S: Θα το ... Θα σου το στείλω [tha to … tha su to stílo].

T: Very good. Θα σου το στείλω, or Θα στο στείλω [tha sto stílo]. So that you see it.

S: Για να. Για να το βλέπεις [ya na to vlépis] … Για να το δεις [ya na to dhis].

T: Good, no? Για να το δεις. I will send it to you so that you see it. Θα στο στείλω/θα
σου το στείλω, για να το δεις [tha sto stílo/tha su to stílo, ya na to dhis]. And what
was, I leave, like, I leave something?

S: Αφήνω [afíno].

T: Αφήνω. And the closed version?

S: Αφήσω [afíso].

T: Αφήσω. You remember the word for, there?

S: Εκεί [ekí].

T: Very good. Εκεί. So, I’ve left them there so that/so they send them. And let’s have
a neuter “them”. So, the first bit is, I have left them there.

S: Τα έχω αφήσει εκεί [ta ékho afísi ekí].

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T: Good. Τα έχω αφήσει εκεί. So that they send them.

S: Για να τα στείλουν [ya na ta stílun]. Για να τα στείλουν.

T: Very good. Για να τα στείλουν. Τα έχω αφήσει εκεί για να τα στείλουν [ta ékho
afísi ekí ya na ta stílun]. Good. So we have, για να [ya na], “for na”, for “so” or “so
that”, and you might actually hear this in Greek speakers in English, no? I’m sure if
you spend time with Greek speakers that have learnt English, you’ll hear very
often, “I’ve left them there for that you send them”, no? So actually you can use
these kinds of errors that Greek speakers make in English, to be reminded of, or to
learn something new about, the structure in Greek. If you hear a few native
speakers making the same error, you can think, oh okay, so it’s said that way in
Greek. And you also will become more conscious of the errors you might make in
Greek, that come from English or whatever other language you speak.

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Complete Greek, Track 47 – Language Transfer

Teacher: If you want to say something like, “I haven’t done it in two years”, we say
this in a slightly different way in Greek. In Greek, we say, “I have two years, να
[na], I do it.” So, the main thing to notice here is that there’s no negative, no, like
in English: “I haven’t done it in two years”, as opposed to Greek, “I have two
years, να, I do it.” What was the word for, day?

Student: Μέρα [méra].

T: Μέρα. Good. Like in, καλημέρα [kaliméra], “good day”, or like in the English,
“ephemeral”; ephemeral, this means, you know, something that is just passing,
no, that doesn’t last very long. And there you have, μέρα [méra] inside. And, the
day?

S: H μέρα [i méra].

T: H μέρα. Good. It’s feminine. And, the days?

S: Οι μέρες [i méres].

T: Οι μέρες. Good. And this [i] is spelt like with OI, like with the όμικρον, γιώτα
[ómikron, yióta] (οι), and that OI just gives us the sound [i]. Οι μέρες. “I cook”, is
μαγειρεύω [mayirévo]. Μαγειρεύω.

S: Μαγειρεύω.

T: The letter there that makes [y] is the same as the [gh] (γ) that we saw in εγώ
[eghó], the word for “I”, that we saw in γρήγορα [ghríghora] – “quickly”. But when
we have an [i] or an [e] sound following that [gh], it gets softened to a Y [y] sound,
like in μαγειρεύω [mayirévo]. But that’s written with γάμα [gáma] (γ), the same as
εγώ [eghó], which in the printed Greek, actually looks like a Y/y. Handwritten, you
kind of make a loop, but in the typed Greek it often just looks like a Y, like a kind
of capital Y, but going below the line a bit – this γάμα [gáma]. So, μαγειρεύω is, “I
cook”. What do you think the closed version might be?

S: Μαγειρέψω [mayirépso].

T: Μαγειρέψω. It is like δουλεύω [dhulévo], “I work”, δουλέψω [dhulépso]; like
ταξιδεύω [taksidhévo], “I travel”, ταξιδέψω [taksidhépso]. Μαγειρεύω,
μαγειρέψω [mayirévo, mayirépso]. So, I haven’t cooked for days, you will say, “I
have days, να [na], I cook”. So the first bit is, I have days.

S: Έχω μέρες [ékho méres].

T: Έχω μέρες, να, I cook. So, we have, να, and then we have, I cook. So, we have to
make a decision about, I cook.

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S: Έχω μέρες να μαγειρεύω [ékho méres na mayirévo].

T: Why “μαγειρεύω”?

S: Because it’s a long time since …

T: But you must think about, rather than the meaning of the whole phrase, that
specific bit – what it refers to. And that specific bit refers to just the act of
cooking.

S: Ah … since I cooked, not since I have been cooking. Okay, so, Έχω μέρες να
μαγειρέψω [ékho méres na mayirépso].

T: Very good. Έχω μέρες να μαγειρέψω. So, έχω μέρες, is referring to something
ongoing, but, να μαγειρέψω, isn’t. It’s just referring to you cooking, like a closed
event. Έχω μέρες να μαγειρέψω (I haven’t cooked for days). I haven’t cooked for
him for days. I have days, να, I cook for him.

S: Έχω μέρες να τον μαγειρέψω … να του μαγειρέψω [ékho méres na ton mayirépso
… ékho méres na tu mayirépso].

T: What would it mean if you said, Έχω μέρες να τον μαγειρέψω?

S: It’s, Since I cooked him.

T: Since I cooked him. Since I put him in the oven. Or, as we would probably
understand, a masculine “it”. No? Because it would make more sense; our mind
would go there first. So, του [tu], because it’s cook, “for him”, “to him”, no? Έχω
μέρες να του μαγειρέψω. I haven’t cooked for them for days.

S: Έχω μέρες να τους μαγειρέψω [ékho méres na tus mayirépso].

T: Έχω μέρες να τους μαγειρέψω. Very good. I haven’t seen them for days.

S: Έχω μέρες να τους δω [ékho méres na tus dho].

T: Very good. Έχω μέρες να τους δω. So this refers to a masculine or a mixed group.
How about, I haven’t seen them for days, and we mean women?

S: Έχω μέρες να τους δω ... να τις δω [ékho méres na tus dho … na tis dho].

T: Να τις δω [na tis dho].

S: Because it’s not “to” or “for”…

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T: Very good. So, for “them”, generally we have a difference: we have τις [tis] for
feminine, and τους [tus] for masculine or mixed. But when it’s “to them”, “for
them”, we have τους [tus] for everybody. So, Έχω μέρες να τις δω [ékho méres na
na tis dho]. So that’s, I haven’t seen them for days. But just, I haven’t seen them?

S: Δεν τους έχω δει [dhen tus ékho dhi].

T: Very good. Δεν τους, or τις (if we mean females), έχω δει. So, very different, the
structure between, Έχω μέρες να τους δω [ékho méres na tus dho], Δεν τους έχω
δει [dhen tus ékho dhi]. Very big difference between, I haven’t seen them for
days, and just, I haven’t seen them. I haven’t seen them here for days?

S: Έχω μέρες να τους δω εδώ [ékho méres na na tus dho edhó].

T: Very good. Έχω μέρες να τους δω εδώ. The word for “seven” is εφτά [eftá]. Εφτά.

S: Εφτά.

T: Εφτά. And the word for “week”, is εβδομάδα [evdhomádha]. Εβδομάδα. So in
εφτά [eftá], we have an F sound, but in εβδομάδα [evdhomádha], we have [ev],
like a V. Εβδομάδα, a week. But it’s related, no? We have seven, εφτά, and
εβδομάδα, seven days, a week. What’s the gender of, εβδομάδα?

S: H [i]. It’s feminine.

T: Very good. H εβδομάδα [i evdhomádha]. So, the weeks, would be?

S: Οι εβδομάδες [i evdhomádhes].

T: Οι εβδομάδες. Very good. “Movie” was ταινία [tenía]. Ταινία. A movie?

S: Μία ταινία [mía tenía].

T: Good. It’s feminine. Μία ταινία. Μία ταινία. I haven’t seen a movie for weeks. I
have weeks, να [na], I see a movie.

S: Έχω εβδομάδες να δω μία ταινία [ékho evdhomádhes na dho mía tenía].

T: Έχω εβδομάδες να δω μία ταινία. Or more commonly, we would probably leave
out the “μία”. Έχω εβδομάδες να δω ταινία [ékho evdhomádhes na dho tenía]. “A
year”, is ένας χρόνος [énas khrónos]. Ένας χρόνος.

S: Ένας χρόνος.

T: Ο χρόνος [o khrónos] actually can mean time, generally, which is where we get
“chrononlogical” from, no? But with, ένας χρόνος, we get “a year”. Μία χρονιά
[mía khroniá], which also exists, also means, “a year”, μία χρονιά. And it’s used

206
 more, like, in expressions, like in, καλή χρονιά [kalí khroniá], “good year”, or
“Happy New Year”, or σχολική χρονιά [skholikí khroniá], “a school year” – or a
good year for wine, or something like that, you would use χρονιά [khroniá].
Otherwise, you have ένας χρόνος [énas khrónos], for “a year”.

S: Ένας χρόνος.

T: Ένας χρόνος. Good. As if it wasn’t strange enough to have two ways of saying
“year”, ένας χρόνος [énas khrónos], and μία χρονιά [mía khroniá], both masculine
and feminine, no, the plural of, ένας χρόνος is, τα χρόνια [ta khrónia].

S: Tα χρόνια.

T: Tα χρόνια. So, it’s like χρονιά [khroniá], but the accent’s at the beginning, χρόνια
[khrónia], and it becomes neuter suddenly. Tα χρόνια.

S: Tα χρόνια.

T: And there’s even more ways of talking about a year in Greek. You could have, το
έτος [to étos], the plural of which is, τα έτη [ta éti]. And this is … this is used less,
but in some quite common expressions like, ένα ακαδημαϊκό έτος [éna
acadhimaikó étos], “one academic year”. And it’s interesting that Greek does this,
because Greek is a language really concerned about time. As I mentioned,
different languages care about different things; they mark different things in their
grammar. And we see how Greek cares very much about time, no? We have an
open and a closed version for the verbs, and we have to think about when to use
that. And this is a recurring feature of the language and the culture as well, if you
look at ancient Greek philosophers going on a lot about time and different ways of
seeing time. So … so this odd situation, I think, reflects very well the way the
culture views elements of time and the langauge. So, we have, ένας χρόνος [énas
khrónos], “a year”, and, χρόνια [khrónia] for “years”. So if you were to say, I
haven’t seen a movie for years? I have years, να [na], I see a movie.

S: Έχω χρόνια να δω ταινία [ékho khrónia na dho tenía].

T: Very good. Έχω χρόνια να δω ταινία. Η δουλειά [i dhuliá] was “the work”, or a job,
“the job”. Η δουλειά. And, I work – how do we get the verb from, δουλειά? Do
you remember?

S: Δουλεύω [dhulévo].

T: Δουλεύω. Good. Δουλεύω. I haven’t worked for seven years. What is, seven?

S: Εφτά [eftá].

T: Εφτά. So, I have seven years, να [na], I work?

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S: Έχω εφτά χρόνια να δουλεύω [ékho eftá khrónia na dhulévo]. Ah, να δουλέψω
[na dhulépso].

T: Very good. Έχω εφτά χρόνια να δουλέψω. Οχτώ [okhtó] or οκτώ [októ], you can
hear either: οχτώ, οκτώ, like with a [ch] (χ), or with the K (κ).

S: Οχτώ.

T: Means “eight”.

S: Οχτώ.

T: And this is like “October”, which of course is the tenth month, but the calendar …
our calendar used to have ten months and October was the eighth. Οχτώ, number
eight. So, you could say, They haven’t worked in eight years.

S: Έχουν οχτώ χρόνια να δουλέψουν [ékhun okhtó khrónia na dhulépsun].

T: Very good. Έχουν/έχουνε οχτώ χρόνια να δουλέψουν/να δουλέψουνε [ékhun/
ékhune okhtó khrónia na dhulépsun/na dhulépsune]. Very good.

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Complete Greek, Track 48 – Language Transfer

Teacher: What was the word for, time or, a year?

Student: Χρόνος [khrónos].

T: Χρόνος. And we also said that, η χρονιά [i khroniá] can also be a year, like in, καλή
χρονιά [kalí khroniá], “good year”, σχολική χρονιά [skholikí khroniá], the “school
year”. And, ο χρόνος [o khrónos], “the year”, the most common word for “year”,
when we’re talking about a period of time, no, had a very strange plural. What
was the plural of, χρόνος [khrónos]?

S: Τα χρονιά [ta khroniá].

T: Τα χρόνια [ta khrónia]. Good.

S: Τα χρόνια.

T: And we said how this is connected to “chronological”, no? That χρόνος [khrónos]
can also mean time, generally, and this is where we get “chronological” from in
English. How would you say, I haven’t seen you for years?

S: Έχω χρόνια να σε δω [ékho khrónia na se dho].

T: Very good. Έχω χρόνια να σε δω. There’s also another expression to express the
same idea, no, like, I haven’t done something for an amount of time. So, instead
of, I have years, να [na], I see you, we might also say, I haven’t seen you, εδώ και
χρόνια [edhó ke khrónia] (“here and years”). So, that’s not saying, I haven’t seen
you here, no? This is an expression (εδώ και [edhó ke]), and then you put the
amount of time, “here and”. So, a little bit like “from here”, no, or something like
this. Χρόνια [khrónia]. So, again, a bit odd, because it’s an expression. So, using
this, we will say, I haven’t seen you here and years.

S: Σε έχω δει εδώ και χρόνια [se ékho dhi edhó ke krónia].

T: But here we will actually use the negative, no? I haven’t seen you.

S: Δεν σου έχω δει εδώ και χρόνια [dhen su ékho dhi ke krónia].

T: Good, but don’t do it from memory, think it through again.

S: Δεν σου ... [dhen su …]. Ah!

T: That’s from memory.

S: Δεν σε έχω δει εδώ και χρόνια [dhen se ékho dhi edhó ke khrónia].

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T: Very good. Δεν σε έχω δει εδώ και χρόνια. And here we have the negative, no, in
this construction. So, often in language there are many ways to say the same
thing, no? And it can depend on communal or individual preferences. So, a
communal preference is a dialect, no? Certain dialects, you will … you will see
different preferences in different places. And then an individual preference is an
idiolect. You will notice how people have ideolects, and in certain situations, tend
to choose maybe exclusively one way of saying things over another. We all have
our individual idiolect as well. So, we saw χρόνος [khrónos], and we said how it’s
related to “chronological”. When we have CH in English, and it gives us a [k]
sound, like a K sound – so not like the CH [ch] in, “cheese” or “charity”, no, but
like in “school” or “chronological” – when we have that, that CH making a [k]
sound in English, it’s Greek. And this is the letter that looks like an X in Greek
(Χ/χ), no, like in έχω [ékho]. Chronology – χρόνος [khrónos], which I should
mention you should be careful not to confuse with a K in some Greek fonts, like
the ones used in the dictionary. This X (χ), and the stylised way of writing the K,
can look very similar. Σχολική χρονιά [skholikí khroniá], I mentioned, no, the
“school year”. So again, we have the word in English, “school”, no, CH making [k],
and then σχολείο [skholío] is the word for “school” in Greek. Σχολείο.

S: Σχολείο.

T: And then in this way where we use it like an adjective, σχολική [skholikí], like in,
“school year”, no, σχολική χρονιά [skholikí khroniá]. “Psychology”, I mentioned
before for the “-logy" bit, but I also mentioned it was something like the science
of the soul, no? Ψυχή [psichí] is “soul”. Again “psycho”, we have the CH there
making a [k] sound. You might also hear in Greek, ψυχή μου [psichí mu]. What
does that mean, ψυχή μου?

S: My soul.

T: My soul, used to refer to somebody affectionately, no? Ψυχή μου – my soul. We
have “chromatic” in English, no? Like in musical scales, a chromatic scale is the
colourful scale, because we have in Greek, χρώμα [khróma]. Χρώμα, which is the
“colour”. Χρώμα.

S: Χρώμα.

T: Χρώμα. How would you make that plural?

S: Χρώματα [khrómata].

T: Very good. Very good. It’s a neuter word, ending MA (μα), το χρώμα, τα χρώματα
[to khróma, ta khrómata]. Ήχος [íkhos], for example, means “sound”. If we replace
that [kh] with CH, you might find a word in English, if we imagine it with a CH.
Ήχος. What does it look like in English?

S: Echo.

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T: Echo. Good. So “echo” is just the Greek word for sound. Well, actually, in Greek,
ήχος [íkhos] is “sound”, and ηχώ [ikhó] is “echo”, which is fascinating, because it’s
like we move the accent, like an echo, no? Ήχος, ηχώ [íkhos, ikhó], and we get
“echo”. “Character”, character, another CH there, giving us [kh]. In Greek we have
χαρακτήρας, which is actually connected to, “I engrave”, “I carve”, χαράζω
[kharázo]. Your character is your markings, what’s marked you in your life is your
character. That’s the idea behind that word. Χαράζει [kharázi] also means “the
break of dawn”. So χαράζω [kharázo] is like, you know, “engrave”, “to carve”, or
maybe “to crack”. And χαράζει, it engraves, it cracks, is the break of dawn. The
word for “soon”, was σύντομα [sídoma/síndoma]. Σύντομα. So you could say, you
know, It will … the dawn will break soon.

S: Θα χαράζει σύντομα [tha kharázi síndoma].

T: Okay, this would mean more like, you know, It’s going to be breaking dawn soon.
So if you wanted the, “it will”, the closed version, how might that be?

S: Ah. Θα χαράσει [tha kharási].

T: Good. That’s a good guess, no, because we have, for example, αγοράζω, αγοράσω
[aghorázo, aghoráso], no? Αρχίζω [archizo], “I start”; αρχίσω [archiso]. But here,
it’s, χαράζω [kharázo] to χαράξω [kharákso]. Like, αλλάζω [alázo], “I change”;
αλλάξω [alákso]. Like παίζω [pézo], “I play”; παίξω [pékso]. But we can also look
to the word in English that comes from the Greek, to get a guess towards the
closed version. So “character”, char-ac-ter, sounds like χαράξω [kharákso]. And
you know, as you know, we generally have quite a few limited options for our
closed version: [s], [ks], [ps]. We can look if the word we get from that sounds
something like [s], [ps], or [ks]. We’ve already seen this, like in φέρνω [férno], “I
bring”, and φέρω [féro], no, the closed version, which is what we find in words
like “transfer”. So often we make up a vocabulary from the closed version of the
verb, which can help us guess it. So, Θα χαράξει σύντομα [tha kharáksi sídoma].
My name, no, “Mihalis” (Μιχάλης) [mikhális], if you replace that χ with CH, what is
the name you find in English?

S: Michael.

T: Michael. Of course, no? Which actually is from ancient Hebrew, meaning,
something like, “who is like God”, thought to be a rhetorical question,
necessitating the answer like, “no one”, no? Who is like God? No one. Chameleon,
chamomile, no? “Chamomile” used to be spelt, “ch …”, although it’s not so
common now. These are built of, χώμα [khóma], meaning ground, or soil. The first
bit, “cham” [kam], is actually χώμα. So “chameleon”, means like a ground lion,
actually, or a dirt lion, or something like this. “Chamomile” means something like
a ground apple. Το μήλο [to mílo] in Greek is an “apple”, which is actually where
the English word, “melon” comes from. So always try to break up Greek words to
see what they’re made of, or words in English you notice are from Greek, either

211
 from some part you recognise like “pedi”, “epi", or whatever. Or a CH sound
giving us [kh/ch], or like the PH giving us [f], like in phone, τηλέφωνο [tiléfono]. It’s
amazing for your memory and just for general digesting of vocabulary, to look at it
in this way. And if you speak other languages, try to cross that bridge too. For
example, in Spanish, “chamomile”, is manzanilla, literally “little apple”. Or even in
Spanish sign language, the sign for “character”, which I mentioned was coming
from χαράζω, like “to mark”, is just marking at, kind of scratching the hand, you
know. So you find the same idea there as well. “Choreography”, choreography,
means writing with dance. We’ve already seen γράφω [ghráfo], “I write”, with the
PH/F connection, no, γράφει, γράφω [ghráfi, ghráfo]. And χορεύω [khorévo] is, “I
dance”. Xορεύω.

S: Xορεύω.

T: What might be the closed version of, χορεύω?

S: Χορέψω [khorépso].

T: Χορέψω. I haven’t danced for years?

S: Έχω χρόνια να χορέψω [ékho khrónia va khorépso].

T: Very good. Έχω χρόνια να χορέψω. Δεν έχω χορέψει εδώ και χρόνια [dhen ékho
khorépsi edhó ke khrónia]. So this is a way of looking at vocabulary. Whenever we
get the opportunity to, we want to pick things apart, rather than trying to
memorise them. Even if we see a word that we don’t understand, we might see
which bits it’s built of, which may allow us in the context to guess the meaning of
the word. And even if it doesn’t, we’ve revised those little bits, you know, that we
recognise, and brought them closer to the surface. So that’s the way we want to
approach vocabulary, especially in a language like Greek, where the vocabulary is
long, because it’s built of so many different parts.

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Complete Greek, Track 49 – Language Transfer

Teacher: “Stomach”, stomach, again, we have the CH giving us a [k] sound, in Greek
is στομάχι [stomáchi]. Στομάχι.

Student: Στομάχι.

T: So this Χ letter (χ), this [kh/ch] sound is pronounced in two slightly different ways.
It’s kind of soft – [ch] – when it has an E or an I after it, στομάχι, and then hard
when it has another vowel after it, like in έχω [ékho], and also if it’s followed by a
consonant sound, like in χρώμα [khróma], χρόνος [khrónos]. Στομάχι is a neuter
noun, so how would you say, my stomach?

S: Το στομάχι μου [to stomáchi mu].

T: Το στομάχι μου. I hurt is, πονάω [ponáo]. Πονάω. But mostly you will hear it as,
“It hurts”. For example, if you say, “My stomach hurts”, you will say it in Greek
just like in English: It hurts, my stomach, My stomach, it hurts, no? So, how would
that be, from πονάω?

S: Πονάει το στομάχι μου [ponái to stomáchi mu].

T: Very good. Πονάει το στομάχι μου. Με πονάει το στομάχι μου [me ponái to
stomáchi mu]. Στομάχι, “stomach”, actually comes from the word for “mouth”,
στόμα [stóma], “mouth”.

S: Στόμα.

T: So you have στόμα [stóma] for “mouth”, and στομάχι [stomáchi], “stomach”.
What gender is στόμα, do you think?

S: Neuter?

T: Yes, neuter, no? So it ends in A (α), but it’s not feminine. It’s MA (μα), like
πρόβλημα [próvlima], το πρόβλημα. It’s a neuter word. So, το στόμα [to stóma].
How might you say, the mouths?

S: Τα στόματα [ta stómata].

T: Τα στόματα. The accent doesn’t move when we add the τα [ta] when we have a
short word. When the word is longer, we move the accent, no: μήνυμα, μηνύματα
[mínima, minímata]. But, το χρώμα, τα χρώματα [to khróma, ta khrómata], “the
colour, the colours”; το στόμα, τα στόματα [to stóma, ta stómata], “the mouth,
the mouths”. So here with these shorter nouns, like στόμα, χρώμα, we don’t need
to move the accent when we add on that τα for the plural. My mouth?

S: Το στόμα μου [to stóma mu].

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T: Το στόμα μου. Your mouth?

S: Το στόμα σου [to stóma su].

T: Το στόμα σου. His mouth? What was, to him?

S: Του [tu].

T: Good. So, his mouth?

S: Το στόμα του [to stóma tu].

T: Το στόμα του. So our word for, “to him”, no, we can also use for possession. Like,
“the mouth to him”. Το στόμα του. Their mouth?

S: Το στόμα τους [to stóma tus].

T: Το στόμα τους. Her mouth?

S: Το στόμα της [to stóma tis].

T: Το στόμα της. Very good. What was, I can? A verb that has the accent on the
ending.

S: Μπορώ [boró].

T: Μπορώ. Good. I can’t?

S: Δεν μπορώ [dhen boró].

T: Δεν μπορώ. How was, It hurts?

S: Πονάει [ponái].

T: “Tonight”, the word for tonight, was απόψε [apópse]. Απόψε.

S: Απόψε.

T: He can’t dance tonight because his stomach hurts. So, the first … first bit is, He
can’t.

S: Δεν μπορεί [dhen borí].

T: Δεν μπορεί. He can’t dance tonight. If you need to find “dance”, you can think of
choreography.

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S: Δεν μπορεί να χορέψει απόψε [dhen borí na khorépsi apópse].

T: Very good. Δεν μπορεί να χορέψει απόψε, because his stomach hurts.

S: Γιατί το στομάχι του πονάει [yatí to stomáchi tu ponái].

T: Very good. Γιατί/επειδή το στομάχι του πονάει [yatí/epidhí to stomáchi tu ponái],
πονάει το στομάχι του. Μόνος [mónos], μόνος, means, “alone”. Μόνος.

S: Μόνος.

T: We have this all over English. We have “monopoly”, which is like, μόνος πουλάω
[mónos puláo], “I sell”. So it’s like, “alone selling”, no, a monopoly. “Monotonous”
is like, you know, “one tone”. “Monogamy”, single marriage. In Greek, a one-way
street is μονόδρομος [monódhromos], a lone street. Mονόδρομος, a one-way
street. What is, I stay?

S: Μένω [méno].

T: Μένω. I stay alone?

S: Μένω μόνος [méno mónos].

T: Μένω μόνος. And for females, μένω μόνη [méno móni]. And you could also say, “I
stay by myself”, which would be, μένω μόνος μου [méno mónos mu]. Μένω
μόνος μου. So you could say, like in English, “I stay alone”, μένω μόνος, or, μένω
μόνος μου – I stay by myself. If you’re a female, you won’t say, μόνος μου, which
is masculine, but … ?

S: Μόνη μου [móni mu].

T: Μόνη μου.

S: Μόνη μου.

T: So the μου [mu] here is like possessive, no; it’s like “my own”. Mόνος μου, μόνη
μου. Do you stay alone – by yourself? Let’s talk to a female.

S: Μένεις μόνη σου; [ménis móni su?].

T: Μένεις μόνη σου; Μόνη σου μένεις; [móni su ménis?]. And to a man?

S: Μένεις μόνος σου; [ménis mónos su?].

T: Μένεις μόνος σου; Good. “Us”, or “to us”, was μας [mas]. Μας.

S: Μας.

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T: So, if we say, We want to stay by ourselves. We want to stay by ourselves. Let’s
start from the first bit, We want?

S: Θέλουμε [thélume].

T: To stay?

S: Να μείνουμε [na mínume].

T: Good. By ourselves.

S: Θέλουμε να μείνουμε μόνοι μας [thélume na mínume móni mas].

T: Very good. Θέλουμε να μείνουμε μόνοι μας. We want to stay by ourselves. What
if we were females?

S: Θέλουμε να μείνουμε μόνες μας [thélume na mínume mónes mas].

T: Good. Θέλουμε να μείνουμε μόνες μας. And, depending on the context, we could
also have μένουμε [ménume], no? Maybe we’re talking about the general
situation. Maybe we are talking about the arrangements to stay somewhere, you
know, when it’s like very closed and concrete. Depends on the context. What was,
I cook?

S: Mαγειρεύω [mayirévo].

T: Mαγειρεύω. I can’t cook by myself.

S: Δεν μπορώ να μαγειρέψω μόνος μου [dhen boró va mayirépso mónos mu].

T: Good. Δεν μπορώ να μαγειρέψω μόνος μου. So this would refer to a specific
situation, but if you meant, very generally, like, “I’m just, you know, so useless in
the kitchen.” How would you say it?

S: Δεν μπορώ να μαγειρεύω μόνος μου [dhen boró va mayirévo mónos mu].

T: Very good. Δεν μπορώ να μαγειρεύω μόνος μου. Or if you were a female, μόνη
μου [móni mu]. We can’t cook by ourselves. Let’s be masculine or a mixed group.
We can’t cook by ourselves.

S: Δεν μπορούμε να μαγειρεύουμε μόνοι μας [dhen borúme na mayirévume móni
mas].

T: Very good. Δεν μπορούμε να μαγειρεύουμε μόνοι μας. Maybe you are a couple,
and you are talking very generally, you know, “Us as a couple, we are useless in
the kitchen.” So either could work, depending on the context. Δεν μπορούμε να

216
 μαγειρεύουμε/να μαγειρέψουμε μόνοι μας [dhen borúme na mayirévume/na
mayirépsume móni mas]. And if we were females?

S: Μόνες μας [mónes mas].

T: Μόνες μας. Good. He can’t cook by himself?

S: Δεν μπορεί να μαγειρεύει μόνος … μόνος του [dhen borí na mayirévi mónos …
mónos tu].

T: Very good. Δεν μπορεί να μαγειρέψει/να μαγειρεύει μόνος του [dhen borí na
mayirépsi/na mayirévi mónos tu]. They can’t cook by themselves?

S: Δεν μπορούνε να μαγειρεύουν μόνους … μόνους τους [dhen borúne na
mayirévun mónus … mónus tus].

T: Deal with each bit separately, because you know that in Greek, you match things,
no? But you’re doing that very automatically. So you don’t match things by sound
necessarily, μόνους τους [mónus tus], no? You want it to sound similar. Think
about each bit separately. First you put μόνος [mónos] into plural. So let’s do that.

S: Μόνοι [móni].

T: Μόνοι, for masculine, no? And then you say, their.

S: Τους [tus].

T: Ah! So they sound very different. Μόνοι τους [móni tus], but they are agreeing.
So, They can’t cook by themselves?

S: Δεν μπορούν να μαγειρεύουν μόνοι τους [dhen borún na mayirévun móni tus].

T: Very good. Δεν μπορούν/δεν μπορούνε να μαγειρεύουν/να μαγειρέψουν, να
μαγειρεύουνε/να μαγειρέψουνε, μόνοι τους [dhen borún/dhen borúne na
mayirévun/na mayirépsun, na mayirévune/na mayirépsune, móni tus]. And if we
are talking about females, how do we say, by themselves?

S: Μόνες τους [mónes tus].

T: Still “τους” [tus]. Because we use, “to them”, for possession, and that’s the same
for everybody, no? Τους. Good. Μόνες τους. In the neuter, μόνο [móno], in the
neuter, can be used like, “only”, like, I only want to see him. I just want to see him.
So, give that a try. Μόνο [móno] is quite flexible; let’s see where you put it
intuitively. I only want to see him, I just want to see him.

S: Θέλω μόνο να τον δω [thélo móno na ton dho].

217
T: Good. Θέλω μόνο να τον δω. Θέλω να τον δω μόνο [thélo na ton dho móno].
Good. I mentioned that “monopoly” was like, “mono-selling”, no? So, “I sell”, is
πουλάω [puláo]. Πουλάω.

S: Πουλάω.

T: So you could say something like, you know, I just sell them. (Like, you know, What
do I know, I just sell them.) How would that be? You can decide on the gender of
the “them”. I just sell them?

S: Εγώ μόνο τα πουλάω [eghó móno ta puláo].

T: Εγώ μόνο τα πουλάω. Εγώ τα πουλάω μόνο [eghó ta puláo móno]. Το μόνο [to
móno], το μόνο, “the only”, can be used like, “the only thing.” Το μόνο. What was
the word for, where?

S: Πού [pu].

T: Πού. Που [pu] is also “that”, in the sense of “which”. So, like, The only thing that I
want. The only thing which I want. That “that” or “which” is also που. So, The only
thing I want. The only thing that/which I want?

S: Το μόνο πράγμα που θέλω [to móno prághma pu thélo].

T: So you don’t have to say, “thing”, but as you’ve put πράγμα [prághma] up, and
we’ve learned this plural now, how would you say, things?

S: Πράγματα [prághmata].

T: Πράγματα. Good. But that’s included. Το μόνο [to móno] is “the only thing.” We
don’t need to say, “thing.”

S: Το μόνο που θέλω [to móno pu thélo].

T: Το μόνο που θέλω. No? The only thing we want is to stay by ourselves. So, The
only thing that/which we want?

S: Το μόνο που θέλουμε [to móno pu thélume].

T: Is to stay by ourselves.

S: Είναι να μείνουμε μόνοι μας [íne na mínume móni mas].

T: Very good. Very good. Το μόνο που θέλουμε. So, το μόνο που θέλουμε (the only
thing which/that we want), είναι να μείνουμε μόνοι μας (is that we stay by
ourselves, is to stay by ourselves). Very well done.

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Complete Greek, Track 50 – Language Transfer

Teacher: How is, I want it?

Student: Το θέλω [to thélo].

T: Το θέλω. But what if you mean, like, the movie, which is feminine, η ταινία [i
tenía]?

S: Την θέλω [tin thélo].

T: Την θέλω. I want to see it?

S: Θέλω να την δω [thélo na tin dho].

T: Θέλω να την δω. Good. in the same way, if you say, “I want to see the movie”,
when you say, “the movie”, it’s not, η ταινία [i tenía] anymore in this situation; it’s
την ταινία [tin tenía]. So, in Greek, we have two ways of saying, “the movie”,
depending on whether it’s behaving like “she”, or like “her”. When we say, The
movie is starting now, it’s behaving like “she”, no? The movie is starting. She is
starting. So here, we leave it as it is – η ταινία [i tenía]. So let’s say that. What
was, I start? Αρχή was “the start”, η αρχή [i archí], and, I start?

S: Αρχίζω [archízo].

T: Αρχίζω. Good. So, The movie is starting now?

S: Αρχίζει τώρα η ταινία [archízi tóra i tenía].

T: Very good. Η ταινία αρχίζει τώρα [i tenía archízi tóra]. Αρχίζει η ταινία τώρα
[archízi i tenía tóra]. Αρχίζει τώρα η ταινία. Good. So, η ταινία [i tenía], in this
situation, is acting like, “she” – She is starting. So, η ταινία. But if you say, “I’m
watching the movie”, here the movie is behaving like “her”. “I’m watching the
movie”, here the movie is behaving like her. “I’m watching the movie” is like, “I’m
watching her”, not like, “I’m watching she.” That doesn’t make any sense. So here,
we don’t use, η ταινία [i tenía], which is like, “she”; we use, την ταινία [tin tenía],
which is like, “her.” So, I’m watching/I’m seeing the movie?

S: Βλέπω την ταινία [vlépo tin tenía].

T: Βλέπω την ταινία. Good. I’m watching it, and we mean, the movie?

S: Την βλέπω [tin vlépo].

T: Την βλέπω. So we see again, like we did right at the beginning with the neuter, no,
as we saw το [to] for “the” and also for “it”, how the correct word for “the”
corresponds with the correct word for “it”. We have, την βλέπω [tin vlépo], “I see

219
 it” – something feminine, and then, βλέπω την ταινία [vlépo tin tenía], rather
than, η ταινία [i tenía].

“Friend”, was φίλος [fílos].

S: Φίλος.

T: Like in “-phile”, like country-phile, somebody that loves the countryside. So what
is, my friend?

S: Ο φίλος μου [o fílos mu].

T: Ο φίλος μου. Or a feminine friend?

S: Η φίλη μου [i fíli mu].

T: Η φίλη μου. My friend wants. If we mean a female, is it like ”she”, or is it like
“her”? When we say, “My friend wants”, is it like, “she wants”, or “her wants”?

S: She.

T: She. So we leave it as it is. So how is it, My friend wants, a female friend?

S: Η φίλη μου θέλει [i fíli mu théli].

T: Η φίλη μου θέλει. Good. My friend wants to see me.

S: Η φίλη μου θέλει να με δει [i fíli mu théli na me dhi].

T: Very good. Η φίλη μου θέλει να με δει. But if we say, I want to see my friend,
here, is it like, “I want to see she”, or, “I want to see her”?

S: I want to see her.

T: Her. So what does, “η φίλη μου” [i fíli mu] become?

S: Την φίλη [tin fíli].

T: Την φίλη μου [tin fíli mu]. So, I want to see my friend?

S: Θέλω να δω την φίλη μου [thélo na dho tin fíli mu].

T: Very good. Θέλω να δω την φίλη μου. Tην φίλη μου. The word for, “me”, was?

S: Mε [me].

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T: Mε. Mε also means, “with.” So, if you say, I want to do it with my friend, a female
friend still, is this like, I want to do it with she, or, I want to do it with her?

S: With her.

T: With her. So how would you say that, I want to do it with my friend?

S: Θέλω να το κάνω με την φίλη μου [thélo na to káno me tin fíli mu].

T: Very good. Θέλω να το κάνω με την φίλη μου. So, With my friend, is like, “with
her”, rather than, “with she”, so we use “την [tin]”. Tην φίλη μου. I want to see
the movie with my friend.

S: Θέλω να δω [thélo na dho], or, βλέπω [vlépo], because it takes a long time?

T: So, it’s not about the amount of time. It’s about the way you refer to the time. So,
it could be ten years, but if you refer to it as a closed period, you still use the
closed form of the verb. It’s not about how long it takes. So, I want to see the
movie, that’s like, you know, a closed event. I want to see the movie with my
friend (a female friend).

S: Θέλω να δω την ταινία με την φίλη μου [thélo na dho tin tenía me tin fíli mu].

T: Good. In both situations, “the movie” and “the friend my”, “my friend”, no, it’s
behaving like, “her.” Θέλω να δω την ταινία με την φίλη μου. Good. So in Greek
we are changing the words for “the” to reflect what the noun is doing, how it’s
behaving. “Far” or “far away” is, μακριά [makriá]. Mακριά.

S: Mακριά.

T: You know we have this in English, like, I don’t know, “macroeconomics”, or
something like this, no? Mακριά. Far, or far away. What was, the only thing? How
were we saying that? Like in “monopoly”.

S: Το μόνο πράγμα [to móno prághma].Το μόνο [to móno].

T: Το μόνο. Good. The only thing we want?

S: Το μόνο που θέλουμε [to móno pu thélume].

T: Το μόνο που θέλουμε. Good. So we have που [pu] for “that”, like, “which”, no?
The only thing that we want, which we want. Το μόνο που θέλουμε. Far away
from, would be, “μακριά … “. What is, from?

S: Από [apó].

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T: Like in “apostle”, that we saw recently. Mακριά από [makriá apó]. What was, the
city, like in “cosmopolitan”, a worldly city?

S: Η πόλη [i póli].

T: Η πόλη. So, if we want to say, The only thing we want is to live by ourselves/is to
stay by ourselves far away from they city? Let’s build this bit by bit. The only thing
that we want.

S: Το μόνο που θέλουμε [to móno pu thélume].

T: Is to stay by ourselves.

S: Είναι να μείνουμε μόνοι μας [íne na mínume móni mas].

T: Good. If we are males, no, μόνοι, μόνοι μας [móni mas], or μόνες μας [mónes
mas], if we’re females. Far from the city. Now when we say, far from the city, is
the city behaving like “she”, or like “her”? So you just have to test it and see what
sounds natural. “Far from her”. “Far from she”. Which sounds natural?

S: Mακριά από την πόλη [makriá apó tin póli].

T: Very good. No? Far from her. Tην πόλη [tin póli]. Good. Το μόνο που θέλουμε
είναι να μείνουμε μόνοι μας μακριά από την πόλη [to mono pu thélume íne na
mínume móni mas makriá apó tin póli]. And also, από την [apó tin], you can
contract to άπ’ την [áp’tin] – μακριά άπ’ την πόλη [makriá áp’tin póli]. Very good.
So with feminine and masculine nouns, as we will see, you have to think about if
they are behaving like, “she” or “her”, like “he”, or like “him”?

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Complete Greek, Track 51 – Language Transfer

Teacher: How do you say, my friend?

Student: Ο φίλος μου [o fílos mu].

T: Ο φίλος μου. Or a female friend?

S: Η φίλη μου [i fíli mu].

T: Η φίλη μου. And how would you say, My friend wants to do it by herself? So, My
friend wants?

S: Η φίλη μου θέλει [i fíli mu théli].

T: Very good. Η φίλη μου θέλει. Because, Η φίλη μου, is like, “he” or “she”, no, so
we have “θέλει”. Η φίλη μου θέλει. Wants to do it?

S: Να το κάνει [na to káni].

T: Very good. Να το κάνει. By herself?

S: Μόνη της [móni tis].

T: Very good. Μόνη της, no? Alone hers. By herself. Μόνη της. Η φίλη μου θέλει να
το κάνει μόνη της [i fíli mu théli na to káni móni tis]. My friends want to do it by
themselves. And they’re still feminine, so, female friends. My friends want to do it
by themselves.

S: Οι φίλες μου θέλουν να το κάνουν μόνες τις ... μόνες τους [i fíles mu thélun na to
kánun mónes tis ... mónes tus].

T: Very good. Mόνες τους [mónes tus]. For the possession, we use, “to them”, and
“to them”, be it masculine or feminine, or even neuter, is τους [tus]. Very good.
So, Οι φίλες μου, οι φίλες μου θέλουν να το κάνουν μόνες τους [i fíles mu thélun
na to kánun mónes tus]. Give me again, My friends, feminine.

S: Οι φίλες μου [i fíles mu].

T: Οι φίλες μου. Good. If you say, With my friends, is it like, “with they”, or “with
them”?

S: With them.

T: With them. So, how would you say, With my friends? Female friends.

S: Με τις φίλες μου [me tis fíles mu].

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T: Με τις φίλες μου. Very good. How would you say, With his friends, still female?
With his friends.

S: Με τις φίλες του [me tis fíles tu].

T: Very good. Με τις φίλες του. What was the word for, this, or, this one?

S: Αυτό [aftó].

T: Αυτό. For neuter, no? And for masculine?

S: Αυτός [aftós].

T: And for feminine?

S: Αυτή [aftí].

T: Αυτή. So this is, “this” or, “this one”, and can also mean, “this guy” or, “this lady”,
no? Αυτός, αυτή. How would you say, Τhis one … (you could choose the gender),
this one is for his friend. We’re still with a female friend. So, let’s begin with, This
one is.

S: Αυτό είναι [aftó íne].

T: Αυτό είναι, for his friend (female friend).

S: Για την φίλη του [ya tin fíli tu].

T: Very good. Για την φίλη του. Για την φίλη του, because, “for his friend”, is like,
“for her,” no, rather than, “for she”. So we say, την φίλη [tin fíli]. Για την φίλη του.
And, for his friends (plural feminine)?

S: Για τις φίλες του [ya tis fíles tu].

T: Very good. Για τις φίλες του. Very good. And we said that, για [ya], “for”, with να
[na], για να [ya na], gives us, “so” or, “so that.” Για να. What was, I cook?

S: Μαγειρεύω [mayirévo].

T: Μαγειρεύω. So if you were to say, for example, “So that my friends cook”. “So
that my friends cook”, still female friends. Is this “So that they cook” or, “So that
them cook”?

S: So that they cook.

T: Very good. So that my friends cook.

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S: Για να μαγειρέψουν οι φίλες μου [ya na mayirépsun i fíles mu].

T: Very good. Για να μαγειρέψουν οι φίλες μου. Or, Για να μαγειρεύουν [ya na
mayirévun], depending on the context. Very good. “I like”, or “I like it” is, μου
αρέσει [mu arési]. Mου αρέσει.

S: Mου αρέσει.

T: And this is more like, “It is pleasing to me”, literally. We have μου [mu], which is,
“to me”, and αρέσει [arési], which is in the he/she/it form. So it’s not like English,
where you say, “I like”, no? You are saying, “It is pleasing to me”. Mου αρέσει.

S: Mου αρέσει.

T: Good. So αρέσει [arési] is in the he/she/it form, and we don’t want to say, μου
αρέσω [mu aréso], because what would that mean?

S: I like myself.

T: I like myself, no? So, if you make a direct transfer from how you do it English, you
will say something quite funny there, no? Mου αρέσει. It is pleasing to me. How
would you say, I like this?

S: Αυτό μου αρέσει [aftó mu arési].

T: Good. Αυτό μου αρέσει. Μου αρέσει αυτό [mu arési aftó], if we’re talking about a
neuter thing, no? The word for, “a lot”, or “very”, was?

S: Πολύ [polí].

T: Πολύ. Good. I like it a lot?

S: Μου αρέσει πολύ [mu arési polí].

T: Very good. Μου αρέσει πολύ. You will also hear, μ’ αρέσει [m’arési]. M’ αρέσει.

S: M’ αρέσει.

T: And that’s the contraction, that’s the contraction of, “μου” to “M apostrophe”,
and then the verb, no? M’ αρέσει.

S: M’ αρέσει.

T: M’ αρέσει. Good. How would you say, We like it a lot? So, we’re going to say, It is
very pleasing to us.

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S: Μας αρέσει πολύ [mas arési polí].

T: Very good. Μας αρέσει πολύ. We like them?

S: Αυτούς μας αρέσουν [aftús mas arésun].

T: Αυτούς [aftús]?

S: Αυτοί [aftí]. Αυτοί μας αρέσουν [aftí mas arésun].

T: Good. Αυτοί μας αρέσουν. And we don’t really need “αυτοί”; we can just say,
They please us, no? That information is included there in the verb, “αρέσουν”
[arésun]. Mας αρέσουν [mas arésun]. So, They like us? So, the first thing we want
to do is think how it would be in English, no? They like us. So, okay, We are
pleasing to them.

S: Τους αρέσουμε [tus arésume].

T: Τους αρέσουμε. Very good. He likes us?

S: Mας [mas]? Um … Tον αρέσουμε [ton arésume].

T: Good, but it would be “to him”. We are pleasing to him.

S: Tου αρέσουμε [tu arésume].

T: Very good. Tου αρέσουμε. He likes us; We are pleasing to him. Tου αρέσουμε. She
likes us.

S: Της αρέσουμε [Tis arésume].

T: Της αρέσουμε. So we really need to think about it here no, because we’re doing
something completely different in Greek to what we do in English. “She likes us”:
there it’s “she” in charge of the verb, no? She likes. But in Greek, no: We are
pleasing to her. Της αρέσουμε. She likes our friend (a female friend)? So, is “our
friend” here like “she”, or like “her”? She likes our friend.

S: Like “she”.

T: Good. Why?

S: Because the friend is pleasing to her.

T: Good. No? She likes our friend. Our friend pleases her. So, “Our friend pleases”, is
like, “she pleases”. But if we were to think about it from English, no? “She likes
our friend”: we would think it’s like, “her”; “she likes her,” no? So we must think

226
 about how we say it in Greek. She likes our friend; Our friend is pleasing to her. So,
let’s do that, Our (female) friend is pleasing to her.

S: Η φίλη μας της αρέσει [i fíli mas tis arési].

T: Very good. Η φίλη μας της αρέσει. Της αρέσει η φίλη μας [tis arési i fíli mas]. If
you go to Cyprus, you might hear, “αρέσκει μου" [aréski mu] or, “αρέσκει σου”
[aréski su], for “I like it” or, “You like it.” This is because in the Cypriot dialect, the
verb is slightly different. We have, αρέσκω [arésko], and we often have words like,
με [me], μου [mu], etc., after the verbs. So, Aρέσκει μου, αρέσκει μου. So I
mention odd things about dialects in Greek, but the Cypriot dialect is especially
different. And there is also a possiblity of a conversion course for the Cypriot
dialect, which is currently third in the voting campaign. So if you’re learning Greek
for Cyprus, check out the voting campaign on the website; maybe you can vote for
the Cypriot Greek conversion, or maybe it’s out by the time you hear this. What
was, very or, a lot?

S: Πόλυ [póli].

T: Πολύ [polí]. And, the city?

S: Η πόλη [i póli].

T: Η πόλη. Good, no? So we have, πολύ [polí], “very”, or “a lot”, and then, η πόλη [i
póli], “the city”, like in cosmopolitan, no, we said was a worldly city. So how would
you say, She likes the city a lot?

S: Η πόλη της αρέσει πολύ [i póli tis arési polí].

T: Very good. Η πόλη της αρέσει πολύ. Της αρέσει πολύ η πόλη [tis arési polí i póli].
You could also say, πάρα πολύ [pára polí], for “very much”.

S: Πάρα πολύ.

T: So how would you say, They like the city very much? They like the city very much.

S: Η πόλη τους αρέσει πάρα πολύ [i póli tus arési pára polí].

T: Very good. Η πόλη τους αρέσει πάρα πολύ. Τους αρέσει η πόλη πάρα πολύ [tus
arési i póli pára polí]. So this could be a male or female group, with τους [tus].
Τους αρέσει. So in, Τους αρέσει η πόλη [tus arési i póli], no, we have, “η πόλη"
acting like, “she”, no? She is pleasing to them. But if we say something like, I don’t
understand the city, then it’s behaving like “her”, no? What was, I understand?

S: Καταλαβαίνω [katalavéno].

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T: Καταλαβαίνω. Good. We have, κατα [kata], like “down” or “under”, no? Just like
understand. So, I don’t understand the city.

S: Δεν καταλαβαίνω την πόλη [dhen katalavéno tin póli].

T: Very good. Δεν καταλαβαίνω την πόλη, no? It’s like, “I don’t understand her”,
rather than “she.” So, when we are deciding to use, “η” or, “την”, for example,
with our feminine nouns, it’s not about the position where you find it, no, αfter or
before the verb. And we don’t want to oversimplify it in that way. It’s about
function; it’s about what it’s doing. It’s about whether the noun is behaving like,
“she” or “her.” What was the word for, in, in Greek? Just, in, by itself?

S: Σε [se].

T: Σε, no, σε. And when this combines with the word for, “the”, it contracts, so, In
the house, was?

S: Στο σπίτι [sto spíti].

T: Στο σπίτι. Good. What would, In the city, be?

S: Στην πόλη [stin póli].

T: Στην πόλη. Very good, no? Because it’s, “in her”, rather than, “in she.” How would
you say, I like to stay in the city?

S: Μου αρέσει να μείνω στην πόλη [mu arési na míno stin póli].

T: Very good. But, να μείνω [na míno], I think, was a bit automatic. I don’t think you
thought about it.

S: Oh, you said, “staying in the city”. So …

T: Well think about the meaning rather than, you know, the direct, if it’s “staying”,
or not, no? So if you say, “I like to stay in the city”, that sentence necessarily
refers to a specific period of time, or talks generally?

S: That’s more generally.

T: Yes, totally general, no? So give me that again.

S: Μου αρέσει να μείνω ... να μένω ... Μου αρέσει να μένω στην πόλη [mu arési na
méno stin póli].

T: Very good. Μου αρέσει να μένω στην πόλη. Very good. I like to stay in the city
with my friend. So again, you know we are referring to a general thing, something
we like to do, no? I like to stay in the city with my friend – and still a female friend.

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S: Μου αρέσει να μένω στην πόλη με την φίλη μου [mu arési na méno stin póli me
tin fíli mu].

T: Very good. Μου αρέσει να μένω στην πόλη με την φίλη μου. Very good.

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Complete Greek, Track 52 – Language Transfer

Teacher: I like it. It pleases me?

Student: Μου αρέσει [mu arési].

T: Μου αρέσει. I don’t like it. It doesn’t please me.

S: Δεν μ’ αρέσει [dhen m’arési].

T: Δεν μου αρέσει [dhen mu arési]. Δεν μ’ αρέσει [dhen m’arési]. It is not pleasing to
me, more literally, no? I don’t like the city.

S: Δεν μ’ αρέσει η πόλη [dhen marési i póli].

T: Δεν μου αρέσει η πόλη [dhen mu arési i póli]. Η πόλη δεν μου αρέσει [i póli dhen
mu arési]. “New”, new, and also “young” in Greek is, νέος [néos]. Nέος.

S: Nέος.

T: This is an adjective, a describing word, no? What form of it did I give you? Nέος.

S: The masculine.

T: The masculine. So the neuter would be?

S: Nέο [néo].

T: Nέο. And the feminine is, νέα [néa]. Nέα.

S: Nέα.

T: So, we’ve seen before with nouns, that we can have [a] or [i] for a feminine
ending. For example, μέρα [méra], “day”, or φίλη [fíli], “female friend”, no, ending
A (α) and ending I (ι). And some adjectives might also end A (α) for the feminine as
well, like νέα. Of course we have νέος all over English, no? Like whenever we say,
“neo-something”, like, I don’t know, “neocolonialism” or “neoliberalism”, this is
just the Greek word for “new.” And like I mentioned, also used like “young”. What
was the word for, I am, do you remember? It sounds quite a bit like, “I’m”.

S: Είμαι [íme].

T: Είμαι. I’m young?

S: Είμαι νέος [íme néos].

T: Είμαι νέος. And if you were female?

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S: Είμαι νέι [íme néi]. Ah! Είμαι νέα [íme néa].

T: Είμαι νέα. Very good. It is?

S: Είναι [íne].

T: Είναι. He is young.

S: Είναι νέος [íne néos].

T: Είναι νέος. She is young?

S: Είναι νέα [íne néa].

T: Είναι νέα. Very good. How would you say, new friend, still with a female friend,
φίλη [fíli]?

S: Νέα φίλη [néa fíli].

T: Νέα φίλη. Very good. Νέα φίλη. Good. So in Greek, just like in English, the
adjective comes before the noun. The describing word comes before what it
describes. New friend, or, young friend – νέα φίλη. If you say, “My new friend”, in
Greek, you get, η νέα μου φίλη [i néa mu fíli]. Η νέα μου φίλη.

S: Η νέα μου φίλη.

T: So you get, “the new my friend”. So if you have an adjective with a noun in this
way, the word for “my” is most commonly going to come after the adjective in
Greek. Kind of getting it out of the way the first place we can. Η νέα μου φίλη. Η
νέα μου φίλη.

S: Η νέα μου φίλη.

T: How would you say, This is for my new friend? Still, we are with a female friend?

S: Αυτό είναι για την νέα μου φίλη [aftó íne ya tin néa mu fíli].

T: Very good. Αυτό, or αυτή [aftí], or αυτός [aftós], depending on the gender of what
we are talking about, no? Αυτό είναι για την (because it’s like, “for her”, no, rather
than, “for she”) για την νέα μου φίλη. Very good. How would you say, I don’t like
your new friend? Still a female friend. I don’t like your new friend.

S: Δεν μου αρέσει η νέα σου φίλη [dhen mu arési i néa su fíli].

T: Good. Δεν μου αρέσει η νέα σου φίλη. And a masculine friend, a male friend? I
don’t like your new friend.

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S: Δεν μου αρέσει ο νέος σου φίλος [dhen mu arési o néos su fílos].

T: Very good. Δεν μου αρέσει ο νέος σου φίλος. No? Because here we have “φίλος”,
masculine, so “νέος”. Nέος φίλος [néos fílos]. What is, I wait, or, I await?

S: Περιμένω [periméno].

T: Περιμένω. Good. I’m waiting for my friend. And, you know, I said, wait, or await,
because we don’t use “for”, no? It’s more like, I’m awaiting my friend. Again a
female friend.

S: Περιμένω την φίλη μου [periméno tin fíli mu].

T: Περιμένω την φίλη μου. I’m waiting for her. I’m awaiting her.

S: Την περιμένω [tin periméno].

T: Την περιμένω. I’m waiting for them. Feminine, feminine “them”.

S: Τις περιμένω [tis periméno].

T: Τις περιμένω. I’m waiting for my friends, feminine friends.

S: Περιμένω τις φίλες μου [periméno tis fíles mu].

T: Very good. Περιμένω τις φίλες μου. My friends are waiting for me. Still female.

S: Με περιμένουν οι φίλες μου [me periménun i fíles mu].

T: Very good. Με περιμένουν οι φίλες μου. Οι φίλες μου με περιμένουν [i fíles mu
me periménun]. No? We have that flexibility.

Έξω [ékso], έξω, means “outside”. Έξω, “outside”.

S: Έξω.

T: Like “Exodus”, no? Same root as “exit”. Έξω. My friends are waiting for me
outside. And let’s talk about masculine or mixed friends. My friends are waiting
for me outside.

S: Με περιμένουν οι φίλοι μου έξω [me periménun i fíli mu ékso].

T: Good. Με περιμένουν οι φίλοι μου έξω. Οι φίλοι μου με περιμένουν έξω [i fíli mu
me periménun ékso]. I will wait for them outside, and still we mean masculine or
mixed. I will wait for them outside.

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S: Θα τους περιμένω έξω [tha tus periméno ékso].

T: Very good. Θα τους περιμένω έξω. I will wait for them outside. And this is a
masculine or mixed “them”, no? Τους [tus]. If we say, I’m waiting for my friends,
is, “my friends”, behaving like, “they” or, “them”?

S: Them.

T: Yeah, I’m waiting for them, no? So if we’re talking about masculine friends,
masculine or mixed friends, we’re going to say, Περιμένω τους φίλους μου
[periméno tus fílus mu] ... τους φίλους μου. So when OS (-ος) nouns, those nouns
ending OS (-ος), behave like “them”, rather than “they”, then their final [os] also
changes to [us] (-ους), like τους [tus]. So we get, τους φίλους [tus fílus].

S: Tους φίλους.

T: Good. So, I’m waiting for my friends?

S: Περιμένω τους φίλος μου ... τους φίλους μου [periméno tus fílos mu … tus fílus
mu].

T: Περιμένω τους φίλους μου [periméno tus fílus mu]. Very good. So we have, τους,
no, like “them,” but also the noun there ending [os], which is a huge group of
nouns in Greek, we’ll also change to [us] (-ους). Tους φίλους. How would you say,
I haven’t seen my friends for years? I have years, να [na], I see my friends.

S: Έχω χρόνια να δω τους φίλους μου [ékho khrónia na dho tus fílus mu].

T: Very good. Έχω χρόνια να δω τους φίλους μου. Very good. How would you say, I
haven’t seen their friends for years?

S: Έχω χρόνια να δω τους φίλους τους [ékho khrónia na dho tus fílus tus].

T: Very good. Έχω χρόνια να δω τους φίλους τους. No? So the first “τους” [tus] there
is just “them”, no? Tους φίλους, the τους of, “them”. And the second, “τους”,
τους φίλους τους, is the τους of, “to them”, which we also use for possession. So
“their”, like, their friends. Έχω χρόνια να δω τους φίλους τους. What was, I know?

S: Ξέρω [kséro].

T: Ξέρω. Do you know his new friends? So, we will say, Do you know the new his
friends? No? When we have an adjective before the noun, we will get that
possession out the way where we can. So, Do you know? is the first bit.

S: Ξέρεις; [kséris?].

T: Ξέρεις; His new friends.

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S: Τους νέος του φίλους [tus néos tu fílus].

T: Almost. The adjective ending in [os] (-ος), no, will also change to match “τους”.

S: Τους νέους του φίλους [tus néus tu fílus].

T: Very good. Very good. So this is extremely complicated, until you think about one
bit at a time, and then it becomes very simple, no? Ξέρεις [kséris], “do you know”,
τους νέους του [tus néus tu] (because this is “his”, no?), his new friends, which we
prefer mostly to put after the adjective, φίλους [fílus]. Ξέρεις τους νέους του
φίλους [kséris tus néus tu fílus]. The word for “road” was, δρόμος [dhrómos].
Δρόμος.

S: Δρόμος.

T: This is δέλτα [dhélta] (Δ/δ), R (Ρ/ρ), (which the R in Greek looks like a P), O-M-O-S.
Δρόμος. This is another [os] noun, no, ending O-S (-ος). We mentioned
“hippodrome” in English, which means something like, “horse road”, no? We have
μονόδρομος [monódhromos], I mentioned as well, “one-way street”. How would
the plural of “δρόμος” be?

S: Δρόμοι [dhrómi].

T: Δρόμοι. And how is that [i] sound on the end spelt?

S: That’s O-I (-οι).

T: O-I. Good. Our plural [i] sound is spelt O-I. And how would “οι δρόμοι” [i dhrómi]
be when it’s behaving like “them”? So there, in its standard form, “οι δρόμοι” is
for when it is behaving like “they”, no? What if it’s behaving like “them”?

S: Τους δρόμους [tus dhrómus].

T: Very good. Τους δρόμους. And, The new roads, behaving like “them”?

S: Τους νέους δρόμους [tus néus dhrómus].

T: Very good. Τους νέους δρόμους. But what if you were just saying, The new roads,
and they were behaving like “they”, in their standard form?

S: Οι νέοι δρόμοι [i néi dhrómi].

T: Very good. Οι νέοι δρόμοι. So if we say, I don’t understand the roads?

S: Δεν καταλαβαίνω τους δρόμους [dhen katalavéno tus dhrómus].

234
T: Very good. Δεν καταλαβαίνω τους δρόμους. “Greece” in Greek is, Ελλάδα
[eládha].

S: Ελλάδα.

T: Or mostly, “the Greece”, η Ελλάδα [i eládha]. And that doesn’t sound much like
the word “Greece” in English, but it does sound like “Hellenic”, which of course,
“Ελλάδα” is related to. I don’t understand the roads in Greece? So the first bit is, I
don’t understand the roads.

S: Δεν καταλαβαίνω τους δρόμους [dhen katalavéno tus dhrómus].

T: Very good. Δεν καταλαβαίνω τους δρόμους. “In Greece” is, In the Greece.

S: Στην Ελλάδα [stin eládha].

T: Very good. Στην Ελλάδα, no? We have a noun here, “the Greece”, no, which
means we now have to think about whether it’s acting like “she”, or like “her”. So,
In the Greece, is like, “in her”, no? Στην Ελλάδα. Δεν καταλαβαίνω τους δρόμους
στην Ελλάδα [dhen katalavéno tus dhrómus stin eládha].

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Complete Greek, Track 53 – Language Transfer

Teacher: What was, friend, or, the friend, for a masculine friend?

Student: Ο φίλος [o fílos].

T: Ο φίλος. And, the road?

S: O δρόμος [o dhrómos].

T: O δρόμος. And, my friend (masculine)?

S: Ο φίλος μου [o fílos mu].

T: Ο φίλος μου. And, my new friend?

S: Ο νέος μου φίλος [o néos mu fílos].

T: Ο νέος μου φίλος. And like I mentioned, this could also mean, my young friend,
but mostly in the context it will be understood what you mean. So all of this – ο
φίλος, ο φίλος μου, ο νέος μου φίλος – is in the “he” form, no, when the noun is
acting like “he”, rather than “him.” When, ο φίλος, behaves like “him”, the “o”
will of course becomes the word for “him”, no? Which is?

S: Τον [ton].

T: Τον. But this isn’t the only change. We also lose the S (-ς) of the masculine nouns
too. So we get, τον δρόμο [ton dhrómo], τον φίλο [ton fílo], when it’s behaving
like “him.” He is waiting for my friend.

S: Περιμένει για τον φίλο μου [periméni ya ton fílo mu].

T: Good. But we don’t include, “for,” no? This verb is like, “to wait”, or “to wait for”,
or “to await” – all included there already in the verb.

S: Περιμένει τον φίλο μου [periméni ton fílo mu].

T: Good. Περιμένει τον φίλο μου. So these changes in nouns, that we witness in
Greek, allows us much more flexibility, no? Everything can pretty much go
everywhere, because we know what’s going on; we know what’s doing what. He’s
waiting for my friend. Περιμένει τον φίλο μου, or, Τον φίλο μου περιμένει [ton
fílo mu periméni]. My friend is waiting for him. How would that be?

S: Του περιμένει ο φίλο μου [tu periméni o fílo mu].

T: Why, “του" [tu]?

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S: Because it’s ... Oh no, he’s awaiting him, so it’s: Τον περιμένει ο φίλος μου [ton
periméni o fílos mu].

T: Very good. Τον περιμένει ο φίλος μου, or, Ο φίλος μου τον περιμένει [o fílos mu
ton periméni]. No? So we don’t rely on word order for grammar as heavily as we
do in English, and we can play around much more for emphasis in Greek. And this
in part is facilitated by the way nouns change, depending on how they are
behaving in Greek. Do you know my friend (male friend)? Do you know my friend?

S: Ξέρεις τον φίλο μου; [kséris ton fílo mu?].

T: Ξέρεις τον φίλο μου; Do you know my new friend?

S: Ξέρεις τον νέο μου φίλο; [kséris ton néo mu fílo?].

T: Very good. You took the S (-ς) also from the adjective, no? They are behaving in
the same way. Ξέρεις τον νέο μου φίλο; No? So, we lost the S (-ς) from “νέος”
[néos] and from “φίλος” [fílos], because that whole block of the sentence, that
say, is behaving like “him”. Ξέρεις τον νέο μου φίλο; Do you know my new friend?
What was, road?

S: Ο δρόμος [o dhrómos].

T: Or, the road, ο δρόμος [o dhrómos]. “I find”, I find, in Greek is, βρίσκω [vrísko].
Βρίσκω.

S: Βρίσκω.

T: So this [v] sound is the letter that looks like a B (Β/β) with a longer tail, no? But it
gives us [v], βρίσκω. I don’t find the road?

S: Δεν βρίσκω τον δρόμο [dhen vrísko ton dhrómo].

T: Very good. Δεν βρίσκω τον δρόμο. So maybe here in English it would be more
common to say, I can’t find the road, no? But we overuse “can’t” quite a lot in
English. In Greek, δεν βρίσκω τον δρόμο. But you could also say, Ι can’t find the
road, but you would need the closed version of, βρίσκω [vrísko], which is, βρω
[vro]. Another strange one, βρω.

S: Βρω.

T: So, I can’t find the road?

S: Δεν μπορώ να βρω τον δρόμο [dhen boró na vro ton dhrómo].

T: Very good. Δεν μπορώ να βρω τον δρόμο. What is, I find, again?

237
S: Βρίσκω [vrísko].

T: And, You find?

S: Βρίσκεις [vrískis].

T: Βρίσκεις. Don’t you find it?

S: Δεν το βρίσκεις; [dhen to vrískis?].

T: Δεν το βρίσκεις; Don’t you find it? And we mean, the road.

S: Δεν τον βρίσκεις; [dhen ton vrískis?].

T: Good. Δεν τον βρίσκεις; “The bill”, in Greek, the bill, is, ο λογαριασμός [o
loghariazmós]. Ο λογαριασμός.

S: O λογαριασμός.

T: Good. O λογαριασμός. And this is like, “log” in, “catalogue”, no, which the down
log – catalogue in Greek is, κατάλογος [katáloghos]. No? This is just, the log. Ο
λογαριασμός. So, how would you say, I want the bill?

S: Θέλω τον λογαριασμό [thélo ton loghariazmó].

T: Θέλω τον λογαριασμό. Good. So the way we change nouns, depending on how
they are behaving, no, is not just depending on the linguistic context; it doesn’t
just depend on what it’s doing in a sentence, but also in life. So, if you were in a
restaurant and you said, “The bill please”, you wouldn’t use the “he” form of it,
because what you mean is, “I want the bill” – “I want him”. “Can you bring me the
bill?” “Can you bring me him?” No? So even if you just say, “the bill”, you will put
it in the “him” form. How would that be?

S: Tον λογαριασμό [ton loghariazmó].

T: Good. And “please” was, παρακαλώ [parakaló].

S: Παρακαλώ.

T: So, The bill please.

S: Tον λογαριασμό παρακαλώ [ton loghariazmó parakaló].

T: Good. Tον λογαριασμό παρακαλώ. Or we could also have, σε παρακαλώ [se
parakaló], “I beg you”. But imagine you’d already asked for the bill. Imagine
you’ve already asked for the bill, and then you see the waiter, and then you see

238
 him again, and then you see him again, and then you get his eye, and you’re like,
“The bill?” What do you mean there when you say that?

S: What do I mean?

T: Yeah. Imagine you already asked him for it. You’ve been waiting.

S: Did you forget about it, the bill?

T: Okay, if that’s what you meant, then again you would say, τον λογαριασμό [ton
loghariazmó]. But, maybe when you say, “The bill?”, you mean, “Where is it?”
“Where is the bill?” No? So maybe in that circumstance, you would say, O
λογαριασμός; [o loghariazmós?]. “Where is it?”, you know. Thus, there it’s
behaving like “he”, but it would depend on what’s going on in your mind, as well,
no, so that there isn’t necessarily a correct and an incorrect way, you know. So
we’re not just looking at the sentence for context on how to treat nouns in Greek,
but life and the situation about what’s going on. How would you say, I don’t find
the bill? I can’t find the bill.

S: Δεν βρίσκω τον λογαριασμό [dhen vrísko ton loghariazmó].

T: Good. Δεν βρίσκω τον λογαριασμό. I don’t find the bills? I can’t find the bills. In
the plural?

S: Δεν βρίσκω τους λογαριασμόυς [dhen vrísko tus loghariazmús].

T: Very good. Δεν βρίσκω τους λογαριασμόυς. And I mentioned that the closed form
of βρίσκω was, βρω [vro]. Βρω. How would you say, I can’t find it by myself? You
can choose the gender of the “it”. I can’t find it by myself.

S: Δεν μπορώ να το βρω μόνος μου [dhen boró na to vro mónos mu].

T: Good. Δεν μπορώ να το βρω μόνος μου. Or, if we were female, we would say,
μόνη μου [móni mu]. Δεν μπορώ να το βρω μόνη μου [dhen boró na to vro móni
mu].

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Complete Greek, Track 54 – Language Transfer

Teacher: We can recap all of what we’ve seen about nouns changing in different
ways, depending on how they’re behaving, with a very useful word. This word is,
δικός [dhikós]. Δικός.

Student: Δικός.

T: This means “own”, as in “my own”, ο δικός μου, η δική μου, το δικό μου [o dhikóz
mu, i dhikí mu, to dhikó mu], depending on what gender noun we’re referring to.
And it can be used just like, “my one”, no? Tο δικό μου, “my one”, or “my own
one”, depending on the context. So, μόνος μου [mónos mu], we’ve seen, which
meant “alone”, no, used like, “by myself” (alone my), μόνος μου. But “my own”,
as in possession, not “on my own” – “my own”, for this we have, δικός [dhikós].
Δικός. How would you say, Do you have my one? And we mean a masculine
object.

S: Έχεις τον δικό μου; [échis ton dhikó mu?].

T: Very good. Έχεις τον δικό μου; Do you have my one? And we mean a female noun.

S: Έχεις την δική μου; [échis tin dhikí mu?].

T: Έχεις την δική μου; Very good. Do you have my one? Έχεις την δική μου; Good.
You like my one? You like my one. My one pleases you. And still feminine, my one.

S: Σου αρέσει η δική μου; [su arési i dhikí mu?].

T: Very good. Σου αρέσει η δική μου; No? Because it’s, My one pleases you? Η δική
μου σου αρέσει; [i dhikí mu su arési?]. Σου αρέσει η δική μου; Very good.

“I give”, I give, was, δίνω [dhíno]. Δίνω.

S: Δίνω.

T: And the closed version was, δώσω [dhóso]. Δώσω.

S: Δώσω.

T: I will give you my one. And we mean a masculine thing.

S: Θα σου δώσω τον δικό μου [tha su dhóso ton dhikó mu].

T: Very good. Θα σου δώσω τον δικό μου. Shall I give you them? And we mean a
masculine “them”. Shall I give you them?

S: Να τους σου δώσω; [na tus su dhóso?].

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T: Good. But what comes first, “σου” or “τους”?

S: Σου.

T: The personal one, no? So, Shall I give you them?

S: Να σου τους δώσω; [na su tus dhóso?].

T: Good. Να σου τους δώσω; Or we could also contract that: Να στους δώσω; [na
stus dhóso?]. Να στους δώσω; Shall I give you my ones? Still masculine. Shall I give
you my ones?

S: Να σου δώσω τους δικούς μου; [na su dhóso tus dhikús mu?].

T: Very good. Να σου δώσω τους δικούς μου; And what if you were talking about
feminine ones? Shall I give you my ones?

S: Να σου δώσω τις δικές μου; [na su dhóso tis dhikés mu?].

T: Very good. Να σου δώσω τις δικές μου; Shall I give you my ones? And for neuter.
Shall I give you my ones?

S: Να σου δώσω τα δικά μου; [na su dhóso ta dhiká mu?].

T: Very good. Να σου δώσω τα δικά μου; Let’s … let’s give him our one. And, our one,
is neuter. But we’ll worry about that when we get there. Let’s give him.

S: Ας τον δώσουμε [as ton dhósume].

T: So this would be … literally be like, “We’re going to pick up and we’re gonna give
him”.

S: Ah! Ας του δώσουμε [as tu dhósume].

T: Very good. Our one? And neuter.

S: Τα δικά μας [ta dhiká mas].

T: Okay, that would be, “our ones”.

S: Το δικό μας [to dhikó mas].

T: Good. Ας του δώσουμε το δικό μας [as tu dhósume to dhikó mas]. Where is my
one? And we mean a feminine thing. Where is my one?

S: Πού είναι η δική μου; [pu íne i dhikí mu?].

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T: Very good. Πού είναι η δική μου; Because, “Where is my one?” is like, “Where is
she?”, no, not, “Where is her?” So, η δική μου. Πού είναι η δική μου; I want my
one. Still feminine.

S: Θέλω την δική μου [thélo tin dhikí mu].

T: Good. Θέλω την δική μου. I want my ones. Feminine still.

S: Θέλω τις δικές μου [thélo tis dhikés mu].

T: Θέλω τις δικές μου. Where are my my ones? Still feminine.

S: Πού είναι οι δικές μου; [pu íne i dhikés mu?].

T: Very good. Πού είναι οι δικές μου; Οι δικές μου πού είναι; [i dhikés mu pu íne?].
So we’ve seen a lot of information, no, about how nouns behave and can change.
And the way we are weaving it together doesn’t lend itself very well to
memorisation. Luckily, we’re not memorising, no? So it might be hard to grasp
what we’ve done looking back, no? And it might feel a bit scattered all over the
place, but don’t try to reorder what we did. Just when you want to say something,
and with the individual examples we worked through, you’ll think about what’s
relevant for that specific thing that you want to say, rather than trying to recall
the entire panorama of what nouns might do in Greek. And we are making
connections to allow you to do that – to think about the noun that you have in
front of you, and to put it into the right case, which is what this phenomenon is
called, the way these nouns change. In grammatical terminology, it’s called
“case”.

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Complete Greek, Track 55 – Language Transfer

Teacher: What is, I leave, like leaving something or leaving somebody?

Student: Αφήνω [afíno].

T: Αφήνω. And the closed version of, αφήνω?

S: Αφήσω [afíso].

T: Αφήσω. “Outside” was έξω [ékso], like “exodus”. Έξω.

S: Έξω.

T: I have left them outside. And let’s talk about masculine or mixed things. I’ve left
them outside.

S: Τους έχω αφήσει έξω [tus ékho afísi ékso].

T: Good. Τους έχω αφήσει έξω. And of course this could also refer to people, not just
things. Like, I’ve left them (people) outside. Τους έχω αφήσει έξω. I have left them
by themselves.

S: Τους έχω αφήσει μόνοι τους [tus ékho afísi móni tus].

T: Good. But here, μόνοι [móni], is it behaving like “they”, or is it behaving like
“them”? I have left them. Well, we have some clues there, no?

S: Okay, so it’s: Τους έχω αφήσει μόνους τους [tus ékho afísi mónus tus].

T: Good. Τους έχω αφήσει μόνους τους. So here we have to change, μόνους
[mónus], to show that it’s “them”, rather than “they”, which would be, μόνοι
[móni]. So if we were to say something like, They have done it by themselves, “by
themselves”, there, is like “they” or like “them”?

S: They.

T: They, no? So in that case, we would say, μόνοι τους, no? Το έχουν κάνει μόνοι
τους [to ékhun káni móni tus]. But here, I have left them by themselves, that’s like
“them”. You could say, I have left my ones at home. Let’s talk about masculine
ones. I have left my ones at home.

S: Έχω αφήσει τους δικούς μου στο σπίτι [ékho afísi tus dhikús mu sto spíti].

T: Very good. Έχω αφήσει τους δικούς μου στο σπίτι. Good. You could say, “Αχ”
[akh], no? This is very common in Greek, αχ, and even in writing, Α-Χ (α-χ), no, the

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 Χ (Χ/χ) that gives you [kh]. Αχ, έχω αφήσει τους δικούς μου στο σπίτι [akh, ékho
afísi tus dhikús mu sto spíti]. What was the word for, why?

S: Γιατί [yatí].

T: Γιατί. And, for?

S: Για [ya].

T: Για. For my friend – is this for “he”, or for “him”?

S: For him.

T: For him, so, For my friend, a masculine friend.

S: Για τον φίλο μου [ya ton fílo mu].

T: Για τον φίλο μου. And for a feminine friend, For my friend?

S: Για την φίλη μου [ya tin fíli mu].

T: Very good. Για την φίλη μου. For my friends? For my friends, the plural and
masculine.

S: Για τους φίλους μου [ya tus fílus mu].

T: Για τους φίλους μου. For my new friends?

S: Για τους νέος ... νέους μου φίλους [ya tus néos … néus mu fílus].

T: Very good. Για τους νέους μου φίλους [ya tus néus mu fílus]. For my friends, and
we mean feminine friends – just, For my friends.

S: Για τις φίλες μου [ya tis fíles mu].

T: Για τις φίλες μου. Good. And, For my new friends, female?

S: Για τις νέες μου φίλες [ya tis nées mu fíles].

T: Very good, no? Νέος [néos], you will make plural in the same way like the
feminine, and we get, νέες [nées]. Για τις νέες μου φίλες. Για τις νέες μου φίλες.
Very good. “The coffee” in Greek was, ο καφές [o kafés]. Ο καφές.

S: Ο καφές.

T: And this isn’t the plural, no, the S (ς) on καφές – it’s the masculine ending. Ο
καφές. So how would you say, This coffee?

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S: Αυτός ο καφές [aftós o kafés].

T: Good. “This the coffee”. Αυτός ο καφές. Good. This coffee is for my friend,
masculine friend.

S: Αυτός ο καφές είναι για τον φίλο μου [aftós o kafés íne ya ton fílo mu.]

T: Good. Αυτός ο καφές είναι για τον φίλο μου. Or we could just say, “this one”, no?
This one is for my friend. And if we mean “the coffee”, This one is for my friend?

S: Αυτός είναι για τον φίλο μου [aftós íne ya ton fílo mu].

T: Αυτός είναι για τον φίλο μου. The plural of καφές, is καφέδες [kafédhes].
Kαφέδες.

S: Kαφέδες.

T: This [dhes] (-δες) plural ending, you will see it around for words of different
gender. Like “-έδες” [-édhes] for καφέδες [kafédhes], or “-άδες” [-ádhes], for
example in “γιαγιά” [yayá], which means “grandmother”. And the plural, meaning
“grandmothers”, or just “old ladies”: γιαγιάδες [yayádhes]. Γιαγιάδες.

S: Γιαγιάδες.

T: So you can find this [dhes] (-δες) plural ending with masculine and feminine. So
we have καφέδες (coffees). How would you say, Τhese coffees are for my friends,
masculine friends? These coffees are for my friends.

S: Αυτοί οι καφέδες είναι για τους φίλους μου [aftí i kafédhes íne ya tus fílus mu].

T: Very good, very good. Αυτοί οι καφέδες είναι για τους φίλους μου. Or, για τις
φίλες μου [ya tis fíles mu], for feminine. So the change we saw in the noun, in the
masculine plural, when the noun’s behaving like “them” – so, for example in, τους
φίλους μου – only happens with these O-S nouns, the ones ending “-OS” (-ος). So
if you have a masculine noun ending, for example “-ES” (-ες), like καφέδες
[kafédhes], we don’t make any change to the noun when it’s behaving like
“them”. They remain as they are in the plural. So for example, if you say, I want
two coffees, the word for “two”, like in duplicate, like in duo?

S: Δύο [dhío].

T: Δύο. So, I want two coffees?

S: Θέλω δύο καφέδες [thélo dhío kafédhes].

T: So we don’t have any change to καφέδες. We are waiting for our coffees.

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S: Περιμένουμε καφέδες μας [periménume kafédhes mas]. Περιμένουμε τους
καφέδες μας [periménume tus kafédhes mas].

T: Very good. Περιμένουμε τους καφέδες μας. You might also say for more
emphasis, like, you know, “our coffees”, then you could say, “our own coffees”.
You could use that word “δικός” [dhikós]. So give that a try. We are waiting for
our own coffees.

S: Περιμένουμε τους δικούς μας καφέδες [periménume tus dhikús mas kafédhes].

T: Very good, very good. Περιμένουμε τους δικούς μας καφέδες. Very good. I’m
waiting for my coffee. I’m awaiting my coffee.

S: Περιμένω τον καφές μου ... τον καφέ μου [periméno ton kafés mu … ton kafé
mu].

T: Good. Περιμένω τον καφέ μου [periméno ton kafé mu]. So all masculine nouns
lose their S (ς), no, when they are behaving like “him”, rather than “he”, no? But
when the masculine plural noun is behaving like “them”, rather than “they”, only
the ones ending O-S (-ος) become “-ους”, no? So we lose the S (ς) from καφές.
Περιμένω τον καφέ μου. We also saw “the man”, ο άντρας [o ándras], like in
Alexander, like in Andrew, Andreas, no? O άντρας. “The man”.

S: O άντρας.

T: I see. What is, I see?

S: Βλέπω [vlépo].

T: Βλέπω. I see the man.

S: Βλέπω τον άντρα [vlépo ton ándra].

T: Βλέπω τον άντρα. “OI” (οι) is what -OS (-ος) nouns do to become plural: δρόμος,
δρόμοι [dhrómos, dhrómi]. But if the noun ends -AS (-ας), like άντρας, we get
άντρες [ándres].

S: Άντρες.

T: I see the men?

S: Βλέπω τους άντρες [vlépo tus ándres].

T: Good. Ah, it’s not like an -OS noun; you don’t have to worry about changing the
noun for “they” or “them”, no? You just make it plural. Βλέπω τους άντρες. What
was, the coffee, again?

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S: O καφές [o kafés].

T: I have my coffee?

S: Έχω τον καφέ μου [ékho ton kafé mu].

T: Έχω τον καφέ μου. What was, the bill?

S: Ο λογαριασμός [o loghariazmós].

T: Ο λογαριασμός. Do you have the bill?

S: Έχεις τον λογαριασμό; [échis ton loghariazmó?].

T: Very good. Έχεις τον λογαριασμό; Good. And I should also mention that in Greek,
in written Greek, you won’t see a question mark at the end, but a semicolon (;),
that punctation mark that looks like a dot with a comma beneath it. That’s used
for the question mark in Greek.

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Complete Greek, Track 56 – Language Transfer

Teacher: What was the word for, day?

Student: Μέρα [méra].

T: Μέρα. Good. Or, η μέρα [i méra], the day. Or, a day?

S: Mία μέρα [mía méra].

T: Mία μέρα. And how would you say, days?

S: Μέρες [méres].

T: Μέρες. Good. Or, οι μέρες [i méres]. And this time [i] spelt like “OI” (οι), rather
than the [i] sound of, η μέρα [i méra], which is like the “n” that goes down below
the line (η). For plural [i] we get “OI”, so η μέρα, οι μέρες [i méra, i méres]. So this
is the main plural pattern, no, for feminine nouns, like A (α) to ES (ες) – μέρα,
μέρες. But we do find other plural patterns. For example, what was the word for,
city?

S: Πόλη [póli].

T: And do you remember how to say, cities?

S: Πόλεις [pólis].

T: Πόλεις. Good. Οι πόλεις [i pólis]. So this is just like ending in S (ς) to, πόλη – πόλη,
πόλεις [póli, pólis], but this is spelt EIS (εις), this plural ending. What was the word
for big, related to “mega”, in English?

S: Μεγάλος [meghálos].

T: Μεγάλος, with γάμα [gháma] (Γ/γ), μεγάλος. How would you say, big city?

S: Μεγάλη πόλη [megháli póli].

T: Μεγάλη πόλη. Very good. And, big cities?

S: Μεγάλοι πόλεις [megháli pólis].

T: Why “μεγάλοι πόλεις”?

S: Oh, it’s, μεγάλες πόλεις [megháles pólis].

T: Very good. Mεγάλες πόλεις. But actually I did this on purpose, no? So that you
have to think about each one separately, because, μεγάλες πόλεις, they’re

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 agreeing, no? We have the plural feminine μεγάλες [megháles], and then the
plural feminine πόλεις [pólis]. They’re agreeing in meaning, but not in sound. So
we don’t want to get automatic; that can happen very easily, no, and say, μεγάλες
πόλες [megháles póles] or, μεγάλεις πόλεις [meghális pólis]. We want to go
slowly, μεγάλες πόλεις [megháles pólis], dealing with each word separately. How
would you say, I don’t like big cities? In Greek, you would say, I don’t like the big
cities.

S: Δεν μου αρέσουν οι μεγάλες πόλεις [dhen mu arésun i megháles pólis].

T: Very good. Δεν μου αρέσουν οι μεγάλες πόλεις. Good. And it’s, οι μεγάλες πόλεις,
because it’s behaving like “they”, no, rather than “them”. I don’t like the big cities.
The big cities don’t please me. Δεν μου αρέσουν οι μεγάλες πόλεις. “More”, as in
“more often” – what was the word for, more, as in “more often”?

S: Πιο συχνά [pyo sikhná].

T: Πιο [pyo]. Good. Πιο.

S: Πιο.

T: If you want to say “bigger”, you can just say, more big.

S: Πιο μεγάλο [pyo meghálo].

T: Πιο μεγάλο. Good. And that refers to something neuter, no? Πιο μεγάλο. What if
you were referring to something masculine?

S: Πιο μεγάλος [pyo meghálos].

T: Πιο μεγάλος. Good. And this can also mean “old”, or “older”: μεγάλος [meghálos]
(old), or πιο μεγάλος [pyo meghálos] (older). How would you say, This one is
bigger? And we mean a feminine thing. This one is bigger.

S: Αυτή είναι πιο μεγάλη [aftí íne pyo megháli].

T: Very good. Αυτή είναι πιο μεγάλη. So, αυτή [aftí] (this), can just be “this one”, no,
by itself. Αυτή είναι πιο μεγάλη. What was the word for, there?

S: Εκεί [ekí].

T: Εκεί. And, that one?

S: Εκείνος [ekínos].

T: Εκείνος, for masculine, no? And for neuter?

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S: Εκείνο [ekíno].

T: Εκείνο. Good. The word for “than” is the same as the word for “from”. So how do
you say the word, from, in Greek?

S: Άπο [ápo].

T: Από [apó], with the accent on the end, από.

S: Από [apó].

T: Good. So we could say, This one is bigger than that one. So, let’s talk about a
neuter thing. This one is bigger than that one.

S: Αυτό είναι πιό μεγάλο από εκείνο [aftó íne pyo meghálo apó ekíno].

T: Very good. Αυτό είναι πιό μεγάλο από εκείνο. Very good. So, πιό μεγάλο [pyo
meghálo] is “more big” or “bigger”. If we say, “the more big”, το πιό μεγάλο [to
pyo meghálo], we get “the biggest”, or “the biggest one”. Tο πιό μεγάλο.

S: Tο πιό μεγάλο.

T: Good. And how would that be if we were talking about a masculine thing?

S: Ο πιό μεγάλος [o pyo meghálos].

T: Ο πιό μεγάλος. So, πιό [pyo], doesn’t change depending on the gender, no? It just
means “more”. Ο πιό μεγάλος, “the more big”. How would you say, I want the
biggest one (the most big)? Talking about the neuter thing?

S: Θέλω το πιό μεγάλο [thélo to pyo meghálo].

T: Good. Θέλω το πιό μεγάλο. And talking about a masculine thing?

S: Θέλω τον πιό μεγάλο [thélo ton pyo meghálo].

T: Good. Θέλω τον πιό μεγάλο. And “μεγάλος” lost its S (ς) there, no, because it’s
like “him”, rather than “he”. I want the biggest one. I want the biggest him, not,
the biggest he. Θέλω τον πιό μεγάλο. And a feminine thing. We want the biggest
one (the most big).

S: Θέλουμε την πιό μεγάλη [thélume tin pyo megháli].

T: Very good. Θέλουμε την πιό μεγάλη. Very good. The word for “cheap” is φτηνό
[ftinó]. Φτηνό.

S: Φτηνό.

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T: And the word for something?

S: Κάτι [káti].

T: Κάτι. We want something cheaper. We want something more cheap.

S: Θέλουμε κάτι πιό φτηνό [thélume káti pyo ftinó].

T: Very good. Θέλουμε κάτι πιό φτηνό. We want the cheapest one that you have. So,
the first bit is, We want the cheapest one. We want the most cheap.

S: Θέλουμε το πιό φτηνό [thélume to pyo ftinó].

T: Θέλουμε το πιό φτηνό. That you have. Which “that” is this? This is “that”, like
“which”. Which you have?

S: Που [pu].

T: Που. Good. So we saw two ways of saying that. We saw ότι [óti], like in, “I think
that”, for example, and then we saw που [pu], like “which”. So, We want the
cheapest one that you have.

S: Θέλουμε το πιό φτηνό που ... που έχεις [thélume to pyo ftinó pu … pu échis].

T: Very good. Θέλουμε το πιό φτηνό που έχεις [thélume to pyo ftinó pu échis]. So
this is neuter, no, το πιό φτηνό [to pyo ftinó]. What if we were to say, We want
the cheapest ones that you have, still neuter. So the neuter plural. We want the
cheapest ones that you have.

S: Θέλουμε τα πιό φτηνά που έχεις [thélume ta pyo ftiná pu échis].

T: Good. Θέλουμε τα πιό φτηνά που έχεις. Other than “more big”, πιό μεγάλος [pyo
meghálos], we could also say, μεγαλύτερος [meghalíteros]. Μεγαλύτερος.

S: Μεγαλύτερος.

T: So the [-os] (-ος) ending can change to [-íteros] (-ύτερος), and we get “bigger” or
“biggest”. Μεγάλος, μεγαλύτερος [meghálos,meghalíteros]. So how would you
say, They want something bigger?

S: Θέλουνε κάτι μεγαλύτερο [thélune káti meghalítero].

T: Good. Θέλουν, θέλουνε κάτι μεγαλύτερο [thélun, thélune káti meghalítero]. Κάτι
[káti] is neuter, let’s say, no? Something. Θέλουν κάτι μεγαλύτερο [thélun káti
meghalítero]. What was, cheap?

S: Φτηνό [ftinó].

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T: Φτηνό. Φτηνό has the accent on the end, so it’s slightly different when we say
“cheaper”. We have, φτηνότερος [ftinóteros]. Φτηνότερος.

S: Φτηνότερος.

T: How would you say, They want something cheaper?

S: Θέλουνε κάτι φτηνότερο [thélune káti ftinótero].

T: Very good. Θέλουνε κάτι φτηνότερο. They want the cheapest one? Let’s say it’s a
masculine one we’re talking about. They want the cheapest one.

S: Θέλουνε τον φτηνότερο [thélune ton ftinótero].

T: Very good. Θέλουν, θέλουνε τον φτηνότερο [thélun, thélune ton ftinótero]. Very
good. So, φτηνότερο [ftinótero] there is also, φτηνότερος [ftinóteros], without the
S (-ς). This one is cheaper than that one – feminine.

S: Αυτή είναι φτηνότερη από εκείνη [aftí íne ftinóteri apó ekíni].

T: Αυτή είναι φτηνότερη από εκείνη.

Η τιμή [i timí], η τιμή, is “the price”. Η τιμή.

S: Η τιμή.

T: And also “the honour”, the honour, is also, η τιμή. And it has the same spelling,
exactly the same spelling, so we might assume it’s exactly the same word. Maybe
your price is your honour. Η τιμή.

S: Η τιμή.

T: How would you say, It is a good price?

S: Είναι καλή τιμή [íne kalí timí].

T: Είναι καλή τιμή. Καλή τιμή είναι [kalí timí íne]. In Greek you can also put “είναι”
afterwards, no, for more emphasis. Καλή τιμή είναι. A good price, it is. How would
you say, a better price? So, καλή [kalí] is “good”. How would you say, better, more
good?

S: Καλύτερη [kalíteri].

T: Καλύτερη. Or, πιό καλή [pyo kalí]. So, a better price?

S: Καλύτερη τιμή [kalíteri timí].

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T: Good. Καλύτερη τιμή. Μία καλύτερη τιμή [mía kalíteri timí]. Προτιμώ [protimó],
προτιμώ, is “I prefer”.

S: Προτιμώ.

T: So this is something like, “I first honour”, or something like this, no? Προ-τιμώ, like
τιμή [timí]. So, “I first honour”, something like this. Προτιμώ, “I prefer”. How
would you say, I prefer the cheap one? Let’s talk about a masculine thing. I prefer
the cheap one.

S: Προτιμώ το ... τον φτηνότερο [protimó to … ton ftinótero].

T: That would be, I prefer the cheapest one, but just, I prefer the cheap one.

S: Προτιμώ τον φτηνό [protimó ton ftinó].

T: Very good. Προτιμώ τον φτηνό. I should also mention that you might see “φτηνό”
[ftinó] as “φθηνό” [fthinó]. So instead of F-T-I-N-O, F-TH-I-N-O. And there’s a
couple of words like this, that have alternative forms in Greek. Like, χθές [khthés],
“yesterday”, and χτες [khtes], “yesterday”. So you might see that. I prefer the
cheap ones. Still masculine. I prefer the cheap ones.

S: Προτιμώ τα φτηνά [protimó ta ftiná].

T: Good. This would be for neuter things, no? Προτιμώ τα φτηνά. And how about
masculine things?

S: Προτιμώ τους φτηνούς [protimó tus ftinús].

T: Very good. Προτιμώ τους φτηνούς. I prefer the cheap ones. Προτιμώ τους
φτηνούς. And, I prefer the cheapest ones, still masculine? I prefer the cheapest
ones.

S: Προτιμώ τους φτηνότερους [protimó tus ftinóterus].

T: Very good. Προτιμώ τους φτηνότερους. And if you don’t want to think your way
through, φτηνότερους [ftinóterus], you don’t have to. You can also say, προτιμώ
τους πιό φτηνούς [protimó tus pyo ftinús]. Very good.

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Complete Greek, Track 57 – Language Transfer

Teacher: What was, I give?

Student: Δίνω [dhíno].

T: Δίνω. And the closed version of, δίνω?

S: Δώσω [dhóso].

T: Δώσω. Very good. So we still have an N (ν) to an S (σ), which is quite common, no?
But there’s another change going on there. We have a changing vowel, δίνω,
δώσω [dhíno, dhóso]. How would you say, I have given it to him. Or, I have given
him it, in Greek, no?

S: Τον το έχω δώσει [ton to ékho dhósi].

T: So apart from thinking about, okay, do we mean “him” or “to him”, no, also, when
we have another little word like “το” [to], it’s necessarily going to be “to him”, no?
I have given it to him. I have said it to him. So having an “it” there means we’re
going to have “to him,” “to her.” Always.

S: Okay, so: Του το έχω δώσει [tu to ékho dhósi].

T: Good. Του το έχω δώσει. So having “το” there, is also a big alarm that you should
have “του” [tu], and not “τον” [ton], no? Του το … Του το έχω δώσει. I have given
it to my friend. So, now we don’t have “him”; we have, “to my friend”, which is
like a separate part of the sentence. So the first bit is, I have given it.

S: Το έχω δώσει [to ékho dhósi].

T: Now we will say, “to my friend”, “to the friend my”. And let’s talk about the
masculine friend.

S: Στου φίλο μου [stu fílo mu].

T: Why “στου” [stu]?

S: Because it’s “to the”…

T: Good. It’s “to him”, “to the”, no? But we already said “to”. What is the word for
“to”?

S: Σε [se].

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T: Σε. So when we’re saying “to”, then we just need to think about whether the
friend is behaving like “he”, or like “him”. So when we say, “to the friend”, is it “to
him”, or “to he”?

S: To him.

T: To him, no? So, I have given it (το έχω δώσει), to my friend. “To the friend my”.

S: Στον φίλο μου [ston fílo mu].

T: Στον φίλο μου, no? But if we just say, “I have given it to him”, then we want to
include “to him” – the meaning of “to him” – in just one word, “του” [tu]. Του το
έχω δώσει [tu to ékho dhósi], as opposed to, Το έχω δώσει στον φίλο μου [to
ékho dhósi ston fílo mu]. I have given it to them? Any gender, no?

S: Το τους έχω δώσει [to tus ékho dhósi].

T: Okay, and which one comes first?

S: Τους το έχω δώσει [tus to ékho dhósi].

T: Good. But why?

S: Because the pronoun always comes first.

T: The personal one, the one that refers to the person comes first, no? So, again, I
have given it to them.

S: Τους το έχω δώσει.

T: Τους το έχω δώσει. And of course “τους” [tus] works for any gender, for “to
them”. Τους το έχω δώσει. I have given it to my friends. So, I have given it.

S: Το έχω δώσει [to ékho dhósi].

T: Το έχω δώσει. Let’s give a masculine thing.

S: Τον έχω δώσει [ton ékho dhósi].

T: Τον έχω δώσει. To my friends. To the friends my. Still masculine.

S: Στους φίλους μου [stus fílus mu].

T: Very good, ah. Στους φίλους μου. Σε τους φίλους μου [se tus fílus mu],
contracted: στους φίλους μου. Or what if we were talking about female friends?
To my friends, for female friends?

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S: Στις φίλες μου [stis fíles mu].

T: Very good. Στις φίλες μου. What was the word for, big?

S: Μεγάλος [meghálos].

T: Μεγάλος. And, bigger?

S: Μεγαλύτερος [meghalíteros].

T: Μεγαλύτερος. Or, if you don’t feel like it, πιό μεγάλος [pyo meghálos]. We have
bought him the biggest one. You can choose the gender of, the biggest one. We
have bought him the biggest one.

S: So it’s, “bought for him”.

T: Exactly.

S: So we use “του” [tu].

T: Very good.

S: Του έχουμε αγοράσει [tu ékhume aghorási]. The biggest one. Τον μεγαλύτερο
[ton meghalítero].

T: Very good. Του έχουμε αγοράσει (and you chose a masculine, “the biggest one”)
τον μεγαλύτερο [tu ékhume aghorási ton meghalítero]. Του έχουμε αγοράσει τον
μεγαλύτερο. Very good. We have bought the biggest one for our friend. Our
friend, would be a masculine friend; we will get there. We have bought the
biggest one.

S: Έχουμε αγοράσει τον μεγαλύτερο [ékhume aghorási ton meghalítero].

T: Έχουμε αγοράσει τον μεγαλύτερο – το μεγαλύτερο, την μεγαλύτερη [to
meghalítero, tin meghalíteri]. For our friend. For the friend, our. And it’s a
masculine friend.

S: Για τον φίλο μας [ya ton fílo mas].

T: Very good. Για τον φίλο μας. For my (our) friend, for him. Για τον φίλο μας. So,
you know, we have a difference between, Του έχουμε αγοράσει το μεγαλύτερο
(We have bought the biggest one for him) and, We have bought the biggest one
for our friend; we don’t have any “του" there: Έχουμε αγοράσει τον μεγαλύτερο
για τον φίλο μας. Για τον φίλο μας. What was, Good day?

S: Καλημέρα [kaliméra].

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T: Καλημέρα. You might also hear, Καλή όρεξη [kalí óreksi], which means like, “bon
appetit”, when you start eating. Καλή όρεξη – literally something like, “good
appetite”. We have this in English as well, “όρεξη” [óreksi]. Can you find it?
Anything come to mind?

S: Anorexia?

T: Yes, anorexia, no? This “an” is like, “the lack of, the lack of appetite”. And better,
so, more good, or better, from καλός [kalós]?

S: Καλύτερος [kalíteros].

T: Καλύτερος. And, the best one?

S: O καλύτερος [o kalíteros].

T: Good. For something masculine, ο καλύτερος. What was, I leave, like, “I leave
something or someone”?

S: Αφήνω [afíno].

T: Αφήνω. And the closed version?

S: Αφήσω [afíso].

T: Αφήσω. He has left them the best one. He has left them (a feminine them). He has
left them.

S: Τις έχει αφήσει [tis échi afísi].

T: Ooh! So this would mean, “He has left them”, rather than, “He has left them the
best one”, “He has left them something”. So here we want, to them.

S: Ah, then it becomes: Τους έχει αφήσει [tus échi afísi].

T: Good. So even though it’s feminine. Τους έχει αφήσει, no? He has left them the
best one? You can choose the gender.

S: Τον καλύτερο [ton kalítero].

T: Good. Τον καλύτερο. Το καλύτερο [to kalítero]. Την καλύτερη [tin kalíteri]. He has
left the best one for his friends. So, He has left the best one?

S: Έχει αφήσει το καλύτερο [échi afísi to kalítero].

T: Έχει αφήσει το καλύτερο. For his friends, and let’s say feminine friends, females.
For his friends.

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S: Για τις φίλες του [ya tis fíles tu].

T: Very good. Έχει αφήσει το καλύτερο για τις φίλες του [échi afísi to kalítero ya tis
fíles tu]. And we could also have, στις [stis]: στις φίλες του [stis fíles tu], “to his
friends”. So I mentioned how we don’t just rely on the sentence, but what’s going
on in the context, in real life, when we decide whether we want the “he” or
“him”, “she” or “her,” “they” or “them”, form of nouns and the words for verb,
no? So if somebody says, “What’s this?” (Τι είναι αυτο; [ti íne aftó?]), “What’s
this?”, and you say “coffee”, is this “he” or “him”, the word “coffee”? So, do you
mean, “he is this” or, “him is this”, when somebody says, “What’s this?”, and you
say, “coffee”?

S: Ο καφές [o kafés].

T: Kαφές, no? It’s like “he”, rather than “him”, no? This is, “he is this”, rather than,
“him is this”. Ο καφές. So, Τι είναι αυτο; [ti íne aftó?]. Καφές [kafés], no? “It is
coffee”; it’s in the “he” form. Καφές είναι [kafés íne], “Coffee it is”. Είναι καφές
[íne kafés], “It is coffee”. But if someone says, “What have you bought?”, Τι έχεις
αγοράσει; [ti échis agorási?], and you say “coffee”, is it “he” or “him”? So if I tell
you, “What have you bought?” I have bought “he” or I have bought “him”?

S: Him.

T: Him. So how would you reply, “coffee”?

S: Καφέ [kafé].

T: Καφέ. So, like I said, in everyday life, no, you will also be thinking about what your
noun is doing, when you say it, how it’s behaving, no? “What’s this?” Kαφές
[kafés]. “What have you bought? ” Καφέ [kafé]. How do you say, the road?

S: Ο δρόμος [o dhrómos].

T: Ο δρόμος. And, the roads?

S: Οι δρόμοι [i dhrómi].

T: Οι δρόμοι. So imagine I show you my child’s drawing, and you say, “What did she
draw?” And I reply, “roads”. How will I reply it?

S: Δρόμοι [dhrómi].

T: Did she draw “they”, or did she draw “them”?

S: She drew them, so it’s, δρόμους [dhrómus].

258
T: Δρόμους. What did she draw? Δρόμους. But you will also find that people’s
brains, subconsciously, are a bit lazy, and actually it’s more mental effort to
retrieve “δρόμους” than “δρόμοι”. So you might find people saying, Δρόμοι είναι
[dhrómi íne], “Roads it is”. And subconsciously the mind just can’t be bothered to
go and find “δρόμους”. Δρόμοι είναι. So you can do that too.

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Complete Greek, Track 58 – Language Transfer

Teacher: How do you say, Maria, in Greek?

Student: Maria.

T: Yeah. Or, the Maria, no?

S: Ah. H Mαρία [i maría].

T: H Mαρία, no? So, in Greek, we say, η Mαρία. Well also now we know, not always.
If we say, η Mαρία, it’s Maria in “she” position, no? What about when it’s
behaving like “her”?

S: Την Mαρία [tin maría].

T: Την Mαρία, no? So names behave like any other nouns in Greek, no? H Mαρία [i
maría], for when it’s behaving like “she”. So, Maria is eating?

S: H Mαρία τρώω ... τρώει [i maría tróo ... trói].

T: H Mαρία τρώει [i maría trói]. Good. And, Maria wants to eat?

S: H Mαρία θέλει να τρώει [i maría théli na trói].

T: H Mαρία θέλει να … ?

S: Ah. Nα φάει [na fái].

T: … να φάει, no? Maria doesn’t want to eat.

S: H Mαρία δεν θέλει να φάει [i maría dhen théli na fái].

T: H Mαρία δεν θέλει να φάει. But, of course, if we have Maria behaving like “her”,
rather than “she”, we get?

S: Την Mαρία [tin maría].

T: Την Mαρία. I’m waiting for Maria. I’m awaiting Maria.

S: Περιμένω την Μαρία [periméno tin maría].

T: Very good. Περιμένω την Μαρία. I want to see Maria.

S: Θέλω να δω την Μαρία [thélo na dho tin maría].

T: Θέλω να δω την Μαρία. Have you seen Maria?

260

S: Έχεις δει την Μαρία; [échis dhi tin maría?].

T: Έχεις δει την Μαρία; I haven’t seen her for ages. For “ages”, you could say, πολύ
καιρό [polí keró]. So, καιρός [kerós], is another word for “time”. So we saw,
χρόνος [khrónos], which means “year”, or time generally, like a concept, which
maybe you would use to say something like, “time is cruel”, no, or something like
this to talk about time as a concept. But then, with periods of time, like, “for
ages”, we have καιρός. So we can say, πολύ καιρό, for a lot of time. So why do we
have καιρό [keró] here, and not καιρός [kerós]?

S: Because, Εγώ έχω τον καιρό [eghó ékho ton keró].

T: Very good. It’s like, “I have him”, no, rather than, “I have he”. So, καιρός loses its S
(ς), and we get καιρό. So, I have a lot of time, να [na], I see her. I haven’t seen her
for ages.

S: Έχω πολύ καιρό να ... να την δω [ékho polí keró na … na tin dho].

T: Very good. Έχω πολύ καιρό να την δω [ékho polí keró na tin dho]. So, την Μαρία
[tin maría], is for when Maria is behaving like “her”. What is, I give?

S: Δίνω [dhíno].

T: Good. And the closed version?

S: Δώσω [dhóso].

T: Good. Have you given it to Maria? How would that be? Have you given it to
Maria?

S: Το έχεις δώσει στην Μαρία; [to échis dhósi stin maría?].

T: Very good. To the Maria. Στην Μαρία [stin maría]. Το έχεις δώσει στην Μαρία;
How would you say, I know Maria?

S: Ξέρω την Μαρία [kséro tin maría].

T: Ξέρω την Μαρία. I know her?

S: Την ξέρω [tin kséro].

T: Την ξέρω. Maria knows me.

S: Με ξέρει η Μαρία [me kséri i maría].

261
T: Good. Με ξέρει η Μαρία. Η Μαρία με ξέρει [i maría me kséri]. So I mentioned
how we have so much flexibility in Greek as well, partly because of the way nouns
change, no? Because we know straight away how the noun is behaving in the
sentence, we can pretty much put it anywhere. Η Μαρία με ξέρει. Με ξέρει η
Μαρία. So we’ve seen that names function like any nouns, and change, depending
on how they are behaving – what they are doing in a sentence. So when we say,
for example, O Μιχάλης [o mikhális], no – “the Michalis” – it’s in “he” function,
no? It’s behaving like “he”. So if we say, for example, Michalis is waiting?

S: O Μιχάλης περιμένει [o mikhális periméni].

T: O Μιχάλης περιμένει. And, I’m waiting for Michalis?

S: Περιμένω τον Μιχάλη [periméno ton mikháli].

T: Very good. Περιμένω τον Μιχάλη. So, O Μιχάλης [o mikhális] – “o” becomes,
“τον” [ton], no, as it’s behaving like “him”. And also we lose the S (ς) of Μιχάλης.
Περιμένω τον Μιχάλη. Have you told Michalis? Have you told it to the Michalis?
So, Have you told it?

S: Το έχεις πει; [to échis pi?].

T: To the Michalis.

S: Στον Μιχάλη [ston mikháli].

T: Very good. Το έχεις πει στον Μιχάλη; [to échis pi ston mikháli?]. Very good. It’s
also possible to hear, του Μιχάλη [tu mikháli], instead of, στον Μιχάλη. This isn’t
as common as, στον Μιχάλη, and you’ll notice again that it will depend a lot on
dialect and ideolect, on individual dialect. But you could hear, Το έχεις πει του
Μιχάλη; [to échis pi tu mikháli?], including in “του Μιχάλη”, the whole meaning of
“to the Michalis”. But as I mentioned, the brain is quite lazy, generally, when it’s
speaking, and it costs more energy to retrieve “του”. It’s actually easier to build,
στον [ston] to “the”. So you will hear that much more commonly: Το έχεις πει
στον Μιχάλη, rather than, Το έχεις πει του Μιχάλη. Γιώργος [yórghos], Γιώργος, is
another common name. Γιώργος.

S: Γιώργος.

T: Here we have γάμα [gháma] (γ) at the beginning, “Γιώρ” [yor], but it is like Y,
because it has a [i] sound afterward. And we have the γάμα again for “γος” [ghos],
no? So, in this name, we see the two different pronunciations of γάμα (γ) as well:
Γιώργος” [yórghos].

S: Γιώργος.

T: How would you say, Giorgos has to see it.

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S: O Γιώργος πρέπει να το δει [o yórghos prépi na to dhi].

T: Very good. O Γιώργος πρέπει να το δει. Πρέπει να το δει ο Γιώργος [prépi na to
dhi o yórghos]. How would you say, He has to see Giorgos?

S: Πρέπει να δει τον Γιώργο [prépi na dhi ton yórgho].

T: Very good. Πρέπει να δει τον Γιώργο. So here we have “O Γιώργος” behaving like
“him” – τον Γιώργο. He has to see Giorgos. Πρέπει να δει τον Γιώργο. How would
you say, You have to tell him it? You have to tell him it.

S: Πρέπει να του το πεις [prépi na tu to pis].

T: Very good. Πρέπει να του το πεις. Very good. You have to tell Giorgos it. You have
to tell it to the Giorgos.

S: Πρέπει να το πεις στον Γιώργο [prépi na to pis ston yórgho].

T: Very good. Πρέπει να το πεις στον Γιώργο. And again you also might hear “του
Γιώργου” [tu yórghu]. So -OS (-ος) nouns also change to fit with “του”. Tου
Γιώργου. Like we saw with, for example, “τους” [tus], no? Tους δρόμους [tus
dhrómus], του Γιώργου. So you could hear that: Πρέπει να το πεις του Γιώργου
[prépi na to pis tu yórghu]. You have to tell it to Giorgos. And the whole meaning
of “to Giorgos” included in “του Γιώργου”, but as I mentioned, much more
common, στον Γιώργο. Πρέπει να το πεις στον Γιώργο.

“I show”, I show, in Greek is, δείχνω [dhíkhno].

S: Δείχνω.

T: So this is δέλτα [dhélta] (Δ/δ), “I” sound ([i] sound), and then the X (χ) that gives
us [kh], N-O (ν-ω) [no]. Δείχνω [dh-í-kh-no].

S: Δείχνω.

T: The closed version of δείχνω [dhíkhno] is, δείξω [dhíkso].

S: Δείξω.

T: How would you say, Ιt will show?

S: Θα δείξει [tha dhíksi].

T: And, θα δείξει, is another way of saying, “We’ll see”. It will show. Θα δείξει. We
will see. Θα δείξει. How would you say, I have something to show him? I have
something?

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S: Έχω κάτι [ékho káti].

T: To show him.

S: Έχω κάτι να του δείξω [ékho káti na tu dhíkso].

T: Έχω κάτι να του δείξω. I have something to show to Giorgos. I have something to
show to Giorgos.

S: Έχω κάτι να δείξω στον Γιώργο [ékho káti na dhíkso ston yórgho].

T: Very good. Έχω κάτι να δείξω στον Γιώργο. Or what else might we have for, στον
Γιώργο [ston yórgho]?

S: Του Γιώργου [tu yórghu].

T: Very good. Έχω κάτι να δείξω του Γιώργου [ékho káti na dhíkso tu yórghu]. But as
I said, more common, στον Γιώργο [ston yórgho]. Έχω κάτι να δείξω στον Γιώργο. I
have something to show to Giorgos.

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Complete Greek, Track 59 – Language Transfer

Teacher: So we saw μόνος [mónos] as “alone”, no? Μόνος, μόνη, μόνο [mónos,
móni, móno], and we can have, μόνος μου [mónos mu], “by myself”. And we saw,
δικός [dhikós] like, “my own”, or “my one”. Δικός μου, δικό μου, δική μου [dhikós
mu, dhikó mu, dhikí mu]. What was the word for, problem?

Student: Πρόβλημα [próvlima].

T: Πρόβλημα. And the plural, what do we do to neuter nouns that end in A (α),
already, to make them plural?

S: Προβλήματα [provlímata].

T: Προβλήματα. So, το πρόβλημα [to próvlima] and, τα προβλήματα [ta provlímata].
What was the word for, we? The word for, we.

S: Εμείς [emís].

T: Εμείς. Good. So, let’s emphasise “we”. We have our own. We have our own. What
are we going to use for, our own, talking about possession?

S: Το δικό μας [to dhikó mas].

T: Okay, good, δικός [dhikós]. So let’s say, “we have”, and we emphasize the word
for “we”. We have our own, and we mean neuter plural. We have our own ones.

S: Εμείς έχουμε τα δικά μας [emís ékhume ta dhiká mas].

T: Good. Εμείς έχουμε τα δικά μας. Let’s say now, We have our own problems. We
have our own problems. So we’re going to say, “We have our own ones
problems”.

S: Εμείς έχουμε τα δικά μας προβλήματα [emís ékhume ta dhiká mas provlímata].

T: Very good. Εμείς έχουμε τα δικά μας προβλήματα, no? So we have, τα δικά μας,
εμείς έχουμε τα δικά μας, We have our own ones. But if we want to say, We have
our own problems, Έχουμε τα δικά μας προβλήματα. So basically, we want to get
the “μας” [mas] out of the way as soon as we can. So if we have something before
the noun (προβλήματα [provlímata]), like “δικά” [dhiká], we can stick it in there.
Tα δικά μας προβλήματα. What was, I like it, or, It pleases to me?

S: Μου αρέσει [mu arési].

T: Μου αρέσει. Or, M’ αρέσει [m’arési], with the contraction. M’αρέσει: M,
apostrophe, αρέσει [arési]. I like our one. Our one pleases me. And let’s say it’s a
masculine thing. I like our one.

265

S: Μου αρέσει ο δικό μας [mu arési o dhikó mas].

T: Good. But “ο δικό” is kind of contradicting itself, no?

S: O δικός. O δικός μας [o dhikós mas].

T: Good. It’s behaving like “he”, no? He pleases me. O δικός μας. Μου αρέσει ο δικός
μας [mu arési o dhikós mas]. O δικός μας μου αρέσει [o dhikós mas mu arési]. So
we did this with a masculine thing, no? What if it were a neuter thing, I like our
one.

S: Μου αρέσει το δικό μας [mu arési to dhikó mas].

T: Good. Μου αρέσει το δικό μας. And, I like our ones, and these are feminine
things. I like our ones.

S: Μου αρέσουν οι δικές μας [mu arésun i dhikés mas].

T: Very good. Very good, for changing the verb, no? Μου αρέσουν [mu arésun], They
please me, our ones – Oι δικές μας [i dhikés mas]. Μου αρέσουν οι δικές μας [mu
arésun i dhikés mas]. Οι δικές μας μου αρέσουν [i dhikés mas mu arésun]. “To be
absent”, to be absent, is λείπω [lípo]. Λείπω.

S: Λείπω.

T: And we have this in English as well, “Eclipse”. In eclipse, we have this verb, λείπω,
and of course eclipse is the absence, no, of the sun or the moon – a solar eclipse
or a lunar eclipse. So, λείπω, to be absent. Maria is absent?

S: Η Μαρία λείπει [i maría lípi].

T: Η Μαρία λείπει. Good. If you want to say in Greek, “I miss you”, I miss you, you
will say, “You are absent to me”. So with words like “μου αρέσει” [mu arési], no,
we’re thinking of, “to me”. It is pleasing to me. You are absent to me. So how
would you say that, I miss you. You are absent to me.

S: Μου λείπεις [mu lípis].

T: Μου λείπεις. Μου λείπεις. I miss you. So just like we have “μου” [mu] in, μου
αρέσει [mu arési], because, It is pleasing to me, the same for λείπω, no? You are
absent to me. We miss you. So, who is absent to who in, We miss you?

S: You are absent to us.

T: Brilliant.

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S: Μας λείπεις [mas lípis].

T: Μας λείπεις. Good. So we have, μας [mas] for “us”, or “to us”, no? It’s the same.
Μας λείπεις. He misses you.

S: Σου λείπει [su lípi]. Um … He misses you. So, you are absent to him. Τον λείπεις
[ton lípis].

T: To him.

S: Του λείπεις [tu lípis].

T: Του λείπεις. You don’t like “του”, huh? Του λείπεις. Good. So, if we say, Μy friend
misses you, no, we would just say, You are missing to my friend.

S: Λείπεις στον φίλο μου [lípis ston fílo mu].

T: Very good. Λείπεις στον φίλο μου. No? “You are missing to the friend my”: στον
φίλο μου. And we could also have, του φίλο μου [tu fílo mu] again, including the
“to the” information in “του”: του φίλο μου. But it’s not as common. Λείπεις στον
φίλο μου. Giorgos misses you. So you know, you say, You are missing to Giorgos.

S: Λείπεις στον Γιώργο [lípis ston yórgho].

T: Very good. Λείπεις στον Γιώργο. Maria misses you.

S: Λείπεις στην Μαρία [lípis stin maría].

T: Λείπεις στην Μαρία. Very good. So if you want to find the closed version of,
λείπω, no? Give it a guess, based on other verbs with a similar pattern. But what
you can also do is look at the words that are formed from this word in English, or
even in Greek. Often we find that we form other vocabulary on the closed version.
So, as we have eclipse … what do you think the closed version of λείπω might be?

S: Λείψω [lípso].

T: Λείψω. So how would you say, I have missed you. You have been absent to me?

S: Μου έχεις λείψει [mu échis lípsi].

T: Μου έχεις λείψει, no? You have absented to me. We have missed you?

S: Μας έχεις λείψει [mas échis lípsi].

T: Μας έχεις λείψει. Very good. So with some verbs, you know, you will have a
“μου” [mu], where you might not expect it, in which case you can translate the
verb in a way that helps it makes sense, no? To be pleasing to; To be absent to.

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“To dance” was, χορεύω [khorévo], like in “choreography”. Xορεύω.

S: Xορεύω.

T: How would you say, He likes to dance?

S: Του αρέσει να χορέψει [tu arési na khorépsi]. Or … Του αρέσει να χορεύει [tu
arési na khorévi]?

T: Are we referring to an open concept of time, or a closed one? A specific event?

S: Yeah, it’s an open.

T: Very open. He likes to dance, generally, no? Του αρέσει να χορεύει. He misses
dancing. We will say in the same way, It’s missing to him. It’s absent to him, να
[na], he dances.

S: Του λείπει να χορεύει [tu lípi na khorévi].

T: Very good. Του λείπει να χορεύει. Again, it’s open, no? Του λείπει να χορεύει.
What was, I write? Like “graphite”, for example.

S: Γράφω [ghráfo].

T: Γράφω. We like to write. It pleases us to write.

S: Μας αρέσει να γράφουμε [mas arési na gráfume].

T: Μας αρέσει να γράφουμε. We miss writing? We miss writing.

S: Μας λείπει να γράφουμε [mas lípi na gráfume].

T: Μας λείπει να γράφουμε. Very good. Μας λείπει να γράφουμε. “To draw”, to
draw, is ζωγραφίζω [zoghrafízo].

S: Zωγραφίζω.

T: This is like, “to life write”, no? Η ζωή, is “life”, like the … like the English name,
“Zoe”, like the word, “zoo”. Zωγραφίζω. Τo life write; To draw. How would you
say, They like to draw?

S: Τους αρέσει να ζωγραφίζουν [tus arési na zoghrafízun].

T: Very good. Τους αρέσει, and this works for all genders, no, because it’s “to them”.
Τους αρέσει να ζωγραφίζουν. They miss drawing.

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S: Τους λείπει να ζωγραφίζουν [tus lípi na zoghrafízun].

T: Very good. Τους λείπει να ζωγραφίζουν. So I said that “life”, the noun, the word
we can put “the” in front of is, η ζωή, “the life”, like the name, “Zoe”. We could
also have “ζώο” [zóo], meaning “animal”. Ζώο.

S: Ζώο.

T: What gender is, ζώο?

S: Neuter.

T: Neuter. So how would you say, animals?

S: Τα ζωατά [ta zoatá].

T: Ζώο, what does it end in?

S: An O (ο).

T: So what will you do to make that plural?

S: Just add an A (α).

T: Change the O to an A, no?

S: Τα ζώα [ta zóa].

T: Τα ζώα. So it has two O’s, no? Ζώο [zóo], and then the last one we change to an A
(α). Ζώα, τα ζώα. “Animals, the animals”. We like to draw animals. We like to draw
animals.

S: Μας αρέσει να ζωγραφίζουμε ζώα [mas arési na zografízume zóa].

T: Very good. Μας αρέσει να ζωγραφίζουμε ζώα. And whilst we’re here, what do
you think the closed version of, ζωγραφίζω, might be?

S: Well the Z (ζ) usually changes to S (σ). So, ζωγραφίσω [zoghrafíso].

T: Zωγραφίσω, correct. But the Z (“zee”), the “zed” (Ζ/ζ) doesn’t always change to an
S. We have, αλλάζω, αλλάξω [alázo, alákso], “I change”; παίζω, παίξω [pézo,
pékso], “I play”. Very good.

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Complete Greek, Track 60 – Language Transfer

Teacher: So, I like it, or, It is pleasing to me, is?

Student: Μου αρέσει [mu arési].

T: Μου αρέσει. I like it. It is pleasing to me, no? Aρέσει, “it is pleasing”; μου, “to
me”. Μου αρέσει. “I liked it”, I liked it, is, Μου άρεσε [mu árese]. “It was pleasing
to me”, μου άρεσε. So this is a different past to the one that we’ve seen, no, so
far, which is like, “I have … I have liked it”. We’ve seen how to go into the past
that way. And this is just, “I liked it”, the simple past, Μου άρεσε. So what
happens to get this past, for he, she, and it? Άρεσε [árese]. What’s the first thing
that we notice about “άρεσε”?

S: So, the accent shifts.

T: So yes, the stress moves, no? We have, αρέσει [arési], and then άρεσε [árese].
Very good. So the stress on the word moves back in the past. And what else to
you notice between, αρέσει, and άρεσε?

S: Well, the ending is [e] instead of [i].

T: Very good. We have an [e] sound on the end. So the accent moves back into the
past. So actually, we are pulling the accent back into the past in Greek. And
languages often use accents in this way. For example, in Spanish, in the future
tenses, you push the accent forward, into the future. We also mentioned the
word “echo”, no? Being an echo of the word for sound. We had, ήχος [íkhos],
“sound”, and ηχώ [ikhó], “echo”. So word stress is used in all kinds of fascinating
ways in language, generally, and not least in Greek. So, an important example of
this is in the past. We have, Μου αρέσει [mu arési], “It pleases me”, “I like it”, and
then, Μου άρεσε [mu árese], “It pleased me”, “I liked it”. So this is the past for he,
she, and it, no, this [e] sound. It pleased, he pleased, she pleased. How would you
say, You liked it. You liked him. You liked her. It was pleasing to you?

S: Σου άρεσε [su árese].

T: Σου άρεσε. Or with a contraction, no? Σου [su] and, άρεσε [árese] can contract:
σ’ άρεσε” [s’árese], we could hear. Did you like it?

S: Σ’ άρεσε; [sárese?].

T: Σ’ άρεσε; Σου άρεσε; [su árese?]. Didn’t you like it?

S: Δεν σ’ άρεσε; [dhen s’árese?].

T: Δεν σου άρεσε; [dhen su árese?]. Δεν σ’ άρεσε; I didn’t like it. It didn’t please me.

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S: Δεν μ’ άρεσε [dhen m’árese].

T: Δεν μ’ άρεσε. Δεν μου άρεσε [dhen mu árese]. What is, Ηe waits, She waits, It
waits?

S: Περιμένει [periméni].

T: Περιμένει. He waited, She waited, or even, It waited?

S: Περίμενε [perímene].

T: Περίμενε. Good. Περίμενε. So, we pulled the accent back. We have, περιμένει
[periméni]; we pull that back, περί [perí], and we have the [e] ending for he, she,
and it. Περίμενε, περίμενε. He didn’t wait. She didn’t wait. He wasn’t waiting. She
wasn’t waiting.

S: Δεν περίμενε [dhen perímene].

T: Δεν περίμενε. He didn’t wait for me.

S: Δεν με περίμενε [dhen me perímene].

T: Δεν με περίμενε. He didn’t wait for you. She didn’t wait for you.

S: Δεν σε περίμενε [dhen se perímene].

T: Δεν σε περίμενε. To get “you” in the past, so to say, for example, “You waited”, to
this [e] sound, we add an S (-ς). So we have the [e] for he, she, and it, which is just
a vowel, just like in the present, no? Περιμένει, περίμενε [periméni, perímene] –
just a vowel for he/she/it. And then also like the present, we add an S (σ) for
“you”. Περιμένεις, περίμενες [periménis, perímenes]. So, Did you wait? Were you
waiting?

S: Περίμενες; [perímenes?].

T: Περίμενες; Were you waiting for me?

S: Με περίμενες; [me perímenes?].

T: Με περίμενες; Were you waiting for me outside?

S: Με περίμενες έξω; [me perímenes ékso?].

T: Very good. Με περίμενες έξω; Were you waiting for him?

S: Τον περίμενες; [ton perímenes?].

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T: Τον περίμενες; Weren’t you waiting for him?

S: Δεν τον περίμενες; [dhen ton perímenes?].

T: Δεν τον περίμενες; Weren’t you waiting for her?

S: Δεν την περίμενες; [dhen tin perímenes?].

T: Δεν την περίμενες; Weren’t you waiting for them? And it’s a feminine “them”.
Weren’t you waiting for them? Females.

S: Δεν τις περίμενες; [dhen tis perímenes?].

T: Δεν τις περίμενες; And masculine, or a mixed group?

S: Δεν τους περίμενες; [dhen tus perímenes?].

T: Δεν τους περίμενες; Very good. So “τους” works for masculine or mixed, when
we’re talking about people. When we’re talking about objects of mixed gender,
it’s more likely to use the neuter plural. So this is “τα” [ta] like, τα πράγματα [ta
prághmata], “the things”, no, if we are talking about things of mixed gender. So, if
you were to say, Weren’t you waiting for them?, and you meant objects of mixed
gender, you would use the neuter plural. So, how would that be: Weren’t you
waiting for them?

S: Δεν τα περίμενες; [dhen ta perímenes?].

T: Δεν τα περίμενες; Good.

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Complete Greek, Track 61 – Language Transfer

Teacher: How would you say, I’m waiting outside?

Student: Περιμένω έξω [periméno ékso].

T: Περιμένω έξω. I’m waiting outside. Περιμένω έξω. And this can also be like, I will
wait outside, with context. Ι don’t know, maybe you are heading for the door; you
can just say, Περιμένω έξω. You won’t necessarily need to say, Θα περιμένω έξω
[tha periméno ékso]. He’s waiting outside. She’s waiting outside.

S: Περιμένει έξω [periméni ékso].

T: Περιμένει έξω. You could say, Ηe’s waiting outside the house, which would be,
outside from the house. What was, from?

S: Από [apó].

T: Από. So, Ηe (or she) is waiting outside the house?

S: Περιμένει έξω από το σπίτι [periméni ékso apó to spíti].

T: Good. Περιμένει έξω από το σπίτι. And we could also have, άπ’ το σπίτι [áp’to
spíti], the contraction of “από το” – άπ’ το σπίτι.

“The door” is, η πόρτα [i pórta]. Η πόρτα.

S: Η πόρτα.

T: That’s, P (Π/π) - O (Ο/ο) - R (Ρ/ρ) - T (Τ/τ) - A (Α/α). Η πόρτα, “the door”.

S: Η πόρτα.

T: Of course related to “port” or “passport”; η πόρτα. He is waiting outside the door.

S: Περιμένει έξω από την πόρτα [periméni ékso apó tin pórta].

T: Very good – από την [apó tin], no, because it’s from “her”, rather than from “she”.
Περιμένει έξω από την πόρτα. Περιμένει έξω άπ’ την πόρτα [periméni ékso áp’tin
pórta]. How would you say, He was waiting outside? He waited outside.

S: Περίμενε έξω [perímene ékso].

T: Περίμενε έξω. You waited, or You were waiting?

S: Περίμενες [perímenes].

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T: Περίμενες, περίμενες. Good. “Exit” is έξοδος [éksodhos]. Έξοδος.

S: Έξοδος.

T: So we have “έξω” [ékso] for outside, and “έξοδος” [éksodhos] for exit. What
gender does έξοδος look like?

S: Masculine.

T: It certainly looks masculine, no, and -OS (-ος) nouns, nouns ending in “ος”,
generally are masculine, but actually they can be any gender. Έξοδος is feminine.
It’s, η έξοδος, μία έξοδος [i éksodhos, mía éksodhos].

S: H έξοδος.

T: So this is in the “she” form, no, when this noun, η έξοδος, “the exit”, is behaving
like “she”. The “her” form, when it’s behaving like “her” is, την έξοδο [tin
éksodho].

S: Την έξοδο.

T: So you treat the two elements separately. This OS “ος” noun that looks masculine,
but is actually feminine, behaves masculine. It loses the S (ς) still, no? But the
word for “the” (η [i]) changes to την. So you get, την έξοδο, when it is behaving
like “her”.

Were you waiting at the exit? “At the exit”, or “by the exit”, is just “to the exit” in
Greek. So, Were you waiting at the exit?

S: Περίμενες στον ... έξοδο; [perímenes ston éksodho?]. Περίμενες στην έξοδο;
[perímenes stin éksodho?].

T: Very good. Περίμενες στην έξοδο; Good. What was the word for, with?

S: Με [me].

T: Με. The same as me, no, με. So, He was waiting at the exit with your friend. He
was waiting ...

S: Περίμενε [perímene].

T: ... at the exit.

S: ... στην έξοδο [stin éksodho].

T: ... στην έξοδο. With your friend, with a male friend. With your friend.

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S: ... με τον φίλο σου [me ton fílo su].

T: Very good. Περίμενε στην έξοδο με τον φίλο σου [perímene stin éksodho me ton
fílo su]. Very good. So we have these E’s (E/ε) popping up in the past, only for the
he/she/it form and the you form. Otherwise we have an A (A/α) popping up in the
past. So an A by itself, counts for “I”. Περίμενα [perímena], περίμενα is “I waited”,
or, “I was waiting”.

S: Περίμενα.

T: I was waiting outside.

S: Περίμενα έξω [perímena ékso].

T: Περίμενα έξω. I was waiting at the exit.

S: Περίμενα στην έξοδο [perímena stin éksodho].

T: Περίμενα στην έξοδο.

If you want to get “they”, the “they” form in the past, you can add our consonant
sound for “they” onto [a]. So what’s our consonant sound for “they”? What pops
up for “they”?

S: N.

T: An Ν. So how would we say, Τhey were waiting?

S: Περίμενουν [perímenun] ... περίμεναν [perímenan].

T: Good, περίμεναν [perímenan]. So we have the A popping up now in the past, and
we just add an Ν (ν) to that: περίμεναν. But we could also add an E (ε), no, like we
see, for example, in the present. We have περιμένουν [periménun] and
περιμένουνε [periménune]. We have that option. We also have that option in the
past. So if you were to add an E (ε) onto this, how would it sound?

S: Περιμένανε [periménane].

T: Very good. Περιμένανε. And here the accent moves. We have περίμεναν
[perímenan], no? The accent moves back from περιμένουν – περίμεναν. Βut when
we have two syllables, when we’re adding two syllables on the end, then we don’t
need to move the accent. Actually in the past we want the accent third from the
end, and it’s already there when we add two syllables. So, περίμεναν [perímenan]
and περιμένανε [periménane]. Both exist. Both are correct. So if you forget to put
the accent back when you’re building it, you know, you can just kind of add an E
(ε) on, if you are in the “they” form, no? If you forget to go περίμεναν, and you go,
περιμένανε – Okay, still correct. They didn’t wait for me.

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S: Δεν με περιμένανε [dhen me periménane].

T: Very good. Δεν με περιμένανε. Δεν με περίμεναν [dhen me perímenan]. What
was, the exit?

S: Η έξοδος [i éksodhos].

T: Η έξοδος. So we have έξοδος, which ends [os] (-ος). Looks masculine and behaves
a little bit masculine, no, dropping its S (ς) when it’s in the “her” position, no? But
it’s feminine: Η έξοδος.

The entrance is, η είσοδος [i ísodhos]. So again ending [os] (-ος) and feminine. The
entrance, η είσοδος.

S: Η είσοδος.

T: Η είσοδος. So a nice pair these two – έξοδος, είσοδος [éksodhos, ísodhos] – tο be
reminded that some [os] (-ος) nouns aren’t masculine. In fact it’s often places that
break the norm of “-ος” nouns being masculine. We have “Cyprus”, for example
or, “The Cyprus”, which is, Η Κύπρος [i kípros], feminine. Or even “the place”, το
μέρος [to méros], no, “-ος”, but neuter – το μέρος. So we have είσοδος, η
είσοδος, μία είσοδος [mía ísodhos], “entrance”. They waited for me at the
entrance.

S: Με περίμεναν στην είσοδο [me perímenan stin ísodho].

T: Very good. Με περίμεναν, με περιμένανε, στην είσοδο [me perímenan, me
periménane, stin ísodho].

I didn’t like them. They didn’t please me.

S: Δεν μου αρέσανε [dhen mu arésane].

T: Good. Δεν μου αρέσανε. Or ... ?

S: Δεν μου άρεσαν [dhen mu áresan].

T: Very good. Δεν μου άρεσαν. So with the “they” ending, we can have “-αν” [-an] or
“-ανε” [-ane], which means that we even need to pull our accent back into the
past, or we can leave it where it is, no, if we are adding “-ανε”: περιμένανε
[periménane], περίμεναν [perímenan].

For “we”, for the “we” ending in the past, we have “-αμε” [ame]. So again we’re
using the A vowel (α), like in [a] for “I”, περίμενα [perímena], περίμεναν
[perímenan] for “they”, and now “-αμε” for “we”, which is always two syllables.

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 So try that. Try building that – We waited. We’re going to have the accent third
from the end.

S: Περιμέναμε [periméname].

T: Περιμέναμε.

S: Περιμέναμε.

T: And what is, We wait?

S: Περιμένουμε [periménume].

T: Περιμένουμε. So here actually, the accent’s in the same place, in the present and
in the past. Περιμένουμε, περιμέναμε [periménume, periméname]. ’Cos we are
adding two syllables with “-αμε” [ame], περιμέναμε. So a very small difference for
“we” in the past and present: περιμένουμε, περιμέναμε, a very small difference.
Just hearing that A and the context, will show you that it’s the past. We didn’t
wait.

S: Δεν περιμέναμε [dhen periméname].

T: Δεν περιμέναμε. She didn’t like us. We didn’t please her.

S: Δεν την αρέσαμε [dhen tin arésame].

T: Δεν την αρέσαμε? It’s more like, We weren’t pleasing to her, no, actually.

S: Δεν της αρέσαμε [dhen tis arésame].

T: Δεν της αρέσαμε. She doesn’t like us. We are not pleasing to her.

S: Δεν την [dhen tin] ... Ah. Δεν της αρέσουμε [dhen tis arésume].

T: Good. Δεν της αρέσουμε. So again a very small difference between, She didn’t like
us – Δεν της αρέσαμε, and She doesn’t like us – Δεν της αρέσουμε. Very good.

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Complete Greek, Track 62 – Language Transfer

Teacher: So, in the past, we’ve seen that we have [e] (ε) for, he/she and it, and also
for you, no? We use this [e] sound, but we add something to it for you. What do
we add?

Student: An S (Σ/σ).

T: An S, the sound that we tend to associate with, You, no? So, if you want to say,
She liked it. It was pleasing to her.

S: Της άρεσε [tis árese].

T: Της άρεσε. Νο? To her, της [tis], της άρεσε. And, She liked you, You pleased her,
You were pleasing to her?

S: Της άρεσες [tis áreses].

T: Της άρεσες. Good. You were pleasing to her. So for, he/she and it, and for you, we
have [e] (ε); [e] and [es] (ες): άρεσε, άρεσες [árese, áreses]; περίμενε, περίμενες
[perímene, perímenes]. Otherwise, what vowel sound do we have in the past for
everybody else?

S: [a] (A/α).

T: [a]. Good. So, I waited, I was waiting?

S: Περίμενα [perímena].

T: Περίμενα. They waited?

S: Περιμένανε [periménane].

T: Περιμένανε, περίμεναν [perímenan]. And, We waited, We were waiting?

S: Περιμέναμε [periméname].

T: Περιμέναμε. Very good.

So, περιμέναμε, I’m saying is, We waited, or We were waiting. This is because
περιμένω [periméno] doesn’t have an alternative, closed version. But if the verb
does, then you have the choice to make. We can get, for example, I was buying,
using our standard, open verb form or, I bought, using our closed version. What
was, I buy, in the present?

S: Αγοράζω [aghorázo].

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T: Αγοράζω. I was buying. So we are going to stick with our standard verb form. I
was buying?

S: Αγόραζα [aghóraza].

T: Αγόραζα. Good. So we move the accent back and we change the O (ω) to an A (α),
αγόραζα. And this gives us, with our normal, standard open verb form, I was
buying. I bought? So for, I bought, we will use the closed form of αγοράζω.

S: Αγόρασα [aghórasa].

T: Αγόρασα. Good, with an S (Σ/σ), no? Αγόρασα. I bought it.

S: Το αγόρασα [to aghórasa].

T: Το αγόρασα, if we mean a neuter thing, no? I bought you it. I bought it for you.

S: Στo αγόρασα [sto aghórasa].

T: Very good. Στo αγόρασα. Σου το αγόρασα [su to aghórasa]. We bought you it.

S: Σου το αγοράσαμε [su to aghorásame].

T: Σου το αγοράσαμε. Στο αγοράσαμε [sto aghorásame]. Very good. They bought us
it. They bought it for us.

S: Μας το αγοράσανε [mas to aghorásane].

T: Μας το αγοράσανε. Mας το αγόρασαν [mas to aghórasan]. Very good.

They were buying it for us. So here we have the open time. We are talking about,
you know – they were in the act of buying it for us, and then whatever happens,
you know. They were buying it for us.

S: Μας το αγοράζανε [mas to aghorázane].

T: Very good. Μας το αγοράζανε. Mας το αγόραζαν [mas to aghórazan]. She bought
it.

S: Το αγόρασε [to aghórase].

T: Το αγόρασε. Did you buy it?

S: Το αγόρασες; [to aghórases?].

T: Το αγόρασες; Where did you buy it?

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S: Πού το αγόρασες; [pu to aghórases?].

T: Πού το αγόρασες; What did you buy there?

S: Τι αγόρασες εκεί; [ti aghórases ekí?].

T: Very good. Τι αγόρασες εκεί; Did you buy something for your friend? So, Did you
buy something?

S: Αγόρασες κάτι; [aghórases káti].

T: Αγόρασες κάτι; ... for your friend. Let’s have a female friend.

S: Για την φίλη σου [ya tin fíli su].

T: Very good. Αγόρασες κάτι για την φίλη σου [aghórases káti ya tin fíli su?].

The word for “other” or “another”, as we’ve seen, is άλλος, άλλο, άλλη, [álos, álo,
áli], depending on the gender. The word “parallel” in English is built on άλλος, no?
Something like “beside one another”. So άλλος is a very useful little word; we can
do quite a lot with it. You can use it like “more”. So, for example, you can say, you
know, “Do you want more salad?”. You can just say “Do you want other salad?”.
Θέλεις άλλη σαλάτα [thélis áli saláta]. Νο? Do you want more salad? Or, και άλλη
[ke áli], “and more”. Θέλεις και άλλη σαλάτα [thélis ke áli saláta], you could say.

Θελεις [thélis], you can also contract to θες [thes], by the way. You will hear that
quite often. Θες άλλη σαλάτα; [thes áli saláta?]. Θες και άλλη σαλάτα; [thes ke áli
saláta?]. How would you say, Do you want more coffee?

S: Θες και άλλο καφέ; [thes ke álo kafé?].

T: Very good. Θες άλλο καφέ; [thes álo kafé?]. Θες και άλλο καφέ; Αnd καφές, which
here is behaving like “him”, rather than “he”, loses its S (ς). No? Θες και άλλο
καφέ; You could say, Θέλω καφέ με γάλα [thélo kafé me ghála] – “with milk”.
Γάλα [ghála] is “milk”, like “galaxy”, the Milky Way. So I said that άλλος is quite
useful; we can use it for quite a lot.

How was the word for when?

S: Πότε [póte].

T: Πότε. And the word for “then”, as in time, like, you know, “by then”; very similar
to πότε. You can even think of it as, the when, kind of contracted.

S: Τo πότε [to póte]?

T: Contracted.

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S: Τότε [tóte].

T: Τότε. No? So, this is “then”, as in time, no, maybe actually “the when”, something
like “το πότε” contracted, maybe. And, άλλοτε [álote], άλλοτε. So, joining άλλος,
we get “another time”, άλλοτε.

S: Άλλοτε, άλλοτε.

T: What was the word for, where?

S: Πού [pu].

T: Πού. Άλλου [alú] means “another place” – so like “another where”, “another
place” – αλλού.

S: Αλλού.

T: We have the word for “but” also, which I mentioned – one word for “but”, which
is μα [ma]. There also exists αλλά [alá], αλλά.

S: Αλλά.

T: Which is like “otherly”, something like otherly, αλλά – but. So you can do a lot
with άλλο [álo], no? You will find it doing a lot in Greek. And of course we have
the verb, αλλάζω [alázo] – “I change”. Αλλάζω.

S: Αλλάζω.

T: Αλλάζω. Good. And this has the [zo] (-ζω) ending, no? Like we saw in αγορά
[aghorá], “market”, and αγοράζω [aghorázo], “I buy”; αρχή [archí], “beginning”,
and αρχίζω [archízo], “I start”. The closed version of, αλλάζω [alázo] is?

S: Αλλάξω [alákso].

T: Αλλάξω. Very good. So, not like αγοράζω [aghorázo] and αρχίζω [archízo], which
go to S (σ), no? Αγοράσω, αρχίσω [aghoráso, archíso]. Here we have αλλάζω
[alázo] to αλλάξω [alákso], like πaίζω/πaίξω [pézo/pékso] – “I play”. How would
you say, He changed, She changed?

S: Άλλαξε [álakse].

T: Άλλαξε. You changed.

S: Άλλαξες [álakses].

T: Άλλαξες. You have changed.

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S: Έχεις αλλάξει [échis aláksi].

T: Έχεις αλλάξει. Good.

“The music” is, η μουσική [i musikí].

S: Η μουσική.

T: Η μουσική; like “muse”, “musings”, no? This is all connected. Your music is your
muse, or your musings. Do you like the music?

S: Σου αρέσει η μουσική; [su arési i musikí?].

T: Very good. Σου αρέσει η μουσική; Σ’ αρεσει η μουσικη; [s’arési i musikí?]. Do you
like the music, or shall we change it? The word for “or” in Greek is, ή [i].

S: Ή.

T: This is spelt like the feminine “η” [i] that we have for “the” in the feminine
endings, with the “n” shape that goes below the line. But it also carries a written
accent, to differentiate it from that “η” [i] which means “the”, no? Otherwise, in
some written sentences we could have confusion. So, ή [i] for “or”, the [i] sound
that looks like an “n” with the tail going below the line, with an accent on the top.
So, Do you like the music, or shall we change it?

S: Σου αρέσει η μουσική ή να την αλλάζουμε ... να την αλλάξουμε; [su arési i musikí i
na tin alázume … na tin aláksume?].

T: Σου αρέσει η μουσική ή να την αλλάξουμε; [su arési i musikí i na tin aláksume?].
Shall we change it – ή να την αλλάξουμε. So the “η” [i] of the music and the “ή” of
or, is the same letter, but “or” has a written accent over it. Σου αρέσει η μουσική
ή να την αλλάξουμε; I changed the music because I don’t like it. I changed the
music because I don’t like it.

S: Άλλαξα την μουσική γιατί δεν μου άρεσε [álaksa tin musikí yatí dhen mu árese].

T: Because I don’t like it. You said, Because I didn’t like it; that’s fine, or so. Άλλαξα
την μουσική γιατί (επειδή, διότι [epidhí, dhióti], you could also have for
“because”) δεν μου άρεσε, or, δεν μου αρέσει [dhen mu arési] – I didn’t like it, I
don’t like it. Both fit there.

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Complete Greek, Track 63 – Language Transfer

Teacher: So we’ve seen how, in the simple past, no, we have two changes. We have E
(ε) or an A (α) ending, with our different additional endings for people, like an N
(ν), which corresponds to “they”, or the ME (με) for “we”, or the S (ς) for “you”;
and the accent – the accent, the stress on the word, going back into the past. We
want it third from the end, in the past.

“The clothes”, the clothes, in Greek is, τα ρούχα [ta rúkha], τα ρούχα.

Student: Τα ρούχα.

T: So, like in English, no, “clothes”, it’s plural in Greek, τα ρούχα. What gender is, τα
ρούχα?

S: Neuter.

T: Neuter. Neuter. No? Neuter plural. So, My clothes?

S: Τα ρούχα μου [ta rúkha mu].

T: Τα ρούχα μου. What was, I change?

S: Αλλάζω [alázo].

T: Αλλάζω. I am changing my clothes.

S: Αλλάζω τα ρούχα μου [alázo ta rúkha mu].

T: Αλλάζω τα ρούχα μου. I was changing my clothes.

S: Άλλαζα τα ρούχα μου [álaza ta rúkha mu].

T: Άλλαζα τα ρούχα μου. She was changing her clothes.

S: Άλλαζε τα ρούχα της [álaze ta rúkha tis].

T: Άλλαζε τα ρούχα της. Very good.

“Money” is, λεφτά [leftá]. Λεφτά.

S: Λεφτά.

T: And “the money” is, τα λεφτά [ta leftá], so λεφτά isn’t feminine as you might have
thought. It’s neuter plural, like, ρούχα [rúkha], τα λεφτά.

S: Τα λεφτά.

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T: She was changing her money.

S: Άλλαζε τα λεφτά της [álaze ta leftá tis].

T: Very good. Άλλαζε τα λεφτά της. And, She changed her money?

S: Άλλαξε τα λεφτά της [álakse ta leftá tis].

T: Άλλαξε τα λεφτά της. So we are pulling the accent back into the past, no? But if
the ending has two syllables, well then the accent can stay put. So if we want to
say, We changed?

S: Αλλάξαμε [aláksame].

T: Αλλάξαμε. We changed our clothes.

S: Αλλάξαμε τα ρούχα μας [aláksame ta rúkha mas].

T: Very good. Αλλάξαμε τα ρούχα μας. And, They changed their clothes?

S: Αλλάξανε τα ρούχα τους [aláksane ta rúkha tus].

T: Very good. Αλλάξανε τα ρούχα τους. And apart from, aλλάξανε, what else could
we have?

S: Άλλαξαν [álaksan].

T: Άλλαξαν. No? So if we add just one syllable, an N (ν), for our ending, we must put
the accent back. Άλλαξαν. Άλλαξαν τα ρούχα τους [álaksan ta rúkha tus].

What was, I give?

S: Δίνω [dhíno].

T: Δίνω. So δίνω has only two syllables, no? Δίνω [dhí-no]. So how do we pull the
accent back from δίνω? “I was giving” is, έδινα [édhina]. Έδινα.

S: Έδινα.

T: So this accent change, for the past in Greek, is so important that, if we don’t have
anywhere to put the accent, if we don’t have anywhere to pull it back and put it,
we will add a syllable, so we have somewhere to put it: έδινα [édhina]. So we
added an [e] (ε) to the beginning, just so we have somewhere to put the accent.
Έδινα.

S: Έδινα.

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T: You were giving.

S: Έδινες [édhines].

T: Έδινες. We were giving.

S: Δίναμε [dhíname].

T: Δίναμε. So here we don’t need to add any syllable at the beginning for the accent,
because we are already adding two with “αμε” [ame]. Δίναμε. Very good. They
were giving.

S: Δίνανε [dhínane].

T: Δίνανε. But what if we were to just use AN (αν) [an] for “they”?

S: Έδιναν [édhinan].

T: No? So we have two forms, which look quite different. Έδιναν [édhinan] and
δίνανε [dhínane], and both are correct. So this is, I was giving, They were giving,
We were giving. What is the closed version of δίνω [dhíno]?

S: Δώσω [dhóso].

T: Δώσω. So how do you think you would say, I gave, using δώσω?

S: Έδωσα [édhosa].

T: Έδωσα. Good. The word for “already” was ήδη [ídhi].

S: Ήδη.

T: Ήδη. I gave you it already.

S: Σου το έδωσα ήδη [su to édhosa ídhi].

T: Very good. Σου το έδωσα ήδη. Στο έδωσα ήδη [sto édhosa ídhi]. What if we were
talking about a masculine “it”? I gave it to you already.

S: Σου τον έδωσα ήδη [su ton édhosa ídhi].

T: Very good. Σου τον έδωσα ήδη. Στον έδωσα ήδη [ston édhosa ídhi].

What was, I do?

S: Κάνω [káno].

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T: Κάνω. So if you want to say, I did, I did, you need to change the O (ω) ending to ...

S: [a] (α).

T: A/α [a]. What else do you need to do?

S: Pull the stress back into the past.

T: Good. But can you, with κάνω? I did it.

S: Το έκανα [to ékana]. Το έκανα.

T: Το έκανα. He did it.

S: Το έκανε [to ékane].

T: Good. Το έκανε. You did it. Did you do it?

S: Το έκανες; [to ékanes?].

T: Το έκανες; We did it.

S: Το κάναμε [to káname].

T: Το κάναμε. No? Here we don’t need any extra syllable. Το κάναμε. And, They did
it?

S: Το κάνανε [to kánane].

T: Το κάνανε ... or?

S: Το έκαναν [to ékanan].

T: Very good. Το έκαναν.

We saw the verb, “I am missing”, used in like, “I miss you”. And also related to
“eclipse” in English.

S: Λείπω [lípo].

T: Λείπω. Good. “I am missing” – λείπω. And, I miss you. So, You are missing to me?

S: Μου λείπεις [mu lípis].

T: Μου λείπεις. And the closed version of λείπω [lípo] is ... ?

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S: Λείψω [lípso].

T: Λείψω, like in “eclipse”. I missed you. You were absent to me.

S: Μου έλειψες [mu élipses].

T: Μου έλειψες. I missed you. Did you miss me?

S: Με έλειψες; [me élipses?].

T: That means, “Did I miss you?” Did you miss me?

S: Σου έλειψα; [su élipsa?].

T: Σου έλειψα; Was I missing to you? Σου έλειψα; No? And of course it depends on
context; maybe we want to use the open form as well – Σου έλειπα; [su élipa?].
Were you missing me? Σου έλειπα;

Most of the days of the week, in Greek, sound like the numbers corresponding to
them. So for example, we have δύο [dhío], which means “two”, and then Δευτέρα
[dheftéra], which is “Monday”, the second day, because the week starts on
Sunday.

S: Δευτέρα.

T: Δευτέρα. We have “five”, πέντε [pénde], and then “Thursday”, Πέμπτη [pémpti].

S: Πέμπτη.

T: And the names of the week are feminine, so we have, Η Πέμπτη [i pémpti] for
“Thursday”, the Thursday. Η Δευτέρα for “Monday”, the Monday. They will do it
on Thursday? So for, on Thursday, we’re just going to say, “the Thursday”. “They
will do it the Thursday”, we will say in Greek. They will do it the Thursday. They
will do it on Thursday.

S: Θα το κάνουν την Πέμπτη [tha to kánun tin pémpti].

T: Very good. Θα το κάνουν την Πέμπτη. No? So, Η Πέμπτη [i pémpti] is behaving
like “her”, no? It’s on Thursday: “on her”, rather than “on she”. Θα το κάνουν την
Πέμπτη. They did it on Thursday.

S: Το κάνaνε την Πέμπτη [to kánane tin pémpti].

T: Very good. Το κάνaνε (το έκαναν [to ékanan]), την Πέμπτη. Very good.

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Complete Greek, Track 64 – Language Transfer

Teacher: “I play”, I play, was παίζω [pézo], probably related to, παιδί [pedhí], no, the
word for “child”, as the [e] sound in παίζω and παιδί is both written like AI (αι). So
they may be related. Παίζω [pézo] – I play.

Student: Παίζω.

T: He plays, or, She plays.

S: Παίζει [pézi].

T: Παίζει. How would you say, He was playing / She was playing?

S: Έπαιζε [épeze].

T: Έπαιζε. Very good. We add an E (ε) on the beginning, no, to be able to pull the
accent back, and we also have an E (ε) on the end, which is for he/she and it.
Έπαιζε. She was just playing; She was only playing.

S: Μόνο έπαιζε [móno épeze].

T: Μόνο έπαιζε. Έπαιζε μόνο [épeze móno]. Good. She was just playing by herself.

S: Μόνο έπαιζε μόνη της [móno épeze móni tis].

T: Good. Μόνο έπαιζε μόνη της. Good. She was playing with her friend. Let’s say a
masculine friend. She was playing with her friend.

S: Έπαιζε με τoν φίλo της [épeze me ton fílo tis].

T: Very good. Έπαιζε με τoν φίλo της. Were you playing?

S: Έπαιζες; [épezes?].

T: Έπαιζες; Very good. Did you play? So not, Were you playing?, but, Did you play?
So, what is the closed version of παίζω [pézo]?

S: Παίξω [pékso].

T: Παίξω. Good. So, Did you play?

S: Έπαιξες; [épekses?].

T: Έπαιξες; Very good. Did they play?

S: Παίξανε; [péksane?].

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T: Παίξανε; Good, or ... ?

S: Έπαιξαν; [épeksan?].

T: Έπαιξαν; So we have a big difference there, no, between παίξανε [péksane] and
έπαιξαν [épeksan]. But they both mean the same. Have they played?

S: Έχουνε παίζει; [ékhune pézi?].

T: Παίζει [pézi]?

S: Έχουνε παίξει; [ékhune péksi?].

T: Good. So to form this “have” past, we always use the closed version of the verb,
no? Έχουνε/έχουν παίξει; [ékhune/ékhun péksi?]. Good.

So these are three principal ways of talking about the past. “I was playing”, έπαιζα
[épeza]; “I played”, έπαιξα [épeksa]; “I have played”, έχω παίξει [ékho péksi]. Just
like in English.

I do. What is, I do, or, I make?

S: Κάνω [káno].

T: Κάνω. I did it. I was doing it.

S: Το έκανα [to ékana].

T: Το έκανα. So this is, I did it, or, I was doing it, because we have no closed version
for κάνω [káno], so it’s the same. Έκανα. I have done it.

S: Το έχω κάνει [to ékho káni].

T: Το έχω κάνει. Good. You did, you did it?

S: Το έκανες [to ékanes].

T: Το έκανες. Good. What did you do?

S: Τι έκανες; [ti ékanes?].

T: Τι εκανες;

What was the word for well, like, “I’m well”.

S: Καλά [kalá].

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T: Καλά. How would you say, Well you did? Bear with me.

S: Έκανες καλά [ékanes kalá].

T: So, Well you did?

S: Καλά έκανες [kalá ékanes].

T: Καλά έκανες. And this is an expression in Greek, like, “Well done”. No? Καλά
έκανες. Well you did. Καλά έκανες – Well done.

So, remind me, what was, It is necessary?

S: Πρέπει να [prépi na].

T: Πρέπει, πρέπει να. Good. How would we say, Ιt was necessary?

S: Έπρεπε [éprepe].

T: Έπρεπε. Good. Έπρεπε. So, έπρεπε, we can use to say things like, “I had to buy it”.
Ιt was necessary, να [na], I buy it. It was necessary to buy it. So, how would that
be?

S: Έπρεπε να το αγοράζω [éprepe na to aghorázo].

T: Good. I like how you didn’t go into the past again. That was correct, no? Because
it’s, It was necessary, να, Ι buy it, or, It was necessary to buy it; so we don’t go into
the past again. But we … we have the verb after “να”, so we definitely need to
decide if we want the closed or the open form. So, I had to buy it: we could have
either, really depending on the context. Έπρεπε να το αγοράζω – this maybe
means like over a long period, you know, it was necessary that I buy it; but most
common would be ... ?

S: Έπρεπε να το αγοράσω [éprepe na to aghoráso].

T: Good. Έπρεπε να το αγοράσω. So, we don’t put both in the past, no? It was
necessary, να, I buy it.

I mentioned the word for “perfect” before, τέλειο [télio]. Τέλειο.

S: Τέλειο.

T: And, τελειώνω [telióno], “I finish”. Τελειώνω.

S: Τελειώνω.

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T: I had to finish it. What is the closed version of τελειώνω?

S: Τελειώσω [telióso].

T: Τελειώσω. Very good. N (ν) to S (σ) there. Τελειώσω. I had to finish it.

S: Έπρεπε να το τελειώσω [éprepe na to telióso].

T: Έπρεπε να το τελειώσω. Very good. I was waiting for it to finish. So, I was waiting,
is the first bit.

S: Περίμενα [perímena], περίμενα.

T: Περίμενα. Good. For it to finish. So, Περίμενα να ... ?

S: Να τελειώσει [na teliósi].

T: Να τελειώσει. Good. So again, we just have to think about whether we want the
open or the closed form. We don’t go into the past again. Περίμενα [perímena], I
was waiting, for it to finish, να τελειώσει [na teliósi]. Or we could also say, για να
τελειώσει [ya na teliósi]. Περίμενα για να τελειώσει [perímena ya na teliósi].
Περίμενα να τελειώσει [perímena na teliósi]. How would you say, I was waiting
for him (or her) to finish it?

S: Περίμενα … περίμενα να το τελειώσει [perímena … perímena na to teliósi].

T: Περίμενα να το τελειώσει. Very good. I was waiting for him (or her) to finish it.
And you could also say, to clarify, Τον περίμενα να το τελειώσει [ton perímena na
to teliósi], I was waiting for him to finish it. Or, Την περίμενα να το τελειώσει [tin
perímena na to teliósi]. So you could say that as well.

If we say, Πρέπει να [prépi na], it finished. So, πρέπει [prépi] in the present, and
the verb, the following verb, in the past, then we get a very different meaning. We
get, “It must have finished”. It must have finished. So if you say, Πρέπει να, it
finished, in the past, how would that be?

S: Πρέπει να τελείωσε [prépi na telíose].

T: Πρέπει να τελείωσε. Good. So this would be, It must have finished. It must have
been finishing, giving an open feeling.

S: Πρέπει να τελείωνε [prépi na telíone].

T: Πρέπει να τελείωνε. Very good. What was, I change?

S: Αλλάζω [alázo].

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T: Αλλάζω. And the closed version?

S: Αλλάξω [alákso].

T: Αλλάξω. They have to change it.

S: Πρέπει να το αλλάξουνε [prépi na to aláksune].

T: Πρέπει να το αλλάξουν [prépi na to aláksun]. Πρέπει να το αλλάξουνε. They had
to change it. It was necessary to change it.

S: Έπρεπε να το αλλάξουνε [éprepe na to aláksune].

T: Very good. Έπρεπε να το αλλάξουν [éprepe na to aláksun]. Έπρεπε να το
αλλάξουνε. They must have changed it. So for, They must have changed it, we will
say, Πρέπει [prépi] in the present, and then, they changed it, in the past. So, They
must have changed it.

S: Πρέπει να το αλλάξουν … άλλαξουν [prépi na to aláksun … álaksun]? Πρέπει να το
άλλαξαν [prépi na to álaksan].

T: Good. Πρέπει να το άλλαξαν [prépi na to álaksan]. Πρέπει να το αλλάξανε [prépi
na to aláksane]. So with, πρέπει, in the present, and then the following verb in the
past, we get the meaning of, “must have”. It must have changed?

S: Πρέπει να άλλαξε [prépi na álakse].

T: Very good. Πρέπει να άλλαξε. Very good.

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Complete Greek, Track 65 – Language Transfer

Teacher: Now that we have the past, now that we dominate the past in Greek, we
can also do something really cool with things that we already know. We can make
the “would” time in Greek – to say, for example, “I would change it”. No? First we
need to build, I was changing it. So how’s that?

Student: Το άλλαζα [to álaza].

T: Το άλλαζα. Good. So we have our open standard form of the verb, no, for “I was
changing”. Το άλλαζα. I was changing it. And then, we add “θα” [tha] to this. So
how would that sound, if you added “θα” to that?

S: Θα το άλλαζα [tha to álaza].

T: Θα το άλλαζα. And this gives us, “I would change it”. So we just use the open past,
the “-ing”, the ongoing past, no, with “θα”, and we get “would”. I would change it.
Θα το άλλαζα. I wouldn’t change it.

S: Δεν θα το άλλαζα [dhen tha to álaza].

T: Δεν θα το άλλαζα. I won’t, I will not change it.

S: Δεν θα το αλλάξω [dhen tha to alákso].

T: Δεν θα το αλλάξω. Good. So this is actually very interesting, the fact that we build
this time, just adding elements that already exist. And the fact that many other
languages do the same thing, such as Arabic, for example, suggests that the
“would” time came much later in language, which would make sense. Of course
we didn’t begin our language journey talking about hypothetical “would”s, no, but
more concrete things. So we achieve the meaning of “would”, combining pre-
existing elements of the language structure, no, and in this way get a new
meaning to express something new: combining “θα” [tha] with the open, ongoing
past.

How would you say, I am buying it, and the “it” is a feminine thing.

S: Την αγοράζω [tin aghorázo].

T: Very good. Την αγοράζω. We are buying it – still feminine thing.

S: Την αγοράζουμε [tin aghorázume].

T: Very good. Την αγοράζουμε. We were buying it?

S: Την αγοράζαμε [tin aghorázame].

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T: Very good. Την αγοράζαμε. We would buy it.

S: Θα την αγοράζαμε [tha tin aghorázame].

T: Very good. Θα την αγοράζαμε. What is, I do, or, I make?

S: Κάνω [káno].

T: Κάνω. I was doing it, or, I did it. This would be the same for, κάνω, because, of
course, we don’t have an alternative version for, κάνω. So, I was doing it; I did it.

S: Έκανα [ékana].

T: Έκανα. Or with the “it”?

S: Το έκανα [to ékana].

T: Το έκανα. I would do it.

S: Θα το έκανα [tha to ékana].

T: Θα το έκανα. I wouldn’t do it.

S: Δεν θα το έκανα [dhen tha to ékana].

T: Δεν θα το έκανα. You did it, or, (You) were doing it.

S: Το έκανες [to ékanes].

T: Το έκανες. Would you do it?

S: Θα το έκανες; [tha to ékanes?].

T: Θα το έκανες; What if we were to stress the word for “you”? Would you do it?

S: Εσύ θα το έκανες; [esí tha to ékanes?].

T: Good. Εσύ θα το έκανες; Θα το έκανες εσύ [tha to ékanes esí?].

So we said that “θα” [tha] was coming from θέλεινα [thélina], no? We mentioned
this when we looked at how the future in Greek, and in English, is coming from
the word “want”, no? “I will” is from German “Ich will”, no – “I want”; and θα
from θέλεινα, the contraction of θέλεινα. Even in Swahili (which I can now say, as
we have a Swahili course), Swahili does the same thing – builds the future with
this idea of wanting. So, many languages do that.

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 So, Θα το αγόραζα [tha to aghóraza], is something like “It wants, I was buying it”.
And with this we get, “I would buy it”; but also “I was going to buy it”, in the sense
of, “I meant to buy it”, which is closer to the meaning of “want”, no? “I was going
to” is, “I had the intention to – the will to”. So we also get that meaning with this
same structure.

What is, I work?

S: Δουλεύω [dhulévo].

T: Δουλεύω. I was working.

S: Δούλευα [dhúleva].

T: Δούλευα. I was going to work.

S: Θα δούλευα [tha dhúleva].

T: Θα δούλευα. So this doesn’t mean, “I was going on my way to …”, no? It means, I
had the intention to, I was going to work ... but I had to do something. So how
would you say that? I was going to work today … today, but I had to do something.

S: Θα δούλευα σήμερα [tha dhúleva símera].

T: Good. Θα δούλευα σήμερα. I was going to work today, but ...

S: Αλλά [alá].

T: I had to do something.

S: Έπρεπε να κάνω κάτι [éprepe na káno káti].

T: Good. I was going to work today but I had to do something. Θα δούλευα σήμερα
αλλά έπρεπε να κάνω κάτι [tha dhúleva símera alá éprepe na káno káti]. I was
going to do it but I had to work. I was going to do it?

S: Θα το έκανα [tha to ékana].

T: But I had to work.

S: Αλλά έπρεπε να δουλεύω [alá éprepe na dhulévo] ... aah, να δουλέψω [na
dhulépso].

T: Θα το έκανα αλλά έπρεπε να δουλέψω [tha to ékana alá éprepe na dhulépso]. I
was going to work but I had to stay at home. So, I was going to work. I was
meaning to work.

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S: Θα δούλευα [tha dhúleva].

T: But.

S: Αλλά [alá].

T: I had to stay at home.

S: Έπρεπε να μείνω στο σπίτι [éprepe na míno sto spíti].

T: Good. Θα δούλευα αλλά έπρεπε να μείνω στο σπίτι [tha dhúleva alá éprepe na
míno sto spíti]. Or we could just say, μείνω σπίτι [míno spíti]. I was going to stay
home. Θα δούλευα αλλά έπρεπε να μείνω σπίτι [tha dhúleva alá éprepe na míno
spíti].

So, Θα το έκανα [tha to ékana] gives us both, “I was going to do it”, and also “I
would do it”, depending on the context, no? And most of the time the context will
show very clearly which one is intended. I would do it, or, I was going to do it. But
there might be room for ambiguity if most of the context is in your head, which
we do sometimes. Sometimes we speak, and most of the context is in our minds,
and we don’t actually say it. And we think we’ve been understood, but we might
be understood in a different way. This happens in our native languages, and a lot
of the time we can be unaware of it, and also in any language that we’re learning.
So there’s definitely room for ambiguity there. So just be careful not to have too
much context in your head. I would do it; I was going to do it. There we have two
quite different meanings.

So we had, Πρέπει [prépi], “Have to” or, “It is necessary”. And the past of, πρέπει
was?

S: Έπρεπε [éprepe].

T: Έπρεπε. “The clothes” was, τα ρούχα [ta rukha]. Τα ρούχα.

S: Τα ρούχα. Τα ρούχα.

T: Τα ρούχα. He had to change his clothes. He had to change his clothes.

S: Έπρεπε να αλλάξει τα ρούχα του [éprepe na aláksi ta rúkha tu].

T: Good. Έπρεπε να αλλάξει τα ρούχα του. He was going to change his clothes.

S: Θα άλλαζε τα ρούχα του [tha álaze ta rúkha tu].

T: Very good. Θα άλλαζε τα ρούχα του. So, we have, έπρεπε [éprepe], no, for “It was
necessary” – “had to”. If we say, θα έπρεπε [tha éprepe], we get “should”. So, Θα
έπρεπε, “It would be necessary”, gives us the meaning like “should”. So there may

296
 be a slight cross-over in these meanings, no? Have to – Should; they’re very close
in meaning, but, generally speaking, θα έπρεπε is going to sound more like
“should”, maybe a little more polite, no? “It would be necessary”, rather than
Πρέπει – It is necessary; Have to. So, for example, You should change your clothes
– It would be necessary, να, you change your clothes.

S: Θα έπρεπε να αλλάξεις τα ρούχα σου [tha éprepe na aláksis ta rúkha su].

T: Good. Θα έπρεπε να αλλάξεις τα ρούχα σου. And if you were to say “them”,
referring to the clothes, like, You should change them?

S: Θα έπρεπε να τους αλλάξεις [tha éprepe na tus aláksis].

T: Why “τους” [tus]?

S: Οh. It’s, τα ρούχα [ta rúkha]. Θα έπρεπε να τα αλλάξεις [tha éprepe na ta aláksis].

T: Good. Θα έπρεπε να τα αλλάξεις. Well done.

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Complete Greek, Track 66 – Language Transfer

T: What was, I give?

S: Δίνω [dhíno].

T: Δίνω. And the closed version?

S: Δώσω [dhóso].

T: Δώσω. I gave?

S: Έδωσα [édhosa].

T: Έδωσα. And, I was giving?

S: Έδινα [édhina].

T: Έδινα. I would give?

S: Θα έδινα [tha édhina].

T: Θα έδινα. You might hear in Greek, in conversation, in songs as well, Και τι δεν θα
έδινα [ke ti dhen tha édhina]. What does that mean? Και τι δεν θα έδινα.

S: And what wouldn’t I have given.

T: And what I wouldn’t give.

S: Ah.

T: No? So it’s like, you know, “What I wouldn’t give to see you”, for example. “What I
wouldn’t give to do that again”. No? And, “θα έδινα” [tha édhina], you might hear
contracted as well: “θά ’δινα” [thá dhina], θά ’δινα. Και τι δεν θά ’δινα. Και τι δεν
θά ’δινα να σε δω [ke ti dhen thá dhina na se dho] – to see you. I was going to
give it to you. I would give it to you. So, you know, with no context, it could easily
mean either: I was going to give it to you; I would give it to you.

S: Θα στο έδινα [tha sto édhina].

T: Θα στο έδινα. Θα σου το έδινα [tha su to édhina].

Κουρασμένος [kurazménos], κουρασμένος, means “tired”. Κουρασμένος.

S: Κουρασμένος.

T: How would you say, I’m tired?

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S: Είμαι κουρασμένος [íme kurazménos].

T: Είμαι κουρασμένος. And if you were female?

S: Είμαι κουρασμένη [íme kurazméni].

T: Είμαι κουρασμένη. Μένος [ménos] is quite a common ending for adjectives. So,
for example, you might look up the word “happy”. If you were to look up the word
“happy”, you would find, ευτuχισμένος [eftichisménos]. Eυτuχισμένος.

S: Ευτυχισμένος.

T: So that’s a long word, no? And the first thing you want to do is try to break it up.
So the first thing we notice straight away is that it ends “-μένος” [ménos]. So we
can get rid of that and look at “ευτύχι-” [eftíchi]. Do you remember what “ευ”
[ef/ev] means, at the beginning of words, mostly?

S: Something good.

T: Good, good. And “τύχη” [tíchi] means “luck”. So ευτuχισμένος, ευτuχισμένος
means something like, “good lucky”, and that’s the word for “happy”.

S: Ευτυχισμένος.

T: I’m happy?

S: Είμαι ευτυχισμένος [íme eftichisménos].

T: Είμαι ευτυχισμένος. Είμαι ευτυχισμένη [íme eftichisméni]. Are you happy?

S: Είσαι ευτυχισμένος; [íse eftichisménos?].

T: Είσαι ευτυχισμένος, ευτυχισμένη; [íse eftichisménos, eftichisméni?]. So this is
quite an interesting combination of meaning actually, to … to put “good” and
“lucky” together to get “happy”; and in fact, different languages do this. In English
we have “happy-go-lucky”, no? Somebody that’s happy-go-lucky. The meaning
there that if you … if you are happy, you … you go lucky, no? You have in Arabic,
“said” [sa-íd]. These roots, S-A-D ([s]-[a]-[d]); you might know these names, Said,
Saida, Assad; these roots relate to happiness and luck in Arabic. I don’t know if
you have any German expression you can think of, that combines happiness and
luck.

S: It’s in German, “being happy” is Glücklich sein.

T: Oh, Okay, good luck.

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S: Yes. Well, being happy is like being in luck, kind of.

T: Exactly. So sometimes, in the way that words are built in languages, it feels like
the language itself, in silence, in fact, is suggesting something, just by building the
word in a certain way. And I think this suggestion that’s coming through, in many
different languages, this connection between happiness and luck, is that if you
bring happiness, you bring luck. No? That if you … that happiness is maybe a
choice, whilst luck definitely doesn’t feel like one. Maybe the language is
suggesting there that luck is more of a choice than we think it is – that we can be
appreciative and happy, and in turn become lucky inside. I think that’s the
inherent wisdom there.

So, give me again, I am happy.

S: Είμαι ευτυχισμένος [íme eftichisménos].

T: Good. So we have είμαι [íme], for “I am”. “I was” is ήμουν [ímun], or ήμουνα
[ímuna]; we can have either. So that’s kind of irregular, no? It’s not following
many of our “past” rules. We have the A (α) on the end, but, you know, it’s
irregular: είμαι – ήμουν [íme, ímun]. Just like in English, “I am” and “I was”; we
don’t have any rule to move between “am” and “was”.

S: Ήμουν [ímun].

T: Ήμουν, or ήμουνα [ímuna]. So, I was happy, or, I used to be happy.

S: Ήμουν ευτυχισμένος [ímun eftichisménos].

T: Ήμουν ευτυχισμένος, ευτυχισμένη [eftichisméni]. I would be happy.

S: Θα ήμουν ευτυχισμένος [tha ímun eftichisménos].

T: Θα ήμουν ευτυχισμένος. I was tired.

S: Ήμουν κουρασμένος [ímun kurazménos].

T: Ήμουν κουρασμένος. Ήμουν κουρασμένη [ímun kurazméni]. So we have, είμαι
[íme] – “I am”, and, ήμουν [ímun] – “I was”. We have, είσαι [íse] – “you are”, and
what might, You were, be, if we have είμαι – ήμουν, είσαι – ... ?

S: Ήσουν [ísun].

T: Ήσουν, You were, ήσουν. Where were you?

S: Πού ήσουν; [pu ísun?].

T: Πού ήσουν; Were you happy?

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S: Ήσουν ευτυχισμένος; [ísun eftichisménos?].

T: Weren’t you happy there? Weren’t you happy there?

S: Δεν ήσουν ευτυχισμένος εκεί; [dhen ísun eftichisménos ekí?].

T: Δεν ήσουν ευτυχισμένος εκεί; Δεν ήσουν ευτυχισμένη εκεί; [dhen ísun
eftichisméni ekí?].

“I take”, was παίρνω [pérno]. Παίρνω, I take.

S: Παίρνω.

T: And we mentioned how, παίρνω τηλέφωνο [pérno tiléfono], “I take phone”, can
be used like to … “to call”. So, I’m calling you. We say, I take you phone.

S: Σου παίρνω τηλέφωνο [su pérno tiléfono].

T: But here the “you” doesn’t mean, “from you”, or “for you”, or even “to you”. So
it’s not like, you know, “I take to you, or from you, the telephone”. It’s like, “I take
you phone”. We don’t use σου [su].

S: Σε παίρνω τηλέφωνο [se pérno tiléfono].

T: Good. Σε, σε παίρνω τηλέφωνο. So how would you say, I was calling you. I was
calling you?

S: Σε έπαιρνα τηλέφωνο [se éperna tiléfono].

T: Very good. Σε έπαίρνα τηλέφωνο [se épérna tiléfono]. I was going to call; I would
call you.

S: Θα σε έπαιρνα τηλέφωνο [tha se éperna tiléfono].

T: Very good. Θα σε έπαίρνα τηλέφωνο [tha se épérna tiléfono]. I was going to call
you, but I was tired. So, I was going to call you.

S: Θα σε έπαιρνα τηλέφωνο [tha se éperna tiléfono].

T: But I was tired.

S: Αλλά ήμουν κουρασμένος [alá ímun kurazménos].

T: Good. Αλλά ήμουν κουρασμένος. Aλλά ήμουν κουρασμένη [alá ímun kurazméni].
The closed version of παίρνω [pérno] was, πάρω [páro]. Πάρω.

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S: Πάρω.

T: So we lose the N (ν), no, of παίρνω [pérno], but also it’s a little irregular. The
vowel changes: παίρνω / πάρω [pérno / páro]. You had to call me. So this is just
like, you know, It was necessary that you call me.

S: Έπρεπε να με πάρεις τηλέφωνο [éprepe na me páris tiléfono].

T: Έπρεπε να με πάρεις τηλέφωνο. And, You should call me. So, It would be
necessary, να [na], you take me phone.

S: Θα ε ... , θα έπρεπες να μου, να με, πάρεις τηλέφωνο [tha e …, tha éprepes na
mu, na me, páris tiléfono].

T: Good. But it’s important to think about what we’re saying literally, no? It would be
necessary, something like that.

S: Θα έπρεπε [tha éprepe].

T: Θα έπρεπε, not, Θα έπρεπες [tha éprepes].

S: Ah ...

T: Θα έπρεπε να με πάρεις τηλέφωνο [tha éprepe na me páris tiléfono]. Good.

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Complete Greek, Track 67 – Language Transfer

T: What was, Have to, or, It is necessary?

S: Πρέπει [prépi].

T: Πρέπει. And the past of that?

S: Έπρεπε [éprepe].

T: Έπρεπε. What is, I do?

S: Κάνω [káno].

T: And the past: I did; I was doing?

S: Έκανα [ékana].

T: Έκανα. So we’ve seen that sometimes we need to add an [e], no, an extra syllable,
onto the beginning of the verb, to be able to pull that accent back into the past.
So, this sound that we add on to the beginning of verbs to do this, the great
majority of the time is an E (ε); but sometimes we add an I (η), with some
important and common verbs too. It doesn’t happen very often, but it does
happen with some quite important verbs, like “I want”, for example. What is, I
want?

S: Θέλω [thélo].

T: Θέλω. “I wanted” is ήθελα [íthela]. Ήθελα.

S: Ήθελα.

T: Good. So here we are adding an I (η) to get that extra syllable. Ήθελα. They
wanted?

S: Θέλανε [thélane].

T: Θέλανε, or ... ?

S: Ήθελαν [íthelan].

T: Ήθελαν. We wanted?

S: Θέλαμε [thélame].

T: Θέλαμε. There we don’t add anything, no, because “-αμε” [ame] has two
syllables. Θέλαμε. He wanted; She wanted; even, It wanted?

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S: Ήθελα [íthela], Ήθελε [íthele].

T: Ήθελε [íthele]. You wanted?

S: Ήθελες [ítheles].

T: Ήθελες. I would want.

S: Θα ήθελα [tha íthela].

T: Θα ήθελα. So, I would want, θα ήθελα, you can also use it, like, “I would like”; θα
ήθελα, I would like.

“A kebab”, a kebab, in Greek is, ένας γύρος [énas yíros], ένας γύρος. Ένας γύρος.

S: ‘Ενας γύρος.

T: And this actually means “turn” or “turning” – turning things, something like that.
And actually, “donar”, or “dunar”, in Turkish, also means “turned”, “to turn”. So
this is, of course, referring to the little machine that turns around to cook the
meat, no? So we have, ένας γύρος – a kebab.

S: Ένας γύρος.

T: When “a kebab” is behaving like “him”, ένας [énas] acts like τον [ton], rather than
acting like a noun; it becomes “έναν” [énan]. It doesn’t lose its S (ς); the S (ς) turns
into an N (ν). So it … it looks like “τον” [ton], no? So, if you say, for example, I
would like a kebab.

S: Θα ήθελα έναν γύρο [tha íthela énan yíro].

T: Very good; also for changing γύρο [yíro], no? So, γύρος [yíros] acts like a
masculine noun; we drop the S (ς) and we get γύρο, when it’s behaving like “him”.
But ένας [énas] acts like τον [ton]; it becomes έναν [énan].

We had άλλος [álos] for “another”, or άλλο [álos], άλλη [áli]; όλος [ólos] gives us
“all” or “every”, no? So, we have άλλος [álos] and όλος [ólos]. If you say, ένας
γύρος από όλa [énas yíros apó óla], από όλa – “from all”, “of all”, and we are
using the neuter plural there, no? Όλα [óla] – it means “with everything”. So, you
know, if you ask for a kebab, you will have different salads to put in there, and
different sauces. If you just say, από όλa [apó óla], it means “with everything”. So,
I would like a kebab with everything.

S: Θα ήθελα έναν γύρο από όλa [tha íthela énan yíro apó óla].

T: Very good. Θα ήθελα έναν γύρο από όλa. I know?

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S: Ξέρω [kséro].

T: Ξέρω. “I knew”, is ήξερα [íksera]. Ήξερα.

S: Ήξερα.

T: So again another common verb, no, using [i] (η) to get an extra syllable. Ήξερα.
We knew?

S: Ξέραμε [ksérame].

T: Ξέραμε. Here we don’t need it, no, the extra syllable. They knew?

S: Ξέρανε [ksérane].

T: Ξέρανε, or ... ?

S: Ήξεραν [íkseran].

T: Ήξεραν. He knew?

S: Ήξερε [íksere].

T: And, Did you know?

S: Ήξερες; [íkseres?].

T: Did you know it?

S: Το ήξερες; [to íkseres?].

T: Good. I wanted to tell you something. So, I wanted to tell you something. How
would that be?

S: Ήθελα να σου πω κάτι [íthela na su po káti].

T: Very good. Ήθελα να σου πω κάτι. So again, we’re not going in to the past again,
after “να” [na], no? It’s like, “to tell”; and we just then need to decide if we want
the open or the closed version of the verb. Ήθελα να σου πω κάτι. I wanted to tell
you something.

I wanted you to tell me. So, like, you know, I wanted to hear it from you. I wanted
you to tell me it.

S: Ήθελα να μου το πεις [íthela na mu to pis].

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T: And if you were to use “you”, and be emphatic. I wanted you to tell me it. I
wanted to hear it from you.

S: Ήθελα να μου το πεις εσύ [íthela na mu to pis esí].

T: Very good. Ήθελα να μου το πεις εσύ. Good. And, “να μου το πεις” [na mu to pis],
you wouldn’t separate with “εσύ” [esí], if you wanted to put it earlier. You can’t
say, “να εσύ μου το πεις” [na esí mu to pis]. “Nα μου το πεις”, kind of comes all
together. So you can say, Ήθελα να μου το πεις εσύ [íthela na mu to pis esí], or,
Ήθελα εσύ να μου το πεις [íthela esí na mu to pis].

With these short closed versions of one syllable, like πω [po], we will also add an I
(ει), an [i] sound, to go into the past. Είπα [ípa] is “I said”.

S: Είπα.

T: We don’t get three syllables but, you know, we get an extra one at least when we
add that [í] (εί) onto πω. So, είπa [ípa] – “I said”. He said?

S: Είπε [ípe].

T: You said?

S: Είπες [ípes].

T: Είπες. What did you say?

S: Τι είπες; [ti ípes?].

T: Τι είπες. I told you.

S: Σου είπα [su ípa].

T: Σου είπα. What did I tell you? What did I tell you?

S: Τι σου είπα; [ti su ípa?].

T: Τι σου είπα; We said. We told.

S: Είπαμε [ípame].

T: Είπαμε. So, even in the “we” form, no, we still have this [í] (εί) addition, because
the verb is so short. Είπαμε. And it’s the only time actually we get the accent third
from the end, no, where we want it in the past – Είπαμε. Well, not the only time.
We could have ... how is, They said, or, They told?

S: Είπαν [ípan].

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T: Είπαν, or είπανε [ípane]. No? We can have either. Είπαν, or είπανε. So there again
third from the end. Είπανε [ípane]. You didn’t tell me where you were. So, You
didn’t tell me ... ?

S: Δεν μου είπες [dhen mu ípes].

T: Where you were.

S: Πού ήσουν [pu ísun].

T: Πού ήσουν. Very good. Δεν μου είπες πού ήσουν [dhen mu ípes pu ísun]. So we
have ήσουν [ísun], for “You were”, and “I was” is, ήμουν [ímun]. No? We have,
like, ήμουν [ímun] and ήσουν [ísun], looking very similar. So, ήμουν – “I was”. I
would be, or, I was going to be?

S: Θα ήμουν [tha ímun].

T: Θα ήμουν. I was going to be there but they told me to stay here, or, I would be
there but they told me to stay here. Both could fit, no, in this context. So, the first
bit is, I would be there / I was going to be there.

S: Θα ήμουν εκεί [tha ímun ekí].

T: Θα ήμουν εκεί ... But they told me.

S: Αλλά μου είπανε [alá mu ípane].

T: Αλλά μου είπανε, Αλλά μου είπαν [alá mu ípan] ... To stay here.

S: Να μείνω εδώ [na míno edhó].

T: Very good. Θα ήμουν εκεί. Or, we could also contract that: Θα ’μουν, Θα ’μουν
εκεί [tha’mun ekí]. But they told me to stay here: αλλά μου είπαν, μου είπανε, να
μείνω εδώ [alá mu ípan, mu ípane, na míno edhó]. But they told me to stay here.

What was, I see?

S: Βλέπω [vlépo].

T: Βλέπω. And the closed version of, I see?

S: Δω [dho].

T: Δω. “I saw”, is είδα [ídha]. Είδα.

S: Είδα.

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T: So again we are adding a syllable with this short [i] (εί) sound. We saw?

S: Είδαμε [ídhame].

T: Είδαμε. They saw.

S: Είδαν [ídhan].

T: Or ... ?

S: Είδανε [ídhane].

T: Είδανε, είδαν. Good. He saw.

S: Είδε [ídhe].

T: Είδε. And, You saw.

S: Είδες [ídhes].

T: Είδες, which you can also use like as an expression, no? Like, “You know what I
mean”. Είδες; [ídhes?].

So generally, when we need to add on a syllable, to go into the past with our
verbs, that’s going to be an [e] (ε). But in some cases, with some quite common
verbs, it’s going to be an [i] sound (η), like in, ήθελα [íthela] – “I wanted”; ήξερα
[íksera] – “I knew”. And also with these verbs that just become, like, one syllable
in their closed form, like είπα [ípa] – “I said”; είδα [ídha] – “I saw”.

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Complete Greek, Track 68 – Language Transfer

T: What was the word for, I am?

S: Είμαι [íme].

T: Είμαι. Good. And, I will be?

S: Θα είμαι [tha íme].

T: Θα είμαι. Good. I was?

S: Ήμουν [ímun].

T: Ήμουν. And, I would be?

S: Θα ήμουν [tha ímun].

T: Θα ήμουν. You are?

S: Είσαι [íse].

T: Είσαι. You will be.

S: Θα είσαι [tha íse].

T: You were?

S: Ήσουν [ísun].

T: Ήσουν. Very good. So we have ήμουν [ímun] and ήσουν [ísun], just like we have
είμαι [íme] and είσαι [íse]. And, Υou would be?

S: Θα ήσουν [tha ísun].

T: Θα ήσουν. And we could also have, ήμουνα [ímuna] and ήσουνα [ísuna], instead
of, ήμουν [ímun] and ήσουν [ísun]. What is, Ιt is, or, They are?

S: Είναι [íne].

T: Είναι. How would you say, He is tired? Do you remember the word for “tired”? It
was an adjective ending “μένος” [ménos].

S: Κουρασμένος [kurazménos].

T: Κουρασμένος. Good. So, He is tired.

309
S: Είναι κουρασμένος [íne kurazménos].

T: And, She is tired.

S: Είναι κουρασμένη [íne kurazméni].

T: Είναι κουρασμένη. They are tired?

S: Είναι κουρασμένοι [íne kurazméni].

T: Είναι κουρασμένοι. No? If you are talking about males or a mixed group. And if
you are talking about females?

S: Είναι κουρασμένες [íne kurazménes].

T: Είναι κουρασμένες. Another “μένος” adjective is, αγαπημένος [aghapiménos].
Αγαπημένος.

S: Αγαπημένος.

T: What do you think it might mean?

S: In love.

T: OK. That’s a good … that’s a good guess. But it’s more like “beloved” or
“favourite”. Favourite. So how would you say, This is my favourite one, and you
can choose the gender.

S: Αυτό είναι το αγαπημένο μου [aftó íne to aghapiméno mu]. Αυτό είναι το
αγαπημένο μου.

T: Very good. No? We have to be consistent with the gender, no? Αυτό είναι το
αγαπημένο μου, or Αυτή είναι η αγαπημένη μου [aftí íne i aghapiméni mu]. They
are my favourite?

S: Είναι οι αγαπημένοι μου [íne i aghapiméni mu].

T: Good. Είναι οι αγαπημένοι μου. And what else could that mean, without context,
if you hear it, not if you read it?

S: Well, She is my favourite.

T: Good. Or, This feminine one is my favourite. Either. They are my favourites
because they are bigger – because they are more big. So, They are my favourites?

S: Είναι οι αγαπημένοι μου [íne i aghapiméni mu].

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T: Because?

S: Γιατί [yatí].

T: Γιατί. We could also have επειδή [epidhí], διότι [dhióti]. They are bigger. They are
more big.

S: Είναι μεγαλύτεροι [íne meghalíteri].

T: Good. Very good. Είναι μεγαλύτεροι, or, Είναι πιό μεγάλοι [íne pyo megháli].
Good. Αυτοί είναι οι αγαπημένοι μου, επειδή είναι πιό μεγάλοι – επειδή / γιατί
είναι μεγαλύτεροι [aftí íne i aghapiméni mu, epidhí íne pyo megháli – epidhí / yatí
íne meghalíteri].

Ωραίος [oréos], ωραίος, means “nice”. Ωραίος.

S: Ωραίος.

T: It’s nice.

S: Είναι ωραίο [íne oréo].

T: Είναι ωραίο. They are nice.

S: Είναι ωραίοι [íne oréi].

T: Very good. Είναι ωραίοι. So this would actually refer to things. Ωραίος means
nice, when it refers to things. If we refer to people, it means, like, pretty or
handsome. So how would we say that? They are pretty; They are handsome.

S: Είναι ωραίοι [íne oréi].

T: Yes, the same. Είναι ωραίοι. So, we saw before, ώρα [óra] – “hour”, and ωραίος is
actually connected to hour; they both start with the ωμέγα [omégha] (Ω/ω), also.
And, yes, so that means something like, “in its time”, “in its hour”, “on its hour”,
something like this. Maybe just another way of saying, “well-formed”. So we have,
ωραίος [oréos] for nice, well, when referring to things, at least; referring to people
it means, like pretty or handsome; connected to ώρα [óra] – and spelt in the same
way with the O [o], the ωμέγα [omégha], that looks like a “w” (ω). So looking at
this, the plural, “ωραίοι” [oréi], we have the omega (ω). And then we have the R
(ρ), which looks like a “P/p” in Greek. So when you see a letter that looks like a P,
that’s an R. Then the [e] sound here is with AI (αι); we said that the combination
of “A-I/α-ι” gives us the [e] sound. And then the [i] on the end is the plural, O-I
(οι). So on the end of ωραίοι [oréi], the plural of ωραίος [oréos], no, we get AI–OI,
α-ι–ο-ι, giving us [e]–[i], no? So not [ai]–[ο]–[e]!

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 I should mention as well that we will prepare a book for writing in Greek, for
reading and writing in Greek, both hand writing and printed script. And that will
include all of these different ways of writing vowels, etc., with a whole bunch of
other fascinating stuff about the history of writing. That might be ready by the
time you hear this. Or you can join the campaign to support LT and vote for it. You
can vote for that publication to come quicker. So you can check that out on the
web site under the Support tab – “Voting Campaign”. So, It is, or They are?

S: Είναι [íne].

T: Είναι. The past of, είναι [íne] is, ήταν [ítan]. Ήταν.

S: Ήταν.

T: Or, ήτανε [ítane]; you can hear either. Ήτανε, ήταν [ítane, ítan].

S: Ήτανε.

T: So this is for he, she, it, and they. No? So we have είναι [íne] in the present for he,
she, it, and they: he/she/it is, they are; and ήταν/ήτανε [ítan/ítane] in the past for
he/she/it was, or, they were. Ήταν actually even has the past ending of “they”, no,
if you think about it; ends in “αν”, no, or “ανε”: ήταν/ήτανε [ítan/ítane]. It was my
favourite. Again, you can choose the gender.

S: Ήταν το αγαπημένο μου [ítan to aghapiméno mu].

T: Good. Ήταν το αγαπημένο μου. They were nicer.

S: Ήτανε πιό ωραίοι [ítane pyo oréi].

T: Good. Ήτανε πιό ωραίοι. So that would be masculine things. And for feminine
things?

S: Ήτανε πιό ωραίες [ítane pyo oré-es].

T: Ωραίες [orées].

S: Ωραίες.

T: Good. You can join those E’s together, nο? Ήτανε πιό ωραίες [ítane pyo orées]. If
you refer to things of mixed gender … so, we’ve seen that when we refer to
people of mixed gender, we use the masculine. If we refer to things of mixed
gender, we will use the neuter. We will use the neuter for things. So how would
you say, Τhey were nicer – things of mixed gender?

S: Ήτανε πιό ωραία [ítane pyo oréa].

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T: Ήτανε, ήταν πιό ωραία [ítane, ítan pyo oréa]. Good. So this is like, τα πράγματα
[ta prághmata], no? The mind goes to things, The things were. It was my favourite
but I saw another. So, It was my favourite?

S: Ήτανε το αγαπημένο μου [ítane to aghapiméno mu].

T: Good. Ήτανε το αγαπημένο μου ... But?

S: Αλλά [alá].

T: Αλλά ... I saw another one. So, for “another one”, we will say “one other”, one
other.

S: Είδα ένα άλλο [ídha éna álo].

T: Good. Αλλά είδα ένα άλλο [alá ídha éna álo]. So you chose a neuter thing, no?
Ήταν το αγαπημένο μου αλλά είδα εν’ άλλο [ítan to aghapiméno mu alá ídha
en’álo]. If you were to say, I saw another one, and you meant a masculine thing,
άλλος [álos] behaves likes the word for “the”, rather than like a noun. So, how
would you say, I saw another one, and you mean a masculine thing?

S: Αλλά είδα έναν άλλον [alá ídha énan álon].

T: Είδα έναν άλλον. So both ένας [énas] and άλλος [álos] behave like τον [ton]. So
we get an N (ν) on the end, rather than behaving like a noun, and just losing the S
(ς). Είδα έναν άλλον [ídha énan álon]. Good. Although you will hear the people
not bothering to put that N (ν) on άλλον [álon], so you may hear άλλο [álo], as
well: Έναν άλλο [énan álo]. And you only need to worry about this for the
masculine. So, if you said, for example, I saw the other one, a feminine thing, or a
female.

S: Είδα την άλλη [ídha tin áli].

T: Good. But, I saw the other one, and we mean a masculine thing?

S: Είδα τον άλλον [ídha ton álon].

T: Good. Είδα τον άλλον. Good. I didn’t see another one. So, another one, now,
rather than, the other one.

S: Δεν είδα έναν άλλον [dhen ídha énan álon].

T: Δεν είδα έναν άλλον. Very good.

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Complete Greek, Track 69 – Language Transfer

T: So we’ve seen how we need the accent third from the end, in the past tense, in
Greek. And if we don’t have three syllables, we will add a syllable onto the
beginning, to make the verb longer. And this is usually an E (ε), but it can also be
an I (η), like we saw in θέλω [thélo] – “Ι want”, and ήθελα [íthela] – “Ι wanted”.

We had παίρνω [pérno] – “I take”. And what was the closed version of, παίρνω?

S: Πάρω [páro].

T: Πάρω. Good. So how would you say, I would like to take it. So we can say, I would
want to take it.

S: Θα ήθελα να το πάρω [tha íthela na to páro].

T: Good. Literally, I would want to take it. Θα ήθελα να το πάρω. I would want, I
would like to take it – and we mean a masculine thing.

S: Θα ήθελα να τον πάρω [tha íthela na ton páro].

T: Θα ήθελα να τον πάρω. I would like to take one, and we mean a masculine thing. I
would like to take one.

S: Θα ήθελα να πάρω έναν [tha íthela na páro énan].

T: Very good. Θα ήθελα να πάρω έναν. So, some words act like the words for “the”,
no, like, τον [ton], rather than acting like a noun. Ένας [énas] doesn’t lose its S (ς),
no? The S (ς) turns to an N (ν). Θα ήθελα να πάρω έναν. What was, I have?

S: Έχω [ékho].

T: Έχω. Έχω goes into the past in a similar way to είδα [ídha] – “I saw”; είπα [ípa] – “I
said”. For, “I had”, we have είχα [íkha]. Είχα.

S: Είχα.

T: Είχα. I had another one, masculine.

S: Είχα άλλον … έναν άλλον [íkha álon … énan álon].

T: Είχα έναν άλλον [íkha énan álon]. I had other ones, still masculine.

S: Είχα άλλοι [íkha áli].

T: So, Είχα άλλοι, sounds like the feminine: είχα άλλη [íkha áli]. I had another
feminine one … in the singular. Why doesn’t it sound like the masculine plural?

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S: Because it turns to, άλλους [álus].

T: Very good. Very good. So, I had other ones?

S: Είχα άλλους [íkha álus].

T: Είχα άλλους. No? So there, there’s no difference actually between the word for
“the” and the nouns. No? For example, if we said, I had the other ones. How
would it be?

S: Είχα τους άλλους [íkha tus álus].

T: Είχα τους άλλους. No? They do the same thing: τους [tus] and άλλους [álus]. Είχα
άλλους. Είχα τους άλλους. So we had, άλλος [álos], no – “another”, in the
masculine, and όλος [ólos], which would be “all”, in the masculine. Όλος [ólos].

S: Όλος.

T: And we also have “όλος” hanging around English – in, for example, “hologram”,
which means something like all, or whole, or entirely-gram, written like γράφω
[ghráfo]. Hologram. So, not from “hollow”, as we might think. And what would
όλος be in the neuter plural? If you put όλος into the neuter plural.

S: Όλα [óla].

T: Όλα. You can use that like, “everything”. You can say, Tα έχω όλα [ta ékho óla] – “I
have everything”, “I have it all”. Τα έχω όλα.

S: Τα έχω όλα.

T: So it’s like the English, where we say, “I had all of it”, because we say “τα” [ta] and
“όλα” [óla]. No? Even though we have the plural here, more like, “I have all of
them”. Τα έχω όλα [ta ékho óla]. I had?

S: Είχα [íkha].

T: Είχα. He had, She had, It had?

S: Είχε [íche].

T: Είχε. You had?

S: Είχες [íches].

T: Είχες. You had everything?

315
S: Τα είχες όλα [ta íches óla].

T: Τα είχες όλα. The word for “always”, is πάντα [pánda]. Πάντα.

S: Πάντα.

T: And, τα πάντα [ta pánda], you can use, like, “everything”, as well. Τα πάντα. So
you have “always” – πάντα [pánda], and then, τα πάντα [ta pánda]. You make it
like a noun and you get “everything”. So you could say, You had everything; You
had it all.

S: Είχες τα πάντα [íches ta pánda].

T: Είχες τα πάντα. We had it all?

S: Είχαμε τα πάντα [íkhame ta pánda].

T: Είχαμε τα πάντα. So we’ve seen όλα [óla], like “everything”, no, but όλος [ólos],
like in the … in the singular, or όλο [ólo] or όλη [óli], would be more like “all”. So,
for example, you could say, “all the bread” – όλο το ψωμί [ólo to psomí]. Ψωμί
[psomí] is “bread”.

S: Ψωμί.

T: How would you say, They had all the bread?

S: Είχαν όλο το ψωμί [íkhan ólo to psomí].

T: Good. Είχαν, είχανε, όλο το ψωμί [íkhan, íkhane, ólo to psomí]. If you were to say,
“They had all the coffee”, do you think the word “all” would behave like a noun,
or behave like the words for “the”, in “all the coffee”? How do you think it would
behave?

S: I think like the words for “the”.

T: That makes more sense, no? That’s kind of what it’s doing, no? So how would you
say that, You had all the coffee?

S: Είχες όλον τον καφέ [íches ólon ton kafé].

T: Very good. Είχες όλον τον καφέ. Εσύ είχες όλον τον καφέ [esí íches ólon ton kafé].
But like I mentioned with άλλος [álos], this N (ν) is also optional. It’s kind of
archaic, and in some dialects and personal idiolects, falling out of use. So you
don’t have to put this N (ν) on. You may hear it with or without. Όλο/όλον
[ólo/ólon], like άλλος [álos] becoming άλλο [álon] or άλλον [álon]. You can hear
either. I have seen it?

316
S: Το έχω δει [to ékho dhi].

T: Το έχω δει. I had seen it.

S: Το είχα δει [to íkha dhi].

T: Το είχα δει. I hadn’t seen it?

S: Δεν το είχα δει [dhen to íkha dhi].

T: Δεν το είχα δει. I would have seen it. I would have seen it.

S: Θα το είχα δει [tha to íkha dhi].

T: Very good. Θα το είχα δει. So, this very complicated structure, no, in English, is
exactly the same in Greek. I would have seen. No? We have, το είχα [to íkha] – “I
had”; we combine this with “θα” [tha] and we get, I would have – θα το είχα [tha
to íkha], δει [dhi] – “I would have seen it”. I wouldn’t have seen it. I wouldn’t have
seen it.

S: Δεν θα το είχα δει [dhen tha to íkha dhi].

T: Δεν θα το είχα δει. Very good. “If ” was αν [an]. Aν.

S: Αν.

T: If you had bought a ticket you would have seen it. So, the word for “ticket” is
εισιτήριο [isitírio]. Εισιτήριο.

S: Εισιτήριο.

T: Does it sound like a word we come across? I don’t know if you will recall it. Ει-σι
[is-i]? Or maybe it would be more clear seeing it written, because both start EI
(ει). The “ει”, no, together gives us just the [i] sound. Είσοδος [ísodhos]. What was
είσοδος?

S: The entrance.

T: The entrance. So, εισιτήριο [isitírio], “the ticket”, is the entrance, no? The
entrance ticket, something like this. So, If you had bought a ticket. Let’s start
there. If you had … ?

S: Αν είχες [an íches].

T: Good. Αν είχες. If you had bought a ticket.

S: Αν είχες αγοράσει [an íches aghorási].

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T: Αγοράσει [aghorási], with an S (σ). The closed version. Good. “A ticket”, or just
“ticket”.

S: Εισιτήριο [isitírio].

T: Εισιτήριο. So, Αν είχες αγοράσει εισιτήριο [an íches aghorási isitírio]. You would
have seen it.

S: Θα το είχες δει [tha to íches dhi].

T: Very good. Αν είχες αγοράσει εισιτήριο θα το είχες δει [an íches aghorási isitírio
tha to íches dhi].

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Complete Greek, Track 70 – Language Transfer

T: “I find”, I find, in Greek is βρίσκω [vrísko]. Βρίσκω.

S: Βρίσκω.

T: I can’t find it. So, you don’t need to say “can’t”, really. A lot of the time, in Greek,
you know, we don’t translate the “can” that we use in English. You can just say,
for example, “I don’t find it”. So how would that be? Βρίσκω [vrísko] is “I find”
and, I don’t find it, or, I can’t find it.

S: Δεν το βρίσκω [dhen to vrísko].

T: Δεν το βρίσκω. I don’t find them. I can’t find them.

S: Δεν τους βρίσκω [dhen tus vrísko].

T: Δεν τους βρίσκω. So this would be masculine things, or people of masculine or
mixed gender. Δεν τους βρίσκω. What if you meant neuter things, or things of
mixed gender?

S: Δεν τα βρίσκω [dhen ta vrísko].

T: Δεν τα βρίσκω. Very good. And feminine things, or just females. I don’t find them.

S: Δεν τις βρίσκω [dhen tis vrísko].

T: Very good. Δεν τις βρίσκω. The closed version of βρίσκω [vrísko], is βρω [vro].
Very strange, βρω, like V (β) [v] – R (ρ) [r] – O (ω) [o].

S: Βρω.

T: So how would you say, I can’t find it, literally, using the verb, “I can’t”. I can, I
can’t.

S: Δεν μπορώ να το βρω [dhen boró na to vro].

T: Very good. Δεν μπορώ να το βρω. Have you found it?

S: Το έχεις βρει; [to échis vri?].

T: Very good. Το έχεις βρει; The past of βρίσκω [vrísko] is quite strange. It’s βρήκα
[vríka]. Bρήκα.

S: Bρήκα.

T: Ι didn’t find them. And we mean neuter or mixed things. I didn’t find them.

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S: Δεν τα βρήκα [dhen ta vríka].

T: Δεν τα βρήκα. Good. Did you find them?

S: Τα βρήκες; [ta vríkes?].

T: Τα βρήκες; Good. Τα βρήκες; So, you know, when you come across one irregular
version of a verb like, βρήκα [vríka], you don’t need to look at them all. You know
what will happen after that. Βρήκες. Good. We didn’t find them.

S: Δεν τα βρήκαμε [dhen ta vríkame].

T: Δεν τα βρήκαμε. Good. How would you say, We didn’t find them for them? So, we
mean people, no, when we say “for them”, and with those first “them” – We
didn’t find them, still with the neuter plural. So, We didn’t find them for them. We
didn’t find them, them.

S: Δεν τους τα βρήκαμε [dhen tus ta vríkame].

T: Δεν τους τα βρήκαμε. Very good. So we have the personal one first, no, the one
referring to the person or persons first, “τους” [tus], and then the things, “τα
βρήκαμε” [ta vríkame]. So, βρήκα, βρήκε, βρήκες [vríkα, vríke, vríkes] is a bit
strange, no? And actually it’s where the old expression, “Eureka!”, in English,
comes from. “Eureka”, literally, “I found it”; it’s just from an older version of
Greek. So people don’t use it so much in English, anymore, no, but they used to
say, like, “Eureka!”, when they worked something out. And this is like, “I found it!”
So, βρήκα is irregular, no? But not in Cyprus, for example. In Cyprus, you will hear
“είβρα” [ívra]. So it goes into the past like: πω/είπα [po/ípa]; δω/είδα [dho/ídha];
βρω/είβρα [vro/ívra]. But otherwise, βρήκα [vríka]. Did you find it?

S: Το βρήκες; [to vríkes?].

T: Didn’t you find it?

S: Δεν το βρήκες; [dhen to vríkes?].

T: Δεν το βρήκες; What was, I say, or, I tell?

S: Λέω [léo].

T: Λέω. Λέω is actually λέγω [légho]. We mentioned this before, but the G (γ) got
swallowed up in modern Greek; but pops up again in other verbs that come from
λέω, like επιλέγω, διαλέγω [epilǵho, dhialégho], both of which mean, like,
“choose” or “decide”. So this G (γ), which is hidden in λέω [léo], will pop up again
in the open past – that ongoing past that we create from the standard verb form,
λέω. So, “I was saying” is έλεγα [élegha]. Έλεγα.

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S: Έλεγα.

T: So we have an [e] (ε) at the beginning to make it longer; but also this G (γ) pops
up again. Έλεγα.

S: Έλεγα.

T: You were saying.

S: Έλεγες [éleghes].

T: Έλεγες [éleyes]. So here the G (γ) [gh] is softened by the [e] sound that comes
after it; the γάμα [gháma] (Γ/γ) is softened to more like a Υ sound [y]. Έλεγες
[éleyes].

S: Έλεγες [éleyes].

T: What were you saying?

S: Τι έλεγες; [ti éleyes?].

T: Τι έλεγες; What would you say?

S: Τι θα έλεγες; [ti tha éleyes?].

T: Τι θα έλεγες; What would you tell her?

S: Τι θα της έλεγες; [ti tha tis éleyes?].

T: Very good. Τι θα της έλεγες; Tι θα της έλεγες; What did you say?

S: Τι έλεγες; [ti éleyes?].

T: This is more like “What were you saying?”, no? What did you say? What is the
closed version of, λέω [léo]?

S: Πω [po]. Τι ... τι είπες; [ti ípes?].

T: Τι είπες; Τι είπες; What was, I eat?

S: Τρώω.

T: Τρώω. And the closed version of, τρώω?

S: Φάω [fáo].

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T: Φάω. Good. These also have a G (γ) hidden away, both … both versions. “I was
eating”, is έτρωγα [étrogha]. Έτρωγα.

S: Έτρωγα.

T: How would you say, I would eat?

S: Θα έτρωγα [tha étrogha].

T: Θα έτρωγα. Good. So, maybe somebody says to you, “Αre you hungry?”, which is
a verb in Greek, πεινάς; [pinás?]. “Are you hungry?” – Πεινάς; Θα έτρωγα [tha
étrogha] – “I would eat, I could eat”. We were eating?

S: Τρώγαμε [tróghame].

T: Τρώγαμε. Νο? So we don’t need the [e] (ε) at the beginning any more. We are
adding two syllables with “-αμε” [ame]. Τρώγαμε. We would eat.

S: Θα τρώγαμε [tha tróghame].

T: Θα τρώγαμε. “I ate”, is έφαγα [éfagha]. So again we have the G (γ) popping up; a
G (γ) that’s hidden in φάω [fáo] pops up with έφαγα [éfagha] – “I ate”.

S: Έφαγα.

T: We ate?

S: Φάγαμε [fághame].

T: Φάγαμε. They ate?

S: Φάγανε [fághane].

T: Φάγανε, or ... ?

S: Έφαγαν [éfaghan].

T: Έφαγαν. Φάγανε [fághane] or έφαγαν [éfaghan]. They were eating.

S: Τρώγανε [tróghane].

T: Τρώγανε, or ... ?

S: Έτρωγαν [étroghan].

T: Έτρωγαν. Did you eat?

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S: Έφαγες; [éfayes?].

T: What did you eat?

S: Τι έφαγες; [ti éfayes?].

T: Τι έφαγες; Were you eating?

S: Έτρωγες; [étroyes?].

T: What were you eating?

S: Τι έτρωγες; [ti étroyes?].

T: Τι έτρωγες; What would you eat?

S: Τι θα έτρωγες; [ti tha étroyes?].

T: Good. Τι θα έτρωγες;

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Complete Greek, Track 71 – Language Transfer

Teacher: “I think”, like, “I believe”, you know like, “I think that”, “I believe that”, is
νομίζω [nomízo]. Νομίζω.

Student: Νομίζω.

T: We saw ότι [óti], which meant “that”, no, and also που [pu], which could mean
“that”, other than “where” (πού [pu]), no? And we were using “που” in sentences
like, “The only thing that I want” – Το μόνο που θέλω [to móno pu thélo]; so like
“which”. When you say, “I think that”, will you use “νομίζω ότι” [nomízo óti] or,
“νομίζω που” [nomízo pu]?

S: I would say, Nομίζω ότι [nomízo óti].

T: Why? Why not “που” [pu]?

S: It’s more like related to a person, I think.

T: So, you know, we compare to English, no? So it’s more like “which”: “a thing
which”, “a thing that”, no? So this is not like, “I believe which ... ”. No? It’s, “I
believe that”, so we have, ότι. So we say, you know, “I think that”, “I believe that”,
“He told me that”, etc.; we have “ότι” [óti]. When “that” is like “which”: “The
thing that … ”, “The thing which he told me”, then we use “που” [pu]. I think they
ate already?

S: Νομίζω ότι φάγανε ήδη [nomízo óti fághane ídhi].

T: Very good. Νομίζω ότι φάγανε ήδη. Νομίζω ότι έφαγαν ήδη [nomízo óti éfaghan
ídhi]. So, often in English we can leave the “that” out; we can leave it out, no? “I
think they ate already” – “I think that they ate already”. In Greek, we’ll include it.
Νομίζω ότι [nomízo óti].

“Before”, before, is πριν [prin]. Πριν.

S: Πριν.

T: You could use “before” as well. So, Do you think, do you think they ate already?
Do you think they ate before?

S: Νομίζεις ότι φάγανε πριν; [nomízis óti fághane prin?].

T: Very good. Νομίζεις ότι φάγανε πριν; Good. I thought that they had eaten
already. So, I thought.

S: Νόμισα [nómisa].

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T: What sound are you making there?

S: Νόμισα [nómisa].

T: With an S (σ)?

S: Yes.

T: An S (σ) is the closed form. Good.

S: Yes.

T: OK. So, I thought that they had eaten already.

S: Νόμισα ότι φάγανε ήδη [nómisa óti fághane ídhi].

T: They had eaten already. So, not even “they have”. We want “had” now.

S: Είχανε φάγει ήδη [íkhane fái ídhi].

T: Very good. Νόμισα – so you used the closed version – Νόμισα ότι είχανε φάγει
ήδη [nómisa óti íkhane fái ídhi]. And this is possible, but much more common
would be “νόμιζα” [nómiza], using the open past, the standard version of the
verb. Νόμιζα ότι είχανε φάγει ήδη [nómisa óti íkhane fái ídhi], or, είχανε ήδη
φάγει [íkhane ídhi fái]. Can you tell me why, why we might use, νόμιζα [nómiza],
rather than the closed, νόμισα [nómisa]?

S: Well, I was thinking it’s more like an ongoing process: I was in the belief, you
know.

T: Yes. It’s like an open, ongoing thing, no? So, you know, when we notice that
natives use something different to what we might use, because, maybe more
naturally, “I thought”, we would go to “νόμισα”, if we don’t really stop to think
about what that “I thought” means, no? Whether we refer to something closed
and concrete, or open and ongoing, when we say, “I believed”, “I thought”. So,
whilst we say, “I thought”, in English, and we use the closed verb, it’s actually
more like, “I was of the belief”, no? The meaning is not something that’s closed
and defined in that way; it’s something open, you know – “I believed that”. But it
does depend on the context. You could hear either. But much more common, I
would say, is νόμιζα [nómiza], the standard form, for “I thought / I believed that”.

So we saw αφήνω [afíno] for “I leave”, like, “I leave something”, or “I leave
someone”. “I leave”, in the sense of, “I am leaving”, no, “I am going out”, is φεύγω
[févgho]. Φεύγω.

S: Φεύγω.

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T: Which is related to “fugitive”, in English, a fugitive, no, on the escape from.
Φεύγω, “I leave”.

S: Φεύγω.

T: Φεύγω, which is spelt with the F (φ/Φ), the letter for F, which is like a circle with a
vertical line running through the middle, the letter for F (φ/Φ), in Greek. We have
EU (ευ), giving us [ev]; γάμα [gháma] (γ); and then the ωμέγα [omégha] (ω), that
we have finishing the verbs for “I”. Φεύγω [févgho].

S: Φεύγω.

T: Φεύγω. I was leaving. I was leaving.

S: Έφευγα [éfevgha].

T: Έφευγα. I would leave.

S: Θα έφευγα [tha éfevgha].

T: Θα έφευγα. The closed version of φεύγω [févgho], is φύγω [fígho]. Φύγω.

S: Φύγω.

T: So it’s a little bit irregular, no? Φύγω.

S: Φύγω.

T: I wanted to leave.

S: Ήθελα να φύγω [íthela na fígho].

T: Ήθελα να φύγω. I wanted to leave. Ήθελα να φύγω. I wanted him to leave.

S: Ήθελα να φύγει [íthela na fíyi].

T: Ήθελα να φύγει. Why are we using φύγω [fígho] and φύγει [fíyi], rather than
φεύγει [févyi]?

S: Well, it doesn’t take long to leave. Right? It’s about the … the act.

T: It’s not about the amount of time, though.

S: Well, it’s a, it’s a moment in time, though. Isn’t it? It’s about the, this closed
action.

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T: Yes, much more about that, no? About like how you are referring to the time, no?
It could be something that took a long time, and it could still be closed. So, when
we say “I wanted”, that “I wanted” is kind of ongoing; but the “to leave” isn’t. It
just refers to, like, an act of leaving, of leaving once, no? I would like him to leave.
I would like him to leave.

S: Θα ήθελα να φύγει [tha íthela na fíyi].

T: Good. Θα ήθελα να φύγει. And we have the γάμα [gháma] (γ) softened again
there. Θα ήθελα να φυγει [tha íthela na fíyi]. So we could use, Θα ήθελα [tha
íthela], for “I would like”, no? We’ve said, “I would want”, literally. He is leaving?

S: Φεύγει [févyi].

T: Φεύγει. Good. Good for softening the γάμα [gháma] (γ). Φεύγει [févyi]. Are you
leaving?

S: Φεύγεις; [févyis?].

T: Φεύγεις; I left.

S: Έφυγα [éfigha].

T: Έφυγα. Very good. And this is also a way of saying goodbye in Greek, like, “I’m
off”. Έφυγα – I’m off. Like, I left; I’ve disappeared; Ciao. I have left?

S: Έχω φύγει [ékho fíyi].

T: Έχω φύγει. Ι had left?

S: Είχα φύγει [íkha fíyi].

T: Είχα φύγει. I would have left.

S: Θα είχα φύγει [tha íkha fíyi].

T: Θα είχα φύγει. I would have left before but I had to stay. What was the word for,
before?

S: Πριν [prin].

T: Πριν. I would have left before ... ?

S: Θα είχα φύγει πριν [tha íkha fíyi prin].

T: Θα είχα φύγει πριν. Very good. But ... ?

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S: Αλλά [alá].

T: Αλλά ... I had to stay. What is, I had? What is “I had” doing here? What does it
mean, I had to stay?

S: In Greek it would be, It was necessary that I stay.

T: So this is, “had to stay”, in the meaning of “must”, no, “should”, rather than, “had
stayed”. No? So we focus on the meaning, rather than the words, to not get, έχω
and είχα [ékho, íkha], and πρέπει and έπρεπε [prépi, éprepe] all mixed up. So, I
had to stay.

S: Έπρεπε να μείνω [éprepe na míno].

T: Very good. Very good. Θα είχα φύγει πριν [tha íkha fíyi prin] – I would have left
before, αλλά έπρεπε να μείνω [alá éprepe na míno] – but I had to stay. So, έπρεπε
[éprepe], I had to, can refer to something open or closed, no, an ongoing
obligation, or whatever. But, μείνω [míno] means once, you know. I had to stay on
this occasion that I am talking about. So μείνω [míno], rather than the standard,
open, μένω[méno]. I had to leave.

S: Έπρεπε να φύγω [éprepe na fígho].

T: Έπρεπε να φύγω. I had left already.

S: Είχα φύγει ήδη [íkha fíyi ídhi].

T: Είχα φύγει ήδη. Good. Είχα φύγει ήδη. I should leave. How did we get “should”?

S: Έπρεπε να φύγει [éprepe na fíyi].

T: So deal with, I should, first. How did we get, I should, for, It would be necessary?

S: Θα έπρεπε [tha éprepe].

T: Θα έπρεπε. Νο? So, Θα έπρεπε [tha éprepe] gives us the meaning of “should”. So,
I should leave?

S: Θα έπρεπε να φύγω [tha éprepe na fígho].

T: Θα έπρεπε να φύγω. Very good. If you want to say, I should have left, you can say,
It would be necessary I had left. I had left.

S: Θα έπρεπε να είχα φύγει [tha éprepe na íkha fíyi].

T: I should have left. Θα έπρεπε να είχα φύγει.

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 Παίρνω [pérno], παίρνω, was “I take” – παίρνω.

S: Παίρνω.

T: Do you remember the closed version?

S: Πάρω [páro].

T: Πάρω. The past of πάρω, no, so the closed past, just, “I took”, is πήρα [píra].
Πήρα.

S: Πήρα.

T: So that’s quite irregular, no, but not, “I was taking”. “I was taking” is regular. So,
how is, I was taking, rather than, I took?

S: Έπαιρνα [éperna].

T: Έπαιρνα. No? Going from παίρνω [pérno]. Βut going from πάρω [páro], it’s quite
irregular. We have, πήρα [píra].

S: Πήρα.

T: But having one of these irregular versions, we can find the others. So, We took?

S: Πήραμε [pírame].

T: Πήραμε. You took?

S: Πήρες [píres].

T: Πήρες. What did you take?

S: Τι πήρες; [ti píres?].

T: Τι πήρες; And this can also be used like, “to buy”. Τι πήρες; – What did you buy?
What did you take?

The word for “when” was πότε [póte], Πότε.

S: Πότε.

T: When did you take it? When did you buy it?

S: Πότε το πήρες; [póte to píres?].

T: Πότε το πήρες;

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What was the word for “when”, when “when” isn’t a question? No? So when we
say, for example, I left when it was happening.

S: Όταν [ótan].

T: Όταν. I was leaving when he called me, when she called me. I was leaving when he
took me ’phone.

S: Έφευγα όταν με πήρε τηλέφωνο [éfevgha ótan me píre tiléfono].

T: Very good. Έφευγα όταν με πήρε τηλέφωνο. So, we are using both types of past
there, no? Έφευγα [éfevgha] – I was leaving, the open past; and then the closed
one, όταν με πήρε τηλέφωνο [ótan me píre tiléfono] – when he called me.

What was, I think, like, I believe? I think that ... ?

S: Νομίζω [nomízo].

T: Good. Νομίζω, νομίζω ότι [nomízo óti] – I think that. I think that I was leaving
when he called me. I think that I was leaving when he called me.

S: Νομίζω ότι έφευγα [nomízo óti éfevgha] ...

T: When he called me.

S: Όταν με πήρε τηλέφωνο [ótan me píre tiléfono].

T: Very good. Νομίζω ότι έφευγα όταν με πήρε τηλέφωνο [nomízo óti éfevgha ótan
me píre tiléfono]. And other than ότι [óti] with νομίζω [nomízo], you can hear πώς
[pos] – “how”. Πώς. Νομίζω πώς [nomízo pos]. Especially in the spoken language.

“I arrive” is φτάνω [ftáno]. Φτάνω.

S: Φτάνω.

T: Or maybe more literally, “to reach”. Φτάνω. And you can also hear, φτάνει/
φθάνει [ftáni/ftháni], the expression “φθάνει” – like enough, that’s enough. So we
could also translate this verb like, “to be enough” – “to reach”, in that sense. But
very commonly used like, “to arrive” – φτάνω [ftáno]. I was arriving when they
called me.

S: Έφτανα όταν με πήρανε τηλέφωνο [éftana ótan me pírane tiléfono].

T: Very good. Έφτανα όταν με πήρανε, όταν με πήραν, τηλέφωνο [éftana ótan me
pírane, ótan me píran, tiléfono]. Very good. I wanted to arrive. I wanted to arrive.

330
S: Ήθελα να φτάνω [íthela na ftáno].

T: Good. But when we say, “to arrive”, do you think we want the open version or the
closed version? I wanted to arrive.

S: The closed.

T: And what do you think the closed version might be of “φτάνω”? I kind of left you
here to defend for yourself again.

S: Να φτάσω [na ftáso].

T: Να φτάσω. Good. Ήθελα να φτάσω [íthela na ftáso]. I wanted to arrive.

I have?

S: Έχω [ékho].

T: Ι had?

S: Είχα [íkha].

T: I would have?

S: Θα είχα [tha íkha].

T: Good. So this is, I would have, or, I was going to have, as well.

What was, another, or, another one?

S: Άλλος [álos].

T: Άλλος, for masculine. I was going to have others, to have other ones for today, but
they didn’t arrive. So, I was going to have ... ?

S: Θα είχα [tha íkha].

T: I was going to have others for today. Let’s say masculine.

S: Θα είχα άλλους [tha íkha álus] ...

T: For today. What was today? Like, μέρα [méra].

S: Σήεμρα [símera]. Θα είχα άλλους για σήεμρα [tha íkha álus ya símera].

T: Good. Θα είχα άλλους για σήεμρα. I was going to have other ones for today … but
they didn’t arrive.

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S: Αλλά δεν φτάσανε [alá dhen ftásane].

T: Good. Αλλά δεν φτάσανε. Αλλά δεν έφτασαν [alá dhen éftasan]. Very good. Θα
είχα άλλους για σήεμρα, αλλά δεν φτάσανε, αλλά δεν έφτασαν [tha íkha álus ya
símera, alá dhen ftásane, alá dhen éftasan].

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Complete Greek, Track 72 – Language Transfer

Teacher: We also have a plural “you” in Greek, so like, “you all”, to address more
than one person at the same time. The ending for this is “ετε” [ete] in the present,
and “ατε” [ate] in the past. So how would you say, You guys want?

Student: Θέλετε [thélete].

T: Θέλετε. Good. What do you want?

S: Τι θέλετε; [ti thélete?].

T: Τι θέλετε; If you want. What was the word for “if”?

S: Αν [an].

T: Αν. If you want.

S: Αν θέλετε [an thélete].

T: Αν θέλετε. What was the word for, you?

S: Εσύ [esí].

T: Εσύ. The, the word for plural “you”, no, “you guys”, is εσείς [esís].

S: Εσείς.

T: So to the ear, it’s just the plural of “εσύ” [esí], but in spelling they change quite a
lot. Εσύ is spelt Ε (ε), S (σ), U (υ); the U (υ) by itself gives us an [i] sound; and εσείς
[esís] is spelt E (ε), S (σ), E (ε), I (ι), S (ς), and there our [i] sound is made combining
E (ε) and I (ι). So they are written quite different, εσύ [esí] and εσείς [esís], but to
the ear, εσείς is just the plural, no? So, using the word for “you”, how would you
say, Do you guys want?

S: Εσείς θέλετε; [esís thélete?].

T: Εσείς θέλετε; How did we say, Υou are? Εσύ [esí] ... ?

S: Είσαι [íse].

T: Εσύ είσαι [esí íse]. Good. “You guys are” is, εσείς είστε [esís íste]. Eσείς είστε.

S: Eσείς είστε.

T: So we have “είστε” [íste], for, You guys are. Are you guys tired?

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S: Είστε κουρασμένοι; [íste kurazméni?].

T: Είστε κουρασμένοι; Or what if you were talking to females?

S: Είστε κουρασμένες; [íste kurazménes?].

T: Very good. Είστε κουρασμένες; So, we have “ετε” [ete] for you, plural, in the
present and “ατε” [ate] in the past. Of course, “είστε” [íste] is irregular. So, You
guys want, was ... ?

S: Εσείς θέλετε [esís thélete].

T: Good. Θέλετε [thélete]. And, Did you want, instead of “ετε” [ete], we are going to
use “ατε” [ate].

S: Θέλατε; [thélate?].

T: Θέλατε; So again, we are not adding any syllables onto the beginning, no? We
don’t need them; “ατε” has two syllables. Θέλατε. So, “θέλετε” [thélete] and
“θέλατε” [thélate] sound very similar. What do you guys want?

S: Τι θέλετε; [ti thélete?].

T: Τι θέλετε; What did you guys want?

S: Τι θέλατε; [ti thélate?].

T: Τι θέλατε; Didn’t you guys want it?

S: Δεν το θέλατε; [dhen to thélate?].

T: Δεν το θέλατε; What was, I leave, in the sense of leave a place?

S: Φεύγω [févgho].

T: Φεύγω. And the closed version?

S: Φύγω [fígho].

T: Φύγω. When did you all leave? When did you all leave?

S: Πότε φεύγα ... Πότε φύγατε; [póte févgha … póte fíghate?].

T: Very good. Πότε φύγατε; So with “ατε” [ate], no, and our other past endings with
two syllables, we don’t need to worry about adding any sounds onto the
beginning. Πότε φύγατε; To arrive. I arrive. How was, I arrive?

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S: Φτάνω [ftáno].

T: Φτάνω. I arrived when you all were leaving. So, I arrived.

S: Έφτασα [éftasa].

T: Έφτασα. When? ... And this isn’t a question.

S: Όταν [ótan].

T: Όταν ... You all were leaving.

S: Φεύγατε [févgate].

T: Έφτασα όταν φεύγατε [éftasa ótan févgate]. “Έφτασα” – that’s closed, no? We
use the closed version. When you all were leaving – that’s open: όταν φεύγατε
[ótan févgate].

What was, I have?

S: Έχω [ékho].

T: Έχω. How would, You guys have, be?

S: Έχετε [échete].

T: Έχετε. Have you guys arrived already?

S: Έχετε φτάνει ήδη; [échete ftáni ídhi?].

T: Φτάνει [ftáni]? Φτάνω is the closed version?

S: Έχετε φτάσει ήδη; [échete ftási ídhi?].

T: Έχετε φτάσει ήδη; Good. So we always use the closed form of the verb to build
this “have” past. Έχετε φτάσει ήδη; So, we have “έχετε” [échete] for, Υou have,
and what might we have for, Υou had?

S: Είχατε [íkhate].

T: Είχατε. Very good. Just like “είχα” [íkha], no? “I had”. Είχατε. How would you say,
But you had arrived already? But, you guys, had arrived already.

S: Αλλά είχατε φτάσει ήδη [alá íkhate ftási ídhi].

T: Good. Αλλά είχατε φτάσει ήδη. Or, more commonly, Αλλά είχατε ήδη φτάσει [alá
íkhate ídhi ftási]. Or, maybe more common than “αλλά” [alá] here, especially

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 when it’s kind of exclamatory: “But you had arrived already!”. Maybe with your
“μα” [ma]: Mα είχατε φτάσει ήδη [ma íkhate ftási ídhi]; Mα είχατε ήδη φτάσει
[ma íkhate ídhi ftási].

So in Greek there are, more often than not, many correct word orders, no? And of
course a lot of your word order choices are going to come from how you’re
working through it in English. So you must always keep an ear open to how
natives might use a different order, and then you can adjust your speech to sound
more native and more natural – but also, at the same time, not giving up that
flexibility that Greek has to emphasise different things, in different situations.

The word for, if?

S: Αν [an].

T: Αν. If you guys had taken the other road you would have already arrived. So, what
was, road, like, aerodrome, hippodrome.

S: Δρόμος [dhrómos].

T: Like syndrome, my favourite. Δρόμος. If you had taken; If you guys had taken.
Let’s start there.

S: Αν θα είχατε πάρει [an tha íkhate pári].

T: That’s, “If you would have taken”. So, work through the English. If you had taken.
it’s quite literal. If ... ?

S: Αν [an].

T: You had, plural.

S: Αν είχατε [an íkhate].

T: Taken.

S: Πάρει [pári].

T: The other road.

S: Tον άλλον δρόμο [ton álon dhrómo].

T: Very good. Αν είχατε πάρει τον άλλον δρόμο [an íkhate pári ton álon dhrómo]. So,
άλλον, άλλος [álon, álos], no, behaves likes “τον” [ton]: τον άλλον δρόμο [ton álon
dhrómo]. And, δρόμος [dhrómos] just acts like a masculine noun, losing its S (ς).
Αν είχατε πάρει τον άλλον δρόμο. You would have arrived already. So here you

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 have, “would have”, not before. You guys would have arrived already, already
arrived.

S: Θα είχατε φτάσει ήδη [tha íkhate ftási ídhi].

T: Αν είχατε πάρει τον άλλον δρόμο θα είχατε φτάσει ήδη [an íkhate pári ton álon
dhrómo tha íkhate ftási ídhi]. Or, maybe a bit better, θα είχατε ήδη φτάσει [tha
íkhate ídhi ftási]. But when I say maybe a bit better, I mean just more neutral.
Maybe you want to stress that “ήδη” [ídhi], no, and maybe you want to say, θα
είχατε φτάσει ήδη. So this is what I mean about just listening around to the word
orders. And when you notice a lot of people putting things in a way that would be
different to how you would say it, then you can think about why. And this is how
we really fine-tune our language to a native level.

So we had, λέω [léo] for, “I say”, or “I tell”. How would it be for, You say, You tell?
In the plural, You guys.

S: Λέτε [léte].

T: Λέτε. What are you guys saying? What do you say?

S: Τι λέτε; [ti léte?].

T: Τι λέτε; And you might use this like, “Hey, what do you think ... about this plan?”
“Shall we go there?” Τι λέτε; What did you guys say? So, not “What were you guys
saying?” Now we want the closed form, What did you guys say?

S: Τι είπατε; [ti ípate?].

T: Τι είπατε; Τι είπατε; Very good. What are you guys eating? So, it’s irregular, no?
We have, “τρώω, τρως” [tróo, tros]. What might we have for, You guys? The
ending will get swallowed up a little bit, just like “τρως, τρώμε” [tros, tróme].

S: Τι τρώτε; [ti tróte?].

T: Τι τρώτε;

S: Τι τρώτε;

T: Τι τρώτε; What did you guys eat? So not, “What were you eating?”. But, What did
you eat?

S: Τι φάγατε; [ti fághate?].

T: Τι φάγατε; Very good. We have the G (γ) popping up there in the past. Τι φάγατε;
Good. So, Έφαγα [éfagha], I ate; Τι φάγατε; [ti fághate?], What did you guys eat?

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 If you guys had told me it, I would know. So, If you guys had told me it. What is,
You had, for you, you plural?

S: Είχατε [íkhate].

T: Είχατε. So, If you had told me it.

S: Αν μου είχατε πει [an mu íkhate pi].

T: Good. And let’s include the “it”. If you had told me it.

S: Αν μου το είχατε πει [an mu to íkhate pi].

T: Very good. Αν μου το είχατε πει. Αν μου το είχατε πει … I would know it.

S: Θα το ήξερα [tha to íksera].

T: Very good. Θα το ήξερα. Αν μου το είχατε πει, θα το ήξερα [an mu to íkhate pi,
tha to íksera]. What was, I am?

S: Είμαι [íme].

T: And, I was?

S: Ήμουν [ímun].

T: Ήμουν, ήμουνα [ímun, ímuna]. You are.

S: Είσαι [íse].

T: Είσαι. You were.

S: Ήσουν [ísun].

T: Ησουν, ήσουνα [ísun, ísuna]. He is, She is, It is, or, They are?

S: Είναι [íne].

T: Είναι. And, Τhey were, or, He, she, it was.

S: Ήταν [ítan].

T: Ήταν, or ήτανε [ítane], we could have. What was, You are, in the plural? “Eσείς
[esís] ... ” ?

S: Είστε [íste].

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T: Είστε. Eσείς είστε [esís íste]. And we can also have είσαστε [ísaste], instead of
είστε [íste]; both forms exist – είστε and είσαστε. And for the past of those, we
have, ήσασταν [ísastan] . Ήσασταν.

S: Ήσασταν.

T: Where were you guys?

S: Πού ήσασταν; [pu ísastan?].

T: Πού ήσασταν; I don’t know where you guys were.

S: Δεν ξέρω πού ήσασταν [dhen kséro pu ísastan].

T: Δεν ξέρω πού ήσασταν. How should I know where you were? Rather than using
the word for, πώς [pos] – “how”, it’s like an expression in Greek. You say, “where
... να” [na] – πούνα [púna]. How should I know? – Πούνα ξέρω; [púna kséro?].

S: Πούνα ξέρω;

T: How should I know where you guys were?

S: Πούνα ξέρω εγώ πού ήσασταν; [púna kséro eghó pu ísastan?].

T: Good. Πούνα ξέρω, πούνα ξέρω εγώ πού ήσασταν; [púna kséro, púna kséro eghó
pu ísastan?]. This “you”, plural, which we are seeing, can also be used to speak for
one person formally, like “Sir”, no, “Madam”. But you will use it more than “Sir”
and “Madam”, for sure. Again, it depends on dialect and where you are, so you
might want to listen out to see how people use this plural “you”, to be formal to
one person. But if you address someone quite older than yourself, for example,
you might want to start with it. So how would you say, What do you want? Be
informal.

S: Τι θέλετε; [ti thélete?].

T: Τι θέλετε; So in English, to be more polite, we would say something like, you
know, “What was it that you wanted”, or whatever, no? But in Greek, we can just
use that plural “you”, and it won’t just sound like, What do you want? It will sound
more polite. Τι θέλετε; What did you want?

S: Τι θέλατε; [ti thélate?].

T: Τι θέλατε;

Νομίζω [nomízo]. What did “νομίζω” mean?

S: I think.

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T: Good. What do you guys think?

S: Τι νομίζετε; [ti nomízete?].

T: Τι νομίζετε; What did you guys think? You can also use this like an expression, like,
“What did you think would happen?” You know, like, “What did you expect?”

S: Τι νομίζατε; [ti nomízate?].

T: Τι νομίζατε; Very good. And you stuck with the open form of the verb. What were
you believing? Because, you know, the meaning of this verb lends itself much
more to that idea of an ongoing time. Τι νομίζατε; [ti nomízate?].

Give me again, what is, You are, in the plural. “Eσείς [esís] ... ” ?

S: Είστε [íste].

T: Eσείς είστε [esís íste]. And you will hear, “Νά ’στε καλά” [ná’ste kalá], νά ’στε
καλά. What does “νά ’στε” [ná’ste] mean?

S: Να είστε [na íste].

T: Να είστε. Good. It’s “να είστε”, contracted, so, “Be well, you guys”, or to one
person formally. Or informally, “Νά ’σαι καλά” [ná’se kalá], νά ’σαι καλά: used to
say, “Thank you”. If somebody gives you something, you can say, Νά ’σαι καλά –
“Thank you”; “Be well”.

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Complete Greek, Track 73 – Language Transfer

Teacher: What was, I can, in Greek?

Student: Μπορώ [boró].

T: Μπορώ. Good. And this verb has the accent on the end, no, as opposed to the
penultimate, the second last syllable, where it usually is, no, like θέλω [thélo],
αγοράζω [aghorázo]. We have it on the ending, μπορώ. And we saw other verbs
like this. We had, “I try”, meaning something like, “towards passion”. “Towards” is
προς [pros] and, I try ... ?

S: Προσπαθώ [prospathó].

T: Προσπαθώ. Good. We had καλώ [kaló], which means like, “to call”, and “to
invite”. Καλώ.

S: Καλώ.

T: We had, παρακαλώ [parakaló], which meant “please”. Παρακαλώ, σε παρακαλώ
[se parakaló] – “please”. Also the accent on the end. We could have, αγαπώ
[aghapó] or αγαπάω [aghapáo] – “I love”; also with the accent on the end. Ζω [zo]
– “I live”, like in “zoo”; like in the name in English, “Zoe”. And ζω [zo] also counts
as one of these verbs, with the accent on the ending, as it’s just one syllable.

So this is a big group of verbs, actually. There are a lot of verbs in this group, that
have their accents on their endings, and this group also contains many very
common and useful verbs. And it’s a very useful group of verbs, or to see these
verbs as a group, because nearly all of them go into the closed version in exactly
the same way.

Προσπαθώ [prospathó] – “I try”, becomes, προσπαθήσω [prospathíso].

S: Προσπαθήσω.

T: So we noted briefly before, how it’s the accented syllable that changes, no, in our
closed form. We have, αγοράζω [aghorázo], and then αγοράσω [aghoráso]. So it’s,
it’s “ράζ” [ráz] that is taking the accent, and which changes: αγοράζω, αγοράσω
[aghorázo, aghoráso]; αλλάζω, αλλάξω [alázo, alákso].

But with this group of verbs, like μπορώ, προσπαθώ, αγαπώ [boró, prospathó,
aghapó], here we have the accent on the ending, so it’s the ending that has to
change. But it can’t, no; the ending can’t change. So, instead of changing the
ending [o] (ω), which is showing the person, we insert an extra syllable. We insert
[ís] (ήσ): προσπαθώ, προσπαθήσω [prospathó, prospathíso]; and there we get the
closed form.

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 So, αγαπώ [aghapó] – “I love”, becomes, in its closed form … ?

S: Αγαπήσω [aghapíso].

T: Αγαπήσω. Ζω [zo], ζω – “I live”, might become ... ?

S: Ζήσω [zíso].

T: Ζήσω. You might hear, Nα ζήσεις [na zísis] – “long, long live you”, for example, on
a birthday or something. You might also hear, Nα σου ζήσει [na su zísi]. Maybe
somebody gets a new dog, and people wish, Nα σου ζήσει – that it lives for you, to
you a long time. How would you say, I will try?

S: Θα προσπαθώ [tha prospathó].

T: That’s more like, “I will be trying”, but just, I will try.

S: Θα προσπαθήσω [tha prospathíso].

T: Θα προσπαθήσω. I want you to try.

S: Θέλω να προσπαθήσεις [thélo na prospathísis].

T: I want you to try – Θέλω να προσπαθήσεις. I wanted you to try.

S: Ήθελα να προσπαθήσεις [íthela na prospathísis].

T: Good. Ήθελα να προσπαθήσεις. So we have, ήθελα [íthela] – “I wanted”, in the
past, and then it’s, “you to try”. So we, we don’t need to go into the past again.
We just decide whether it’s open or closed. Ήθελα να προσπαθήσεις [íthela na
prospathísis]. I want you guys to try.

S: Θέλω να προσπαθήσετε [thélo na prospathísete].

T: Θέλω να προσπαθήσετε. I have tried.

S: Έχω προσπαθήσει [ékho prospathísi].

T: Έχω προσπαθήσει. I had tried.

S: Είχα προσπαθήσει [íkha prospathísi].

T: Είχα προσπαθήσει. I would have tried.

S: Θα είχα προσπαθήσει [tha íkha prospathísi].

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T: Very good. Θα είχα προσπαθήσει. The open past with θα [tha], we get “would”.
And of course with είχα [íkha], we just have one past. So, Θα είχα προσπαθήσει
[tha íkha prospathísi] – I would have tried. And of course, now we have the closed
form, we can make the simple past as well, like, “I tried”, “We tried”, etc. So how
is that – I tried?

S: Προσπάθησα [prospáthisa].

T: Προσπάθησα. We tried.

S: Προσπαθήσαμε [prospathísame].

T: Προσπαθήσαμε. Good. We are adding two syllables there with “αμε” [ame], so
the accent also moves forward one from προσπάθησα [prospáthisa].
Προσπάθησα, προσπαθήσαμε. They tried?

S: Προσπαθήσανε [prospathísane].

T: Good. Προσπαθήσανε. And we could also have, προσπάθησαν [prospáthisan].
You guys tried, or You (formal) tried.

S: Προσπαθήσατε [prospathísate].

T: Προσπαθήσατε. He tried, She tried?

S: Προσπάθησα [prospáthisa]. Προσπάθησε [prospáthise].

T: Προσπάθησε [prospáthise]. And, Υou (informal), you tried.

S: Προσπάθησες [prospáthises].

T: Προσπάθησες.

If you want to say something like, “You didn’t even try”, You didn’t even try, you
can say, “ούτε που” [úte pu]. So ούτε [úte] is something like, you know, “not, not
even” – that, “που” [pu] – “you tried”. Oύτε που. So how would that be? You
didn’t even try.

S: Oύτε που προσπάθησες [úte pu prospáthises].

T: Good. Oύτε που προσπάθησες. So again we have a negative here in English – You
didn’t even try – and you don’t have it in Greek. Oύτε που προσπάθησες. So you
might find that happening sometimes in Greek, no? Not having a negative where
you might expect it. Just like the saying that we saw, “I haven’t done it in two
years” – Έχω δύο χρόνια να το κάνω [ékho dhío khrónia na to káno]. We didn’t
have the negative there. So the same here: Oύτε που … [úte pu] – “You didn’t
even … ”. Oύτε που προσπάθησες – You didn’t even try.

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Some verbs, as we’ve noted with, αγαπώ, αγαπάω [aghapó, aghapáo] – “I love”,
can end [o] (ω), or [áo] (άω); μιλάω [miláo] or μιλώ [miló] for “I speak”; ρωτάω
[rotáo] or ρωτώ [rotó] for “I ask”. So with some of these verbs, we can have an
[áo] (άω) or an [o] (ω) ending. But you’ll notice that both forms exist with some of
these verbs with their accents on the end. So when you come across an [áo] (άω)
verb, you will also find it with [o] (ω). So we saw for example, πουλάω [puláo], like
in “monopoly”, and we could also have πουλώ [puló], for “I sell” – πουλάω or
πουλώ. So we said we have μιλάω [miláo] or μιλώ [miló] for “I speak”. What
would be the closed version of, I speak? We’ll replace the [áo] (άω) or the [o] (ω)
with ήσω [íso].

S: Μιλήσω [milíso].

T: Μιλήσω. “Greek”, in Greek, is Eλληνικά [eliniká]. Eλληνικά.

S: Eλληνικά.

T: Good. This is a plural, neuter word; a neuter, plural word. So it’s something like
“the Hellenics”, no, Hellenics. And this is how Greek talks about languages. You
have for example, Eλληνικά – Greek; Αγγλικά [angliká] – no, English; or
Αγγλαίσικα [anglézika], we say in Cyprus for English. So it’s like, you know, “the
Englishes”, in neuter plural; the Greeks, the Hellenics. So Eλληνικά – “Greek”. How
would you say, I want to speak Greek?

S: Θέλω να μιλήσω Eλληνικά [thélo na milíso eliniká].

T: Good. Θέλω να μιλήσω Eλληνικά. So this would mean, like, now, no? Or some
closed period of time, some event or something that you are referring to. If you
wanted to say, I want to be able to speak Greek; I want to be a person that speaks
Greek; then you could use the open form.

S: Θέλω να μιλάω Eλληνικά [thélo na miláo eliniká].

T: Good. Θέλω να μιλάω Eλληνικά. Or, if you were to say, for example, “more
often”, no, then you could use that form. What was the word for, more?

S: Πιο [pyo].

T: Πιο. And, more often?

S: Πιο συχνά [pyo sikhná].

T: Πιο συχνά. And, ποιό [pió] also means “which” – ποιό. So, πιο συχνά – “more
often”. I want to speak Greek more often.

S: Θέλω να μιλάω Eλληνικά πιο συχνά [thélo na miláo eliniká pyo sikhná].

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T: Good. Θέλω να μιλάω Eλληνικά πιο συχνά. So we have, μιλάω [miláo], and the
closed version, μιλήσω [milíso]. So how would you say, Did you speak; Did you
guys speak? And with the context, we can imagine, to each other. Did you guys
speak to each other?

S: Μιλήσατε; [milísate?].

T: Μιλήσατε. Good. The word for “early” was νωρίς [norís]. Νωρίς.

S: Νωρίς.

T: “I wake up”, is ξυπνάω [ksipnáo]. Ξυπνάω.

S: Ξυπνάω.

T: So again we have a verb ending “άω” [áo], no, like αγαπάω [aghapáo], μιλάω
[miláo], ξυπνάω [ksipnáo], with its accent on the ending, which of course means
we’ll also find ξυπνώ [ksipnó]. Ξυπνάω or ξυπνώ – “I wake up”. I want to wake up
early.

S: Θέλω να ξυπνήσω νωρίς [thélo na ksipníso norís].

T: Good. Θέλω να ξυπνήσω νωρίς. So this would refer to a specific time you are
discussing. No? What if you were to say, I want to wake up early, with the open,
standard form of the verb? Θέλω να ξυπνάω νωρίς [thélo na ksipnáo norís]. What,
what might that mean?

S: I want to make it a habit to get up earlier, or early.

T: Yeah, like, “I want to be a person that gets up early”. So also kind of including the
meaning of “able to”, of μπορώ [boró], just in the idea of the open form of the
verb, no? It’s like, I want to be able to wake up early. I want to be a person that
gets up early. Θέλω να ξυπνάω νωρίς. What if you were to say, I can’t wake up
early, and you meant generally, not a specific time like tomorrow. Generally, you
know, I’m incapable of waking up early.

S: Δεν μπορώ να ξυπνάω νωρίς [dhen boró na ksipnáo norís].

T: Very good. Δεν μπορώ να ξυπνάω νωρίς. What was the word for, when?

S: Πότε [póte].

T: Πότε. When did you guys wake up?

S: Πότε ξυπνήσατε; [póte ksipnísate?].

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T: Πότε ξυπνήσατε; Very good.

Ρωτάω [rotáo], ρωτάω means, “I ask”. Ρωτάω.

S: Ρωτάω.

T: R (ρ/Ρ) - Ο (ω/Ω) - Τ (τ/Τ) - Α (α/Α) - Ο (ω/Ω) – ρωτάω [rotáo]. And of course we
could also have ρωτώ [rotó]. So, what would be the closed version of ρωτάω, or
ρωτώ?

S: Ρωτήσω [rotíso].

T: Ρωτήσω. I wanted to ask you something.

S: Ήθελα να σου ρωτήσω κάτι [íthela na su rotíso káti].

T: Good. But, actually here we have, Ήθελα να σε ρωτήσω κάτι [íthela na se rotíso
káti]. Now you can be totally forgiven for thinking that it’s “σου” [su], no? Because
it asks something “to you”, and different languages that have this difference
between “you” and “to you”, and “him” and “to him”, actually disagree on what
this should be – what we should use with, “to ask”. For example, in Spanish you
use “to him” when you use “to ask”, but not in Greek. So, “to ask”, we just use, σε
[se]. We ask directly somebody, rather than “to” somebody in Greek. Ήθελα να σε
ρωτήσω κάτι.

So the use of “ήθελα” [íthela] is a little bit polite, no? Ήθελα – “I wanted”, rather
than “θέλω” [thélo]. Makes it a little bit softer. You could be even more polite,
you could say, you know, I would want to ask you something.

S: Θα ήθελα να σε ρωτήσω κάτι [tha íthela na se rotíso káti].

T: Good. Θα ήθελα. Θα ήθελα να σε ρωτήσω κάτι. I would want, I would like to ask
you something.

But we could also use the plural “you”, to be polite. So we saw how we have this
plural “you”, which we can also use with one person, to be polite. So, σε [se] is
“you”, no, and the plural “you” is σας [sas], which works for “you” or “to you”. It
works for both. Σας. So, I would like to ask you something, now being super-
formal.

S: Θα ήθελα να σας ρωτήσω κάτι [tha íthela na sas rotíso káti].

T: Very good. Θα ήθελα να σας ρωτήσω κάτι. Very good. So now we are super-
formal, no? We have, θα ήθελα [tha íthela], and also σας [sas].

You will hear in Greek, Γειά σου [ya su], like “goodbye”, or “hello” – γειά σου.
Literally, “your health”. So this isn’t the για [ya] of “for”; it’s γειά [ya], meaning

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 “health”. Actually related to “hygiene”; and a strange spelling of hygiene, with the
Y (υ) and the G (γ), is from Greek – υγειά [iyá]. And of course “health” and
“hygiene” are related, no? So we have, γειά σου [ya su] – “your health” – used for
“hello” and “goodbye”. And if you’re talking to more than one person, or being
polite or formal, how would it be?

S: Γειά σας [ya sas].

T: Γειά σας. Νο? Because I said, of course, σας [sas] works for “you” or “to you”. So
also for the possession, Your health. Γειά σας. For toasting, you might hear, Our
health. How will that be?

S: Γειά μας [ya mas].

T: Γειά μας.

So that’s a whole bunch of verbs that you automatically know the closed version
for, no? Ξυπνάω [ksipnáo] – “I wake up” – ξυπνήσω [ksipníso]; ρωτάω [rotáo] – “I
ask” – ρωτήσω [rotíso]; μιλάω [miláo] – “I speak” – μιλήσω [miláo]; προσπαθώ
[prospathó] – “I try” – προσπαθήσω [prospathíso]; and many, many more.

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Complete Greek, Track 74 – Language Transfer

Teacher: Πουλάω [puláo], like in “monopoly”, like μόνο-πουλάω [móno-puláo], is “I
sell”. Πουλάω – “I sell”.

Student: Πουλάω.

T: So what would the closed version of πουλάω [puláo] be?

S: Πουλήσω [pulíso].

T: Πουλήσω. I want to sell them, neuter them.

S: Θέλω να τα πουλήσω [thélo na ta pulíso].

T: Θέλω να τα πουλήσω. I want to sell all of them. I want sell it all. I want to sell
everything.

S: Θέλω να τα πουλήσω όλα [thélo na ta pulíso óla].

T: Very good. We had όλος [ólos] for “all”, and then όλα [óla], no, in the neuter
plural. Θέλω να τα πουλήσω όλα. I want to sell all of it. I want to sell everything.
We could also say, τα πάντα [ta pánda]. Θέλω να πουλήσω τα πάντα [thélo na
pulíso ta pánda].

How would you say, We have two months in order, so that, we sell everything –
we sell it all? So, for “month”, we have, μήνας [mínas]. Mήνας. This is masculine,
but masculine words ending AS (ας) [as], tend to go into the plural with ES (ες)
[es]. So we have μήνας [mínas] and μήνες [mínes]. So like, άντρας [ándras], the
word for “man”, of course also masculine, and άντρες [ándres] in the plural.
“Month”, μήνας [mínas], and “months”, μήνες [mínes]. So, We have two months.

S: Έχουμε δύο μήνες [ékhume dhío mínes].

T: Έχουμε δύο μήνες ... in order to, so that. How did we build that?

S: Για να [ya na].

T: Για να. Good. In order to sell it all.

S: Για να τα πουλήσουμε όλα [ya na ta pulísume óla].

T: Very good. Έχουμε δύο μήνες για να τα πουλήσουμε όλα [ékhume dhío mínes ya
na ta pulísume óla]. We have two months in order to sell all of it.

Ρωτάω [rotáo] was “I ask”. Ρωτάω.

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S: Ρωτάω.

T: And the closed form?

S: Ρωτήσω [rotíso].

T: Ρωτήσω. So we saw before how, when you say, “I ask you”, you say, σε ρωτάω [se
rotáo], rather than, σου ρωτάω [su rotáo]. I ask you directly, rather than “to you”.
I asked him yesterday. The word for “yesterday”, was χθες [chthes] or χτες [chtes].
I asked him yesterday.

S: Τον ρώτησα χθες [ton rótisa chthes].

T: Τον ρώτησα χθες. No? So we use σε [se] instead of σου [su]; τον [ton] instead of
του [tu], with ρωτάω [rotáo]. But, if we say, “I ask you it”, for example – if we
include the “it” (το [to]), then we would use σου [su] – σου το [su to]. We
wouldn’t ever say, σε το [se to]; we wouldn’t have “σε” and “το” together. So, I
asked him it, yesterday?

S: Του το ρώτησα χθες [tu to rótisa chthes].

T: Good. “Του” here. Του το ρώτησα χθες.

“I ask for” is a different verb in Greek. “I ask for”, I ask for, is ζητάω [zitáo].

S: Ζητάω.

T: Well, ζητάω [zitáo], or ζητώ [zitó], like we can have either, ρωτάω [rotáo], or
ρωτώ [rotó]. Ζητάω – “I ask for”. So that’s different to, “I ask”, like, “I ask a
question”.

S: Ζητάω.

T: And in its closed form?

S: Ζητήσω [zitíso].

T: Ζητήσω. I asked him for it yesterday. So we don’t need the “for”, in Greek. We will
say, I asked him it yesterday, but we’re going to use the verb, “to ask for”, ζητάω. I
asked him for it yesterday?

S: Του το ζήτησα χθες [tu to zítisa chthes].

T: Very good. Του το ζήτησα χθες. Let’s ask, like a question. Let’s ask.

S: Ας ρωτήσουμε [as rotísume].

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T: Ας ρωτήσουμε. Let’s ask, and we mean like, for something.

S: Ας ζητήσουμε [as zitísume].

T: Ας ζητήσουμε. Let’s ask them for it.

S: Ας τους το ζητήσουμε.

T: Ας τους το ζητήσουμε. I can?

S: Μπορώ [boró].

T: Μπορώ. He can, She can, It can, and also used like, Maybe.

S: Μπορεί [borí].

T: Μπορεί. You can, the singular, the informal?

S: Μπορείς [borís].

T: We can?

S: Μπορούμε [borúme].

T: Μπορούμε. They can?

S: Μπορούνε [borúne].

T: Μπορούνε. Μπορούν [borún].

These verbs, with their accents on their endings, don’t take “ετε” [ete] for the
plural, or formal “you”, in their standard form. We’ve already seen that in their
closed form, they do. So, for example, I want you guys to try. How is that?

S: Θέλω να προσπαθήσετε [thélo na prospathísete].

T: Θέλω να προσπαθήσετε. So, in this closed form, προσπαθήσω [prospathíso],
προσπαθήσετε [prospathísete], they take “ετε” [ete]. But otherwise, in their
standard form in the present, these verbs, with their accents on the end, take
“είτε” [íte] or “άτε” [áte], for the plural “you”. So, “You guys are able”, or, “You
(formal) can”, is μπορείτε [boríte].

S: Μπορείτε.

T: First we can look at those that take “είτε” [íte]. We have, μπορείτε [boríte]; also,
προσπαθώ [prospathó] takes “είτε”. So how would that be? You guys, are trying?

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S: Προσπαθείτε [prospathíte].

T: Προσπαθείτε. Good. But this is only in their standard forms, no? Otherwise, they
go back to “ετε” [ete]. Like we saw, I want you guys to try – Θέλω να
προσπαθήσετε [thélo na prospathísete]. Will you guys try?

S: Θα προσπαθήσετε; [tha prospathísete?].

T: Θα προσπαθήσετε; Won’t you try? Will you not try?

S: Δεν θα προσπαθήσετε; [dhen tha prospathísete?].

T: Good. Δεν θα προσπαθήσετε; Did you try? Did you guys try?

S: Προσπαθήσατε; [prospathísate?].

T: Προσπαθήσατε; And now we have “ατε” [ate] popping up again for the past, no?
But in the present, standard, open form, “ειτε” [íte]. So, You guys are trying?

S: Προσπαθείτε [prospathíte].

T: Προσπαθείτε. You aren’t even trying. So we saw how we can say, ούτε που [úte
pu] – “Not even that, you guys try”, for, You aren’t even trying. So how would that
be?

S: Ούτε που προσπα ... Ούτε που προσπαθείτε [úte pu prospathíte].

T: You aren’t even trying. Ούτε που προσπαθείτε. Good.

So these verbs that take “είτε” [íte] for “you” plural, or formal, can have “είτε”,
“ατε” [ate], or “ετε” [ete], depending on the situation, no? We have “ειτε” in the
standard, present, form of the verb. We have “ετε” when it’s in its closed form,
and then “ατε” in the past. So don’t worry about the panorama, only think about
the endings that you need for the sentence that you’re making, when you’re
making it, no, rather than worrying about the whole panorama.

So, give me the verb, I live, like related to “zoo”.

S: Ζω [zo].

T: Ζω. He lives?

S: Ζει.

T: Ζει. You live, informal?

S: Ζεις [zis].

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T: Ζεις. They live?

S: Ζουν [zun].

T: Ζουν, or ζούνε [zúne]. And then for the “you” plural, or the “you” formal, we have
“είτε” [íte]. So, You guys live?

S: Ζείτε [zíte].

T: Ζείτε. Where do you live? Where do you guys live?

S: Πού ζείτε; [pu zíte?].

T: Πού ζειτε; Where do you guys want to live? And we are referring to a closed
period of time. Where do you guys want to live?

S: Πού θέλετε να ζήσετε; [pu thélete na zísete?].

T: Very good. Πού θέλετε να ζήσετε; So now, in the closed form of the verb, we have
“ετε” [ete] coming up. Where did you want to live? Again, a closed period of time.
Where did you guys want to live?

S: Πού θέλατε να ζήσετε; [pu thélate na zísete?].

T: Very good. Πού θέλατε να ζήσετε; Very good. And what if you were referring to,
like, an open period of time. Where did you guys want to live?

S: Πού θέλετε να ζείτε; [pu thélete na zíte?].

T: Where did you guys? Again.

S: Πού θέλατε να ζείτε; [pu thélate na zíte?].

T: Good, and back to “ειτε” [íte]. No? Πού θέλατε να ζείτε; – for the standard, open
form. Good. Where would you guys like to live? So, Where, where would you guys
like to live?

S: Πού θα θέλετε να ζήσετε; [pu tha thélete na zísete?].

T: This would mean, “Where will you guys like to live?” Πού θα θέλετε να ζήσετε;

S: Πού θα θέλατε να ζήσετε; [pu tha thélate na zísete?].

T: Very good. Πού θα θέλατε να ζήσετε; Very good. Or, we could also have, Πού θα
θέλατε να ζείτε; [pu tha thélate na zíte?], in a different context. Where did you
guys live? Where did you guys live? If we’re referring to a closed period of time.

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S: Πού ζήσατε; [pu zísate?].

T: Πού ζήσατε;

So maybe with the issues in the closed form, πού ζήσατε; [pu zísate?], we might
be asking, you know, in which places have you lived. Maybe here the closed form
of the verb gives us the meaning, the feeling, of “have”, like, Where have you
lived? In which places have you lived? Πού ζήσατε; Rather than, Where were you
living? No? So we could add “είτε” [íte], “ατε” [ate], or “ετε” [ete], no, depending
on what time we are in, whether it’s present or past, or open or closed, with these
verbs. Very good.

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Complete Greek, Track 75 – Language Transfer

Teacher: So for plural “you” we have “ετε” [ete], but we mentioned that with verbs
with their accent on the end, we could have “είτε” [íte] or “άτε” [áte]. So far we
saw some “είτε” examples, no: μπορείτε [boríte], προσπαθείτε [prospathíte],
ζείτε [zíte]. Those verbs ending “άω” [áo], or, like we’ve seen, they can end “άω”
[áo] or “ώ” [o], like μιλάω, ρωτάω, αγαπάω, use “άτε”. So, You guys are speaking?

Student: Μιλάτε [miláte].

T: Μιλάτε. What was the word for for, in the sense of, For my friend?

S: Για [ya].

T: Για. Good. Για can also mean “about”, about. But if you say, “What are you guys
talking about?”, you probably won’t say, “About what are you guys talking?”.
Why? When we built that, how would that be? About what are you guys talking?

S: Για τι μιλάτε; [ya ti miláte?].

T: Για τι μιλάτε; And what does that sound like? Γιατί μιλάτε;

S: Um.

T: What does that mean? Γιατί μιλάτε;

S: Well it could be like, “Why are you talking?”

T: “Why are you talking?” So we won’t use this to say, “What are you talking about?”
It will sound like, “Why are you talking?” – Για τι μιλάτε; So to say, “What are you
talking about?”, you can say, “About what thing are you talking?” – Για τι πράγμα;
[ya ti prághma?], or, “Αbout which thing?” – Για πoιο πράγμα; [ya pyo prághma?].
So how would that be? What are you guys talking about?

S: Για πoιο πράγμα μιλάτε; [ya pyo prághma miláte?].

T: Για πoιο πράγμα μιλάτε; So we have “άτε” [áte], no, with these “άω” [áo] verbs
for “you” plural, but it doesn’t confuse with the “ατε” [ate] of the past, no?
Because of course, with that, we have our closed version. So what is the closed
version of, μιλάω [miláo]?

S: Μιλήσω [milíso].

T: Μιλήσω. And then if we wanted to say, What did you guys speak about? About
which thing did you guys speak?

S: Για πoιο πράγμα μιλήσατε; [ya pyo prághma milísate?].

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T: Very good. Για πoιο πράγμα, για τι πράγμα, μιλήσατε; [ya pyo prághma, ya ti
prághma, milísate?]. So, What are you guys talking about? Για πoιο πράγμα
μιλάτε; [ya pyo prághma miláte?]. What did you guys speak about? Για πιο
πράγμα μιλήσατε; [ya pyo prághma milísate?].

Also, the informal “you”, with these “άω” [áo] verbs, ρωτάω [rotáo], μιλάω
[miláo], αγαπάω [aghapáo], is [ás] (άς) – AS. So we get, for example, “You speak”
– μιλάς [milás].

S: Μιλάς.

T: What are you speaking about?

S: Για ποιο πράγμα μιλάς; [ya pyo prághma milás?].

T: Για ποιο πράγμα μιλάς; You love?

S: Αγαπάς [aghapás].

T: Αγαπάς. You are asking?

S: Ρωτάς [rotás].

T: Ρωτάς. What are you asking?

S: Τι ρωτάς; [ti rotás?].

T: Τι ρωτάς; Or, About what thing are you asking?

S: Για ποιο πράγμα ρωτάς; [ya pyo prághma rotás?].

T: Για ποιο πράγμα ρωτάς; What are you guys asking about?

S: Για ποιο πράγμα ρωτάτε; [ya pyo prághma rotáte?].

T: Για ποιο πράγμα ρωτάτε; So again, μιλάω [miláo] – “I speak”, and, You speak,
informally?

S: Μιλάς [milás].

T: Μιλάς. Do you speak Greek?

S: Μιλάς Ελληνικά; [milás eliniká?].

T: Μιλάς Ελληνικα; Do you guys (or, Do you, formal) speak Greek?

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S: Μιλάτε Ελληνικά; [miláte eliniká?].

T: Μιλάτε Ελληνικα; But this “άτε” [áte] and “άς” [ás] is only used in the standard,
open, form of the verb; otherwise, we go back to our normal endings. So, if you
were to say, You will speak, talking informally? Sorry, You will speak, informal.

S: Θα μιλήσεις [tha miliísis].

T: Θα μιλήσεις. And, You guys will speak?

S: Θα μιλήσατε [tha miliísate]?

T: So, only in the standard, open form of the verb do we have “άτε” [áte] – μιλάτε
[miláte]. Otherwise, we go back to “ετε” [ete].

S: Θα μιλήσετε [tha miliísete].

T: Θα μιλήσετε. What will you guys speak about?

S: Για ποιο πράγμα θα μιλήσετε; [ya pyo prághma tha miliísete?].

T: Good. Για ποιο πράγμα θα μιλήσετε;

Περπατάω [perpatáo], περπατάω, means “to walk”. Περπατάω.

S: Περπατάω.

T: Probably from, περι [peri] and πατάω [patáo], meaning “step”. Περπατάω.
Περπατάω, I walk. We also have, “the floor” – το πάτωμα [to pátoma], which is
related, of course. Tο πάτωμα – “the floor”. How would you say, Let’s walk?

S: Ας περπατάμε [as perpatáme].

T: OK, but we will use the closed version, no?

S: Ας περπατήσα [as perpatísa] ... Aς περπατήσαμε [as perpatísame]. Ας
περπατήσουμε [as perpatísume].

T: Ας περπατήσουμε [as perpatísume]. So, περπατάω [perpatáo] has AO (“άω”) [áo]
on the end. So how would you say, Are you walking (informally)?

S: Περπατάς; [perpatás?].

T: Περπατάς; And, talking to more than one person, or speaking formally?

S: Περπατάτε; [perpatáte?].

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T: Περπατάτε; Will you guys walk?

S: Θα περπατάτε; [tha perpatáte?].

T: This would maybe be more like, Will you guys be walking?

S: Θα περπατήσατε; [tha perpatísate?].

T: “ατε” [ate]?

S: Θα περπατήσετε; [tha perpatísete?].

T: Good. So we only use “ατε” [ate] in the standard, open form, no? Otherwise we
go back to “ετε” [ετε]. Θα περπατήσετε; Very good. And in the past, we go back to
the past endings, of course. So, Did you guys walk?

S: Περπατήσατε; [perpatísate?].

T: Why did you guys walk?

S: Γιατί περπατήσατε; [yatí perpatísate?].

T: Γιατί περπατήσατε; Very good. What was, I ask?

S: Ρωτάω [rotáo].

T: Ρωτάω. The closed version?

S: Ρωτήσω [rotíso].

T: Ρωτήσω. Why did you ask? Informally.

S: Γιατί ρώτησας; [yatí rótisas?].

T: So what is the sound for “you”, informal, in the past?

S: Γιατί ρώτησες; [yatí rótises?].

T: Γιατί ρώτησες; So we have [e] (ε), for he/she/it, no, and [es] (ες), for “you”
(informal), in the past. Γιατί ρώτησες; Did you ask me something?

S: Με ρώτησες κάτι; [me rótises káti?].

T: Με ρώτησες κάτι; What did you ask about? About which thing did you ask?

S: Για ποιο πράγμα ρώτησες; [ya pyo prághma rótises?].

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T: Very good. Για ποιο πράγμα ρώτησες; Για τι πράγμα ρώτησες; [ya ti prághma
rótises?]. I asked you already. I asked you already.

S: Σε ρώτησα ήδη [se rótisa ídhi].

T: Σε ρώτησα ήδη. I asked you guys already.

S: Σας ρώτησα ήδη [sas rótisa ídhi].

T: Σας ρώτησα ήδη. You guys are asking, in the present.

S: Ρωτάτε [rotáte].

T: Ρωτάτε. And, You ask, in the present?

S: Ρωτάς [rotás].

T: Ρωτάς. So in our standard, open form, no, we get “άτε” [áte] and “άς” [ás], with
these verbs like ρωτάω [rotáo], that end “άω” [áo]. “He (or she) asks”, is ρωτάει
[rotái]. Ρωτάει. So we keep the “ά” [á] of “άω”, but we also have the [i] (ει) sound
of “he/she/it”. He is not asking.

S: Δεν ρωτάει [dhen rotái].

T: Δεν ρωτάει. I love?

S: Αγαπάω [aghapáo].

T: Αγαπάω. He (or she) loves?

S: Αγαπάει [aghapái].

T: Αγαπάει. You, informal, love?

S: Αγαπάς [aghapás].

T: Αγαπάς. You guys love?

S: Αγαπάτε [aghapáte].

T: Αγαπάτε.

So we said “ποιο” [pyo] is like “which”, no? Για ποιο πράγμα, για ποιο πράγμα
μιλάς; [ya pyo prághma, ya pyo prághma milás?] – “About which thing are you
talking?” And it’s also “who”. Ποιος [pyos], is like “who”, or ποια [pya], for
feminine. If you were to say, “Who do you love?”; if I say, “Who do you love?”.
“Who”, is it behaving like “he”, or like “him”?

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S: Like “him”.

T: Like “him”, no? Which is why, in more correct English, actually we say, “Whom do
you love”. So this thing that we are learning in Greek, this having to decide
whether something is behaving like “he” or “him”, or “she” or “her”, actually is
not entirely alien to us. It happens in English, only in just very few places. So
here’s where we would say, “Whom do you love?”, in very correct English.

Ποιος [pyos], the word for “who”, for masculine or “which”, for a masculine thing,
is going to behave more like “τον” [ton], like the word for “the”, or “him”, rather
than any other masculine noun just losing its S (ς). So how would that be? Who
(whom) do you love?

S: Ποιον αγαπάς; [pyon aghapás?].

T: Very good. Ποιον αγαπάς; You guys love?

S: Αγαπάτε [aghapáte].

T: Αγαπάτε or, Eσείς αγαπάτε [esís aghapáte]. So, εσείς [esís], no, is the word for
“you”, in like, “You guys love”, “You (formal) love”. Εσείς αγαπάτε. But the formal
or plural “you”, as in, “I love you guys”, is?

S: Σας [sas].

T: Σας. So, I love you guys?

S: Σας αγαπάω [sas aghapáo].

T: Σας αγαπάω. So those verbs, with their accent on the end, that use, “άτε” [áte]
and “άς” [ás] for plural formal, and also the informal, can also have this A (ά)
popping up in the “we” and “they” forms of the verbs. But these are more like
alternative forms that co-exist. So for, “We speak”, for example, we could have,
μιλούμε [milúme] or, μιλάμε [miláme]. For “They speak” – μιλούν [milún],
μιλούνε [milúne] or, μιλάνε, μιλάν [miláne, milán]. For “We love” – αγαπούμε
[aghapúme] or, αγαπάμε [aghapáme]; “They love” – αγαπούνε, αγαπάνε,
αγαπούν, αγαπάν [aghapúne, aghapáne, aghapún, aghapán]. So these forms co-
exist.

And again, this doesn’t cause any confusion with the past, because we build that
from our closed version. So we have, αγαπάμε [aghapáme] – “We love”, in the
present, but, We loved, would be?

S: Αγαπήσαμε [aghapísame].

T: Αγαπήσαμε.

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And apart from this, the he/she/it form can be seen with or without the A-I (άει).
So we could have ρωτάει [rotái] – “he/she/it asks”, or just ρωτά [rotá]; αγαπάει
[aghapái] or just αγαπά [aghapá]. So we see these “άω” [áo] verbs that can end
“άω” or “ώ” (ρωτάω, ρωτώ), are a little more varied when it comes to forming
their different versions. So we shouldn’t be confused when we come across
different forms that co-exist.

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Complete Greek, Track 76 – Language Transfer

Teacher: If you want to say something like, “I just told you”, you can use the word
μόλις [mólis], in Greek. Mόλις. So you would say, “Mόλις, I told you”.

Student: Mόλις σου είπα [mólis su ípa].

T: Mόλις σου είπα. Good. So we have, λέω [léo] – “I tell, I say”; πω [po] in the closed
form; and then, είπα [ípa] in the past. Mόλις σου είπα – I just told you.

What was, I ask?

S: Ρωτάω [rotáo].

T: Ρωτάω. He (or she) asks?

S: Ρωτάει [rotái].

T: Ρωτάει, or just, ρωτά [rotá]. You ask, informally?

S: Ρωτάς [rotás].

T: Ρωτάς. And the formal, or the plural, You guys ask?

S: Ρωτάτε [rotáte].

T: Ρωτάτε. Ζητάω [zitáo] was, “I ask for”. So how is, He asks for; She asks for?

S: Ζητάει [zitái].

T: Ζητάει, or ζητά [zitá]. You (plural) ask for?

S: Ζητάτε [zitáte].

T: Ζητάτε. And, Υou (informal), normal “you” that we use ... ?

S: Ζητάς [zitás].

T: Ζητάς. And we also have these optional A’s (ά’s) popping up, for the “we” and the
“they” forms. So how do you say, We ask for?

S: Ζητάμε [zitáme].

T: Ζητάμε, or ζητούμε [zitúme]. And, Τhey ask for?

S: Ζητάνε [zitáne].

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T: Ζητάνε, ζητάν, ζητούνε, ζητούν [zitáne, zitán, zitúne, zitún]. So, the closed version
of ζητάω [zitáo], is?

S: Ζητήσω [zitíso].

T: Ζητήσω. I asked, from ζητήσω [zitíso]?

S: Ζήτησα [zítisa].

T: Ζήτησα. I just asked for it.

S: Μόλις το ζήτησα [mólis to zítisa].

T: Μόλις το ζήτησα. I just asked you for it.

S: Μόλις σου το ζήτησα [mólis su to zítisa].

T: Μόλις σου το ζήτησα. They just asked me for it.

S: Μόλις με το ζητήσανε [mólis me to zitísane].

T: So we couldn’t have “με” [me] and “το” [to] together.

S: Ah … Μόλις μου το ζητήσανε [mólis mu to zitísane].

T: Very good. Μόλις μου το ζητήσανε. They just asked me for it. Μόλις μου το
ζητήσανε.

Ξυπνάω [ksipnáo], ξυπνάω, was “I wake up”. How would you say, When do you
wake up? – talking to a friend, or talking to somebody informally?

S: Πότε ξυπνάς; [póte ksipnás?].

T: Πότε ξυπνάς; So we have “άω” [áo], no, in ξυπνάω [ksipnáo], which means that
we have “άς” [ás], for “you”. And what if you’re talking plurally? When do you
guys wake up?

S: Πότε ξυπνάτε; [póte ksipnáte?].

T: Πότε ξυπνάτε; When did you guys wake up?

S: Πότε ξυπνήσατε; [póte ksipnísate?].

T: Πότε ξυπνήσατε; Did you guys just wake up?

S: Μόλις ξυπνήσατε; [mólis ksipnísate?].

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T: Μόλις ξυπνήσατε; Did you just wake up? – informally.

S: Μόλις ξυπνησάς; [mólis ksipnisás?].

T: So, this is kind of an automatic thing going between “ατε” [ate] and “ας” [as],
maybe, no? What do we have for “you”, informal, in the past?

S: “-ες” [-es].

T: ES (-ες), no? [es]. Good.

S: Μόλις ξυπνησές; [mólis ksipnisés?].

T: Μόλις ξύπνησες; [mólis ksípnises?]. Good. So, in the past, we have [a] (α), no, for
most people, but for he/she/it, we have [e] (ε), and for you, informal, we have [es]
(ες), in the past, no? Μόλις ξύπνησες; [mólis ksípnises?] – for “you”, singular, but
then, “you guys” – μόλις ξυπνήσατε; [mólis ksipnísate?].

Μόλις can also mean, “As soon as”, when you use it in the present. So, for
example, you could say something like, you know, You should call me as soon as
you wake up. So we can just start that with, “Nα – you should call me”. So, You
should take me phone. How would that be?

S: Να με πάρεις τηλέφωνω [na me páris tiléfono].

T: Good. No? We have, παίρνω [pérno], and then the closed form, πάρω [páro]. Να
με πάρεις τηλέφωνω ... as soon as you wake up. So we will say, “μόλις” [mólis],
and after μόλις, we need to make a decision about using the closed or the open
form of the verb.

S: Μόλις ξυπνήσεις [mólis ksipnísis].

T: Very good. Να με πάρεις τηλέφωνω μόλις ξυπνήσεις [na me páris tiléfono mólis
ksipnísis]. So, after μόλις, we will use the closed form, no? “As soon as” – we are
referring to a closed event. You should call me as soon as you arrive.

S: Να με πάρεις τηλέφωνω μόλις φτάσεις [na me páris tiléfono mólis ftásis].

T: Very good. Να με πάρεις τηλέφωνω μόλις φτάσεις. I want to see it as soon as it
arrives. I want to see it as soon as it arrives.

S: Θέλω να το δω μόλις φτάσει [thélo na to dho mólis ftási].

T: Very good. Θέλω να το δω μόλις φτάσει.

So we’re seeing how we have some verbs that are a little odd, in that they have
the accent on the end, no? And nearly all of them go into their closed form in the

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 same way, which is useful for us, no? Some of the verbs, with their accents on the
end, are, συμφωνώ [simfonó]. Συμφωνώ, which means “I agree” – συμφωνώ.

S: Συμφωνώ.

T: Which is something like, “together voice”, no? “I together voice”, “I with voice”.
Συμ [sim] or συν [sin] means, like, “with”; and φωνώ [fonó], like in τηλέφωνο
[tiléfono] – “voice” or “sound”. How would you say, Do you guys agree?

S: Well it’s either “είτε” [íte] or “άτε” [áte].

T: So, “άτε” goes with verbs that have “άω” [áo], like in αγαπάω [aghapáo], μιλάω
[miláo].

S: OK. Συμφωνείτε [simfoníte].

T: Συμφωνείτε. Don’t you guys agree?

S: Δεν συμφωνείτε; [dhen simfoníte?].

T: Δεν συμφωνείτε; Didn’t you guys agree? So now we need the closed version. Let’s
do that first. “Συμφωνώ” becomes ... ?

S: Συμφωνήσω [simfoníso].

T: Good. Didn’t you guys agree?

S: Δεν συμφωνήσατε; [dhen simfonísate?].

T: Δεν συμφωνήσατε; Won’t you guys agree? So we won’t go from συμφωνήσατε.
We go back to συμφωνω, συμφωνήσω [simfonó, simfoníso], no, and think about
what ending we need. Won’t you guys agree? Will you not agree?

S: Δεν θα συμφωνήσετε; [dhen tha simfonísete?].

T: Very good. Δεν θα συμφωνήσετε; Good. So, rather than “είτε” [íte], no, which we
have in συμφωνείτε [simfoníte], when we’re out of our standard form, when we
use our closed version, we go back to “ετε” [ete]. Δεν θα συμφωνήσετε;

We can also have διαφωνώ [dhiafonó], which means, “I disagree”. So, “δια” [dhia]
can mean like, “through”, or “away from”, and then φωνώ [fonó] again, “sounds”.
So, διαφωνώ – “I disagree”. Do you guys disagree?

S: Διαφωνήσετε [dhiafonísete] ... Διαφωνείτε; [dhiafoníte?].

T: Διαφωνείτε; Good. Διαφωνείτε; So these verbs that take “είτε” [íte], don’t have
any other strange forms, no? Συμφωνώ [simfonó], συμφωνεί [simfoní],

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 συμφωνούμε [simfonúme], συμφωνούν [simfonún], συμφωνούνε [simfonúne],
συμφωνείς [simfonís]. No? But those taking “άτε” [áte] have other A’s (ά)s
popping up all over the place, no? We’ve seen, μιλάς [milás], μιλάτε [miláte],
μιλάει [milái] or μιλά [milá]; and then, μιλούμε, μιλάμε [milúme, miláme],
μιλούνε, μιλάνε [milúne, miláne].

Ακούω [akúo]; ακούω means “I hear”. Ακούω.

S: Ακούω.

T: Or, “I listen”. Of course related to “acoustic”. This is where we get “acoustic” from
in English, no? Ακούω – “I hear”, and “acoustic”, in English. So, ακούω also counts
as a verb with its accent on the ending, even though we have “ούω” [úo] there,
and the accent on the “ού” [ú]. So, ακούω is like one of our verbs with the accent
on the end, but is a little bit strange. How would you say, He hears; She hears?

S: Ακούει [akúi].

T: Ακούει. We hear?

S: Ακούμε [akúme].

T: Ακούμε. They hear?

S: Ακούνε [akúne].

T: Ακούν [akún]. Ακούνε. You hear?

S: Ακούες, ακούεις [akúes, akúis]?

T: Ακούς [akús]. It would be ακούεις, no, we have “εις” [is] ending in the present.
But that gets swallowed up, like in, “I eat, you eat” – τρώω, τρως [tróo, tros].
Aκούς [akús]. So also for the plural, we have this – just the TE (τε) on the end. So
how would that be? You guys hear.

S: Ακούτε [akúte].

T: Ακούτε. Do you guys hear?

S: Ακούτε; [akúte?].

T: Don’t you guys hear me?

S: Δεν με ακούτε; [dhen me akúte?].

T: Δεν με ακούτε; Or with a contraction of με [me] and ακούτε [akúte], you would
hear, δεν μ’ ακούτε; [dhen m’akúte?]. Δεν μ’ ακούτε; So in the same way, the

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 closed version of ακούω [akúo] is, ακούσω [akúso]. It loses the [i] (η) of the “-ήσ-“
[-ís-] that we tend to put: μιλάω, μιλήσω [miláo, milíso]. No? We go, ακούω,
ακούσω [akúo, akúso].

S: Ακούσω.

T: Did you hear? – speaking informally. Did you hear?

S: Άκουσες; [ákuses?].

T: Άκουσες; Did you guys hear?

S: Ακούσατε; [akúsate?].

T: Ακούσατε; How would you say, informally, You don’t want to hear. You don’t want
to listen.

S: Δεν θέλεις να ακούσεις [dhen thélis na akúsis].

T: Δεν θέλεις να ακούσεις. You guys don’t want to hear. You don’t want to listen.

S: Δεν θέλετε να ακούσετε [dhen thélete na akúsete].

T: Δεν θέλετε να ακούσετε.

So with these verbs, we have a very standard way of going into our closed version,
no? Συμφωνώ [simfonó], I agree, συνφωνήσω [simfoníso]; ακούω [akúo], ακούσω
[akúso]; ξυπνάω [ksipnáo], I wake up, ξυπνήσω [ksipníso]; ρωτάω [rotáo], I ask,
ρωτήσω [rotíso]. And there are a couple of slightly different one as well. Μπορώ
[boró] becomes μπορέσω [boréso], rather than μπορήσω [boríso], no? We have
μπορέσω.

S: Μπορέσω [boréso].

T: Καλώ [kaló] also – to call, to invite – becomes, καλέσω [kaléso].

S: Καλέσω.

T: But only a few, no? Otherwise we have “-ήσω” [-íso]. How would you say, I want
to invite you?

S: Θέλω να σε καλέσω [thélo na se kaléso].

T: Θέλω να σε καλέσω. I want to be able to?

S: Θέλω να μπορέσω [thélo na boréso].

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T: Θέλω να μπορέσω. Good. But otherwise, it’s pretty trusty to get our closed
version with “-ήσ-“ [-ís-]. For example, we could have, εννοώ [enoó], I mean,
εννοήσω [enoíso]; φιλώ [filó], I kiss, probably from the same root as φίλος [fílos],
no, friend, related to love: φιλώ, I kiss, φιλήσω [filíso] in its closed form; θεωρώ
[theoró], I consider, like “theory”, no, θεωρώ – θεωρήσω [theoríso]; οδηγώ
[odhighó], we could have, I drive – you will hear οδός [odhós], meaning “street”,
in Greek. We saw δρόμος [dhrómos] for “road”, and we also have οδός for
“street”. And then οδηγώ [odhighó], οδηγώ, I drive, which becomes οδηγήσω
[odhiyíso]. Eξηγώ [eksighó] means “to explain” – literally meaning something like
“to lead out” – εξηγώ. How would you say, I can’t explain it?

S: Δεν μπορώ να το εξηγήσω [dhen boró na to eksiyíso].

T: Very good. Δεν μπορώ να το εξηγήσω. We have the [gh] (γ) softened there by the
I (η) of “-ήσω” [-íso]". Δεν μπορώ να το εξηγήσω. Very good.

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Complete Greek, Track 77 – Language Transfer

Teacher: I don’t know if you’ve heard the word “cathartic”, or “catharsis” in English.

Student: Ah yeah, I have.

T: I hadn’t until my twenties, when someone described a “cathartic experience”,
and for a moment I had no idea what it meant, until I thought of καθαρίζω
[katharízo] in Greek, which is “I clean” – καθαρίζω.

S: Καθαρίζω.

T: And then I understood that it was like a cleansing experience, this cathartic
experience. So it might go that way around too. You may be able to work out the
meaning of some quite highbrow words in English, just through everyday words in
Greek . So we have, καθαρίζω – I clean.

S: Καθαρίζω.

T: What might the closed version of καθαρίζω be? So we can look at other verbs
with Z (ζ), and what they become; or, we can look to the English words,
“cathartic”, “catharsis”, to see if they offer any clues about what the closed
version might be.

S: Well probably, καθαρίσω [katharíso].

T: Καθαρίσω. Good. Why?

S: Because it’s also the S (σ) in “catharsis”.

T: Exactly. “Catharsis” – we have the S (σ) there; “cathartic” doesn’t help us: [t] (τ) is
not a common sound that we have in our closed version, no? But “catharsis”, yes.
It suggests that we will have an S (σ) – and we do. So, καθαρίζω [katharízo], I
clean, and καθαρίσω [katharíso]. How would you say, You have to clean it?

S: Πρέπει να το καθαρίσεις [prépi na to katharísis].

T: Πρέπει να το … [prépi na to], if we mean a neuter thing, no, … καθαρίσεις
[katharísis]. Good. So this is like, like, you know, like once. You should clean it; it’s
dirty. No? So we used the closed form, καθαρίσεις. But what if you were to say,
You have to clean it a lot.

S: Πρέπει να το καθαρίζεις πολύ [prépi na to katharízis polí].

T: So “πολύ” [polí] would sound like, you know, maybe make a good clean of it. But
here, where we say “a lot”, in English, we actually mean “often”. So sometimes
you’ll want to say “a lot”, but you’ll have to think: Oh! This might actually give a

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 different meaning in Greek, whereas in English, it’s understood: “often”. So what
was the word for, often?

S: Συχνά [sikhná].

T: Good. So, You have to clean it a lot.

S: Πρέπει να το καθαρίζεις συχνά [prépi na to katharízis sikhná].

T: Very good. Πρέπει να το καθαρίζεις συχνά. So, when “a lot” means “often”, we
might not go necessarily to “πολύ” [polí], if it can cause some confusion, but
“συχνά” [sikhná]. And this might also mean, “You must clean it often”, in the
sense of, you know, “It’s very clean; you must clean it often – It must be that you
clean it often”.

What was the word for “if”?

S: Αν [an].

T: Αν. And, I speak?

S: Μιλάω [miláo].

T: Μιλάω. Good. How would you say, If you want to speak well, you have to speak
often? If you want to speak well ...

S: Αν θέλεις να μιλάς καλά [an thélis na milás kalá].

T: Υou have to speak often.

S: Πρέπει να μιλάς συχνά [prépi na milás sikhná].

T: Good. Αν θέλεις να μιλάς καλά, πρέπει να μιλάς συχνά [an thélis na milás kalá,
prépi na milás sikhná].

So there you chose both open, standard verb forms, which is fine. Both fit really in
the first bit, If you want to speak well; we mean, generally, ongoing, but you could
hear μιλήσεις [milísis] here. If you want to speak well – Aν θέλεις να μιλήσεις
καλά [an thélis na milísis kalá]. So, you know, it depends what’s in your mind. You
could be thinking, you know, arrive at that point of speaking well, in which case
you put μιλήσεις [milísis]. Or you just might mean, you know, generally want to be
speaking well, in which case you can put μιλάς [milás]. You have to speak often –
Πρέπει να μιλάς συχνά [prépi na milás sikhná], and there we have μιλάς [milás],
because we say συχνά [sikhná] – “often”, and that’s definitely open and ongoing.

There’s also a closed version of θέλω [thélo], which you might hear, which is
θελήσω [thelíso].

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S: Θελήσω.

T: So you could hear, Αν θελήσεις [an thelísis]. But, you know, θελήσω is not as
often used as other closed versions. Or maybe it might sound more like “wish”,
than “want”. So it’s not something you really have to worry about, but you may
hear a closed version of θέλω, which is θελήσω. The other reason why it might
not be used so much is because usually, when you want something, it is an
ongoing kind of sensation – the idea of wanting.

What was the word for, Greek?

S: Τα Ελληνικά [ta eliniká].

T: Good. Τα Ελληνικά, if we include the word for “the”, no? “The Greek” – Τα
Ελληνικά. So you might include this word for “the”, if you say something like, you
know, “Greek isn’t difficult”. You’ll say, “The Greek isn’t difficult”.

The word for “difficult” is, δύσκoλος [dhískolos]. Δύσκoλος.

S: Δύσκoλος.

T: So there I give you the masculine version, no, the adjective, or the describing
word. So, Greek isn’t difficult, or The Greek isn’t difficult.

S: Τα Ελληνικά δεν είναι δύσκoλα [ta eliniká dhen íne dhískola].

T: Very good. Τα Ελληνικά δεν είναι δύσκoλα. So δύσκoλος seems to be related to
“colon”, actually. So this might be something like, something that’s hard to digest,
δύσκoλο, or mis-digestion, something like that – if something’s difficult. And then
we have the word for “easy” – εύκολο [éfkolo], which is like “good colon”, “good
digestion”. Εύκολο in the neuter, or εύκολος [éfkolos] in the masculine.

S: Εύκολος.

T: Good. So that’s “easy”. So we have δύσκoλος [dhískolos] – “difficult”; εύκολος
[éfkolos] – “easy”. How would you say, Greek is easy?

S: Τα Ελληνικά είναι εύκολα [ta eliniká íne éfkola].

T: Τα Ελληνικά είναι εύκολα. Είναι εύκολα τα Ελλημικά [íne éfkola ta eliniká]. The
word for “language”, and also “tongue”, so in the way that in English, we can say,
you know, “mother tongue”, and we mean, “mother language”, this is just the
standard in Greek. So, “language” or “tongue” is, γλώσσα [ghlósa]. This is the
γάμα [gháma] (γ). Γλώσσα.

S: Γλώσσα.

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T: Good. This is where we get “glossary” from; or to gloss over something, we say in,
in English. To gloss over something in conversation is just to tongue over it. So
γλώσσα [ghlósa], with the γάμα [gháma] (γ), for “language”.

We had the word, άλλος [álos] for “other”; and “all”, which sounds kind of similar.
What was the word for, all?

S: Όλος [ólos].

T: Όλος. So “all” isn’t άλλος [álos]. No? They look similar, but άλλος means
“another”, or “the other”, and όλος [ólos] is “all”. How would you say, All the
languages, every language, all languages, all the languages?

S: Όλες οι γλώσσες [óles i ghlóses].

T: Όλες οι γλώσσες. Very good. The word for “correctly”, or “right”, is σωστά [sostá].
Σωστά.

S: Σωστά.

T: So that’s “correctly”, “right”, or “in the right way”. Σωστά. So you could say, “All
languages are easy if you learn them correctly”. So, All languages (all the
languages) are easy if you learn them correctly.

S: Όλες οι γλώσσες είναι εύκολες αν τα μάθεις σωστά [óles i ghlóses íne éfkoles an
ta máthis sostá].

T: Good. But why “τα” [ta] and “τα μάθείς σωστά” [ta máthis sostá]?

S: Ah! Αν τις μάθεις σωστά [an tis máthis sostá].

T: Very good. Όλες οι γλώσσες είναι εύκολες αν τις [óles i ghlóses íne éfkoles an tis]
… (because we refer to “the languages”, no?) ... μάθείς [máthis] or μαθαίνεις
[mathénis] … (we could have either – again, it just depends on the imagination,
no, what you are referring to in your mind) … αν τις μαθαίνεις [an tis mathénis
σωστά], αν τις μάθείς σωστά [an tis máthis sostá]. Very good.

“The method”, the method, in Greek is, η μέθοδος [i méthodhos]. Η μέθοδος.

S: Η μέθοδος.

T: So this is an [os] (-ος) noun, no, which is feminine. Η μέθοδος. We saw, η έξοδος [i
éksodhos] – “the exit”; also an [os] (-ος) noun that’s feminine. So, σωστά [sostá]
was “correctly”, no, but just “correct”, is σωστός [sostós]. Σωστός.

S: Σωστός.

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T: And how would that be in the feminine?

S: Σώστη [sósti].

T: Σωστή [sostí]. Very good. The correct method. How do you think you would say,
The correct method (the right method)?

S: Η σώστη μέθοδο … μέθοδος [i sostí méthodho … méthodhos].

T: Very good. Η σώστη μέθοδος [i sostí méthodhos]. So, μέθοδος [méthodhos] ends
[os] (ος), but it’s feminine, so we use σωστή [sostí], with the feminine ending: Η
σωστή μέθοδος. And we keep the S (ς), no, it’s not in “him” or “her” position. So,
η σωστή μέθοδος [i sostí méthodhos]. How would you say, All languages are easy
with the right method? All languages are easy with the right method.

S: Όλες οι γλώσσες είναι εύκολες με την σώστη μέθοδο [óles i ghlóses íne éfkoles
me tin sostí méthodho].

T: Very, very good. Όλες οι γλώσσες είναι εύκολες με την … [óles i ghlóses íne
éfkoles me tin …] (because it’s “with her”, rather than “with she”) … με την σωστή
μέθοδο [… me tin sostí méthodho]. And μέθοδος [méthodhos] loses the S (ς), no?
It’s an [os] (-ος) noun, behaving like “him”, rather than “he”, like “her”, rather
than “she”, so we lose that S (ς). Όλες οι γλώσσες είναι εύκολες με την σώστη
μέθοδο [óles i ghlóses íne éfkoles me tin sostí méthodho]. And you could reverse
those two parts as well, just like in English. With the right method all languages
are easy. Με την σωστή μέθοδο όλες οι γλώσσες είναι εύκολες [me tin sostí
méthodho óles i ghlóses íne éfkoles].

So we have, σωστός meaning “right” or “correct”, and, you know, the possible
versions of that: σωστή, σωστό, σωστού, σωστούς [sostí, sostó, sostú, sostús], like
in, σωστή μέθοδος [sostí méthodhos]. You might hear “σωστό” [sostó] in
conversation, when somebody agrees, like, Σωστό! What gender is this σωστό?

S: Masculine. No. It’s neuter.

T: It’s neuter, and why is it neuter when you just say, you know, σωστό, to agree?

S: Well it’s, “It is right”. If it was masculine, it would keep its S (ς).

T: But if what were masculine?

S: If the σωσ [sos] ... if the thing …

T: Exactly, there is actually nothing here that we can ask if it’s masculine or feminine
or neuter. And the neuter also serves this role, no? So when we, when we don’t
know what we are referring to, we’re not referring to any object or person that

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 we can put a gender to, we use the neuter. Σωστό [sostó]. But when we said
“correctly”, we said, σωστά [sostá]. No? So usually, to get this “-ly” that we have
in English, like “correct-ly”, we use Α (α), in Greek, or the neuter plural, let’s say.
So, for example, γενικός [yenikós] is “general”. Γενικός.

S: Γενικός.

T: This is the γάμα [gháma] (γ), no, softened by the [e] sound – γενικός [yenikós].
And we could have the different versions – γενικηή, γενικό [yenikí, yenikó]. But if
we want to say “generally”, we will use the neuter plural. We will add an A (α). So,
generally?

S: Γενικά [yeniká].

T: Γενικά. Generally I learn well.

S: Γενικά μαθαίνω καλά [yeniká mathéno kalá].

T: Γενικά μαθαίνω καλά. What was, easy?

S: Εύκολο [éfkolo].

T: Εύκολο. So, you know, it’s not so important if you give me εύκολος [éfkolos] or
εύκολο [éfkolo], as long as we know, you know that: Okay, that’s the neuter and
that’s the masculine. So, εύκολο – “easy”. Easily?

S: Εύκολα [éfkola].

T: Εύκολα. Good. We have “basic”, which is, βασικός [vasikós]. Bασικός.

S: Bασικός.

T: Here we have a V sound, no, not like the “basic” in English. But of course that V
looks like a “b” in Greek (β/B). So we could have βασικός, that’s the masculine;
the neuter – βασικό [vasikó], the feminine – βασική [vasikí]; the plural feminine –
βασικές [vasikés]. But if we want to get, basically, what do we do?

S: We add an A (α). So, βασικά [vasiká].

T: Βασικά. Good. So we’ve seen how describing words change for gender, for
number, and also for case, no – meaning whether they’re behaving like “he” or
“him”, “they” or “them”, for example. We could have “sure” or “certain”, which is
σίγουρος [síghuros]. Σίγουρος.

S: Σίγουρος.

T: So that means “sure” or “certain”, like “secure”, in English. Σίγουρος.

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S: Σίγουρος.

T: If you want to say, Are you sure?

S: Είσαι σίγουρος; [íse síghuros?].

T: Είσαι σίγουρος; Αnd to a woman?

S: Είσαι σίγουρη; [íse síghuri?].

T: Είσαι σίγουρη; And what was the plural, You are? So, είσαι [íse] is, “you are”, for
one person. And then we had another one, which is plural or formal.

S: Είστε [íste].

T: Είστε, είστε. And also we could have, είσαστε [ísaste]. Είσαστε. Είστε or είσαστε
for “you” formal, or “you” plural, “are”. And in both of those cases we have [te]
(τε) on the end, which is like the “ετε” [ete] that we usually add, no? Θέλεις,
θέλετε [thélis, thélete]; είσαι, είστε or είσαστε [íse, íste, ísaste]. So how would
you say, Αre you (plural) sure?

S: Είστε σίγουροι; [íste síghuri?].

T: Είστε σίγουροι; So this is the masculine, no, ending, OI (οι), and we can use this
for masculine groups or groups of mixed gender. And what if we were to say, Αre
you sure? – and we were talking to three women.

S: Είστε σίγουρες; [íste síghures?].

T: Είστε σίγουρες; But if you just say, like, for sure, surely – you can do that in
conversation in Greek. How would, surely be?

S: Σίγουρα [síghura].

T: Σίγουρα. So, if you don’t say, Are you sure?, but you just say, For sure, sure. What
you actually say is, surely – σίγουρα [síghura]. And you might also say that
affirmatively, as well, not necessarily as a question – σίγουρα – like when you
agree: σίγουρα.

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Complete Greek, Track 78 – Language Transfer

Teacher: What was the word for, new, like in “neo-colonialism”?

Student: Νέος [néos].

Τ: Νέος, the masculine, νέος. We could also have καινούργιος [kenúrios].
Καινούργιος is often heard in conversation for “new”, as well.

S: Καινούργιος.

T: The word for, big?

S: Μεγάλος [meghálos].

T: Μεγάλος. And, as we’ve mentioned, νέος [néos] – “new”, can mean “young”, and
μεγάλος – “big”, can mean “old”, as well. “Sure”, or “certain”, related to “secure”
in English?

S: Σίγουρος [síghuros].

T: Σίγουρος. General, generic?

S: Γενικός [yenikós].

T: Difficult?

S: Δύσκολος [dhískolos].

T: Δύσκολος. So this is like, you know, un-digesting or something like this. And, easy?

S: Εύκολος [éfkolos].

T: Εύκολος. Good digesting. So these are adjectives, describing words, and like
nouns, they changed, no? But also we can get words like, “generally”, “surely”,
“easily”, from them. So γενικός [yenikós] is “general” or “generic”, and, generally?

S: Γενικά [yeniká].

T: Γενικά. We have, σίγουρος [síghuros], “sure” or “certain”, and, surely, certainly?

S: Σίγουρα [síghura].

T: Σίγουρα. How would you say, easily?

S: Εύκολα [éfkola].

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T: Εύκολα. So these “-ly” words are a certain type of describing word, that don’t
change as the other describing words do, because they are not thought to refer to
any noun, but to the verb. We have a form to get them, with the A (α) ending, and
then, that’s it; they don’t change any more. They stay as they are. We don’t have
to work out who or what they refer to, or how they should change.

“I finish” was, τελειώνω [telióno]. Τελειώνω.

S: Τελειώνω.

T: Τελειώνω. How would you say, Basically he wants to finish it?

S: Βασικά θέλει να το τελειώσει [basiká théli na to teliósi].

T: Good. But be careful not to carry over that [b] from English. Βασικά θέλει να το
τελειώσει [vasiká théli na to teliósi].

S: Βασικά θέλει να το τελειώσει [vasiká théli na to teliósi].

T: Very good. We saw briefly “quickly”, as well, like the name “Gregory” – Γρηγόριος
[ghrighórios]. Γρήγορα [ghríghora] – “quickly”. So again, “quickly”, ending “-ly”,
and in Greek, ending in A (α). Γρήγορα.

S: Γρήγορα.

T: Basically, they want to finish it quickly. Basically, they want to finish it quickly.

S: Βασικά θέλουνε να το τελειώσουν γρήγορα [vasiká thélune na to teliósun
ghríghora].

T: Very good. Βασικά θέλουν (θέλουνε) να το τελειώσουν (να το τελειώσουνε)
γρήγορα [vasiká thélun (thélune) na to teliósun (na to teliósune) ghríghora]. So,
βασικά [vasiká] – “basically”, you hear quite a lot in conversation in Greek. It’s
quite common to start a sentence, maybe to give a second to think, and put the
sentence together: Bασικά ...

There are also some other words which you may not expect to fit into this
category, because they don’t end “-ly”, in English. What was the word for, good?

S: Καλό [kaló].

T: Καλό, the neuter, no, or καλός, καλή [kalós, kalí], etc. But the word for, well, was?

S: Καλά [kalá].

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T: So, καλά – well, is a little like “good-ly”, no? But it doesn’t end “-ly” in English, no,
“well”, but this is the idea. Καλά [kalá] is like “good-ly”; so actually it doesn’t
change for the person. How do you say, I’m well?

S: Είμαι καλά [íme kalá].

T: Είμαι καλά. If you are male or female you will say, είμαι καλά. No? Are you well?

S: Είσαι καλά; [íse kalá?].

T: Είσαι καλά; Are you guys well?

S: Είστε καλά; [íste kalá?].

T: Είστε καλά; And you don’t have to change “καλά” for gender, for number, for the
plural, for anything, because it’s like “good-ly”, “well-ly” – something like this. If
we do change this word to match the person, it’s not going to mean “well”
anymore; it’s going to mean “good”. So, if you want to say, You guys are good?

S: Είστε καλοί. [íste kalí].

T: Είστε καλοί. Or for females?

S: Είστε καλές. [íste kalés].

T: Είστε καλές. So here it’s changing, because it means “good”, not “well”. How
would you say, better, in the sense of, more good?

S: Πιο καλό [pyo kaló].

T: Πιο καλό, or καλύτερο [kalítero], no, we could have. Καλύτερο. So this is “better”,
as in “more good”, if we say, for example, This is better than that. No? This is
more good than that. So how would you say that: This is better than that; This one
is better than that one? And let’s talk about the neuter thing.

S: Αυτό είναι καλύτερο από εκείνο [aftó íne kalítero apó ekíno].

T: Very good. Αυτό είναι καλύτερο από εκείνο. And what if you were talking about a
masculine thing? First give me the first bit: This one is better, a masculine thing.

S: Αυτός είναι καλύτερος [aftós íne kalíteros].

T: Very good. Αυτός είναι καλύτερος ... than that one. So what we actually say is,
“from that one”; and we’ve been seeing with, like, από [apó], σε [se], για [ya],
when we have a word like “from”, “to”, “for”, no, afterwards we have “him”
rather than “he”; we have “them” rather than “they”. So we need to think about
how we would change εκείνος [ekínos]. Generally, no, masculine nouns and

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 adjectives – we drop the S (ς) when they’re behaving like “him” rather than “he”;
but some other words, a few other words, behave more like the word for “the”.
So, rather than dropping the S (ς), what might happen to εκείνος [ekínos]?

S: We exchange the S (ς) with an N (ν).

T: Good. It will take an N (ν), like τον [ton]. No? So how would you say that: This one
is better than that one – masculine?

S: Αυτός είναι καλύτερος από εκείνον [aftós íne kalíteros apó ekínon].

T: Very good. Αυτός είναι καλύτερος από εκείνον. So some of these words that
function more like “the”, no, or “a”, they will behave in a slightly different way,
taking an N (ν) in the masculine singular, no, when it’s like “him” rather than “he”.
How would you say, These ones are better than those ones, and you mean
masculine things?

S: Αυτοί είναι καλύτεροι από εκείνους [aftí íne kalíteri apó ekínus].

T: Good. Αυτοί είναι καλύτεροι από εκείνους. So here, εκείνος [ekínos], it’s still
acting like the word “the”, like τους [tus], but you would never notice because the
adjectives do the same thing anyway; they also go “-ους” [-us]. So here it doesn’t
cause any problem for us. But with the masculine singular, especially, you know,
with some words we’re going to have a difference, between dropping that S (ς)
for the adjective or the noun, and putting the N (ν), because it’s a word like “the”.

So καλύτερος [kalíteros] is “better”, like “more good”, no? But “better”, as in
“more well”, no, like, I don’t know, if you’ve been unwell and somebody says,
“Are you better?”, no, “Are you more well?”, then it’s not going to be καλύτερος
[kalíteros] any more, but ... ?

S: Καλύτερα [kalítera].

T: Καλύτερα. No? So we’ll have to think then in Greek what we actually mean,
because in English we don’t have a difference. “Better” is used for something that
is better than something else, and being better after being unwell, as well. So,
how would you say, Are you better?, Are you better-ly?

S: Είσαι καλύτερα; [íse kalítera?].

T: Είσαι καλύτερα; Are you guys better?

S: Είστε καλύτερα; [íste kalítera?].

T: Είστε καλύτερα; We are better.

S: Είμαστε καλύτερα [ímaste kalítera].

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T: Είμαστε καλύτερα. So when we have καλά [kalá] – “well”, καλύτερα [kalítera] –
“better”, you know, we don’t have to think about changing καλά, καλύτερα. But if
we were to say, We are better, in the sense of “more good”, like, We are better
than them, then we will change it. So how would that be?

S: Είμαστε καλύτεροι [ímaste kalíteri].

T: Είμαστε καλύτεροι ... than them?

S: Από αυτούς [apó aftús].

T: Good. Από αυτούς. We have αυτοί [aftí], no, for “they”, and then “them”, αυτούς
[aftús]. Good. So, Είμαστε καλύτεροι από αυτούς [ímaste kalíteri apó aftús]. We
are better than them. We are the best. How would you say that? We are the best.

S: Είμαστε οι καλύτεροι [ímaste i kalíteri].

T: Είμαστε οι καλύτεροι. Very good.

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Complete Greek, Track 79 – Language Transfer

Teacher: So “Greek” was Ελληνικά [eliniká], no, the language, Ελληνικά. And this is
something like “Hellenics”, “the Hellenics” – Ta Ελληνικά [ta eliniká] – like neuter
plural nouns together to get the language: τα Ελληνικά. But, Ελληνικά, or
Ελληνικό, Ελλνικός, Ελληνική [elinikó, elinikós, elinikí] can also be an adjective to
say something is Greek. For example, Ελληνικά προϊόντα [eliniká proiónda].
Ελληνικά προϊόντα – “Greek produce”. So actually, you will find a few adjectives
ending [ik] (“-ic”), in English, and “-ικο” [-iko], or “-ικος, ικa” [-ikos, -ika], etc., in
Greek, like “Hellenic” – Eλληνικός [elinikós].

We saw “basic”, no, which is, βασικός [vasikós] and, basically?

Student: Βασικά [vasiká].

T: Βασικά. We saw, general, or generic, which was?

S: Γενικός [yenikós].

T: Γενικός. Good. So there we have the [ik] of generic, no? Not in, general, but
generic. Γενικός. Generally?

S: Γενικά [yeniká].

T: Γενικά. Ιn English we have “semantics” – semantic, which pertains to “meaning”,
no? Σημαντικός [simandikós] in Greek means “important”, like “meaningful”.
Σημαντικός – “important”.

S: Σημαντικός.

T: We have, φυσικός [fizikós], which means “natural”, like “physical”. No? Φυσικός.

S: Φυσικός.

T: “Natural” – φυσικός. We have, η φύση [i fízi], “the nature”. How would you say,
naturally?

S: Φυσικά [fiziká].

T: Φυσικά. This is used like, “of course”. Φυσικά – “of course”; and it’s used very
often as well in Greek. I arrive, was?

S: Φτάνω [ftáno].

T: Φτάνω, φτάνω. And “the centre”, the centre, in Greek, is το κέντρο [to kéndro], or
το κέντρο [to kédro]; you can hear both. You can hear it like ND or like D. Το
κέντρο, το κέντρο [to kéndro, to kédro]. So this is spelt K (κ) - E (ε) - N (ν), which

380
 looks like a “v”, no - T (τ), it’s spelt with the T (τ) - R(ρ) - O (ο). So NT (ντ) together,
inside of a word is going to give us a D [d], or an ND [nd], not a T [t]. Το κέντρο [to
kéndro], or το κέντρο [to kédro], not [to kéntro].

S: Το κέντρο [to kéndro].

T: To the centre, or, At the centre.

S: Στο κέντρο [sto kéndro].

T: Στο κέντρο. Naturally (of course, or maybe more literally, physically, no?),
naturally they will arrive at the centre (they will arrive to the centre). Naturally
they will arrive at the centre.

S: Φυσικά θα φτάσουν στο κέντρο [fiziká tha ftásun sto kéndro].

T: Φυσικά θα φτάσουν στο κέντρο. So this is like, Of course, of course, they will
arrive at the centre. Φυσικά θα φτάσουν στο κέντρο. How do you think centric, or
central might be?

S: Κεντρικό [kendrikó].

T: Κεντρικό, κεντρικός [kendrikós]. Centrally?

S: Κεντρικά [kendriká].

T: Κεντρικά. So a lot of “-ic” adjectives, which we can move over to Greek, even if
there are not the most common ones we would think of, you know. We have
“general”, but then “generic” and γενικός [yenikós]; “central”, and then “centric”
and κεντρικός [kendrikós]. But we can’t do this with all “-ic” adjectives in English,
no? We’ll just notice some correspondences, and as we’ve seen, the meaning
won’t always be the same, but related: like “physical” and “natural” – φυσικός
[fizikós], “natural”.

Ένα μυστικό [éna mistikó] is “a secret”. Ένα μυστικό. And you could also have the
adjective, μυστικός, μυστικό, μυστική [mistikós, mistikó, mistikí], to mean
“secret”. You know, when you describe something as secret, like a secret door, for
example. H μυστική πόρτα [i mistikí pórta] – “the secret door”. Secretly?

S: Μυστικά [mistiká].

T: Μυστικά. Κλασσικός [klasikós], we have. Κλασσικός – you can guess what that
means.

S: Classic.

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T: Classic, classical. And we also have many “-ικο” [-iko] adjectives in Greek that
don’t translate. So adding “-ικο” onto something is a very common way to get an
adjective in Greek. So, for example, we could have σπιτικός [spitikós]. Σπιτικός. If
σπίτι [spíti] means “house” or “home”, what might σπιτικός mean?

S: Homic? Homic?

T: “Homic”?

S: Like, with, you know, it’s in the home, you know, something ...

T: And what, what do you think it might be used for? Okay, you get the general
feeling, and then you can think about real life and how that might apply to real
life. And then to find the word in English.

S: Something that is in the home.

T: “Home-made”.

S: Okay. Home-made.

T: We want something home-made.

S: Θέλουμε κάτι σπιτικό [thélume káti spitikó].

T: Θέλουμε κάτι σπιτικό. No? So we have, σπιτικό [spitikó] – “home-made”, and you
will find a lot of “-ικο” [iko] adjectives in Greek, and also nouns. Ένας μουσικός
[énas muzikós] is a musician. Ένας μουσικός. Or, μουσικός, like an adjective, to
mean “musical”.

So we know how to handle describing words in Greek, which change in the same
way as nouns change for gender and number, etc. But we’ve also seen a set of
describing words kind of doing their own thing, and these mostly end “-ly” in
English, and A (α) in Greek: like “generally” – γενικά [yeniká]; “secretly” – μυστικά
[mistiká]. But not always. We saw καλά [kalá], no, which means “well”, and “well”
doesn’t end “-ly” in English. We also have, μακρύς [makrís], which means “long”,
and then, μακριά [makriá], which means “far” or “far away”, like “far-ly”, no?
Something like that. But the important thing to understand is that it doesn’t
change, no? So when you come across a describing word that’s not changing, and
it ends in A (α), you know why. So if you want to say, I’m far (I’m far away)? “Far”
was μακριά [makriá]. So, I’m far (I’m far away)?

S: Είμαι μακριά [íme makriá].

T: Είμαι μακριά, for any gender. And, We are far?

S: Είμαστε μακριά [ímaste makriá].

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T: Είμαστε μακριά. No? Είμαστε μακριά. The centre is far.

S: Το κέντρο είναι μακριά [to kéndro íne makriá].

T: Το κέντρο, το κέντρο, είναι μακριά [to kéndro, to kédro, íne makriá]. Κοντός
[kondós], or κοντός [kodós] – this is also spelt with ΝΤ (ντ) in the middle, so we
can have κοντός [kodós] or κοντός [kondós] – means “short”, short. Κοντός
[kondós] or κοντός [kodós]; κοντός [kondós], κοντός [kodós].

S: Κοντός [kondós].

T: And we can get the word for “close” or “close by” from κοντός – “short”. So how
do you think you might get that?

S: Κοντά [kondá].

T: Κοντά. Νο? So we have, μακριά [makriá] from μακρύς [makrís], which means
“long”. And we have, κοντά [kondá] from κοντός [kondós], which means “short”.
And then we get “close” or “close by”. So if you want to say, It is close (it is close
by)?

S: Είναι κοντά [íne kondá].

T: Είναι κοντά. So we have “close”, no, and “far”, neither ending “-ly” in English, but
they fit into this group of describing words that end in Α (α), and don’t change to
match anybody. We are close. We are close by.

S: Είμαστε κοντά [ímaste kondá].

T: Good. Είμαστε κοντά. Κοντά είμαστε [kondá ímaste]. And if you change κοντά
[kondá] to match είμαστε [ímaste]? Firstly, how will it sound?

S: Είμαστε κοντοί [ímaste kondí].

T: Είμαστε κοντοί. And what will it mean?

S: We are short.

T: We are short. Good. So you get a different meaning. How would you say, The
centre is close by?

S: Το κέντρο είναι κοντά [to kéndro íne kondá].

T: Το κέντρο είναι κοντά. Είναι κοντά το κέντρο [íne kondá to kéndro]. Very good.

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Complete Greek, Track 80 – Language Transfer

Teacher: We saw μακρύς [makrís], which means “long”, and then, μακριά [makriá]
gives us “far”, or “far away”.

Student: Μακριά.

T: If you want to say, “far from me”, you will say, μακριά μου [makriá mu]. Μακριά
μου.

S: Μακριά μου.

T: So there we have, μου [mu], like “from me”. No? So we said there we had, με
[me] for “me”, and then μου [mu] – “to me”, and occasionally like, “for me”, or
“on me”, and here like, “from me”. Μακριά μου – “far from me”. Far from you?

S: Μακριά σου [makriá su].

T: Μακριά σου. We saw κοντός [kondós], which means “short”. Κοντός. And the
word for, close, or close by, was?

S: Κοντά [kondá].

T: Κοντά [kondá]. How might you say, Close to me?

S: Κοντά μου [kondá mu].

T: Κοντά μου. Close to you?

S: Κοντα σου [konda su].

T: Κοντά σου [kondá su]. How would you say, We are close to you?

S: Είμαστε κοντά σου [ímaste kondá su].

T: Είμαστε κοντά σου. We are far from him.

S: Είμαστε κοντά του [ímaste kondá tu].

T: Okay. This is, “close to him”. Είμαστε κοντά του. But, far from him?

S: Είμαστε μακριά του [ímaste makriá tu].

T: Είμαστε μακριά του. And, far from them?

S: Είμαστε μακριά τους [ímaste makriá tus].

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T: Είμαστε μακριά τους. Good. And in all of that, μακριά doesn’t have to change to
match anybody. It is just, μακριά – “far” or “far away”.

“A little” was, λίγο [lígho]. Λίγο.

S: Λίγο.

T: This is like, L (λ/Λ) - Ι (ι) - γάμα [gháma] (γ) - O (ο). Λίγο [lígho].

S: Λίγο.

T: How would you say, a little far?

S: Λίγο μακριά [lígho makriá].

T: Λίγο μακριά. So actually, when I say, λίγο [lígho], I give you the neuter version.
You could also have, λίγος [líghos] to mean “a bit of”, no – “a little of” something
masculine. But, you know, mostly we will be using this in the neuter, especially
because we use it to refer to other describing words. So if we say “a little far”,
what gender should we have?

S: The neuter.

T: The neuter. We’re not referring to anything we can put a gender on, no? So, λίγο
μακριά. We are a little far.

S: Είμαστε λίγο μακριά [ímaste lígho makriá].

T: Είμαστε λίγο μακριά. Basically we are a little far away.

S: Βασικά είμαστε λίγο μακριά [vasiká ímaste lígho makriá].

T: Βασικά είμαστε λίγο μακριά. We are a little far in order to arrive today. So this, “in
order”, is just, “so that”, that we said that we could build with, για να [ya na]. Για
να gives us “so that”, “in order to”. So let’s try this. We are a little far in order to
arrive today.

S: Είμαστε λίγο μακριά για να φτάσουμε σήμερα [ímaste lígho makriá ya na ftásume
símera].

T: Very good. Είμαστε λίγο μακριά για να φτάσουμε σήμερα. So, “so that”, “in order
to” – για να [ya na].

We saw, κουρασμένος [kurazménos] – this means “tired”, and we also noted how
there’s a big group of adjectives ending “-μενος” [ménos]. Kουρασμένος – “tired”.

S: Κουρασμένος.

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T: We are a little tired?

S: Είμαστε λίγο κουρασμένοι [ímaste lígho kurazméni].

T: Good. Είμαστε λίγο κουρασμένοι – for a masculine or mixed group. Or if you were
all females?

S: Είμαστε λίγο κουρασμένες [ímaste lígho kurazménes].

T: Good. Είμαστε λίγο κουρασμένες. So, λιγο [lígho] is in the neuter, no? It’s just
affecting another adjective, so we put it in neuter: λίγο κουρασμένος [lígho
kurazménos]; λίγο κουασμένοι [lígho kurazméni]; λίγο κουρασμένες [lígho
kurazménes]. All with λίγο. And we saw the same with “πιο” [pyo], as well, the
word for “more” – πιο. So how would you say, for example, more tired?

S: Πιο κουρασμένος [pyo kurazménos].

T: Πιο κουρασμένος. So, πιο [pyo] is affecting another adjective – just stays as, πιο.
It is further. It is more far.

S: Είναι πιο μακριά [íne pyo makriá].

T: Είναι πιο μακριά. It is further than I thought. So what will we use for “than”?

S: Από [apó].

T: Από – “from”. No? It is further from I thought. So let’s do the first bit. It is further.

S: Είναι πιο μακριά [íne pyo makriá].

T: Είναι πιο μακριά ... than ... ?

S: Από [apó].

T: ... what I thought. So, “what”, when it is not a question word, we will just use the
word for “that” – ότι [óti]. Ότι. So when we use “what”, and it’s not a question, it’s
not “τι” [ti]. It’s “ότι” [óti]. So, “ … than what … “.

S: ... από ότι ... [apó óti].

T: Good. And, “I think”, like “I believe”, is νομίζω [nomízo]. So, “... than I thought …”.

S: Από ότι νόμιζα [apó óti nómiza].

T: Good. You didn’t change to any closed version, which is actually correct, because
“than I thought”, “than I believe” – it’s seen as an open, ongoing thing. So: Είναι

386
 πιο μακριά από ότι νόμιζα [íne pyo makriá apó óti nómiza] – than what I believed.
Είναι πιο μακριά απ’ ότι νόμιζα [íne pyo makriá ap’óti nómiza]. And, “από ότι”
[apó óti], it’s just going to come together; you’re going to hear, “απ’ ότι” [ap’óti].
Απ’ ότι. Βut it’s, από ότι. Από ότι νόμιζα [apó óti nómiza]. It is a little further than I
thought. So, a little more far, is what we’re going to say. It is a little more far than
I thought.

S: Είναι λίγο πιο μακριά απ’ ότι νόμιζα [íne lígho pyo makriá ap’óti nómiza].

T: Very good. Είναι λίγο πιο μακριά απ’ ότι νόμιζα. Είναι λίγο πιο μακριά από ότι
νόμιζα [íne lígho pyo makriá apó óti nómiza].

So λίγο, again, “a little more”, no? We have it in the neuter: λίγο πιο μακριά [lígho
pyo makriá]. But if “λίγο” refers to an object, then it will change to match it. So,
for example, if we say, “a little sugar”, then we want to match it with “sugar”. The
word for “sugar” is, ζάχαρη [zákhari].

S: Ζάχαρη.

T: Which ends with that letter (η) that looks like an “n” going below the line of
writing. Ζάχαρη, ζάχαρη. So what gender do you think that is?

S: I think neuter.

T: Why neuter?

S: Well, okay, it has a feminine ending, so maybe it is feminine.

T: That’s what I (laughs) ... Yeah, it’s feminine. So, “a little ... a little sugar”?

S: Λίγη ζάχαρη [líghi zákhari].

T: Λίγη ζάχαρη [líyi zákhari]. Good. The [gh] (γ) of “λίγο” is also softened by the [i] (η)
sound, no? Λίγη ζάχαρη [líyi zákhari]. Good. So we’ve seen that we have two
feminine endings, two big main feminine endings, no – [a] (α) and [i] (η), no? The
A (α) and the I (η), or the “I” that looks like an “n”, no, that goes below the line. A
little coffee? How do you think that might be? A little coffee.

S: Λίγος καφές [líghos kafés].

T: Very good. Καφές [kafés] is masculine, so, λίγος καφές [líghos kafés]. I will buy a
little coffee.

S: Θα αγοράσω λίγος καφές [tha aghoráso líghos kafés]. Ah, wait. Θα αγοράσω λίγο
καφέ [tha aghoráso lígho kafé].

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T: Very good. Θα αγοράσω λίγο καφέ. So here, λίγο is not the neuter, no? It’s
“λίγος” [líghos], losing the S (ς), because it’s behaving like “him”. I will buy “him”,
rather than, “I will buy he”. Θα αγοράσω λίγο καφέ.

If we, if we say, “more little”, we get the word for “less” – πιο λίγο [pyo lígho], or
λιγότερο [lighótero], or λιγότερος [lighóteros], λιγότερη [lighóteri]. So if you want
to say "less sugar".

S: Λιγότερη ζάχαρη [lighóteri zákhari].

T: Λιγότερη ζάχαρη.

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Complete Greek, Track 81 – Language Transfer

Teacher: Again, what was the word for, more?

Student: Πιο [pyo].

T: And, close?

S: Κοντά [kónda].

T: Κοντά [kondá]. More close, or closer?

S: Πιο κοντά [pyo kondá].

T: Πιο κοντά. If we want to say “more sugar”, we can’t use “πιο”, because “πιο” is
used with other describing words; so like “more close” – πιο κοντά [pyo kondá];
“more good (or better)” – πιο καλό, πιο καλά [pyo kaló, pyo kalá]. But we won’t
use “πιο” with nouns, words we put “the” or “a” in front of. So we won’t use
“πιο” to say “more sugar”. And we also won’t use it with verbs. So we won’t use
“πιο” to say, for example, “I sleep more”, “I try more”. So, πιο, just with other
describing words; otherwise, we use something else.

We’ve seen briefly, και άλλο [ke álo], και άλλη [ke áli] – “and other”; we can use
this for “more”. We could also use, πιο πολύ [pyo polí], πιο πολύ for “more”. And
we also have, περισσότερο [perisótero] – that’s the neuter of course. We could
have, περισσότερη [perisóteri], περισσότερος [perisóteros], etc. Περισσότερος.

S: Περισσότερος.

T: So we have a long word. The first thing we should do is not get intimidated by it,
but try to split it up and see what we recognise. So what do we recognise in
“περισσότερος”?

S: There’s “περι” [peri].

T: Περι. Good. Anything else? ... “οτερος”?

S: I don’t know.

T: How do you say, good? What is the word for, good?

S: Καλός [kalós].

T: And, more good (better)? But there’s one word.

S: Καλύτερος [kalíteros].

389
T: Ah. It’s the same, “-υτερος”, “-οτερος” [iteros, oteros].

S: Ah.

T: Φτηνό [ftinó] we had, for example: “cheap” – φτηνότερος [ftinóteros]. So actually,
you know, we have the “-oτερος” [oteros] there as well, with this kind of “more”
feeling. So even the word for “more” – περισσότερος [perisóteros], this word for
“more”, when we’re not referring to another adjective, has the ending meaning
“more”, as well; that “oτερος”, “τερος” [otero, teros] ending. Περι [peri], which
you recognised as well. So looking at what we recognise there, helps us digest a
new word. Περισσότερος. So this is “more”, when we aren’t referring to another
describing word. So if you want to say, more sugar?

S: Περισσότερη ζάχαρη [perisóteri zákhari].

T: Περισσότερη ζάχαρη. And we could also have, πιο πολύ ζάχαρη [pyo polí zákhari],
instead of, περισσότερη. But not “πιο” by itself. No. Πιο πολύ – “more a lot”. Do
you want more sugar?

S: Θέλεις περισσότερη ζάχαρη; [thélis perisóteri zákhari?].

T: Θέλεις περισσότερη ζάχαρη; Θες [thes], we could also say “θες”, this contraction
of θέλεις, that’s very common. Θες περισσότερη ζάχαρη; [thes perisóteri
zákhari?]. You could also say, και άλλη ζάχαρη [ke áli zákhari] – “and another
sugar”, just used like “more”. Θες περισσότερη ζάχαρη, και άλλη ζάχαρη, πιο
πολύ ζάχαρη; [thes perisóteri zákhari, ke áli zákhari, pyo polí zákhari?]. How
would you say, Μore coffee?

S: Περισσότερος καφές [perisóteros kafés].

T: Περισσότερος καφές. You want a little more coffee?

S: Θέλεις περισσότερο καφές ... καφέ; [thélis perisótero kafés … kafé?].

T: Good. Θέλεις περισσότερο καφέ; [thélis perisótero kafé?]. And if you wanted to
stress, a little more, you could also say?

S: Θες λίγο περισσότερο καφέ; [thes lígho perisótero kafé?].

T: Good. Θες λίγο περισσότερο καφέ; And how would you say, Do you want a little
more?, referring to the coffee. So imagine you’re pouring somebody a coffee and
you say, Do you want a little more?

S: Θες λίγο περισσότερο; [thes lígho perisótero?].

T: Very good. Θες λίγο περισσότερο; And what gender is “λίγο” in?

390
S: It’s neuter.

T: It’s neuter, no? ’Cos it’s a “little more”, it’s referring to, περισσότερο, another
describing word. So we go into the neuter – λίγο [lígho]. And what gender is
περισσότερο in, when you say, Θες λίγο περισσότερο; [thes lígho perisótero?],
and you mean coffee?

S: Masculine.

T: It’s the masculine. No? Even though they look the same. Θες λίγο περισσότερο; So
for “more”, we have “πιο” if we’re referring to another describing word – πιο
μακριά [pyo makriá], πιο κοντά [pyo kondá], πιο κουρασμένος [pyo kurazménos];
or otherwise, περισσότερο [perisótero] for “more”. And we also saw that we can
use, πιο πολύ [pyo polí], and also, και άλλο, και άλλη [ke álo, ke áli], to mean
“more”.

How is, You try?

S: Προσπαθείς [prospathís].

T: Προσπαθείς. And what is the closed version of, προσπαθείς?

S: Προσπαθήσεις [prospathísis].

T: Προσπαθήσεις. Good. With these verbs that have their accent on the end, we can
get the closed version by inserting this “-ήσ-” [-ís-], no? Προσπαθώ, προσπαθήσω
[prospathó, prospathíso], προσπαθείς, προσπαθήσεις [prospathís, prospathísis].
So that’s, “You try”. You have to try more, like, You have to make more of an
effort.

S: Πρέπει να προσπαθήσεις περισσότερο [prépi na prospathísis perisótero].

T: Good. Πρέπει να προσπαθήσεις περισσότερο. So you used the closed version
there (προσπαθήσεις), which makes sense, because when we say, περισσότερο,
we don’t mean “more often”, we mean, “You have to make more of an effort”;
“You have to try more.” You could even say, Πρέπει να προσπαθήσεις και άλλο
[prépi na prospathísis ke álo]. So this “και άλλο” expression is very flexible – this
“and another”, to say “more”. Πρέπει να προσπαθήσεις και άλλο. You have to eat
more?

S: Πρέπει να φας περισσότερο [prépi na fas perisótero].

T: Πρέπει να φας περισσότερο. So if you say, Πρέπει να φας περισσότερο, it means,
“Now – you have to eat more.” But maybe you could also say, Πρέπει να τρως
περισσότερο [prépi na tros perisótero], and it would be understood, you know,
generally, “Υou have to eat more.”

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 What was, I travel?

S: Ταξιδεύω [taksidhévo].

T: Ταξιδεύω. You have to travel more.

S: Πρέπει να ταξιδέψεις περισσότερο [prépi na taksidhépsis perisótero].

T: You could have “ταξιδέψεις” [taksidhépsis], like, you know – Υou have to travel
more in order for something – you know, like, to achieve something, to learn what
you need to, to … to better your business, or whatever. But otherwise, if we just
mean, you know, you should travel more, here we really have the meaning of
“more often” – this is open and ongoing.

S: Πρέπει να ταξιδεύεις περισσότερο [prépi na taksidhévis perisótero].

T: Good. Πρέπει να ταξιδεύεις περισσότερο. Very good. And also, instead of
“περισσότερο”, you could have, “πιο πολύ” [pyo polí] – “more very”, πιο πολύ, as
well. So there’s quite a few ways to express this idea in Greek. You will hear many:
και άλλο [ke álo], πιο πολύ [pyo polí], περισσότερο [perisótero].

What do you like more? What pleases you more?

S: Τι σου αρέσει περισσότερο; [ti su arési perisótero?].

T: Τι σου αρέσει περισσότερο; So “περισσότερο” we are using, no, the neuter in all
of these cases. But sometimes “περισσότερο” might refer to things in the mind of
the native. So if somebody says, “You have to do more” – when they say “more”,
in their mind they mean “more things”. You know this, because Greeks will say ...
What will they say instead of “περισσότερο”, if they mean things?

S: Περισσότερα [perisótera].

T: Good. So how would that be?

S: Πρέπει να κάνεις περισσότερα [prépi na kánis perisótera].

T: Πρέπει να κάνεις περισσότερα. So that can be confusing. You might think: Oh, is
this one of these, like “-ly” things; is this one of these “-ly” describing words that
don’t change. No? And it’s actually just in the mind of the Greek speaker there
when they say, “You have to do more”, they mean “more things” – περισσότερα.
And that refers to, περισσότερα πράγματα [perisótera prághmata] – “more
things”. So don’t let that confuse you, if you come across it.

What was the word for “very”?

S: Πόλυ [póli].

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T: Πολύ [polí]. How would you say, I’m very far away?

S: Είμαι πολύ μακριά [íme polí makriá].

T: Good. I’m very far away from you?

S: Είμαι πολύ μακριά σου [íme polí makriá su].

T: Good. Είμαι πολύ μακριά σου. So, πολύ [polí] is “very” or “a lot”, no? If we say,
for example, I like it a lot.

S: Μου αρέσει πολύ [mu arési polí].

T: Μου αρέσει πολύ. But if [polí] refers to a noun, meaning “a lot of” or “many”, it
should match that noun. So if you say, A lot of sugar?

S: Πολλή ζάχαρη [polí zákhari].

T: Πολλή ζάχαρη. It’s already matching. No? But actually, the “πολύ” [polí] of “a lot”,
and the “πολλή” [polí] of feminine, like in “πολλή ζάχαρη” [polí zákhari], they
differentiate by “πολλή” having two L’s (λλ), and also ending in the feminine
ending of “πολλή ζάχαρη” – we have the feminine ending there, the “n” that goes
below the line (η) – whereas, πολύ “very”, has one L (λ) and has the [i] sound that
is the U (υ), the U, when it’s by itself sounding like an [i]. So it is matching,
although you might not hear it. And what if we say, Many coffees? So, “coffee”
was, καφές [kafés] and, coffees?

S: Καφέδες [kafédhes].

T: Καφέδες. Very good. So, Many coffees?

S: Πολλοί καφέδες [polí kafédhes].

T: Πολλοί καφέδες. And it’s actually still matching, because here we write it OI (οι),
no: two L’s (λλ) and OI (οι). So this extra L (λ) is just to kind of differentiate it a
little more from “very” (πολύ [polí]), no, when we mean like “a lot of” or “many”,
we … we have, two L’s (λλ).

Γυναίκα [yinéka] is “woman” – γυναίκα.

S: Γυναίκα.

T: Like in “misogynist”, no (“woman hater”): Μισώ [misó] – “I hate”. Gynist … gyny …
misogyny. Γυναίκα – “woman”.

S: Γυναίκα.

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T: And women?

S: Γυναίκες [yinékes].

T: Γυναίκες. Many women?

S: Πολλές γυναίκες [polés yinékes].

T: Ah, finally, we can hear it change, no? Πολλές γυναίκες. Good. Many women –
πολλές γυναίκες. How would you say, Many friends? And we mean female friends.

S: Πολλές φίλες [polés fíles].

T: Πολλές φίλες. I have many female friends.

S: Έχω πολλές φίλες [ékho polés fíles].

T: Έχω πολλές φίλες. I have many friends – and we mean masculine or mixed. I have
many friends.

S: Έχω πολλούς φίλους [ékho polús fílus].

T: Very good. Έχω πολλούς φίλους. Ah. “Πολλούς” is actually acting like the word for
“τους” [tus], and “-ος” [os] nouns, when “-ος” [os] nouns are behaving like
“them”, rather than “they”, they also take “-ους” [us]. So, I have them … I have
many friends – Έχω πολλούς φίλους [ékho polús fílus].

So although most describing words behave in the same way, or just like nouns do,
with some describing words we have to pay special attention and avoid getting
automatic. We need to pay attention to when, describing words maybe referring
to things that we don’t think they are, no? We might need to take a little more
time to actually look … Oh, what is that referring to? Is it referring to me, because
I’m saying “I’m a little far”, or is “little” referring to “far”, rather than to “me”. So
with a couple of describing words, we’re going to have to put a little more
thought. And we also need to understand that some describing words might not
change always in the typical way we expect them to. They might even have
different meanings, depending on whether they change or not – like we saw with:
καλός, καλή [kalós, kalí], etc., meaning “good”, and then, καλά [kalá] – well”,
which doesn’t change; κοντός, κοντή, κοντό [kondós, kondí, kondó], etc., for
“short”, and then κοντά [kondá] – “close by”; πολύ, πολλή [polí, polí], as a word
that doesn’t change meaning “very”, and then when it changes, meaning “many”,
or “a lot of”. So with some words, you won’t want to just see one example of it
behaving in a way and say, okay, this word behaves like that, no? Sometimes it
might behave one way when it’s doing something, and in a different way when it’s
doing something else.

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Complete Greek, Track 82 – Language Transfer

Teacher: What was, I like, or, It is pleasing to me?

Student: Μου αρέσει [mu arési].

T: Μου αρέσει. And, I liked it, or, It was pleasing to me?

S: Μου άρεσε [mu árese].

T: Μου άρεσε. Ι would like it; I would like.

S: Θα μου άρεσε [tha mu árese].

T: Θα μου άρεσε. Very good. So we combine “θα” with our open past to get
“would”, but of course, αρέσω [aréso] doesn’t have any alternative version, so
άρεσε [árese] works for that. Θα μου άρεσε – Ι would like; I would like it.

I would like us to speak Greek. I would like, να [na], we speak Greek.

S: Θα μου άρεσε να μιλήσουμε Ελληνικά [tha mu árese na milísume eliniká].

T: Good. Θα μου άρεσε να μιλήσουμε Ελληνικά. So with “μιλήσουμε” [milísume], it
would mean now, or some specific point – like when we meet up on Tuesday, or
whatever. But if you meant generally, what might you say? I would like us to speak
Greek.

S: Θα μου άρεσε να μιλάμε Ελληνικά [tha mu árese na miláme eliniká].

T: Good. Θα μου άρεσε να μιλάμε (or, να μιλούμε [na milúme]) Ελληνικά.

We’ve seen that we have μιλάς [milás], no, for you; μιλάτε [miláte] for, you plural;
and then some alternative versions like μιλάμε [miláme] instead of μιλούμε
[milúme]; μιλάν, μιλάνε [milán, miláne] instead of, μιλούν or μιλούνε [milún,
milúne] – but they mean the same. Although with “-άμε” [-ame] and “-άνε” [-ane]
it’s much more common. Θα μου άρεσε να μιλάμε (να μιλούμε) Ελληνικά.

You will often hear Greeks saying “them” in English, when they’re talking about a
language; like, “I don’t speak them very well.” This is of course, ’cos in Greek, we
have “Ελληνικά”, which is neuter plural. So this might transfer over into Greek
speakers’ English. So we can learn from that, no? We’ve said we can learn from
those mistakes that other Greek speakers might make in English, and also make
sure that we say it right in Greek. So if you say, I don’t speak it well, and you’re
referring to a specific language, how will you say that?

S: Δεν τα μιλάω καλά [dhen ta miláo kalá].

395
T: Good. If you really want to refer to that specific language, Δεν τα μιλάω καλά. If
you know what you’re talking about, maybe you’d just say, Δεν μιλάω καλά [dhen
miláo kalá]. No? But “τα”, neuter plural, because we have, τα Ελληνικά [ta
eliniká]. Do you speak it well?

S: Τα μιλάς καλά; [ta milás kalá?].

T: Τα μιλάς καλά; Νο? So we have an AS (-άς) [ás] ending here, with μιλάς, instead of
our common IS (-εις) [is], like in θέλεις [thélis], for example, because μιλάς [milás]
is μιλάω [miláo] – AO (άω) [áo] – μιλάω. Do you guys speak them well? So, Do you
guys speak it well?

S: Τα μιλάτε καλά; [ta miláte kalá?].

T: Τα μιλάτε καλά; And again, “-άτε” [áte] ending, no? We don’t speak well.

S: Δεν τα μιλάμε καλά [dhen ta miláme kalá].

T: Δεν τα μιλάμε καλά. Δεν μιλάμε καλά [dhen miláme kalá]. So we have “τα”, when
referring to a specific language, no? We don’t think about the word “language” or
anything like this. We think about the language that we are talking about, no? Τα
Ελληνικά [ta eliniká]. And I mentioned you might hear Greek speakers do this in
English as well, no? Like, “Oh, I don’t speak them”, “I have to practice them”, for
example.

The same with “hair”, for example is, τα μαλλιά [ta maliá]. And you will always
hear Greeks in English saying, “I have to cut them”, no? Or in many languages,
actually. Speakers of many languages do this in English, because “hair” tends to be
plural. But in English it’s “it”, no? So we can listen to this and, most mistakes that
we hear popping up often, try to learn something from them.

Αγγλικά [angliká], Aγγλικά, is “English”; Αγγλικά [angliká] or Αγγλικά [agliká]. You
can hear both pronunciations: Αγγλικά, Αγγλικά [angliká, agliká].

S: Αγγλικά.

T: Spelt A (α) - γάμα, γάμα (γγ) [gháma, gháma], -λικά [liká] - L (λ) - l (ι) - Κ (κ) - A (ά),
no? So, γάμα, γάμα (γγ), two γ’s together, give us the sound of [n-g], like NG, or
just [g]. But this isn’t like a γάμα (γ) [gháma] anymore, but like a “hard G”, like in
English “go”, no? Αγγλικά, Αγγλικά [agliká, angliká]. Another word like this with
these two gammas, giving us this sound is, άγγελος [ángelos], or άγγελος [ágelos].
What do you think that means – άγγελος, άγγελος [ángelos, ágelos]? We’ll find
the English if we think of NG there.

S: The angel?

396
T: Angel – like the name, Angelo, no? And again that’s with two γ’s; you don’t get
any Ν there; you don’t have any “n” written there. A (ά) - γάμα, γάμα (γγ) [gháma,
gháma] - Ε (ε) - Λ (λ) - Ο (o) - S (ς). And this gives us NG, or just G. Άγγελος,
άγγελος [ángelos, ágelos]. Γαλλικά [ghaliká], Γαλλικά is “French“; Ισπανικά
[ispaniká] – you can guess.

S: Spanish.

T: Spanish. “Cyprus” was Κύπρος [kípros], no? Or, Η Κύπρος [i kípros]. It was another
of those [os] (-ος) nouns, which are actually feminine; Η Κύπρος – “the Cyprus”.
And in Cyprus we have, τα Kυπριακά [ta kipriaká], the Cypriot dialect or language.
Τα Κυπριακά.

S: Τα Κυπριακά.

T: Do you speak Cypriot?

S: Μιλάς τα Κυπριακά; [milás ta kipriaká?].

T: Good. In this situation I would leave out the “τα” [ta].

S: Μιλάς Κυπριακά; [milás kipriaká?].

T: Μιλάς Κυπριακά; “Τα” is more, like, if you will begin with something like, you
know, “Cypriot is easy”. Then you would want to say, “The Cypriot is easy”. But
with the verb, just, Mιλάς Κυπριακά. No, but I speak Greek.

S: Όχι, αλλά ... όχι αλλά μιλάω Ελληνικά [óchi alá miláo eliniká].

T: Very good. Όχι αλλά (μα, αλλά, or μα [ma], we could have) μιλάω Ελληνικά.
Basically I don’t understand it very well ... and we mean a language.

S: Βασικά δεν τα καταλαβαίνω πολύ καλά [vasiká dhen ta katalavéno polí kalá].

T: Good. Βασικά δεν τα καταλαβαίνω πολύ καλά – for “very well”, or just “καλά”.
How would you say, I speak a little?

S: Μιλάω λίγο [miláo lígho].

T: Μιλάω λίγο. Good. I speak a little Greek.

S: Μιλάω λίγο Ελληνικά [miláo lígho eliniká].

T: Μιλάω λίγο Ελληνικά. So this, this is correct, and it sounds maybe a little bit more
like, “I speak Greek a little”, but you can also make “little” refer to “Greek”. Make
it sound more like, I speak a little Greek. How would that be?

397
S: Μιλάω λίγα Ελληνικά [miláo lígha eliniká].

T: Very good. Μιλάω λίγα Ελληνικά. What was the word for, short?

S: Κοντός [kondós].

T: Κοντός [kondós], or κοντός [kodós]. So now we’ve seen two examples, no, of an N,
that we will hear or not hear. We could have, κοντός [kodós], or κοντός [kondós];
as we could have Αγγλικά [agliká], no, for “English”, or Αγγλικά [angliká]. So we
have, κοντός, κοντός [kodós, kondós], for “short”, and “close”? How do we say,
close? Something like, “short -ly”.

S: Κοντά [kondá].

T: Κοντά. Από κοντά [apó kondá] – “from close”, can be used like “face-to-face”, or
something like this, no? If you want to say, for example, “Let’s speak face-to-
face”. What is the sound we can use for, “Let’s”, for Let’s?

S: Ας [as].

T: Ας. Good. Like in, “Aς πούμε” [as púme] – “let’s say” – you hear that a lot. Let’s
speak face-to-face – “from close”.

S: Ας μιλήσουμε από κοντά [as milísume apó kondá].

T: Very good. Ας μιλήσουμε από κοντά.

We saw how those verbs with their accent on the end can have “άτε” [áte] or
“είτε” [íte] for the formal “you”, or the plural “you”, no, rather than our standard
“ετε” [ete]. So usually we add “ετε” for our plural, or our formal “you”. So, θέλω
[thélo] is “I want” and, You guys want?

S: Θέλετε [thélete].

T: Θέλετε. I like it?

S: Μου αρέσει [mu arési].

T: Μου αρέσει. I like you guys; You guys please me.

S: Μου αρέσετε [mu arésete].

T: Μου αρέσετε. So usually we have “ετε” [ete], no, for this formal or this plural
“you”. But with our verbs that have their accent on the ending, we have “άτε”
[áte] or “είτε” [íte]. What is, I can?

S: Μπορώ [boró].

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T: Μπορώ. You can, for plural?

S: Μπορείτε [boríte].

T: Μπορείτε. Good. I try, was?

S: Προσπαθώ [prospathó].

T: Προσπαθώ. And, You try, plural or formal?

S: Προσπαθείτε [prospathíte].

T: Προσπαθείτε. Good. So those verbs that have “είτε” [íte] for the “you” plural or
formal, just have the endings we would expect them to have for the other forms,
no? Μπορεί, μπορείς, μπορούν, μπορούνε [borí, borís, borún, borúne], etc.

Χρήσιμος [khrísimos], χρήσιμος, is “useful”. Χρήσιμος.

S: Χρήσιμος.

T: How would you say, This one is more useful, and we mean a neuter thing? This
one is more useful.

S: Αυτό είναι πιο χρήσιμο [aftó íne pyo khrísimo].

T: Very good. Αυτό είναι πιο χρήσιμο. How would you say, This one is the most
useful, or, the more useful?

S: Αυτό είναι το πιο χρήσιμο [aftó íne to pyo khrísimo].

T: Good. Αυτό είναι το πιο χρήσιμο. Or, το χρησιμότερο [to khrisimótero]. Αυτό είναι
το χρησιμότερο [aftó íne to khrisimótero]. How would you say, We want
something a little more useful? We want something a little more useful.

S: Θέλουμε κάτι λίγο πιο χρήσιμο [thélume káti lígho pyo khrísimo].

T: Good. We have, χρήσιμο [khrísimo], the neuter, no, because we say, κάτι [káti] –
Something more useful. And κάτι – “something”, must be neuter, no? Θέλουμε
κάτι λίγο πιο χρήσιμο [thélume káti lígho pyo khrísimo].

“I use”, I use, so the verb is, χρησιμοποιώ [khrisimopió]. Χρησιμοποιώ.

S: Χρησιμοποιώ.

T: So it’s like “χρήσιμο” [khrísimo], with “ποιώ” [pió] on the end – χρησιμοποιώ.
And, of course, we have the accent on the end, no? Which means for the “you”

399
 plural, we won’t use “ετε” [ete], no, but “είτε” [íte] or “άτε” [áte]. Which one do
you think it is? You guys use.

S: “-είτε” [íte]? Xρησιμοπείτε [khrisimopíte].

T: But we have two Ι’s, [i], ah, because we have “-ποιώ” [pió], χρησιμοποιώ
[khrisimopió], and when we take off the Ο (ώ), and we put “είτε” [íte], we are
actually left with two Ι’s. Χρησιμοποιείτε [khrisimopi-íte].

S: Χρησιμοποιείτε [khrisimopiíte].

T: Good. Don’t you guys use it?

S: Δεν το χρησιμοποιείτε; [dhen to khrisimopiíte?].

T: Δεν το χρησιμοποιείτε; Don’t you guys want to use it? Don’t you guys want to use
it? You don’t want to use it – in the plural.

S: Δεν θέλετε να το χρησιμοποιείτε; [dhen thélete na to khrisimopiíte?].

T: Okay. So let’s imagine we are talking about, you know, one very specific situation,
rather than generally.

S: Δεν θέλετε να το χρησιμοποιήσετε; [dhen thélete na to khrisimopiísete?].

T: Good. And when you put the “-ήσ-” [-ís-], you also doubled the “I”, no, and you
went back to “ετε” [ete], which is correct. We only have “είτε” [íte] or “άτε” [áte]
in the standard forms, no. Otherwise, we go back to “ετε” [ete]. Δεν θέλετε να το
χρησιμοποιήσετε; Very good.

400
Complete Greek, Track 83 – Language Transfer

Teacher: How do you say, I want, in Greek?

Student: Θέλω [thélo].

T: Θέλω. And, Υou want?

S: Θέλεις [thélis].

T: Θέλεις. And, You want, for the formal, or the plural, if you’re talking to more than
one person. You guys want.

S: Θέλετε [thélete].

T: Θέλετε. Good. So usually we have “ετε” [ete] for the “you” plural. What is, I
speak?

S: Μιλάω [miláo].

T: Μιλάω, or μιλώ [miló]. And the closed version – Μιλάω has its accent on the end,
so?

S: Μιλήσω [milíso].

T: Μιλήσω. Περπατάω [perpatáo], περπατάω, was “I walk”. Περπατάω. So we could
have, περπατάω, or you might also hear, περπατώ [perpató].

S: Περπατώ.

T: So if you hear “περπατώ” [perpató], you won’t know whether this verb uses
“είτε” [íte] or “άτε” [áte] for the plural or formal “you”, or “άς” [ás] or “είς” [ís] for
the normal “you”. When we see “περπατάω” [perpatáo], we know that it will use
“άτε” [áte] for “you” plural or formal, and “άς” [ás] for you, ’cos we have the [a]
(ά) there in, περπατάω. But as “περπατώ” also exists, you might not notice until
you see some other form of the verb. So, this is one of these verbs that have [a]
(ά) popping up in the present: περπατάω, περπατάτε [perpatáo, perpatáτε]. You
(informal) walk?

S: Περπατάς [perpatás].

T: Περπατάς. Συμφωνώ [simfonó] was “I agree”. Συμφωνώ.

S: Συμφωνώ.

401
T: So this is like “with voice”, “together voice”, “voices together”; like in “telephone”
(τηλέφωνο [tiléfono]) – the far voice; and, συμφωνώ – together voice, with voice.
So that’s “I agree”. “You agree”, informal, is συμφωνείς [simfonís]. Συμφωνφείς.

S: Συμφωνφείς.

T: So, by the fact that this one ends “συμφωνφείς”, you can work out the, “Υou
(formal) agree”. You guys, you (plural), you guys agree, would be?

S: Συμφωνείτε [simfoníte].

T: Συμφωνείτε. Good. So here we have “είτε” [íte] for “you” formal, instead of “ετε”
[ete], but the rest of the versions are as we would expect them to be, no? Just
with the accent on the end; συμφωνείς [simfonís] – You (informal) agree. He
agrees?

S: Συμφωνεί [simfoní].

T: Good. Συμφωνεί. We agree.

S: Συμφωνούμε [simfonúme].

T: Συμφωνούμε. They agree.

S: Συμφωνούν [simfonún].

T: Συμφωνούν, or συμφωνούνε [simfonúne]. But, You guys agree?

S: Συμφωνείτε [simfoníte].

T: Συμφωνείτε. So just one alternative form with these that have “είτε” [íte], no?
That’s our only alternative form, in the present – “είτε”. And when we go to the
closed version of the verb, we go back to “ετε” [ete], no, with all of these verbs.
So if you say, for example, Can’t you guys agree? How would that be? So, You
guys can’t.

S: Δεν μπορείτε να συμφωνήσετε; [dhen boríte na simfonísete?].

T: Very good. Δεν μπορείτε να συμφωνήσετε; So in “μπορώ” [boró] we have “είτε”
[íte], then “μπορείτε” [boríte]. And then, with “συμφωνώ” [simfonó], because
we’re using the closed version, we go back to “ετε” [ete]. Δεν μπορείτε να
συμφωνήσετε; [dhen boríte na simfonísete?]. Can’t you guys agree on something?
And for, “on something”, we can just say, “to something”. So, Can’t you guys
agree on something?

S: Δεν μπορείτε να συμφωνει ... συμφωνήσετε σε κάτι; [dhen boríte na simfonísete
se káti?].

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T: Σε κάτι [se káti]. Δεν μπορείτε να συμφωνήσετε σε κάτι; Very good. So, “σε” [se]
means “to”, but I guess in some situations it can mean “on” as well. But this is the
thing about prepositions. So prepositions are these odd little words like, σε [se],
“to”; για [ya], “for”; με [me], “with”; από [apó], “from” – that show some position
or movement. And these little words often don’t translate over well from one
language to another. In one language, you know, you’ll say, “Can’t you guys agree
on something”; in the other, “Can’t you guys agree to something”, and in another,
“Can’t you guys agree for something”. No? So we want to pay special attention to
these. And just bear in mind that the one we’re using in English might not
necessarily be the one we use in Greek.

Don’t you guys want to walk? Don’t you guys want to walk?

S: Δεν θέλετε να περπατήσετε; [dhen thélete na perpatísete?].

T: Δεν θέλετε να περπατήσετε; Are you walking (informal)?

S: Περπατάς; [perpatás?].

T: Περπατάς; Don’t you want to walk?

S: Δεν θέλεις να περπατήσεις; [dhen thélis na perpatísis?].

T: Δεν θέλεις να περπατήσεις; Doesn’t he want to walk? Doesn’t she want to walk?

S: Δεν θέλει να περπατήσει; [dhen théli na perpatísi?].

T: Very good. Δεν θέλει να περπατήσει; So we have to pay a little extra special
attention, no, to these verbs with their accent on the end. We’ve seen that they
may have A’s (ά) popping up in the “you” forms, like “-άς, -άτε” [ás, áte], and also
alternative versions like “-άμε, -άνε” [áme, áne]; or they might just have “είτε”
[íte] for “you” formal, instead of “ετε” [ete]. But when they’re in their closed
form, then we just use our normal standard endings. So, for example, “He’s
walking”– Περπατάει, περπατά [perpatái, perpatá]. “He doesn’t want to walk” –
Δεν θέλει να περπατήσει [dhen théli na perpatísi].

These verbs, with their accent on the end, also make their open past in a different
way. Give me again, I walk (I’m walking).

S: Περπατάω [perpatáo].

T: Περπατάω. And the closed version of, περπατάω?

S: Περπατήσω [perpatíso].

T: Περπατήσω. And, I walked?

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S: Περπάτησα [perpátisa].

T: Περπάτησα. If you want to say “I was walking” we have, περπατούσα [perpatúsa].
Περπατούσα.

S: Περπατούσα.

T: So we don’t do what we usually do for this open past; we don’t go from the closed
version “περπατάω” (we just used that), we have this “-ούσ-” [ús] coming up for
these verbs with their accent on the end. So, “I was walking”, περπατούσα
[perpatúsa].

So we have the same sound for the past like always, no: the “-α” [a], “-αμε”
[ame], “-αν” [an], etc., “-ε” [e], “-ες” [es]. But we also have this “-ούσ-” [ús]; and
we accent this [ús]; it’s always accented. So, περπάτησα [perpátisa] – we have the
accent third from the end – “I walked”; and then, περπατούσα [perpatúsa] – we
have the accent on the “-ούσ-” [ús] – “I was walking”. He was walking?

S: Περπατούσε [perpatúse].

T: Περπατούσε. You were walking (informal)?

S: Περπατούσες [perpatúses].

T: Περπατούσες. I was walking?

S: Περπατούσα [perpatúsa].

T: We were walking?

S: Περπατούσαμε [perpatúsame].

T: Περπατούσαμε. They were walking?

S: Περπατούσανε [perpatúsane].

T: Περπατούσανε. Were you guys walking?

S: Περπατούσατε; [perpatúsate?].

T: Περπατούσατε; What is, “I love”, like you might hear often in Greek, “my love” –
“aγάπη μου [aghápi mu]. And, I love?

S: Αγαπάω [aghapáo].

404
T: Αγαπάω, or αγαπώ [aghapó]. So you said, αγαπάω [aghapáo], which means that
we’ve heard this “-άω” [áo] version, no? We know it exists, which means we know
that we have, “Εσύ [esí] ... ”?

S: Αγαπάς [aghapás].

T: Αγαπάς. And, “Εσείς [esís] ... ”?

S: Αγαπάτε [aghapáte].

T: Αγαπάτε. So, I loved. I loved, would be?

S: Αγάπησα [aghápisa].

T: Αγάπησα. I was loving, or, I used to love?

S: Αγαπούσα [aghapúsa].

T: Αγαπούσα. I used to love her.

S: Την αγαπούσα [tin aghapúsa].

T: Την Αγαπούσα. You used to love her.

S: Την αγαπούσες [tin aghapúses].

T: Την αγαπούσες.

We said that we could use, ούτε που [úte pu], ούτε που, like, “You didn’t even
(not even)”. No? So, if you want to say, You didn’t even love her. “Not even” –
ούτε που – “you loved her”. So how would that be? You didn’t even love her.

S: Ούτε που την αγαπούσες [úte pu tin aghapúses].

T: Αh, okay, well both work: αγαπούσες, αγάπησες [aghapúses, aghápises]. Here it
would just depend on what you had in the mind, no? You know … You weren’t
even in love with her – something more open; or, you know, You didn’t even love
her. And other than “ούτε που”, you can also hear “ούτε καν” [úte kan]. Oύτε καν
την αγάπησες (την αγαπούσες) [úte kan tin aghápises (tin aghapúses)].

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Complete Greek, Track 84 – Language Transfer

Teacher: What was “I speak”?

Student: Μιλάω [miláo].

T: Μιλάω. And, I spoke?

S: Μίλησα [mílisa].

T: Μίλησα. And, I was speaking.

S: Μιλούσα [milúsa].

T: Μιλούσα. So we have the “-ούσ-” [ús] accented, no, for “I was speaking”, which
means that sometimes the accent falls in different places, comparing these two
pasts, no? We had, μίλησα [mílisa], and then μιλούσα [milúsa]. But sometimes it
may fall in the same place, no? How would, We spoke, be?

S: Μιλήσαμε [milísame].

T: Μιλήσαμε. And, We were speaking?

S: Μιλούσαμε [milúsame].

T: Μιλούσαμε. So here we have the accent in the same place: μιλήσαμε, and
μιλούσαμε. But we don’t have to worry about that; we just know that “-ούσ-” [ús]
is always accented. They spoke?

S: Μίλησαν [mílisan].

T: Μίλησαν. And, They were speaking?

S: Μιλούσανε [milúsane].

T: Μιλούσαν, μιλούσανε [milúsan, milúsane]. I was speaking?

S: Μιλούσα [milúsa].

T: Μιλούσα. I would speak, or, I was going to speak?

S: Θα μίλησα [tha mílisa].

T: Θα μίλησα? So it’s not just “θα” with the past; it’s “θα” with a certain type of past,
which gives us this meaning of “would”, or, “was going to”.

S: Θα μιλούσα [tha milúsa].

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T: Θα μιλούσα. Νο? So we have the open past with “θα”, and we get “I would”, or, “I
was going to”.

The … the word for “simple” is απλός [aplós]. Απλός – like, A (α) - P (π) - L (λ) - O
(ο) - S (ς). Απλός.

S: Απλός.

T: And this is the masculine form I gave you, of course. How would you say, simply?

S: Απλά [aplá].

T: Απλά. And this is used a lot in Greek, also like, “just”, you know. So, I don’t know,
if you wanted to say, I wasn’t going to speak but I just had to say something. You
know, you could say, “but simply I had to say something”. So, I wasn’t going to
speak?

S: Δεν θα μιλούσα ... [dhen tha milúsa].

T: Δεν θα μιλούσα ... but I just had to say something. In fact, you can leave out the
“but”. You could just say, Simply I had to say something.

S: Απλά είχα να πω κάτι [aplá íkha na po káti].

T: What is, “I had to”; “It was necessary”?

S: Έπρεπε να ... έπρεπε να πω κάτι [éprepe na po káti].

T: Very good. Δεν θα μιλούσα αλλά [dhen tha milúsa alá] (or we could leave out the
“αλλά”) απλά έπρεπε να πω κάτι [aplá éprepe na po káti]. Δεν θα μιλούσα απλά
έπρεπε να πω κάτι [dhen tha milúsa aplá éprepe na po káti].

Χρησιμοποιώ [khrisimopió], χρησιμοποιώ, we said, was “I use”. I use.

S: Χρησιμοποιώ.

T: And we also saw we had the adjective, χρήσιμο, χρήσιμος, χρήσιμη [khrísimo,
khrísimos, khrísimi], meaning “useful”. There’s no “χρησιμοπιοάω” [khrisimopiáo]
– this doesn’t exist, only “χρησιμοποιώ”, so we know that we have, εσείς, the
“you” plural, formal: Εσείς ... ?

S: Χρησιμοποιείτε [khrisimopi-íte].

T: Χρησιμοποιείτε [khrisimopiíte]. Good, with two [i] sounds, no? Because we have
“χρησιμοποιώ”, and we get rid of the O (-ώ) [ó], and put “-είτε” [íte], which gives
us two [i] sounds: χρησιμοποιείτε. Will you guys use it?

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S: Θα το χρησιμοποιείτε; [tha to khrisimopiíte?].

T: This would be like, “Will you guys be using it?”, no? Which could work in some
context; but just, Will you guys use it? – as a closed time.

S: Θα το χρησιμοποιήσετε; [tha to khrisimopi-ísete?].

T: Very good. We go back to “ετε” [ete], no, when we are out of our standard form.
Θα το χρησιμοποιήσετε; [tha to khrisimopiísete?].

So, we have an [i] sound from the verb, χρησιμοποιώ [khrisimopió], and an [i]
sound from the “-ήσ-” [-ís-] that we insert in the closed version of the verb. And
these two vowel sounds are treated like two different syllables. So if you say, “I
used”, you’re going to treat those two [i] sounds as two different syllables. What
do I mean? Let’s give that a try – I used.

S: Χρησιμοποιήσα [khrisimopi-ísa].

T: And which one are you accenting?

S: Χρησιμοποίησα [khrisimopí-isa].

T: Χρησιμοποίησα [khrisimopíisa]. So we have the accent third from the end, no?
But because we are treating these two [i]’s like two separate syllables, the first
one takes the accent and we get, Χρησιμοποίησα [khrisimopíisa]. So actually it
feels like we have the accent second from the end. No? It’s only because Greeks
use these two [i] sounds as two syllables. I didn’t use it?

S: Δεν το χρησιμοποίησα [dhen to khrisimopíisa].

T: Δεν το χρησιμοποίησα. Χρηιμοποίησα. And, I wasn’t using it.

S: Δεν το χρησιμοπούσα [dhen to khrisimopúsa].

T: When you add “-ουσ-“ [ús], you shouldn’t lose the [i] (οι) sound of χρησιμοποι-ώ.
No? That’s still there.

S: Δεν το χρησιμοποιούσα [dhen to khrisimopi-úsa].

T: Δεν το χρησιμοποιούσα [dhen to khrisimopiúsa]. Δεν το χρησιμοποιούσα. I
wouldn’t use it? And let’s emphasise – let’s use the word for “I”, for emphasis. I
wouldn’t use it.

S: Εγώ δεν θα το χρησιμοποιούσα [eghó dhen tha to khrisimopiúsa].

408
T: Εγώ δεν θα το χρησιμοποιούσα. Δεν θα το χρησιμοποιούσα, εγώ [dhen tha to
khrisimopiúsa, eghó]. How would you say, I didn’t even use it? What can we use
for this feeling of, didn’t even?

S: Ούτε που [úte pu].

T: Ούτε που. Ούτε καν [úte kan]. Very good. So, I didn’t even use it.

S: Ούτε που το χρησιμοποιούσα [úte pu to khrisimopiúsa].

T: OK, that’s, “I wasn’t even using it”. No? Ούτε που το χρησιμοποιούσα. No? So, I
didn’t even use it. No? That’s a closed time.

S: Ούτε που το χρησιμοποίησα [úte pu to khrisimopíisa].

T: Ούτε που το χρησιμοποίησα. I didn’t even use it. And we’re not using the
negative, no? Ούτε που το χρησιμοποίησα. What was, I can, or, I am able?

S: Μπόρω [bóro].

T: Μπορώ [boró]. The closed version of μπορώ, is μπορέσω [boréso]. Μπορέσω. So
it’s a little weird. It’s not, μπορήσω [boríso], as we might expect, but μπορέσω.

S: Μπορέσω.

T: So we have μπορέσω, for our closed version. How would you say, I was able?

S: Μπορέσ ... μπορέσα [borés … borésa].

T: And where does the accent fall?

S: Μπόρεσα [bóresa].

T: Μπόρεσα [bóresa]. No? We have our accent third from the end in the past, with
the exception of “-ουσ-” [ús].

Τελικά [teliká], τελικά, means “finally”, or “in the end”, and that’s used quite
often in conversation. Τελικά – finally; in the end.

S: Τελικά.

T: Like, τελειώνω [telióno] – “I finish”, no? How would you say, I couldn’t in the end?

S: Τελικά δεν μπόρεσα [teliká dhen borésa].

T: Τελικά δεν μπόρεσα. Δεν μπόρεσα τελικά [dhen borésa teliká]. I couldn’t do it in
the end. I couldn’t do it in the end.

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S: Τελικά δεν το ... δεν μπόρεσα να το κάνω [teliká dhen to … dhen bóresa na to
káno].

T: Very good. We think about those two parts separately, no? Τελικά δεν μπόρεσα
να το κάνω. I couldn’t, να, do it – να το κάνω. So the “το” [to], when it occurs. But
of course, when we say, “I was able”, or “I wasn’t able”, “I couldn’t“, referring to
the past, in English, we might be referring to an open time or a closed time. So we
were building the closed: μπόρεσα. How would be that open feeling of “could”?

S: Μπορούσα [borúsa].

T: Μπορούσα. So, “I couldn’t do it”, and we mean, like, over a period of time –
maybe in the context of describing a situation of trying to get something done or,
you know, it really depends on the context. So how would that be? I couldn’t do it;
I was not able to do it.

S: Δεν μπορούσα να το κάνω [dhen borúsa na to káno].

T: Δεν μπορούσα να το κάνω. So, most of the time with “could”, you can use either
open or closed – the open or closed past. And it’s just about the way you are
imagining the time in whatever you are describing, no, which we’ve thought about
and discussed a fair bit.

But also, apart from those two different types of past, “could” in English can also
refer to future, no, like in the hypothetical future. “Could” can mean “I was able”
(past), or “I would be able”. “Could” means both in English. Compare, “I couldn’t
do it yesterday, but I could do it tomorrow”. And in both situations we use
“could”. So let’s build that in Greek. First, I couldn’t do it yesterday.

S: Δεν μπορέσα ... Δεν μπόρεσα να το κάνω χθες [… dhen bóresa na to káno chthes].

T: Very good. Δεν μπόρεσα να το κάνω χθες. Δεν μπορούσα να το κάνω χθες [dhen
borúsa na to káno chthes]. Even though “χθες” is a closed period, what we are
referring to, you know, might be an ongoing attempt. It really depends on what’s
in our minds. So, Δεν μπόρεσα (δεν μπορούσα) να το κάνω χθες ... but I could do
it tomorrow. So this “could”, in, “but I could do it tomorrow”, is: I would be able to
do it tomorrow. So we need “would”. I would be able?

S: Θα μπορούσα [tha borúsa].

T: Very good. Θα μπορούσα. I would be able to do it tomorrow.

S: Θα μπορούσα να το κάνω αύριο [tha borúsa na to káno ávrio].

410
T: Very good. Δεν μπόρεσα (δεν μπορούσα) να το κάνω χθες, αλλά θα μπορούσα να
το κάνω αύριο [dhen bóresa (dhen borúsa) na to káno chthes, alá tha borúsa na to
káno ávrio]. Good.

So for “would”, no; to build “would”, we have our open past with “θα”: Θα
μπορούσα – “I would be able” – “I could”, when we are referring to the future. So
when we want “could” in Greek, we have to think about that; we have to think, do
I mean in the past, or do I mean in the future, no? Or just do I mean, “I was able”,
or do I mean “I would be able”, which is maybe a simpler way of thinking about it.

So, if you say something like, “I couldn’t love him”, well this could be either,
depending on the context. You might mean, “I wasn’t able to love him”. So give
me that – I wasn’t able to love him.

S: Δεν μπόρεσα να … να τον αγαπήσω [dhen bóresa na … na ton aghapíso].

T: Δεν μπόρεσα (or, δεν μπορούσα [dhen borúsa]) να τον αγαπήσω. And, I couldn’t
love him, meaning, I wouldn’t be able to love him?

S: Δεν θα μπορούσα να τον αγαπήσω [dhen tha borúsa na ton aghapíso].

T: Very good. Δεν θα μπορούσα να τον αγαπήσω. So a sentence like, “I couldn’t love
him”, by itself, we don’t know if it refers to the past or the future in English, but
we do in Greek, and we need to think about that. Δεν μπόρεσα (δεν μπορούσα)
να τον αγαπήσω [dhen bóresa (dhen borúsa) na ton aghapíso]; or, Δεν θα
μπορούσα να τον αγαπήσω [dhen tha borúsa na ton aghapíso].

411
Complete Greek, Track 85 – Language Transfer

Teacher: How is, What are you doing?, or, How are you?, used like, How are you?

Student: Τι κάνεις; [ti kánis?].

T: Τι κάνεις; And what if you are talking to more than one person?

S: Τι κάνετε; [ti kánete?].

T: Τι κάνετε; How is, I can, or, I am able?

S: Μπορώ [boró].

T: Μπορώ. And, You guys can (You guys are able)?

S: Μπορείτε [boríte].

T: Μπορείτε. Good. How is, You will be able (You guys will be able)?

S: Θα μπορήσετε [tha borísete].

T: Good. But we have an irregular closed version of “μπορώ”.

S: Θα μπορέσετε [tha borésete].

T: Good. Θα μπορέσετε. And we go back to “ετε” [ete], no, when we’re not in our
open standard verb form. So, μπορείτε [boríte] and, θα μπορέσετε [tha borésete].
Will you guys be able to do it tomorrow?

S: Θα μπορέσετε να το κάνετε αύριο; [tha borésete na to kánete ávrio?].

T: Very good. Θα μπορέσετε να το κάνετε αύριο; How would you say, Were you able
to do it yesterday? Were you guys able to do it yesterday?

S: Μπορέσατε να το κάνετε χθες; [borésate na to kánete chthes?].

T: Very good. Μπορέσατε να το κάνετε χθες; Would you be able to do it tomorrow?

S: Θα μπορούσατε να το κάνετε αύριο; [tha borúsate na to kánete ávrio?].

T: Good. Θα μπορούσατε να το κάνετε αύριο; So with “would”, we don’t have to ask
any questions about things being open or closed, or whatever. We just use the
open past with “θα”: θα μπορούσατε [tha borúsate] and we get, You guys would
be able, or, You guys could. Θα μπορούσατε να το κάνετε αύριο; Would you guys
be able to do it tomorrow?

412
 Απαντώ [apandó] or απαντώ [apadó] in Greek is “I answer”. Απαντώ, απαντώ
[apandó, apadó].

S: Απαντώ.

T: So again we have NT (ντ) in the middle of the word, which can give us ND [nd] or
just D [d], depending on the dialect and age group as well. I think with just the D
[d], mostly, is more common with young people. I have the habit of putting with
the N, as my exposure to the Greek of the Diaspora, but it really depends on
where you are and who you’re speaking to. And this is a verb, of course, with its
accent on the end, so we would be looking out for – Oh, is there also, απαντάω
[apandáo], απαντάω [apadáo]? And there is with this verb. We have, απαντώ
[apandó], απαντάω [apandáo].

S: Απαντάω [apandáo].

T: So, You answer, is (informal)?

S: Απαντείς [apandís].

T: We have, απαντάω, απαντάω [apandáo, apadáo], no? Which means ... ?

S: Απαντάς [apandás].

T: Απαντάς. No? So you may have come across first, απαντώ [apandó], no? But
always with these verbs that have the accent on the end, you need to suspect that
they might have A’s (α) [a], popping up, until you find a version of the verb that
can confirm it for you. No? So when you see απαντάς [apandás], that confirms it.
If you were to see, απαντούμε [apandúme] – “we answer” – would that confirm
something for you about the verb?

S: I don’t think so.

T: It wouldn’t, no? Because you could have, απαντούμε [apandúme] or, απντάμε
[apandáme], so it doesn’t tell us anything. But if you see, απαντάτε [apandáte],
does this confirm something for you?

S: Yes.

T: So how would you say, Ηe answers (She answers)?

S: Απαντάει [apandái].

T: Απαντάει or, απαντά [apandá]. What we know we don’t have is, απαντεί [apandí],
no? Because we have the [a] (α). So what is the closed version of, απαντάω?

S: Απαντήσω [apandíso].

413

T: Απαντήσω. I answered?

S: Απάντησα [apándisa].

T: Απάντησα. Good. I was answering.

S: Απαντούσα [apandúsa].

T: Απαντούσα. I would answer; I was going to answer.

S: Θα απαντούσα [tha apandúsa].

T: Θα απαντούσα. I was going to answer yesterday.

S: Θα απαντούσα χθες [tha apandúsa chthes].

T: Θα απαντούσα χθες.

The word for “sorry” or “excuse me” is, συγγνώμη [sighnómi]. Συγγνώμη.

S: Συγγνώμη.

T: Good. If you want to say sorry for something like, “Sorry I didn’t answer
yesterday”, you could say, Συγγνώμη που [sighnómi pu], and then just, “I didn’t
answer yesterday”. So, Sorry I didn’t answer yesterday?

S: Συγγνώμη που δεν απάντησα χθες [sighnómi pu dhen apándisa chthes].

T: Sorry I didn’t answer yesterday – Συγγνώμη που δεν απάντησα χθες. Sorry I
couldn’t answer yesterday.

S: Συγγνώμη που δεν μπορέσα ... [sighnómi pu dhen borésa … ].

T: I think you decided halfway through the word, which one you will use, no?
Maybe? Sο I think you need to decide beforehand, if you will use the open or the
closed time, so you don’t kind of mash together elements from both of them.

S: Συγγνώμη που δεν μπόρεσα, δεν μπόρεσα να απαντήσω χθες [sighnómi pu dhen
bóresa, dhen bóresa na apandíso chthes].

T: Very good. Συγγνώμη που δεν μπόρεσα να απαντήσω χθες. Όπου δεν μπoρούσα
να απαντήσω χθες [ópu dhen borúsa na apandíso chthes]. I want you to answer
me. And here we’re going to say, I want you to answer to me. Let’s speak
informally.

S: Θέλω να με … να μου απαντήσεις [thélo na me … na mu apandísis].

414

T: Θέλω να μου απαντήσεις [thélo na mu apandísis]. So this is interesting, no? We
have to answer, “to me”, even though when we ask (“ρωτάω” [rotáo]), when we
use ρωτάω, we say “με” [me] or “σε” [se], no, rather than “μου” [mu] and “σου”
[su]. So we ask directly somebody, but then we answer to somebody in Greek. So
this is why listening is important, no? Because logic won’t always take us to the
correct decision – if we need “με” or “μου”, “σε” or “σου”. So we want to listen
out all the time, and notice when we hear one or the other, and think about why.
And in this way we constantly revise what we know.

I want you to answer me before tomorrow. For “before tomorrow”, we wοuld say
“until tomorrow”, in Greek: Μέχρι αύριο [mékhri ávrio] – “until tomorrow”.

S: Μέχρι αύριο.

T: So, I want you to answer me before tomorrow.

S: Θέλω να μου απαντ ... απαντήσεις μέχρι αύριο [thélo na mu apandísis mékhri
ávrio].

T: Very good. Θέλω να μου απαντήσεις μέχρι αύριο [thélo na mu apandísis mékhri
ávrio]. And what if you are talking plurally? I want you guys to answer me before
tomorrow.

S: Θέλω να μου απαντήσετε μέχρι αύριο [thélo na mu apandísete mékhri ávrio].

T: Very good. Θέλω να μου απαντήσετε μέχρι αύριο.

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Complete Greek, Track 86 – Language Transfer

Teacher: “The road” in Greek was … ?

Student: O δρóμος [o dhrómos].

T: O δρóμος, no, like hippodrome, like syndrome, no, (“with road”), which refers to,
like, a set of symptoms running their course – ο δρóμος. This road?

S: Αυτóς ο δρóμος [aftós o dhrómos].

T: Αυτóς ο δρóμος – “this the road”, no, or “he the road”, in Greek. So this is in “he”
position – αυτóς ο δρóμος.

What was “I take”?

S: Πάρω [páro].

T: This is the closed form.

S: Παίρνω [pérno].

T: Παίρνω. Good. So we have, παίρνω [pérno] and πάρω [páro], no, for “I take”.
How would you say, You have to take this road? So, “αυτóς” [aftós] and “δρóμος”
[dhrómos] are going to behave differently here, when you say, You have to take
this road. Αυτóς is going to behave like “the”, and δρóμος is just going to behave
like a masculine noun. So let’s give this a try. You have to take this road.

S: Πρέπει να πάρεις αυτόν τον δρóμο [prépi na páris aftón ton dhrómo].

T: Very good. Πρέπει να πάρεις αυτόν τον δρóμο. So we have “δρóμο” [dhrómo] and
“αυτόν” [aftón] behaving differently, no? “Αυτόν” behaves like “τον” [ton], and
“δρóμο” just behaves like a masculine noun.

The same with the word “άλλος”, which means “other”. No? So if you say, for
example, You have to take the other road, how would that be?

S: Πρέπει να πάρεις τον άλλον δρóμο [prépi na páris ton álon dhrómo].

T: Good. Πρέπει να πάρεις τον άλλον δρóμο. Although I have to say that this is kind
of falling out of use as well. So you might hear just “άλλο” [álo], “τον άλλο” [ton
álo], with or without the N (ν). And with the feminine, for example, you don’t
really hear “άλλην” [álin] – maybe in a few dialects of Greek. But you don’t hear
άλλην, for example, in this situation, just άλλη. So you can see actually that this is
in the process of falling out of use in Greek. No? But you should be aware that
some words will behave like “the”, no, rather than just like any adjective or noun;

416
 and that some of those words – well, sometimes they will do it, sometimes they
won’t. It will depend on the dialect and the speaker.

So we have δρóμος [dhrómos] for “road” and οδóς [odhós] for “street”, which is
feminine – η οδóς [i odhós]. So this is feminine, and I did mention that many of
these “-ος” [os] nouns that are feminine are actually places, no? Like η έξοδος [i
éksodhos] – “the exit”; η είσοδος [i ísodhos] – “the entrance”; η Κύπρος [i kípros]
– “the Cyprus”. And street is much more like a place than a road, no? If you think
about it, when you refer to a street, it’s much more about the place than when
you refer to a road. So here we have, η οδóς. This won’t always happen, no, but
it’s interesting to notice the pattern. And then when you find a noun that has a
gender that you don’t expect it to have, you can just have a look if you can find a
reason why, or work out your own patterns. And just thinking about that will
internalise the fact that you have a gender with that particular word that you
didn’t expect. So, η οδóς [i odhós] – “the street”. How would you say, His street?

S: Η οδóς του [i odhós tu].

T: Η οδóς του. If you want to say, “Giorgos’s street”, you can say, Η οδóς του
Γιώργου [i odhós tu yórghu].

S: Η οδóς του Γιώργου.

T: Good. So, we have the “-ος” [os] noun, Γιώργος [yórghos] – it’s just like any other
masculine noun ending “-ος” [os], also ending “-ου” [u], to match “του” [tu]. Η
οδóς του Γιώργου. Do you know where is Giorgos’s street? Do you know where
Giorgos’s street is?

S: Ξέρεις που είναι η οδóς του Γιώργου; [kséris pu íne i odhós tu yórghu?].

T: Very good. Ξέρεις που είναι η οδóς του Γιώργου; And what if you are speaking to
more than one person? Do you guys know where Giorgos’s street is?

S: Ξέρετε που είναι η οδóς του Γιώργου; [ksérete pu íne i odhós tu yórghu?].

T: Very good. Ξέρετε που είναι η οδóς του Γιώργου; How would you say, Do you
know which … do you know which is the street of Giorgos? Do you know which is
Giorgos’s street? So what was the word for “which”?

S: Ποιος [pyos].

T: Ποιος, no, for masculine. And for feminine, how would it be?

S: Ποιη [pyi].

T: So most words take [i] (η) for feminine, but not “ποιος”.

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S: Ah. Ποια [pya].

T: Ποια. Good. So those are our two main feminine endings, no, [i] (η) and [a] (α),
and here we have [a] (α) – ποια [pya]. So, Do you know which is the street of
Giorgos? Do you know which is Giorgos’s street?

S: Ξέρετε ποια είναι η οδός του Γιώργου; [ksérete pya íne i odhós tu yórghu?].

T: Very good. Still talking plurally, or formally. Ξέρετε ποια είναι η οδός του Γιώργου;
And we use ποια [pya], because “η οδός“ is feminine. And what if you were to just
say, Do you know Giorgos’s street? Let’s still speak formally or plurally.

S: Ξερετε την οδό ... Yes. Ξέρετε την οδό του Γιώργου; [ksérete tin odhó tu yórghu?].

T: Ξέρετε την οδό του Γιώργου; Very good. So we have “την” [tin], because it’s
behaving like “her” now, rather than “she”; “οδό” [odhó], because we lose the S
(ς). Even though this “-ος” [os] noun is actually feminine, we do still lose the S (ς):
την οδό του Γιώργου. Ξέρετε την οδό του Γιώργου; [ksérete tin odhó tu yórghu?].

Οδηγώ [odhighó], οδηγώ, is “I drive”. So, this is of course connected to “οδός”
[odhós] – οδηγώ.

S: Οδηγώ.

T: So this is “I drive”, and also can be used like, “to lead to”, no? If you say, for
example, “It leads to a big stairway”, no? You can use, οδηγώ. Well, in the “it”
form, no? “Stairway” or “stairs” is, η σκάλα [i skála], η σκάλα. So that’s feminine,
like “scale”, but in the sense of musical scale of course, not a … not a weighing
scale. A musical scale goes up like a stairway – σκάλα. So how would you say, It
leads to a big stairway?

S: Οδηγεί στην μεγάλη σκάλα [odhiyí stin megháli skála].

T: Good. That would be, It leads to the big stairway”. But how would you say, to a
big stairway?

S: Οδηγεί σε ένα μεγάλη σκάλα [odhiyí se éna megháli skála].

T: Okay?

S: No ... σε μία μεγάλη σκάλα [se mía megháli skála].

T: Good. Οδηγεί σε μία μεγάλη σκάλα [odhiyí se mía megháli skála]. Good. So “μία”
[mía], once upon a time, in Greek, would have taken an N (ν); it would have
behaved like the word for “the”. No? And you would have had “μίαν” [mían]. But
like I say, with this happening with other words that aren’t the word for “the”, it’s
in a process of falling out of use. So, μίαν, with an N (ν), behaving like “her”, you

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 don’t really find it anymore. You might come across it in some old writings, but
you’re not likely to hear it, for example. So we said, like, Giorgos’s street is, η οδός
του Γιώργου [i odhós tu yórghu]. How would, My friend’s street, be?

S: Η οδός του φίλου μου [i odhós tu fílu mu].

T: Very good. Η οδός του φίλου μου. How would you say, It leads to the street of my
friend? – like a path or something. It leads to the street of my friend, to my friend’s
street.

S: Οδηγεί στην οδό του φίλου μου [odhiyí stin odhó tu fílu mu].

T: Very good. Οδηγεί στην οδό του φίλου μου. Very good. So with these “-ος” [os]
nouns, like φίλος [fílos], like Γιώργος [yórghos], we also have this extra change of
matching them with “του”. So, the street of my friend; my friend’s street: του
φίλου μου [tu fílu mu]. My friend’s house: το σπίτι του φίλου μου [to spíti tu fílu
mu]. Giorgos’s house: το σπίτι του Γιώργου [to spíti tu yórghu]. And this is with
[os] (-ος) nouns, no? Φίλος, Γιώργος [fílos, yórghos] – του φιλου, Γιώργου [tu fílu,
yórghu]. Otherwise, we will just lose the S (ς). So, if you say, for example,
Μιχάλης’s house (the house of Μιχάλης)?

S: Το σπίτι του Μιχάλη [to spíti tu mikháli].

T: Το σπίτι του Μιχάλη. Good. How would you say, It leads to Μιχαλης’s house?

S: Οδηγεί στο σπίτι του Μιχάλη [odhiyí sto spíti tu mikháli].

T: Οδηγεί στο σπίτι του Μιχάλη. Do you know how to drive? So we don’t need “how”
here. We will just say, Do you know – να [na] – you drive.

S: Ξέρεις να οδηγείς; [kséris na odhiyís?].

T: Very good. Ξέρεις να οδηγείς; Do you know to drive? Ξέρεις να οδηγείς; So you
were using, οδηγεί, οδηγείς [odhiyí, odhiyís], which means you took a decision
about this verb with an accent on the end, no – that it doesn’t have any A’s (α)
popping up; and you were correct too. So we know that if we say, Do you guys
know how to drive?, we know what ending we will have for the “you” plural or
“you” formal. So how would that be? Do you know how to drive? – speaking
formally to somebody, or speaking to more than one person. Do you know how to
drive?

S: Ξέρετε να οδηγήσετε; [ksérete na odhiyísete?].

T: So before you said, Ξέρεις να οδηγείς; You used the open form, which makes
sense – because we’re not referring to a closed time, no? It’s very general. Do you
know how to drive? So again.

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S: Ξέρετε να οδηγείτε; [ksérete na odhiyíte?].

T: Ξέρετε να οδηγείτε; Very good. And in both of the “-γείς” [yís] or the “-γείτε”
[yíte], we have the γάμα [gháma] (γ) very soft there, no, because of the “εί” [i]
sound after. Ξέρεις να οδηγείς; [kséris na odhiyís?]. Ξέρετε να οδηγείτε; [ksérete
na odhiyíte?]. Very good.

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Complete Greek, Track 87 – Language Transfer

Teacher: What was the word for, there, in Greek?

Student: Εκεί [ekí].

T: Εκεί. And, that one, masculine, for example?

S: Εκείνος [ekínos].

T: Εκείνος. That road.

S: Εκείνο o δρόμος, ο δρόμο ... Εκείνος ο δρόμος [ekínos o dhrómos].

T: Yeah. When we think of nouns in their standard form, no, we can think of them as
“he”. No? So, εκείνος ο δρόμος [ekínos o dhrómos]. We have to take that road.

S: Πρέπει να πάρουμε εκείνον τον δρόμο [prépi na párume ekínon ton dhrómo].

T: Good. Πρέπει να πάρουμε εκείνον τον δρόμο. So, as you rightly did, we have
“εκείνον” [ekínon] behaving like “the”, like τον [ton], no, with the N (ν). How
would you say, That new road? So for “new”, we could have νέος [néos], or
maybe more common you … you would hear, καινούργιος [kenúrios]. That new
road – that, the new road.

S: Εκείνος ο καινούργιος δρόμος [ekínos o kenúrios dhrómos].

T: Εκείνος ο νέος δρόμος [ekínos o néos dhrómos]. Εκείνος ο καινούργιος δρόμος.
How would you say, We have to take that new road? We have to take that new
road.

S: Πρέπει να πάρουμε εκείνον τον καινούργιον δρόμο [prépi na párume ekínon ton
kenúrion dhrómo].

T: Why did “καινούργιον” [kenúrion] behave like the words for “the”? It was a bit
automatic, maybe. No?

S: Yeah.

T: OK. So the adjectives and the nouns, they will behave in the same way: they will
just drop the S (-ς), when they are in “him” form. So give that another try. We
have to take that new road.

S: Πρέπει να πάρουμε εκείνον τον καινούργιο δρόμο [prépi na párume ekínon ton
kenúrio dhrómo].

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T: Very good. Πρέπει να πάρουμε εκείνον τον καινούργιο δρόμο. How would you
say, We have to take those new roads? We have to take those new roads.

S: Πρέπει να πάρουμε εκείνους τους καινούργιοι δρόμοι [prépi na párume ekínus
tus kenúri-i dhrómi].

T: So the “-ος” [os] nouns also change actually, no, when they are behaving like
“them”. What … what, change do we see in “-ος” [os] nouns?

S: They become “-ους” [us].

T: “-ους” [us]. So actually for different reasons here, we are going to have everything
sounding the same, no? Εκείνους [ekínus] is behaving like τους [tus]; that “-ος”
[os] nouns and adjectives also end “-ους” when they’re behaving like “them”. So
here everything is going to sound very similar. So let’s do that again. We have to
take those new roads (those the new roads).

S: Πρέπει να πάρουμε εκείνους τους καινούργιους δρόμους [prépi na párume
ekínus tus kenúrius dhrómus].

T: Good. Πρέπει να πάρουμε εκείνους τους καινούργιους (or νέους [néus])
δρόμους. So, ο δρόμος, is “the road”, and “the street” was?

S: Η όδος [i ódhos].

T: Η οδός [i odhós], with the accent on the end. Η οδός. How would you say, This is
Giorgos’s street? This is the street of Giorgos.

S: Αυτή είναι η οδό του … του Γιώργου [aftí íne i odhó tu … tu yórghu].

T: Good. But why “η οδό” [i odhó]? If you were deciding it’s acting like “her”, then at
least you should be coherent, no, and put “την οδό” [tin odhó]. But it’s not. Here
it’s behaving like “she”: “this is she”, rather than “this is her”, although that can
be difficult to decide, no? So with the verb for “to be”, we don’t have nouns acting
like “her” or “him”, no? It’s always in the standard form. So, again, This, this one …
and I liked that you used the feminine, αυτή [aftí], no? This is Giorgos’s street.

S: Αυτή είναι η οδός του Γιώργου [aftí íne i odhós tu yórghu].

T: Good. Αυτή είναι η οδός του Γιώργου. Νο? So with “-ος” [os] nouns, no, we have
them matching “του” and “τους” actually. We saw, for example, Εκείνους τους
νέους δρόμους [ekínus tus néus dhrómus], and then, του Γιωργου [tu yórghu]. So
with “-ος” [os] nouns, no, when they go with “του” and “ τους”, they match at
“του” or “ τους”. This is my friend’s street. This is the street of my friend.

S: Αυτή είναι η οδός του φίλου μου [aftí íne i odhós tu fílu mu].

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T: Very good. Αυτή είναι η οδός του φίλου μου. This is the street of my friend.

This is the street of that man we saw in the centre. This is the street of that man
we saw in the centre. So … This is the street?

S: Αυτή είναι η οδός [aftí íne i odhós].

T: Αυτή είναι η οδός ... of that man. So, of that man – “of”, the meaning of “of”,
we’re including in “that man”.

S: Του άντρα [tu ándra].

T: Good; but we want “that man”.

S: Tου εκείνου άντρα [tu ekínu ándra].

T: Good; but what order does “that” always go in? So, to … to solve your own doubt,
you go back to the most basic place. So how do you say, This man, or, That man?

S: Αυτός ο άντρας [aftós o ándras].

T: Αυτός ο άντρας; εκείνος ο άντρας [ekínos o ándras]. And that gives you the order,
no? That the man.

S: Okay. So, Eκείνου του άντρα [ekínu tu ándra].

T: Very good. Eκείνου του άντρα. So, άντρα [ándra], because I said “-ος” [os] nouns
will change to match that “-ου” [u]; otherwise they just lose their S (-ς). So, Aυτή
είναι η οδός [aftí íne i odhós] – This is the street ... εκείνου του άντρα [ekínu tu
ándra] – of that man. No? So we, we could have “του” for “his street”: η οδός του,
no – the street to him; or, εκείνου του άντρα, to say, you know, “of that man” –
the street to that man. Aυτή είναι η οδός εκείνου του άντρα [aftí íne i odhós ekínu
tu ándra] ... that we saw in the centre; which (that which), we saw in the centre.

S: Που είδαμε στο κέντρο [pu ídhame sto kéndro].

T: Good. Aυτή είναι η οδός εκείνου του άντρα που είδαμε στο κέντρο [aftí íne i
odhós ekínu tu ándra pu ídhame sto kéndro].

“To fix”, or, “to put something together”, like to fix something to eat, or to fix a
drink is, φτιάχνω [ftiákhno]. Φτιάχνω.

S: Φτιάχνω.

T: So this is F-T (φ-τ) [ft], which is a combination we don’t have in English when you
start a word. No? We have it in the middle, like “often”. But to start a word, you
wouldn’t find this in English. So this is an interesting sound to make in Greek, like,

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 φτάνω [ftáno] – “I arrive”. Φτιάχνω ... and then we have the [kh] (χ) also, but at
the end of the syllable. Φτιάχνω – “I fix”. Φτιάχνω.

S: Φτιάχνω.

T: And the closed version is, φτιάξω [ftiákso]. Φτιάξω.

S: Φτιάξω.

T: How was, a coffee?

S: Ένας καφές [énas kafés].

T: Ένας καφές. So “ένας” [énas] doesn’t change like any old adjective or noun,
dropping the S (-ς) when it’s like “him”, rather than “he”. It behaves like the word
for “the”; it becomes “έναν” [énan], when it’s like “him”. So if you want to say,
Can you fix me a coffee? How would that be? So for “fix”, in this sense, we have,
φτιάχνω [ftiákhno], and the closed version, φτιάξω [ftiákso]. So, Can you fix me a
coffee?

S: Μπορείς να μου φτιάξεις έναν καφέ; [borís na mu ftiáksis énan kafé?].

T: Very good. Μπορείς να μου (because it’s “for me”, “to me”, no, rather than fixing
me, directly) … μπορείς να μου φτιάξεις έναν καφέ; Very good. Can you make a
coffee for my friend (a male friend). Can you make a coffee for my friend?

S: Μπορείς να φτιάξεις έναν καφέ για τον φίλο μου; [borís na ftiáksis énan kafé ya
ton fílo mu?].

T: Very good. Μπορείς να φτιάξεις έναν καφέ για τον φίλο μου; Very good. So we’ve
seen how “to me” – μου [mu], “to you” – σου [su], “to him” – του [tu], “to her” –
της [tis], can be used for possession, no, like when we say, το σπίτι μου [to spíti
mu], το σπίτι της [to spíti tis]. And we’ve expanded that concept a little, like with:
το σπίτι του Γιώργου [to spíti tu yórghu] – “the house of Giorgos”; το σπίτι του
φίλου μου [to spíti tu fílu mu] – “the house of my friend (my friend’s house)”.

And you will also notice this “ου” [u] with some surnames in Greek, especially in
Cyprus. This is because when, traditionally, people chose a surname, they would
be “of their father” – son of (or daughter of) whoever. And you can even find
people that have the same name twice, no, but like different versions of it. So, for
example, you could have “Chrisóstomos Chrisostómou” (Χρυσόστομος
Χρυσοστόμου), no? This would be Chrisostomos of Chrisostomos. But in the
second one, you see Chrisostomou, ending [u] (“-ου”), for the surname, meaning
“of”. So you will find a lot of surnames ending “-ου”, and this can remind you of its
function as, “of” something or someone.

What was the word for, more?

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S: Πιο [pyo].

T: Πιο. And, which, or who?

S: Also, ποιο [pyo].

T: Ποιο, ποιος, ποια [pyo, pyos, pya]. No? Or in the plural, ποιοι [pyi] – ποιοι, for the
masculine plural, ποιες [pyes] for the feminine plural, ποια [pya] for the neuter.
So ποιο [pyo] is “who” or “which”. And if you think about it, “who” just means
“which” – just means “which person”, no? So we use, ποιο, ποια, ποιος, for … for
both of these meanings in Greek. How would you say, Who is this coffee for (For
who is this coffee)? But there are only females present, so we will say, you know,
“for which / for who “ in the feminine. For who is this coffee?

S: Για ποια είναι αυτός ο καφές; [ya pya íne aftós o kafés?].

T: Good. Για ποια είναι αυτός ο καφές; Νο? So, “αυτός ο καφές” – in the “he” form;
(“he is for”). But, like I mentioned, with “to be” (είναι, είμαι, είσαι [íne, íme, íse],
etc.), will we always just have our standard forms of nouns. How would you say,
For who are these coffees? And we are still just with women. For who are these
coffees?

S: Για ποια είναι αυτοί οι καφέδες; [ya pya íne aftí i kafédhes?].

T: This is possible, but it would only mean, if all of the coffees were just for one
person. In Greek, as we have the option to put “who” in the plural, we will when it
makes sense. So if all of these coffees aren’t just for one of these ladies, no, we …
we will say “for who”, in the plural. So let’s do that again. Who are these coffees
for. For who are these coffees (and we mean females)?

S: Για ποιες είναι αυτοί οι καφέδες; [ya pyes íne aftí i kafédhes?].

T: Very good. Για ποιες είναι αυτοί οι καφέδες; And if we asked, For who is it? – and
we mean a man; or also, if we are not aware of the gender, no? For “who”, we can
just use the masculine, like a neuter. So, For who is it? And we mean a man, or not
specifying the gender.

S: Για πoιον είναι; [ya pyon íne?].

T: Για πoιον είναι; You decided that “πoιος” [pyos] acts like “τον”, rather than any
other adjective or noun; and you were correct. Of course, ποιος – ”who”, is much
closer to “τον”, the word for “the” or “him”, than any old adjective or noun. So
rather than just losing the S (-ς), we get an N (-ν): Για πoιον είναι; [ya pyon íne?].
And, For who is it? – in the plural, for masculine or mixed. For who is it?

S: Για πoιους είναι; [ya pyus íne?].

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T: Για πιους είναι; Very good. If you want to say, “Whose is it?” – like, “Who does it
belong to?” – you can say, ποιανού [pyanú]. Ποιανού.

S: Ποιανού.

T: So, Whose is it?

S: Ποιανού είναι; [pyanú íne?].

T: Ποιανού είναι; – this meaning something like, Οf who is it?. No? We can see the
“ου” [u] there, but we also have like an N (ν) popping up. You can also say, “ποιου
είναι;” [pyu íne?]. That would also make sense, as “Οf who is it?”, as well. But
“ποιανού” [pyanú] is much more common.

And this idea of possession that we’re seeing is not necessarily about owning
things; it’s more broadly to do with the meaning of, “of”. So, you know, when we
say, “my friend’s house”, we are saying, “the house of my friend”, and there we
mean somebody owns something. But in the same way we can also say, “the
problems of the world”, no? So this kind of possessive structure that we’re
learning is not just about literal possession; we can use it much more broadly. So,
what was, the problem? The problem.

S: Το πρόβλημα [to próvlima].

T: Το πρόβλημα. And, the problems?

S: Τα προβλήματα [ta provlímata].

T: Τα προβλήματα. So with those neuter words ending A (α), we can’t make them
plural with A (α), so we add “τα” [ta] on the end – just like the word for “the”: τα
προβλήματα. The word for “world”, world, like in “cosmopolitan” is, κόσμος
[kózmos]. This is spelt with an S (σ) in Greek, but we hear a Z [z] before that M (μ).
Κοσμος, the world. O κόσμος [o kózmos]. So how would you say, The problems of
the world?

S: Τα προβλήματα του κόσμου [ta provlímata tu kózmu].

T: Very good. Τα προβλήματα του κόσμου. So you can really use the structure a lot
in Greek. And also, you need to be aware of … that it’s going in a different order to
how you think about it in English. So to really access this structure, you will need
to have this awareness of the fact that you will think of it in a different way. You
will say, maybe, “the world’s problems”, no, and be thinking: How? I can’t say
that. How can I say that in Greek? Until you realise: Oh, okay, it’s just, “the
problems of the world”. Τα προβλήματα του κόσμου. Very good.

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Complete Greek, Track 88 – Language Transfer

Teacher: “I go”, I go, in Greek is, πηγαίνω [piyéno].

Student: Πηγαίνω.

T: Πηγαίνω.

S: Πηγαίνω.

T: So this Y [y] sound is just the γάμα [gháma] (γ), no, with the [e] (αι) sound after it,
being softened. Πηγαίνω – “I go”. How would you say, I’m going to my friend’s
house – and we mean a male friend?

S: Πηγαίνω στο σπίτι του φίλου μου [piyéno sto spíti tu fílu mu].

T: Very good. Πηγαίνω στο σπίτι του φίλου μου. Good. Πηγαίνω … πηγαίνω, also
has a shorter version: πηγαίνω – the whole thing kind of gets swallowed up into,
πάω [páo]. Πάω.

S: Πάω.

T: So, πηγαίνω, such a long word for such a common verb, that managed to kind of
contract to, πάω. So, πηγαίνω [piyéno] and πάω [páo] both exist. And we know
that G’s (γ), like in πηγαίνω, can get swallowed away easily – like we have, λέω
[léo], I … “I say” or “I tell”. And then we saw that it actually has a hidden G (γ), like
in the past, έλεγα [élegha], or like in other versions, διαλέγω [dhialégho]. Tρώω
[tróo] – “I eat”; and then, έτρωγα [étrogha] – “I was eating”. So we can see how
that can happen. So, πηγαίνω, or πάω – I am going. What was the word for, all?

S: ‘Ολα [óla].

T: Good. ‘Ολα. What version of it did you give me?

S: Ah. That’s the neuter.

T: The neuter ... ?

S: The neuter plural.

T: The neuter plural. Okay, as long as we are aware of that, no? “Every day”, we
could have, κάθε μέρα [káthe méra] – “each day”; or we could also have, “all the
days”. So you can use either. Κάθε μέρα, for “every day”, or “all the days”. How
would, All the days, be?

S: ‘Ολες οι μέρες [óles i méres].

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T: ‘Ολες οι μέρες. Very good. And how would you say, I go every day?

S: Πηγαίνω όλες τις μέρες [piyéno óles tis méres].

T: Πηγαίνω όλες τις μέρες. Πάω όλες τις μέρες [páo óles tis méres]. And here we
have, τις μέρες [tis méres], no? Because when we say “every day”, I go every day,
we mean, on every day; and that’s “on them”, rather than “on they”. So, mostly
with time expressions, no, when we say when we do something, we have them in
the “her”, rather than the “she” form; in the “him”, rather than the “he” form. So,
Πάω (πηγαίνω) όλες τις μέρες [páo (piyéno) óles tis méres].

But if we say, κάθε μέρα [káthe méra], for example, we don’t need to worry about
that. In, κάθε μέρα, there’s nothing there that’s going to change, depending on
whether it’s behaving like “he” or “him”, or “she” or “her”. He goes to his friend’s
house every day.

S: Πηγαίνει στο σπίτι του φίλου κάθε μέρα [piyéni sto spíti tu fílu káthe méra].

T: Good. But, “to his friend’s house”.

S: Στο σπίτι του φίλου του κάθε μέρα [sto spíti tu fílu tu káthe méra].

T: Very good. Πηγαίνει στο σπίτι του φίλου του κάθε μέρα [piyéni sto spíti tu fílu tu
káthe méra]. And apart from “πηγαίνει” [piyéni], we could also have “πάει” [pái].
So “πάω” becomes “πάει” for “he” or “she” or “it”. How would you say, She goes
to her friend’s house every day? Still a masculine friend but, She goes to her
friend’s house every day.

S: Πηγαίνει στο σπίτι του φίλου της κάθε μέρα [piyéni sto spíti tu fílu tis káthe
méra].

T: Very good. Πηγαίνει (or πάει [pái]) στο σπίτι του φίλου της κάθε μέρα. This “-ου”
[u] ending, to match “του” [tu], like in “του φίλου” [tu fílu], is only with “-ος” [os]
nouns. Otherwise, we will just drop the S (-ς) of the masculine noun. So if you say
for example, The house of the man – how is that?

S: Το σπίτι του άντρα [to spíti tu ándra].

T: Very good. Το σπίτι του άντρα. So we just drop the S (-ς) from “άντρας”.

“I teach” is, διδάσκω [dhidhásko]. Διδάσκω – I teach.

S: Διδάσκω.

T: Like “didactic”, in English. Didactic – it’s got to do with teaching. How would you
say, He teaches Greek?

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S: Διδάσκει Ελληνικά. [dhidháski eliniká].

T: Good. Διδάσκει Ελληνικά. He used to teach Greek.

S: Δίδασκε Ελληνικά [dhídhaske eliniká].

T: Very good. Δίδασκε Ελληνικά. So we just use our standard “διδάσκω”, no, our
open standard form of the verb, and we put the accent back and use our past
ending. Δίδασκε. Δίδασκε Ελληνικά. He used to teach / She used to teach, Greek.

What do you think the closed version of “διδάσκω” might be? So we can look at
“didactic”, no, in English, and see if we can find in “didactic”, anything that looks
like one of the possibilities we have for building our closed version.

S: I suspect it’s going to turn into a [ks] (ξ).

T: Yes. Why?

S: The X and the C – the K-sound are very similar.

T: Yeah, of course, in “didactic”, we have the [k], no, on the stressed syllable,
“didactic”, and that can make us suspect that from διδάσκω [dhidhásko], we will
have, διδάξω [dhidhákso]. So actually, the S (σ) and the Κ (κ) of “διδάσκω” switch
around in the closed form – διδάξω. But in “διδάσκω”, S-K are two letters (σ-κ);
and then in “διδάξω”, [ks] K-S is just one letter (ξ). How would you say, He taught?

S: Δίδαξε [dhídhakse].

T: Δίδαξε. How again was, I go, or, I’m going?

S: Πηγαίνω [piyéno].

T: Πηγαίνω, or ... ?

S: Πάω [páo].

T: Πάω. “The teacher” is, ο δάσκαλος [o dháskalos]. O δάσκαλος.

S: O δάσκαλος.

T: “The teacher’s house” is, Tο σπίτι του δασκάλου [to spíti tu dhaskálu], το σπίτι
του δασκάλου. Do you notice anything odd here? Ο δάσκαλος. Το σπίτι του
δασκάλου?

S: Yes. The accent moves back from, δάσκαλος [dháskalos] to, δασκάλου [dhaskálu].

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T: So forward, no? But it moves; it gets closer to the end. Ο δάσκαλος, του
δασκάλου. And this didn’t happen before, no, when we said, το σπίτι του φίλου,
το σπίτι του φίλου μου [to spíti tu fílu mu]. We went from, ο φίλος [o fílos] to, του
φίλου [tu fílu]; τα προβλήματα του κόσμου [ta provlímata tu kózmu]; ο κόσμος /
του κόσμου [o kózmos, tu kózmu]. Here the accent didn’t change. So with longer
nouns, this “-ου” [u] can pull the accent closer to it. This can happen with longer
nouns, like, δάσκαλος / του δασκάλου [dháskalos, tu dhaskálu].

So you should pay attention in Greek for accents, stresses, moving for
grammatical reasons, let’s say. We saw it in the past: we pulled the accent back
into the past. And make sure it’s the third syllable from the end when we build
our past. With those neuter words we get the plural, by adding “τα” onto, no,
when they are longer as well. This can make the accent move. We saw, το
πρόβλημα [to próvlima], and then, τα προβλήματα [ta provlímata]. No? So we’ve
seen a few examples of this.

And now we see it here again. So when we have a longer noun ending “-ος” [os],
and we change that to “-ου” [u], we cοuld see that accent moving: o δάσκαλος /
του δασκάλου [ο dháskalos, tu dhaskálu]. So don’t try to memorise where this
happens – just be aware that it does happen in Greek, that this is a feature of
Greek, that you may see accents moving around when you change words. And
look out for it, so you can get reminded live, of when an accent might move.

You can also find various hooks to remind you of when this happens. So, for
example, I mentioned “Χρυσόστομος Χρυσοστόμου” [khrisóstomos khrisostómu],
Χρυσοστόμου, no? That you might see somebody with the same first and second
name, and see the accent move in the name. So there we can have a very nice
example, Χρηστόστομος, and then, Χρηστοστόμου, of how the accent moves in
that longer word, because the “-ος” [os] changes to “-ου” [ou].

So when we come across these things, listening and practising Greek, we should
think about why an accent has moved when we notice it, and this way remind us
of the occasions that this happens in; and revise these peculiarities on the go,
rather than worrying about memorising them all.

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Complete Greek, Track 89 – Language Transfer

Teacher: So we’ve seen various situations in which the accent moves in Greek to
show us something: be it in the past, when we pull the accent back; be it with the
neuter plural, when we add “τα”, instead of changing O (o) to A (α); with the
longer nouns, the accent can move. So we can have, for example, το πρόβλημα
[to próvlima], and then, τα προβλήματα [ta provlímata]; the “τα” on the end
there, pulls the accent towards it.

We’ve seen that when we have “-ου” [u] for our ending of “of”, like “of my
friend”, φίλου [fílu], no? When this goes onto a longer word, it can pull the accent
towards it, like in, ο δάσκαλος [o dhaskálos] – “the teacher”, and, του δασκάλου
[tu dhaskálu] – “of the teacher”; or, άνθρωπος [ánthropos], like in anthropology –
“the person”, του ανθρώπου [tu anthrópu] – “of the person”. So we’ve seen
various situations in which the accent may move in Greek.

We also have an important situation in which the accent may double – so, not
move, but double. This can happen when we put a word like, μου, του, σoυ [mu,
tu, su], etc., for possession, on longer words. So, for example, what is, the
problem?

Student: Το πρόβλημα [to próvlima].

T: Το πρόβλημα. “My problem” is, το πρόβλημά μου [to próvlimá mu]. Το πρόβλημά
μου. So when we put “μου” [mu] on “πρόβλημα”, it actually gets a secondary
accent. The accent doesn’t move; it gets two. And both are actually written as
well. So we have, το πρόβλημα, and then, το πρόβλημά μου. So this actually helps
connect the idea in sound: το πρόβλημα – το πρόβλημά μου. So we know that
that’s “my problem”, rather than, το πρόβλημα (the problem) μου (to me – and
then something else). That helps us in comprehension and listening, to group that
“μου” with, το πρόβλημα: το πρόβλημά μου. How would you say, His problem?

S: Το πρόβλημά του [to próvlimá tu].

T: Το πρόβλημά του. The car; how is, the car?

S: Το αυτοκίνητο [to aftokínito].

T: Το αυτοκίνητο. Her car?

S: Το αυτοκίνητό της [to aftokínitó tis].

T: So with these longer words, we’re raising the accent again toward the end, and
helping in comprehension to understand the “της” is about the car, and not about
something else. Το αυτοκίνητο, το αυτοκίνητό της [to aftokínitο, to aftokínitó tis].
Very good. So this is only in simple constructions, no? When we say, for example,
“her car”, “his car”; but if you say “the car of Giorgos”, then you don’t have to

431
 worry about moving the accent any more. Only if you say “his car”, “her car”, “my
car”. So how would you say that? The car of Giorgos; Giorgos’s car?

S: Το αυτοκίνητο του Γιώργου [to aftokínito tu yórghu].

T: Το αυτοκίνητο του Γιώργου. But just, His car?

S: Το αυτοκίνητό του [to aftokínitó tu].

T: Το αυτοκίνητό του. His problem?

S: Το πρόβλημά του [to próvlimá tu].

T: Το πρόβλημά του. Το πρόβλημά του. But if you say, Giorgos’s problem, rather
than, his problem?

S: Το πρόβλημα του Γιώργου [to próvlima tu yórghu].

T: Το πρόβλημα του Γιώργου. So here, because we have, Giorgos’s problem, rather
than, his problem, we don’t need to worry about doubling the accent. It’s only
when we use “του”, “μου”, etc., by itself. How would you say, The car of my friend
(my friend’s car)?

S: Το αυτοκίνητο του φίλου μου [to aftokínito tu fílu mu].

T: Good. Το αυτοκίνητο του φίλου μου. But just, his car?

S: Το αυτοκινητό του [to aftokinitó tu].

T: Here it sounded like you moved the accent to, το αυτοκινητό του. But we need to
hear both: το αυτοκίνη ... το αυτοκίνητό του [to aftokínitó tu]. Your car?

S: Το αυτοκίνητό σου [to aftokínitó su].

T: Very good. Το αυτοκίνητό σου. Your problem?

S: Το πρόβλημά σου [to próvlimá su].

T: Το πρόβλημά σου. Good. But just, the problem?

S: Το πρόβλημα [to próvlima].

T: Το πρόβλημα. And, problems?

S: Τα προβλήματα [ta provlímata].

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T: Προβλήματα. So here we have the accent moving because we’re adding “-τα” [ta]
for the plural – but not only because we’re adding “-τα”, but because we’re
adding “-τα” on a longer word, no? Χρώμα [khróma] – “colour”, and “χρώματα
[khrómata]; we didn’t see the accent move, for example. So, τα προβλήματα. How
would you say, her problems?

S: Τα προβλήματά της [ta provlímatá tis].

T: I think you were putting the secondary accent, no? Or not?

S: Τα προβλήματά της. Τα προβλήματά της.

T: Good. So even there we have two accents; we have the one of, τα προβλήματα,
and then again on the end. Pulling it all together: τα προβλήματά της [ta
provlímatá tis]. His problems?

S: Τα προβλήματά του [ta provlímatá tu].

T: Τα προβλήματά του. But, the problems of my friend?

S: Τα προβλήματα του φίλου μου [ta provlímata tu fílu mu].

T: Τα προβλήματα του φίλου μου. And there we separate it, ’cos we are not saying,
you know, his problems, but, the problems of my friend. The idea goes on – we
don’t try to jam it all together: τα προβλήματα του φίλου μου, or, τα προβλήματά
του.

So some of these changes as well in accent, are so subtle that native speakers
often don’t realise that they’re doing it. But if you listen out for it, you will
definitely notice, and it will make your speech sound much more fluent and
native. And also, as I mentioned, these accents are written. But, you know, again if
you read Greek on-line, for example, a lot of the time you’re not going to find all
of the secondary accents written.

Το μάθημα [to máthima] is “the course”, like, μαθαίνω [mathéno] – “I learn”. Το
μάθημα – “the course”. Both related to math, maths.

S: Το μάθημα.

T: My course?

S: Το μάθημά μου [to máthimá mu].

T: Το μάθημά μου. I will do my course at the teacher’s house. What was, the teacher,
again?

S: Ο δάσκαλος [o dháskalos].

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T: Ο δάσκαλος. So, I will do my course.

S: Θα κάνω το μάθημά μου [tha káno to máthimá mu].

T: Θα κάνω το μάθημά μου. In the house?

S: Στο σπίτι [sto spíti].

T: Of the teacher.

S: Του δασκάλου [tu dhaskálu].

T: Very good ... του δασκάλου. So we change the accent twice here, for two
different reasons, no? We have, το μάθημα [to máthima] and, το μάθημά μου [to
máthimá mu]; for the “μου” there, we are making a secondary accent. And then,
ο δάσκαλος, and then when we say “of the teacher”, we move the accent on this
longer word, ending “-ος” [os], closer to “-ος”: του δασκάλου [tu dhaskálu].

So again, it seems quite overwhelming to look at all of these changes in accents,
no? But when you pick them out yourself, live, just understanding that it occurs,
and then picking it out yourself, live, is surely the best way to internalise these
various shifts in accent.

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Complete Greek, Track 90 – Language Transfer

Teacher: What was, I go, or, I’m going, in Greek?

Student: Πηγαίνω [piyéno].

T: Πηγαίνω. Or?

S: Πάω [páo].

T: Πάω. He goes, or, She goes / It goes?

S: Πηγαίνει [piyéni] or, πάει [pái].

T: Πηγαίνει, or, πάει. Good. How would you say, We go (We’re going)?

S: Πηγαίνουμε [piyénume].

T: Πηγαίνουμε. And we also have, πάμε [páme], for our contracted version of this.
Πάμε.

S: Πάμε.

T: They are going; they go?

S: Πηγαίνουν [piyénun].

T: Πηγαίνουν, or, πηγαίνουνε [piyénune]. Πηγαίνουν, πηγαίνουνε. And our shorter
version here is, πάνε [páne]. Πάνε.

S: Πάνε.

T: We couldn’t have “πάν” [pan]; that would be too short – so just, πάνε. You guys
are going, or, You (formal) go?

S: Πηγαίνετε [piyénete].

T: Πηγαίνετε. And what do you think we might have for this shorter, contracted
version, if we have, πάμε, πάνε [páme, páne]?

S: Πάτε [páte].

T: Πάτε. Good. For, “you (informal)” we have, πηγαίνεις [piyénis], no? And for the
shorter version, what might we have?

S: Πας [pas].

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T: Πάς. Very good. So, apart from being an alternative version of, πηγαίνω [piyéno],
πάω [páo], it’s also the closed form of, πηγαίνω; so it’s both. You can just use it in
the present, as you will, and there’s no difference between “πηγαίνω” and “πάω”;
they mean the same thing, no? There’s no difference in usage, whether it’s an
open or a closed feeling, or anything like this. It’s just a contraction of “πηγαίνω”,
but that’s also used for the closed form, no? So if you say, for example, Will you
go to your friend’s house; Will you go to your friend’s house? How will that be?

S: Θα πάς στο σπίτι του φίλου του ... του φίλου σου; [tha pas sto spíti tu fílu tu … tu
filu su?].

T: Very good. Θα πάς στο σπίτι του φίλου σου; [tha pas sto spíti tu filu su?]. Good.
How would you say, I’m going to my best friend’s house? I am going to the house
of my best friend (a male friend).

S: Πάω στο σπίτι του καλήτερο μου φίλο ... φίλου [páo sto spíti tu kalítero mu fílo …
fílu].

T: OK. So give that bit another go. Στο σπίτι του [sto spíti tu] ... ?

S: Του καλήτερον μου φίλου [tu kalíteron mu fílu]?

T: Καλήτερον [kalíteron]?

S: I thought “καλήτερο” [kalítero], but apparently it’s wrong. So?

T: So you are thinking to remove the S (-ς) from “καλήτερος” [kalíteros] here, no?
Because we would have, καλήτερος φίλος [kalíteros fílos], and you are taking the
S (-ς) away. But we have, του φίλου [tu fílu], no? So what will happen to ... ?

S: So it’s, Θα πάω στο σπίτι του καλήτερου μου φίλου [tha páo sto spíti tu kalíteru
mu fílu]?

T: Good. And where are you putting the accent there on “το σπίτι του ... ”?

S: Kαλήτερού ... ?

T: Yes.

S: Καλήτερού μου [kalíterú mu].

T: Yes. Καλήτερού μου. Ah ... because we have “καλήτερος” – we already have the
accent on the [í] (-ή-), and then because we have the “μου” there, it’s going to
come up again to join, καλήτερού μου [kalíterú mu], all together. And we have to
think of it as something joined together; otherwise, that double accent business
becomes very difficult, no? Although, like I say, it’s not very important to do it; but
if you have a particular desire to have a native feel to your Greek, then you want

436
 to pay attention to this kind of thing. So, Πάω στο σπίτι του καλήτερού μου φίλου
[páo sto spíti tu kalíterú mu fílu]. That’s how it connects in meaning, and in sound:
του καλήτερού μου φίλου.

And also the position of “μου” is flexible. So whilst the position of “μου” is more
common after the adjective in something like this – του καλήτερού μου φίλου [tu
kalíterú mu fílu] – you could also put the “μου” at the end, and then you won’t
have to worry about the accent of, καλήτερος [kalíteros], no? You’ll just have, του
καλήτερου φίλου μου [tu kalíteru fílu mu].

How would you say, her problems?

S: Τα προβλήματά της [ta provlímatá tis].

T: Τα προβλήματά της. Her house?

S: Το σπίτι της [to spíti tis].

T: Το σπίτι της. So, with a smaller word like “σπίτι”, we don’t have to worry about
making any secondary accents, no? Το σπίτι της.

If you want to say “Maria’s problems”, “Maria’s house”, “my friend’s house”,
instead of just “her house”, “her problems” – again, we say, “the problems of
Maria”, “the house of my friend”. So just as we use, του [tu] – “to him”, for this
structure in the masculine, we will use “της” [tis], like “to her”, for this, for the
feminine, no? But the feminine noun, we also add an S (-ς) to. So, “the house of
Maria” is, το σπίτι της Μαρίας [to spíti tis marías].

S: Το σπίτι της Μαρίας.

T: So this is just like in English, actually, when we add apostrophe “s” (’s): Maria, and
then, Maria’s house. It’s the same. But we are only doing this with the feminine in
Greek, the feminine singular. So, η Μαρία [i maría], but then, το σπίτι της Μαρίας
[to spíti tis marías] – “Maria’s house”. How would you say, My friend’s house? And
you mean a female friend.

S: Το σπίτι της φίλης μου [to spíti tis fílis mu].

T: Very good. Το σπίτι της φίλης μου. So we are using “της” in the same way as we
were using “του”; but we also get this S (-ς) for this feminine noun. Το σπίτι της
φίλης μου. We are going to my friend’s house.

S: Πάμε στο σπίτι της φίλης μου [páme sto spíti tis fílis mu].

T: Very good. Πηγαίνουμε (πάμε) στο σπίτι της φίλης μου [piyénume (páme) sto
spíti tis fílis mu]. And I should also mention that “πάμε” can be used like, “let’s
go”, all by itself. Πάμε! You know, “Let’s go!” So you could say, Aς πάμε [as páme];

437
 Nα πάμε [na páme] – but also just “πάμε”, to say “let’s go”. Πάμε στο σπίτι της
φίλης μου.

Do you know which is the car of Maria? Do you know which one is Maria’s car? – is
how we would say it in English, no? Do you know which is the car of Maria?

S: Ξέρεις ποιο είναι το αυτο ... το αυτοκίνητο της Μαρίας; [kséris pyo íne to
aftokínito tis marías?].

T: Very good. Ξέρεις ποιο (and “ποιο” [pyo] in the neuter is matching “αυτοκίνητο”),
no? Ξέρεις ποιο είναι το αυτοκίνητο της Μαρίας; So if we were to say, “her car”,
we would say “το αυτοκίνητό της” [to aftokínitó tis] – the accent would double.
We would connect “της” and “αυτοκίνητο”: το αυτοκίνητό της. But when we say,
το αυτοκίνητο της Μαρίας, we don’t do that. So only when we have “της, μου,
του”, etc., connected only to that noun it comes after, do we have to worry about
moving the accent.

“The beginning”, the beginning, like in, αρχίζω [archízo] – “I start”, or, υπάρχει
[ipárchi] – “there is”, was “η αρχή [i archí]. H αρχή.

S: Η αρχή.

T: How would you say, Her beginning?

S: Η αρχή της [i archí tis].

T: Η αρχή της. Or, It’s beginning, as well, no? If we are talking about a feminine
noun, it could be the beginning of something. For example, “spring” is, άνοιξη
[ániksi]. Άνοιξη.

S: Άνοιξη.

T: This is, η άνοιξη [i ániksi] – “the spring”. So if you wanted to say, The beginning of
spring, how would that be?

S: Η αρχή της άνοιξης [i archí tis ániksis].

T: Very good. Η αρχή της άνοιξης. So the idea of possession here, no, as we’ve
mentioned, is broad – more like just the meaning of “of”. Η αρχή της άνοιξης –
the beginning of spring. We are waiting for the beginning of spring. We are
awaiting the beginning of spring.

S: Περιμένουμε την αρχή της άνοιξης [periménume tin archí tis ániksis].

T: Very good. Περιμένουμε την αρχή της άνοιξης.

The word for “seven” was, εφτά [eftá]. And the word for “week” ... ?

438

S: Εβδομάδα [efdhomádha].

T: Εβδομάδα [evdhomádha], with a V [v] sound; unlike “εφτά” [eftá], which has an F
[f]. Εβδομάδα [evdhomádha]. Every day of the week. All the days of the week.
How would that be? All the days of the week.

S: ‘Ολες οι μέρες της εβδομάδας [óles i méres tis evdhomádhas].

T: Very good. ‘Ολες οι μέρες της εβδομάδας. So we have, εβδομάδα, η εβδομάδα –
“the week”; της εβδομάδας – “of the week”.

You remember how was, the life? Like in “zoo”, like in the English name, “Zoe”?

S: Η ζωή [i zoí].

T: Η ζωή. All the days of my life.

S: ‘Ολες οι μέρες της ζωής μου [óles i méres tis zoís mu].

T: Good. ‘Ολες οι μέρες της ζωής μου. How would you say, We have something for
every day of the week? We have something for every day of the week.

S: ‘Εχουμε κάτι για όλες τις μέρες της εβδομάδας [ékhume káti ya óles tis méres tis
evdhomádhas].

T: Very good. ‘Εχουμε κάτι για όλες τις μέρες της εβδομάδας. So here, όλες τις μέρες
[óles tis méres], uses “τις” [tis] not “οι” [i], because it’s, “for all the days” – which
means it’s “for them”, rather than “for they”, so “για όλες τις μέρες” [ya óles tis
méres]. And then a different [tis] (της) – της εβδομάδας – “of the week”.

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Complete Greek, Track 91 – Language Transfer

Teacher: So we can extend this idea of possession like in, το σπίτι του [to spíti tu],
with other nouns, like in, το σπίτι του Γιώργου [to spíti tu yórghu], or, το σπίτι του
Μίχαλη [to spíti tu mikháli]. And we’ve seen that with the feminine as well, using
της [tis] and an S (-ς) on the end of the noun: το σπίτι της Μαρίας [to spíti tis
marías], το σπίτι της φίλης μου [to spíti tis fílis mu], οι μέρες της εβδομάδας [i
méres tis evdhomádhas] – “the days of the week”.

We can also do something similar with the neuter singular. What was, the child?

Student: Το παιδί [to pedhí].

T: Το παιδί. Do you remember how to say, teacher?

S: Δάσκαλος [dháskalos].

T: Δάσκαλος. How would you say, The child of the teacher? The teacher’s child.

S: Το παιδί του δασκάλου [to pedhí tu dhaskálu].

T: Very good. Το παιδί του δασκάλου. So there we move the accent. We have,
δάσκαλος [dháskalos], and then δασκάλου [dhaskálu]. So we saw how this occurs
when we add “-ου” [u] to longer nouns, but not just with longer nouns. We notice
that the original accent is third from the end on, δάσκαλος. So when we have that
situation, that “-ου” can pull the accent towards it: του δασκάλου. Το παιδί του
δασκάλου.

And we also had, δασκάλα [dhaskála], δασκάλα – for the feminine. So how would
you say, The child of the female teacher?

S: Το παιδί της δασκάλας [to pedhí tis dhaskálas].

T: Very good. Το παιδί της δασκάλας.

Του παιδιού [tu pedhiú] means “of the child”. So we have, το παιδί, which is
neuter, and then, του παιδιού – “of the child”.

S: Του παιδού.

T: What do you notice about the accent here?

S: The “ου” [u] is stressed, not the “ι” [i].

T: Good. So actually, in both cases, we have the accent on the end – just it moves. Το
παιδί – του παιδιού [to pedhí, tu pedhiú]. “The toy”, the toy, is παιχνίδι
[pekhnídhi].

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S: Παιχνίδι.

T: And that’s neuter. Το παιχνίδι [to pekhnídhi]. Το παιχνίδι.

S: Το παιχνίδι.

T: So how would you say, The child’s toy (The toy of the child)?

S: Το παιχνίδι του παιδιού [to pekhnídhi tu pedhiú].

T: Good. Το παιχνίδι του παιδιού. How would you say, My child’s toy? My child’s toy.

S: Το παιχνίδι του παιδιού μου [to pekhnídhi tu pedhiú mu].

T: Good. Το παιχνίδι του παιδιού μου. How do you think, Of the toy, might be?

S: Του παιχνιδιού [tu pekhnidhiú].

T: Yes. It also takes the accent on the end there. Του παιχνιδιού [tu pekhnidhiú], του
παιχνιδιού. So we have, παιχνίδι [pekhnídhi], with the accent on the [í] (ί),
παιχνίδι; and then, του παιχνιδιού [tu pekhnidhiú]. So maybe you could say
something like, This is from your child’s toy. Maybe you find a piece of something,
and you say, This is from your child’s toy. How would that be?

S: Αυτό είναι του παιχνιδιού του παιδιού σου [aftó íne tu pekhnidhiú tu pedhiú su].

T: Very good. Very good. So “this”, you used the neuter because, you know, this, a
piece of something we will find, we will say “αυτό”. Αυτό είναι του παιχνιδιού του
παιδιού σου. Αυτό είναι του παιχνιδιού του παιδιού σου.

But you can feel that’s kind of complicated, no? So, we might also just say, This is
from the toy, actually using the word for “from”: Aυτό είναι άπ’ το (or, από το)
παιχνίδι [aftó íne ap’to (apó to) pekhnídhi]. We will probably do that, just because
it requires much less glucose, you know. Αυτό είναι από το παιχνίδι του παιδιού
σου [aftó íne apó to pekhnídhi tu pedhiú su]. But you have the option of course.

How was, the book? Do you remember, the book?

S: Το βιβλίο [to vivlío].

T: Το βιβλίο. Of the book, might be?

S: Του βιβλιού [tu vivliú].

T: That’s what you will think, no, going from, το παιδί [to pedhí] to, του παιδιού [tu
pedhiú]; παιχνίδι, παιχνιδιού [pekhnídhi, pekhnidhiú]; but no. Το βιβλίο [to vivlío]

441
 becomes του βιβλίου [tu vivlíu]. So we don’t have the accent on the “-ου” [u], but
just before. So there’s a slightly different pattern here, no? You have, το παιδί,
but then, το βιβλίο; they have the accent in the same place, but βιβλίο [vivlío] has
an O [o]. So when you notice differences like this, just try to look around. See if
you can find a pattern; see if you can identify one. And don’t worry about
memorising these things, because the fact that you’re thinking about it, just trying
to find a pattern – this is what’s going to work your memory, not the act of
memorising. And when you start using Greek, and you hear “του βιβλίου” [tu
vivlíu], and you don’t hear “του βιβλιού” [tu vivliú], there’s only a couple of times
you can say it without it sounding weird to you, and setting the alarm off. So here
we have, του βιβλίου [tu vivlíu] – “of the book”.

You could say, “the theme of the book”. Theme is the same word in Greek, and it
ends MA (μα) [ma], like one of those MA words, like, πρόβλημα [próvlima]. So
how might that be, The theme of the book?

S: Το θέμα του βιβλίου [to théma tu vivlíu].

T: Very good. Το θέμα [to théma]. “Το” [to], because it ends MA (μα), like, το χρώμα,
το πρόβλημα [to khróma, to próvlima]. Το θέμα του βιβλίου – the theme of the
book. So accent can be very particular in Greek. And if you really want a native
feel to your Greek, it’s something you have to pay special attention to.

So these are the main patterns, no, to achieve this “of” meaning: το σπίτι του
Γιώργου [to spíti tu yórghu]; το σπίτι της Μαρίας [to spíti tis marías]; το σπίτι του
παιδιού [to spíti tu pedhiú]. But you may find other pattern too. Like, “Of the
problem”, for example, is, του προβλήματος [tu provlímatos]; and “Of the
course”, not “of course”, no, “of the course” – so, το μάθημα [to máthima]
becomes, του μαθήματος [tu mathímatos]. So as I said, you should listen out and
try to make your own patterns – find what things have in common. So, what does,
πρόβλημα [próvlima] and, μάθημα [máthima] have in common?

S: Three syllables; the first is stressed.

T: That’s true. But we’ve also seen many other words that have that, that don’t do
this; and there’s something much more obvious that makes these ...

S: They also have the [ma] (μα).

T: Good. So we go, “Ooh! Did I find a pattern?” We have, του προβλήματος [tu
provlímatos]; we have, του μαθήαμτος [tu mathímatos]. Maybe I’ve found a
pattern. So I want to find another [ma] (μα) word to check it. So can you think of
another [ma] (μα) word?

S: Πρόγραμμα [próghrama].

442
T: Πρόγραμμα. Then we can check, you know. How do we say, Of the program? And
if it’s, του προγάμματος [tu proghrámatos], which it is, then we’ve found a
pattern. We have, το χρώμα [to khróma] – “the colour”. So, Of the colour, might
be?

S: Του χρώματος [tu khrómatos].

T: Του χρώματος. Good, it is. Του χρώματος.

So we had, δάσκαλος [dháskalos] or, δασκάλα [dhaskála], for a teacher. How
would we say, The children of the teacher? And we mean a female teacher.

S: Τα παιδιά της δασκάλας [ta pedhiá tis dhaskálas].

T: Very good. Τα παιδιά της δασκάλας. And how would you say, The children of this
teacher?

S: Τα παιδιά της δασκάλας αυτής [ta pedhiá tis dhaskálas aftís]?

T: Οkay. But you know the general position that that goes in, when you say, “this
teacher”, for example. So there’s no reason to change that when you’re working
through – I mean to change the order. So how do you say, This teacher? This
teacher.

S: Αυτή η δασκάλα [aftí i dhaskála].

T: Αυτή η δασκάλα. So that can get all muddled around when you’re working out
what’s doing what in your mind. But the order is going to stay the same.

S: Τα παιδιά αυτής της δασκάλας [ta pedhiá aftís tis dhaskálas].

T: Good. Τα παιδιά αυτής της δασκάλας. Very good. And, The children of that
(female) teacher?

S: Τα παιδιά εκείνης της δασκάλας [ta pedhiá ekínis tis dhaskálas].

T: Τα παιδιά εκείνης της δασκάλας. Γυναίκα [yinéka] was “woman”. Γυναίκα.

S: Γυναίκα.

T: How would you say, The child of this woman is so good? So, The child of this
woman?

S: Το παιδί αυτής της γυναίκας [to pedhí aftís tis yinékas].

T: Very good. Το παιδί αυτής της γυναίκας … is so good. For “so”, we can use, τόσο
[tóso]. Tόσο.

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S: Τόσο.

T: Is so good.

S: Eίναι τόσο καλό [íne tóso kaló].

T: Good. Το παιδί αυτής της γυναίκας είναι τόσο καλό [to pedhí aftís tis yinékas íne
tóso kaló].

The word for like, “amazing” or “wonderful”, is καταπληκτικό [katapliktikó].
Kαταπληκτικό, which is fun to say. Καταπληκτικό.

S: Καταπληκτικό.

T: Good. So imagine you come across this word, what’s the first thing you do when
you look at it, if it’s a new word?

S: You can break it up?

T: You have a look if you see ... ?

S: You can see parts that you recognise.

T: Okay.

S: The … the beginning, it’s a bit like, κάτο [káto].

T: Exactly. Κατα [kata], and “κάτο” becomes “κατα” many times when it’s creating
vocabulary, like in, καταλαβαίνω [katalavéno], κατάλογος [katáloghos]. So we just
notice that, and then the only thing that’s new is, πληκτικό [pliktikó], not
καταπληκτικό. So how would you say, The toy of this child is amazing?

S: Το παιχνίδι αυτό του παιδιού είναι καταπληκτικό [to pekhnídhi aftó tu pedhiú íne
katapliktikó].

T: Good. But “αυτό του παιδιού” [aftó tu pedhiú]?

S: Aυτού του παιδιού [aftú tu pedhiú]. Το παιχνίδι αυτού του παιδιού είναι
καταπληκτικό [to pekhnídhi aftú tu pedhiú íne katapliktikó].

T: Very good. Το παιχνίδι αυτού του παιδιού είναι καταπληκτικό. Good.

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Complete Greek, Track 92 – Language Transfer

Teacher: What was, I go, or, I’m going?

Student: Πáω [páo] or, πηγαíνω [piyéno].

T: Good; πηγαíνω, or, πάω. And we saw, πηγαίνουμε [piyénume], no, for, we go (or,
we’re going). Or, instead of, πηγαίνουμε, we could have?

S: Πηγαίναμε [piyéname] or, πάμε [páme].

T: Just, πάμε [páme]. No? So this isn’t like an ...

S: Oh no! Yes.

T: This isn’t like, μιλάω [miláo], you know, that can have alternative forms; this is a
just a very strange contraction. Πηγαίνω – πάω [piyéno, páo]; πηγαίνουμε – πάμε
[piyénume, páme]. And, “Πάμε!”, we said, can also be used like, “Let’s go!”. So,
how would you say, Let’s go to my friend’s house, and we mean a female friend.

S: Πάμε στο σπίτι της φίλης μου [páme sto spíti tis fílis mu].

T: Very good. Πάμε. Πάμε στο σπίτι της φίλης μου. How would you say, We’re going,
emphasising the word for “we”?

S: Εμείς πάμε [emís páme].

T: Εμείς πάμε. You go, the informal, we could have, πηγαίνεις [piyénis], or ... ?

S: Πας [pas].

T: How would you say, Where will you go? – emphasising the word for “you”? Where
will you go?

S: Εσύ πού θα πας; [esí pu tha pas?].

T: So here we would have to use “πας”. No? “Where will you go”, rather than
“where will you be going”. We use the closed version, which is also this
abbreviated form, πας. Εσύ πού θα πας; Πού θα πας εσύ; [pu tha pas esí?]. He (or
she) goes – we could have, πηγαίνει [piyéni], or ... ?

S: Πάει [pái].

T: Πάει. How would you say, He is going now – emphasising the word for “he”?

S: Αυτός πάει τώρα [aftós pái tóra].

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T: Αυτός πάει τώρα. So we can say words like, εμείς, αυτός, εγώ, εσύ [emís, aftós,
eghó, esí], etc., no, to emphasise “we, he, I, … ”. How would you say, Does she see
me? – emphasising the word for “she”. Does she see me?

S: Αυτή μου βλέπει; [aftí mu vlépi?].

T: Mου βλέπει [mu vlépi]?

S: Mε βλέπει. Αυτή με βλέπει; [aftí mu vlépi?].

T: Αυτή με βλέπει; So this emphasises “αυτή”. Βut what if we wanted to emphasise
“me”? For emphasising “me”, we have a longer version of, με [me], and this is,
εμένα [eména]. Eμένα.

S: Εμένα.

T: So how would you say, Does she see me? – emphasising the word for “me”.

S: Εμένα βλέπει; [eména vlépi?].

T: Εμένα βλέπει; Βλέπει εμένα; [vlépi eména?].

So actually, εμένα [eména] is flexible in its order. You can say, Bλέπει εμένα,
Eμένα βλέπει. And also we could repeat the “με”. So, Mε βλέπει εμένα, Eμένα με
βλέπει. And whether you will repeat the “με” or not, might depend on the verb
that you are using, and what order is preferred. Whether you put “εμένα” before
or after can depend on the verb, on the dialect, on the situation, and how much
you’re wanting to stress. So again this is something you want to listen out to live,
to really fine-tune your hearing to how these are used.

So “με” becomes “εμένα” to emphasise it. So if we go from “με” to “εμένα”, “σε”
might be … ?

S: Εσένα [eséna].

T: Εσένα. So if you want to say, “I see you”, but you are emphasising this “you”. So,
of course you would need a context to be emphasising it. So, I see you, not him,
for example. How would that be?

S: Εσένα βλέπω [eséna vlépo].

T: Εσένα βλέπω. Βλέπω εσένα [vlépo eséna]. Or, Σε βλέπω εσένα [se vlépo eséna].
Eσένα σε βλέπω [eséna se vlépo].

If you want to use the emphatic word for, τνη [tin], or for, τον [ton], well that’s
just, αυτήν [aftín] and, αυτόν [aftón]. So, I see her, emphasising “her”?

446
S: Αυτήν βλέπω [aftín vlépo].

T: Αυτήν βλέπω. Βλέπω αυτήν [vlépo aftín]. Or, if we repeat the “την”: Aυτήν την
βλέπω [aftín tin vlépo]. Tην βλέπω αυτήν [tin vlépo aftín]. And of course this
could mean: “I see her”, emphatically, no; or “I see it” – a feminine thing; or “I see
this”. No? We know that, αυτή – αυτήν [aftí, aftín] also means “this”. And if we
think about it, “this” is just an emphatic word for “it”. I see it; I see this. This “it”
makes it a little more emphatic. So the relationship between “την” and “αυτήν” is
the same as that between “το” [to] and “αυτό” [aftó].

How … how is, I like, or, I like it?

S: Μου αρέσει [mu arési].

T: Μου αρέσει. It is pleasing to me. Μου αρέσει. If you want to say “I like it”, and
stress the “I”, well we need to think about what we’re saying in Greek, no? It is
pleasing to me. To me it is pleasing. So this is “to me”, so we would probably still
include the “μου” [mu], when we put “εμένα” [eména], so that we can still show
that the meaning is, “to me”. So how would that be? I like it.

S: Εμένα μου αρέσει [eména mu arési].

T: Εμένα μου αρέσει. Μου αρέσει εμένα [mu arési eména]. Μ’ αρέσει εμένα
[m’arési eména].

We have, μιλάω [miláo], no – “I speak”. Mιλάω. I’m speaking to you. I’m speaking
to you.

S: Σου μιλάω [su miláo].

T: Σου μιλάω. So because we have “σου” [su] here, if we want to stress, I am
speaking to you, you will keep the “σου” but you will also put the “εσένα”.

S: Εσένα σου μιλάω [eséna su miláo].

T: Εσένα σου μιλάω. Σου μιλάω εσένα [su miláo eséna]. And other than including
this σου [su] with the ‘σένα [séna] – εσένα σου μιλάω – we could also say, to you,
σε εσένα [se eséna], which becomes, σ’ εσένα [s’eséna]. And there we would have
the meaning of “to” with σε, no – “the self to”, like in, στο [sto], no; “to the”. So,
σ’ εσένα [s’eséna]; σ’ εσένα μιλάω [s’eséna miláo] – I’m talking to you.

What is, I give?

S: Δίνω [dhíno].

T: Δίνω. And the closed form?

447
S: Δώσω [dhóso].

T: Δώσω. He gave?

S: ‘Εδωσε [édhose].

T: ‘Εδωσε. He didn’t give it to me. He didn’t give it to me.

S: Δεν μου το έδωσε [dhen mu to édhose].

T: Δεν μου το έδωσε. And if you want to stress “to me” – He didn’t give it to me, how
would that be?

S: Εμένα δεν μου το έδωσε [eména dhen mu to édhose].

T: Good. Εμένα δεν μου το έδωσε. Δεν μου το έδωσε εμένα [dhen mu to édhose
eména]. So because “εμένα” doesn’t include the information of, “to me” – it just
shows “me”, emphatic – if we have a “μου”, we keep it. Εμένα δεν μου το έδωσε.
And the same with “σου”, no. We could have, σου αρέσει [su arési], and then if
we want to emphasise that: Eσένα σου αρέσει [eséna su arési], keeping that
“σου”. But as we saw, we can also play around with the wording a little bit, and
say “to”. You could say, for example, He didn’t give it to me; you could say,
σ’ εμένα [s’eména] – “to me”. And then you don’t have to repeat the “μου”,
because you’ve already included that information. So how would that be? He
didn’t give it to me – this time using our word for “to”?

S: Δεν το έδωσε σε εμένα [dhen to édhose se eména].

T: Very good. Δεν το έδωσε σ’ εμένα [dhen to édhose s’eména]. So, σε εμένα [se
eména] contracts to, σ’ εμένα [s’eména], σ’ εμένα; you don’t hear two E’s (ε). You
don’t write them either; you have an apostrophe there. Δεν το έδωσε σ’ εμένα.

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Complete Greek, Track 93 – Language Transfer

Teacher: So we saw, με [me] and εμένα [eména], σε [se] and εσένα [eséna], αυτήν
[aftín] instead of, την [tin], and we’ve just seen, σ’ εμένα [s’eména] – “to me”. So
“σε” [se] is one of those small words that show position or movement, that are
called prepositions, like, σε, για [ya], από [apó] (from, or of). And all of these
words, when you say, for example, “for me”, you will not say, για με [ya me]; you
will say, για ’μένα [ya’ména]. So all of these words, these prepositions, take
“εμένα” rather than “με”, when they mean “for me”, “from me”; “εσένα” rather
than “σε”.

But we also notice that they blend together the vowels of the preposition and
εμένα, or εσένα, etc. So we get “σ’ εμένα” [s’eména], “σ’ εσένα” [s’eséna], “από
’μένα” [apó ’ména], “από ’σένα” [apó ’séna]. And the use of, εμένα, εσένα, etc.,
here, isn’t emphatic anymore; this is just what we do after a preposition. We
don’t say “για με”, but “για ’μένα”.

Student: Για ’μένα [ya ’ména].

T: How would you say, from me?

S: Από εμένα [apó eména].

T: Good. And again the [e] (ε) gets swallowed up because these prepositions end in
vowels. So, για ’μένα [ya ’ména], από ’μένα [apó ’ména]. How about, with me?

S: Με ’μένα [me ’ména].

T: Με ’μένα. Otherwise it would be, με με [me me], no? Με ’μένα. With you?

S: Με ’σένα [me ’séna].

T: Με ’σένα. To you?

S: Σε ’σένα [se ’séna].

T: Σε ‘σένα. Otherwise this would also be, σε σε [se se], no? Σε ’σένα. So the fact that
we have “to you” – σε ’σένα, and not, σε σε, and, με ’μένα – “with me”, and not,
με με [me me], is a nice hook to remember: that with prepositions, these little
words that show position or movement – after these, if we want to say, for
example, “to me”, “for me”, “from me”, we use: ’μένα [’ména] rather than με
[me]; ’σένα [’séna] rather than, σε [se]; αυτόν [aftón] rather than τον [ton].

How would you say, Don’t you like it?

S: Δεν σου αρέσει; [dhen su arési?].

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T: Δεν σου αρέσει; And what if you wanted to stress the “you”, you know. Don’t you
like it?

S: Εσένα δεν σου αρέσει; [eséna dhen su arési?].

T: Very good. Εσένα δεν σου αρέσει; No? So as “εσένα” doesn’t give us the
information of “to you”, we include that “σου”. Εσένα δεν σου αρέσει;

But we could also say “σε ’σένα” [se ’séna]. We could include the information
there. So how would you say that? Don’t you like it? – still emphatic, but with, σε
’σένα. How would that be? Don’t you like it?

S: Σε ’σένα δεν αρέσει; [se ’séna dhen arési?].

T: Σε ’σένα δεν αρέσει. Νο? So there we don’t include the “σου”, because we have
all of the information that we need to express in, “σε ’σένα”. Σε ’σένα δεν αρέσει;
Δεν αρέσει σε ’σένα; [dhen arési se ’séna?].

How would you say, to him?

S: Σ’ αυτόν [s’aftón].

T: Σ’αυτόν. For him?

S: Για αυτόν [ya’ftón].

T: Για αυτόν. For her?

S: Για αυτήν [ya’ftín].

T: Για αυτήν. With her?

S: Με αυτήν [me aftín].

T: Με αυτήν. To her?

S: Σε αυτήν [se aftín].

T: Σε αυτήν. To them (female)?

S: Σε αυτές [se aftés].

T: Σε αυτές. Good. So this is just the plural feminine, no? And, to them, masculine or
mixed?

S: Σε αυτούς [se aftús].

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T: Σε αυτούς. I am with them now. I’m with them now.

S: Είμαι με αυτούς τώρα [íme me aftús tóra].

T: Είμαι με αυτούς τώρα. How would you say, It is from me?

S: Είναι από ’μένα [íne apó ’ména].

T: Είναι από ’μένα. Good. So this is, από εμένα [apó eména], but that contracts, no?
Eίναι από ’μένα. Is it from you?

S: Είναι από ’σένα; [íne apó ’séna?].

T: Είναι από ’σένα; So we have, βλέπω [vlépo], no, for “I see”, and the closed version
is?

S: Δω [dho].

T: Δω. I saw them – masculine or mixed.

S: Τους είδα [tus ídha].

T: Τους είδα. And what if you wanted to really emphasise that you saw “them”, and
not someone else?

S: Αυτούς τους είδα [aftús tus ídha].

T: Yeah, that could work in some context. As we’ve seen, depending on the context
and what exactly we want to stress, we may repeat the information of “αυτούς”
with “τους”. We may put it in a different order. This may also change, depending
on the dialect. So this is definitely something we want to listen out for, on the go.
No? We could have, αυτούς τους είδα [aftús tus ídha], τους είδα αυτούς [tus ídha
aftús], αυτούς είδα [aftús ídha], είδα αυτούς [ídha aftús]. Did you see us?

S: Μας είδες; [mas ídhes?].

T: Μας είδες; And what if you were talking to more than one person? Did you see us,
plural you?

S: Μας είδατε; [mas ídhate?].

T: Μας είδατε; We have a small change for “μας” in the emphatic; we get “εμάς”
[emás]. Eμάς.

S: Εμάς.

T: So just “μας”, with an E (ε). So what if you wanted to stress? Did you see us?

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S: Είδατε εμάς; [ídhate emás?] .

T: Good. Είδατε εμάς; And the same with “σας” [sas], no? We would have “σας” and
“εσάς” [esás]. So, if you wanted to say “I saw you guys”, and we’re emphasising
“you guys”, how would that be? I saw you guys.

S: Είδα εσάς [ídha esás].

T: So just to say, “I saw you guys” – σας είδα [sas ídha]. But to stress that, είδα εσάς,
εσάς σας είδα [esás sas ídha], σας είδα εσάς [sas ídha esás]. I didn’t see you guys.
No emphasis, just, I didn’t see you guys.

S: Δεν σας είδα [dhen sas ídha].

T: Δεν σας είδα. And what if we wanted to emphasise? I didn’t see you guys.

S: Δεν είδα εσάς [dhen ídha esás].

T: Δεν είδα εσάς. Very good.

How was, I sell, like in “monopoly”?

S: Πουλάω [puláo].

T: Πουλάω. How would you say, They didn’t sell his car to me? They didn’t sell his car
to me. So a lot to think about there. Let’s begin with, They didn’t sell. They didn’t
sell.

S: Δεν πουλήσανε [dhen pulísane].

T: Good. Δεν πούλησαν [dhen púlisan] (or, δεν πουλήσανε). Okay. So maybe that’s
the first thought we have, even though it’s not necessarily the first thing we will
say. You know, we will think about the verb first and how to build it. So,
πούλησαν, πουλήσανε [púlisan, pulísane]. They didn’t sell his car to me.

S: Δεν μου πούλησαν το αυτοκίνητό του [dhen mu púlisan to aftokínitó tu].

T: Good. Δεν μου πούλησαν το αυτοκίνητό του. And if you want to be emphatic?
They didn’t sell his car to me.

S: Εμένα δεν μου πούλησαν το αυτοκίνητό του [eména dhen mu púlisan to
aftokínitó tu].

T: Good. Because we have “μου” [mu], rather than “με” [me], we don’t get rid of it
when we have “εμένα” [eména]. Εμένα δεν μου πούλησαν το αυτοκίνητό του.

452
 And of course we also have the accent doubled, no, from, το αυτοκίνητο [to
aftokínito], and then, το αυτοκίνητό του [to aftokínitó tu].

And we’ve seen, other than repeating “μου” and having “εμένα”, no, to get that
meaning of “to me”, in the emphatic, we can just say, σ’ εμένα [s’eména] – “to
me”, literally. Σ’ εμένα δεν πούλησαν το αυτοκίνητό του [s’eména dhen púlisan to
aftokínitó tu]. Δεν πούλησαν το αυτοκίνητό του σ’ εμένα [dhen púlisan to
aftokínitótu s’eména]. Very good.

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Complete Greek, Track 94 – Language Transfer

Teacher: We’ve seen various ways accents might move around in Greek. We saw that
it might happen for the past, no? When our accent isn’t third from the end in the
past, we’ll put it there. We’ve seen how with longer words – well, longer words
with their accents third from the end, their original accent like “αυτοκίνητο”
[aftokínito], like “δάσκαλος” [dháskalos], have some situations in which their
accent can move or double; like with possessive endings like, μου, του, σου, etc.
Tο αυτοκίνητο – το αυτοκίνητό σου [to aftokínito, to aftokínitó su]. Or when we
change the ending to “-ου” [u], that can pull the accent towards it as well in these
words: το αυτοκίνητο [to aftokínito] – “the car”, του αυτοκινήτου [tu aftokinítu] –
“of the car”; δάσκαλος – δασκάλου [dháskalos, dhaskálu]. We’ve seen the plural
neuter that moves the accent, but again only in longer words with their original
accent third from the end, like, πρόβλημα, προβλήματα [próvlima, provlímata].
And you will come across more examples of accents moving in Greek, and you
should listen out for them.

An accent change, a change in stress in a word, can also completely change the
meaning of a word. So apart from this movement of accents that we’ve seen that
can happen for grammatical reasons, often the difference between two words in
Greek is just the stress, if you go by sound. Often the words might be written
differently, but by sound you might only be able to differentiate them by the
stress.

So, for example, we saw, μόνος [mónos], which means “alone” – μόνος. And then,
μονός [monós] means like “a single”, like, “a single coffee” – ένας μονός καφές
[énas monós kafés]; or also “odd”, like an odd number. So you might see, μονός,
and think that the accent is changing for some grammatical reason. Or you might
hear it, and think that the accent is changing for some grammatical reason. But it’s
not; it’s just a different word. We saw the word for, when, which was?

Student: Πότε [póte].

T: Πότε. And the word for “never” is, ποτέ [poté].

S: Ποτέ.

T: So you have, πότε – “when” and, ποτέ – “never”. How would you say, When will
he do it?

S: Πότε θα το κάνει; [póte tha to káni?].

T: Πότε θα το κάνει; He will never do it. In Greek we will say, He won’t do it ever
(never).

S: Δεν θα το κάνει ποτέ [dhen tha to káni poté].

454
T: Δεν θα το κάνει ποτέ.

We saw briefly “πώς”, which means “how”. You could say, How are you?

S: Πώς είσαι; [pos íse?].

T: Πώς είσαι; And there’s a small change to “είσαι”, no, if we mean more than one
“you”, or if we’re talking formally.

S: Πώς είστε; [pos íste?].

T: Πώς είστε; Πώς είστε; Do you know how she is?

S: Ξέρεις πώς είναι; [kséris pos íne?].

T: Ξέρεις πώς είναι; So we have, πώς [pos], which means “how”, and we have πόσο
[póso], which means, “how much”.

S: Πόσο.

T: How much is it?

S: Πόσο είναι;

T: Πόσο είναι; You could also say, if you are asking about price, πόσο κάνει; [póso
káni?] – “How much does it do? / How much does it make?” – πόσο κάνει; Πόσο
κοστίζει; – of course – “How much does it cost?” Πόσο κοστίζει;

And from, πόσο [póso] – “how much”, you can also get “how many”, if you make
it plural. So what would be the plural of, πόσο?

S: Πόσοι [pósi].

T: Well, strictly speaking, if “πόσο” is the neuter, what would be ... ?

S: Πόσα [pósa].

T: Πόσα. But of course, πόσος, πόσοι [pósos, pósi], if we are talking about masculine
things – πόσοι; πόσα, for neuter things. For feminine things?

S: Πόσες [póses].

T: Πόσες.

Φορά [forá] means “time”. We’ve already seen a couple of words for “time”, but
φορά means “time” in the sense of an occasion, no? Like “once”, “one time” –
φορά.

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S: Φορά.

T: How would you say, How many times?

S: Πόσες φορές; [póses forés?].

T: Πόσες φορές; Πόσες φορές; How many times do I have to tell you? So, How many
times do I have to tell you?

S: Πόσες φορές πρέπει να σου πω; [póses forés prépi na su po?].

T: Good. Πόσες φορές πρέπει να σου πω; And if we were to continue, we could say
“what”, or maybe we would want to say, Πόσες φορές πρέπει να στο πω; [póses
forés prépi na sto po?] (σου το πω [su to po]) – How many times do I have to tell
you it?

The word for “same” is, ίδιος [ídhios]. Ίδιος.

S: ‘Ιδιος.

T: And that’s the masculine, no? Ίδιος. So we have, ίδιος – “same”, like in
idiosyncrasy. No? And it seems that “idiot”, as well, is related to this word. So we
might be creative and say: “An idiot is the one that does the same thing again and
expects different results.” If you want to say, “the same thing”, you don’t need
the word for “thing”; you can say, το ίδιο [to ídhio]. Use “ίδιο” in the neuter, το
ίδιο, and it means “the same thing”. So how would you say, How many times do I
have to tell you the same thing?

S: Πόσες φορές πρέπει να στο πω το ίδιο; [póses forés prépi na sto po to ídhio?].

T: Ooh! The “στο πω” [sto po] was a bit automatic there, no?

S: It was a bit risky.

T: Because then you are kind of giving the information twice, no? How many times
do I have to tell you it – the same thing?

S: Yeah, yeah. I noticed.

T: Okay. So ... ?

S: Πόσες φορές πρέπει να σου πω το ίδιο; [póses forés prépi na su po to ídhio?].

T: Good. Πόσες φορές πρέπει να σου πω το ίδιο; Or, το ίδιο πράγμα [to ídhio
prághma], we could also have. Good. How many did you buy? And we mean
masculine things. How many did you buy?

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S: Πόσοι αγοράσες; [pósi aghoráses?].

T: So, Πόσοι αγόρασες [pósi aghórases] would be like, “you bought they”, which we
know is impossible. You can’t buy “they”, but you can buy “them”.

S: Πόσους αγόρασες; [pósus aghórases?].

T: Πόσους αγόρασες. Good. So we have, πόσο [póso] and all the different forms of
πόσο, no, for “how much”, or “how many”. And then we have, ποσό [posó], which
means “amount”. Το ποσό [to posó] is “the amount”.

S: Ποσό [posó].

T: So again, a change in the accent, and we get a different word. Some other
examples of this: μαγεία [mayía], μαγεία – this is the γάμα [gháma] (γ), no, like
the G in “magic”, but softened by the [i] sound – μαγεία, which means like
“magic”, or a “spell”. And then, μαγιά [mayiá], with the accent on the [a], on the
end, which means “yeast”.

We could have, φίλο [fílo], no, which would be like, φίλος [fílos] – “friend”,
behaving like “him”, without the S (-ς) – φίλο; and then, φιλώ [filó] – “I kiss”.
Φιλώ. But then also, the noun, “a kiss” is, ένα φιλί [éna filí]; and “kisses” is, φιλιά
[filiá], φιλιά. So we have, φιλιά – “kisses”, and then, φιλία [filía], φιλία, which
means “friendship”. H φιλία [i filía] – “the friendship”.

Πίνω [píno], which means “I drink”, and then, πεινώ [pinó], which means “I’m
hungry”. Πωλητής [politís], πωλητής, which means “seller”, like in, πουλαώ
[puláo] – “I sell”; and then, πολίτης [politís], which means “citizen”, like in “city” –
πόλη [póli]. And we also saw, of course, we have, πόλη [póli] for “city” and, πολύ
[polí], with the accent afterwards for “very”, or “a lot”. Actually “citizen” is literally
“city-zen”, no, also in English, like Greek: πόλ-ιτης – πόλη. Φορά [forȧ], we said,
was an occasion, a time, like, “one time”, “one occasion” – μία φορά [mía forá].
And then, φόρα [fóra] means like, “momentum”, “impetus”.

So you need to be careful in Greek. You may feel, like, you recognise a word, but if
the stress is in a different place than it should be, then it might not be that word.
It might be ’cos the stress may have moved for grammatical reasons, as we’ve
seen, no? But it might not be. So we really want to keep an open mind and judge
the whole context together, when we’re trying to understand spoken Greek,
rather than just hanging on very tightly to something that we felt we recognised.
We want to keep an open mind when we feel we recognise things in Greek – and
generally, you know, not to underestimate the power of stress in Greek, to convey
meaning, both grammatically and with words, as we’re seeing.

Some more nice examples would be, λεμόνια [lemónia]. I think you may guess
what this means. Λεμόνια.

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S: Lemons.

T: Lemons. Good. And this the plural, no? Like λεμόνι, λεμόνια [lemóni, lemónia],
neuter. But, λεμονιά [lemoniá] means “lemon tree” – not plural anymore, just one
lemon tree. Lemon tree – λεμονιά.

Πορτοκάλια [portokália] means “oranges”. But, πορτοκαλιά [portokaliá] means
“orange tree”; and then, πορτοκαλί [portokalí]. Πορτοκαλί, is the colour orange,
πορτοκαλί. And all of this is, of course, sharing its root with Portugal, the country,
which is probably where the oranges were coming from. Actually, an orange is a
fruit, a hybrid fruit, that was created by man, combining, I believe, a pomelo and a
mandarin, since ancient times. So actually, you can see in different languages, it’s
the same word. Orange in English is the same as Spanish naranja; it’s the same
word – just the N seems to have got lost … the way. A bit like in “an orange”, an
orange – naranja. And all of this seemingly entering from Arabic. So, you know,
this fruit tends to share a name; just like “lemon”, which is also hybrid.

So Greek takes advantage of accent, not only to show grammatical things, but also
to derive more meanings from a limited amount of sounds.

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Complete Greek, Track 95 – Language Transfer

Teacher: What was the word for, telephone?

Student: Τηλέφωνο [tiléfono].

T: Τηλέφωνο. Good. Or, το τηλέφωνο [to tiléfono], and we have the accent there on
the [e] (ε), no, third from the end. Tηλέφωνο. But what if you say, His telephone?

S: Το τηλέφωνό του [to tiléfonó tu].

T: Very good. We double the accent, no? Το τηλέφωνό του. So, with these longer
nouns, when we have the accent third from the end, and we put the possessive
word afterwards, we come up again on the end to, kind of, join it all together. So,
το τηλέφωνο – το τηλέφωνό του [to tiléfono, to tiléfonó tu].

Τηλεφωνώ [tilefonó], with the ωμέγα [omégha] (ω), with the “w”, that is [o], can
also mean “to telephone”, “to make a call”. So when you hear, τηλεφωνώ
[tilefonó], with the accent on the end, it might not necessarily be possession, no?
Το τηλέφωνό του, with the double accent or, τηλεφωνώ – “I call”.

“The face” in Greek, the face, is, το πρόσωπο [to prósopo]. Tο πρόσωπο.

S: Το πρόσωπο.

T: This actually might be related, well in meaning, to how you say it in German, no?
In German you have ... ?

S: Gesicht.

T: Gesicht – which is like “the thing you see”, “the first thing you see”. And this might
be the same idea, actually: “προ” – first, “σωπο” – the first seen thing, from an
older … older version of “see”. So we have, το πρόσωπο – “the face”. How would
you say, His face?

S: Το πρόσωπό του [to prósopó tu].

T: Το πρόσωπό του. Good. We come up again, on the end. Το πρόσωπό του. Did you
see his face?

S: Είδες το πρόσωπό του; [ídhes to prósopótu?].

T: Did you see his face? Είδες το πρόσωπό του; Did you see my friend’s face? Did you
see my friend’s face?

S: Είδες το πρόσωπο του φίλου μου; [ídhes to prósopo tu fílu mu?].

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T: Very good. Είδες το πρόσωπο του φίλου μου; So here, it’s not “his face”; it’s “my
friend’s face”. So not just with “του”, but, του φίλου μου [tu fílu mu]. So we don’t
have to worry about doubling the accent. Το πρόσωπο του φίλου μου [to prósopo
tu fílu mu]. Είδες το πρόσωπο του φίλου μου;

So, το πρόσωπο [to prósopo] is “the face” and, η προσωπικότητα [i prosopikótita],
η προσωπικότητα, is “the personality”. Do you want to give that a try – η
προσωπικότητα?

S: Η προσωπο ... προσωπικότητα [prosopikótita].

T: Very good. Knowing where you stress, knowing where you come up on the accent,
also helps with these longer words, no? Προσωπικό [prosopikó] ... that’s when we
come up, on the “κό” [kó]. Προσωπικότητα.

So this means “personality”, and this “τητα” [tita] on the end is actually “-ity”. You
will find other words that correspond with “-ity” with”-τητα” on the end. So for
example, “probability”, which is, πιθανότητα [pithanótita]; or “possibility”, which
is, δυνατότητα [dhinanótita], like “dynamic”. Δυνατότητα – “possibility”. So this
“-τητα” often corresponds to “-ity”.

But the most interesting thing about the word “personality” – προσωπικότητα, is
that it’s coming from “πρόσωπο”. So here, in silence, before we say anything,
Greek says something. Greek has an idea, no, that the personality comes from the
face. Now this might be an uncomfortable truth, but if we think about it, it does
hold a lot of truth, no? If you think psychologically, when you look in the mirror,
the face that you see will feed back into the idea of yourself. You know, it’s even
possible to see a personality change when you cut your hair. And beyond that, the
face that the world sees, and the way they treat you, will also feed into your
personality. So there’s some wisdom there in the way these words are formed.
How would you say, Her personality?

S: Η προσωπικότητά της [i prosopikótitá tis].

T: Very good. Η προσωπικότητά της. Because we have the accent on the “κό” [kó] –
προσωπικότητα – third from the end, so we come up again to join it all together.
Η προσωπικότητά της. The personality of my friend – a feminine friend?

S: Η προσωπικότητα η ... No. Η προσωπικότητα της φίλης μου [i prosopikótita tis fílis
mu].

T: Very good. So we don’t have to worry about doubling the accent there, no? Η
προσωπικότητα της φίλης μου. Προσωπικότητα – what might be the plural of,
προσωπικότητα?

S: Προσωπικότητες [prosopikótites].

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T: Yes. You can just look back to somewhere , where you know it, like, μέρα – μέρες
[méra, méres], and see what happens. Προσωπικότητα – προσωπικότητες. Their
personalities – feminine or masculine, it can be either, no?

S: Οι προσωπικότητές τους [i prosopikótités tus].

T: Οι προσωπικότητές τους. So we’ve seen how the words “to me”, “to you” – μου,
σου, etc., are used for possession, no? Το πρόσωπό του – “face to him”, “his
face”. And we can extend that idea also to say “my friend’s face”. No? For
example, το πρόσωπο του φίλου μου, using the same “του”, no, and also putting
the noun in “to him” form, if it’s an OS “-ος” noun, no. Otherwise, we just lose the
S (-ς): του άντρα [tu ándra], του Μιχάλη [tu mikháli]. How would you say, their
faces? So we want the plural of, πρόσωπο.

S: Τα πρόσωπα [ta prósopa]. Τα πρόσωπά τους [ta prósopá tus].

T: Τα πρόσωπά τους. With “τους”, if you want to say, “my friends’ faces”, “the faces
of my friends”, instead of “their faces”, we have a change here. We use, τα
πρόσωπα των φίλων μου [ta prósopa ton fílon mu]. Τα πρόσωπα των φίλων μου –
“the faces of my friends”.

S: Τα πρόσωπα των φίλων μου.

T: And in the same way that “τους” for “their”, works for masculine and feminine,
των φίλων μου [ton fílon mu] – “of my friends”, is also for masculine and
feminine. Now this is spelt differently to the singular “τον” [ton], no? This is spelt
with the ωμέγα [omégha] (ω), the O that looks like a “w”. And also, φίλων [fílon]
is spelt in this way, with the O that looks like a “w” (ω). And this works for all
genders. So, Τα πρόσωπα των φίλων μου [ta prósopa ton fílon mu] – this can be
for male or female friends.

The word for “brother” is, αδελφός [adhelfós]. Αδελφός.

S: Αδελφός.

T: How might sister be?

S: Αδελφή [adhelfí].

T: Αδελφή. And I should mention that other than, αδελφός, with an L (λ), αδελφή,
you will also hear and see, very commonly, “αδερ ...”, like with an R (ρ): αδερφός,
αδερφή [adherfós, adherfí]. How would you say, My friend’s sister (The sister of
my friend)? No?

S: Η αδελφή του φίλου μου [i adhelfí tu fílu mu].

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T: Good. Η αδελφή του φίλου μου. How would you say, My friends’ sister, in the
plural? The sister of my friends.

S: Η αδελφή των φίλων μου [i adhelfí ton fílon mu].

T: Very good. Η αδελφή των φίλων μου. So this “-ων” [on] ending, to express this
idea of possession for the plural, works for all genders. So how was, the child?

S: Το παιδί [to pedhí].

T: Το παιδί. And, the children?

S: Τα παιδιά [ta pedhiá].

T: Τα παιδιά. How would you say, The faces of the children?

S: Τα πρόσωπα των παιδιών [ta prósopa ton pedhión].

T: Very good. Τα πρόσωπα των παιδιών. How was, the toy, or, the game? Do you
remember?

S: Το παιχνίδι [to pekhnídhi].

T: Το παιχνίδι. How would you say, Their toy?

S: Το παιχνίδι τους [to pekhnídhi tus].

T: Το παιχνίδι τους. No? We don’t double any accent here, because we have the
accent second from the end. So we don’t have any accent change. Το παιχνίδι
τους. How would you say, The toy of the children?

S: Το παιχνίδι των παιδιών [to pekhnídhi ton pedhión].

T: Το παιχνίδι των παιδιών. Very good. But just, Their toy?

S: Το παιχνίδι τους [to pekhnídhi tus].

T: Το παιχνίδι τους. So here, in the plural, we have a difference, no, between how
we say “their”, and how we say “of them”. No? Το παιχνίδι τους [to pekhnídhi
tus]. Το παιχνίδι των παιδιών [to pekhnídhi ton pedhión]. How would you say, My
brother’s (brothers’) toy? Now in English, My brother’s/brothers’ toy, can be “the
toy of my brother”, or “the toy of my brothers”. We don’t understand just by that
sentence; we need to see the bigger context. But in Greek we know the
difference. So give me first, My brother’s toy, the singular: The toy of my brother.

S: Το παιχνίδι του αδελφού μου [to pekhnídhi tu adhelfú mu].

462
T: Very good. Το παιχνίδι του αδελφού μου. And, The toy of my brothers, in the
plural.

S: Το παιχνίδι των αδελφών μου [to pekhnídhi ton adhelfón mu].

T: Good. Το παιχνίδι των αδελφών μου. Very good. So on, αδελφός, αδελφή
[adhelfós, adhelfí], we already have the accent on the end, no? But if we have a
longer word, we will move that accent forward. So, for example, what was the
word, woman – for woman?

S: Γυναίκα [yinéka].

T: Γυναίκα. And, women?

S: Γυναίκες [yinékes].

T: Γυναίκες. So with longer words, even if they don’t have the original accent third
from the end, like “γυναίκα” [yinéka] doesn’t, we will see that, on pulling the
accent on it. So, Of the women?

S: Των γυναικών [ton yinekón].

T: Των γυναικών. How would you say, Their children? Their children.

S: Τα παιδιά τους [ta pedhiá tus].

T: Τα παιδιαά τους. And, The children of the women (the women’s children)?

S: Τα παιδιά των γυναικών [ta pedhiá ton yinekón].

T: Good. Τα παιδιά των γυναικών. So again, another situation where we need to
think about the accent, no? When we are adding this “ων”, if we are adding it to a
word with three or more syllables, we may see that accent move towards it:
γυναίκα – γυναικών [yinéka, yinekón]. So for “they”, no, we have a big difference
between “their something” and “the something of them”. No? “Of my friends”,
“of the women”: we don’t recycle “τους” [tus], but we have “των” [ton], and we
also change the ending of the noun to “ων” [on], for all genders.

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Complete Greek, Track 96 – Language Transfer

Teacher: You remember, how was, The teacher?

Student: Ο δάσκαλος [o dháskalos].

T: Ο δάσκαλος. How would you say, The friends of the teachers (the teachers’
friends)? The friends of the teachers.

S: Οι φίλοι του δασκάλου [i fíli tu dhaskálu].

T: Of the teachers. So, Οι φίλοι του δασκάλου (we would move the accent there:
δασκάλου [dhaskálu]) would be “the teacher’s friends”, but like one teacher, no?
“The friends of the teacher”. But how about, The friends of the teachers?

S: Οι φίλοι των δασκάλων [i fíli ton dhaskálon].

T: Good. Οι φίλοι των δασκάλων. So we have the accent moving towards the ending
there, and, οι φίλοι των δασκάλων. So this “ων” [on] works for masculine and
feminine – this is, The friends of the teachers, and it doesn’t matter if the teachers
are masculine or feminine, when we mean “of the teachers”; it’s just, δασκάλων
[dhaskálon]. But just, their friends: so instead of “the friends of the teachers”, just,
their friends.

S: Οι φίλοι τους [i fíli tus].

T: Οι φίλοι τους. Very good. What was, I write?

S: Γράφω [ghráfo].

T: Γράφω. And the closed version?

S: Γράψω [ghrápso].

T: Γράψω. So we’ve seen various ways of asking or soliciting someone to do
something, no? We can say, Πρέπει να γράψεις [prépi na ghrápsis], Θέλω να
γράψεις [thélo na ghrápsis], or just, Να γράψεις [na ghrápsis], Μπορείς να (can
you?) γράψεις; [borís na ghrápsis?]. We saw, ας [as] and να [na] for “let’s”, or
“shall we”. So there’s various ways we’ve seen of soliciting action, let’s say. But
we also have a very direct way to do this, in English and in Greek. For example, we
can just say, “Write!”, no? “Write!”, like we give an order, “write!”, “write it
down!”. In English, to achieve this, we just remove the “to” of the verb, no? We
have “to write”, and then we say “write!”. But in Greek we can’t do that, of
course. We have no “to”; we have no “to”, to take away. So “write!”, as an order
in Greek is, γράψε [ghrápse]. Γράψε.

S: Γράψε.

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T: So what do we do to get, γράψε?

S: We took the closed version.

T: Good.

S: And we changed the ending to an [ε] (ε).

T: Good. To an Ε (ε), an [e]. Very good. Γράψε [ghrápse]. So this is the informal, no,
when we talk to one person, informally. So, εσύ γράψε [esí ghrápse].

“The name”, the name, is, το όνομα [to ónoma]. Το όνομα.

S: Το όνομα.

T: Related to “anonymous” – anonymous, like, without name. How would you say,
your name?

S: Το όνομά σου [to ónomá su].

T: Good. Very well done for coming back up there on the end, with the accent. Το
όνομά σου. If the accent was on the “νο” [no], if it were, το ονόμα [to onóma],
then we wouldn’t, not really, but it’s not. Το όνομα – το όνομά σου [to ónoma, to
ónomá su]. Write your name here.

S: Γράψε το όνομά σου εδώ [ghrápse to ónomá su edhó].

T: Good. Γράψε το όνομά σου εδώ. How would you say, The names?

S: Τα ονόματα [ta onómata].

T: Very good. We end in A (α) [a], no? So we go into our plural with TA (τα) [ta]: το
όναμα – τα ονόματα [to ónoma, ta onómata]. And we also move that accent
forward, when we add that extra syllable: το όνομα – τα ονόματα. Write their
names here. Write their names here.

S: Γράψε τα ονόματα τους ... τα ονο ... τα ονόματά τους εδώ [ghrápse … ta onómatá
tus edhó].

T: Very good. Γράψε τα ονόματά τους εδώ [ghrápse ta onómatá tus edhó]. So again,
two accents, no? We have the accent on the “νό” [nó] here, but that is again the
third from the end, because we added “τα” [ta]. So, Γράψε τα ονόματά τους εδώ.
How would you say, Write the children’s names here?

S: Γράψε τα ονόματα των παιδιών εδώ [ghrápse ta onómata ton pedhión edhó].

465
T: Very good. The “ών” [on] takes the accent there – like before, when we had, παιδί
– παιδιού [pedhí, pedhiú]. Here we have, παιδί – παιδιών [pedhí, pedhión].
Γράψε τα ονόματα των παιδιών εδώ. And we haven’t doubled the accent on, τα
ονόματα [ta onómata], because it wasn’t with, τους [tus], but with, των παιδιών
[ton pedhión]. So there we don’t have to worry about doubling the accent: τα
ονόματα των παιδιών.

Σημαίνει [siméni], σημαίνει, means “It means”. “It means” – σημαίνει.

S: Σημαίνει.

T: This is like “semantic”. No? We said that “semantic” in English is a word meaning
“meaning”. And we saw, σημαντικός [simandikós], in Greek as well, meaning
“important” or “meaningful”; and σημαίνει [siméni] – “it means”. So, how would
you say, What does it mean?

S: Τι σημαίνει; [ti siméni?].

T: Τι σημαίνει; How would you say, What does your name mean?

S: Τι σημαίνει το όνομά ... Ah! ... Τι σνμαίνει το όνομά σου; [ … ti siméni to ónomá
su?].

T: Good. Τι σημαίνει το όνομά σου; [ti siméni to ónomá su?] And this is a good way
of learning just general meanings in Greek – asking people what their names
mean, you know. Like I mentioned, Γρηγόρης [ghrighóris] means like “quick” or
“wakeful”. Αnd that’s a nice connection to, γρήγορα [ghríghora] – “quickly”, or,
γρήγορος [ghríghoros] – “quick”. So you can ask people what their names mean to
kind of amplify your vocabulary in Greek. But, you know, not everybody knows
what their names mean, especially if it’s not obvious by the name. So maybe you
could ask, Do you know what your name means?

S: Ξέρεις τι σημαίνει το όνομά σου; [kséris ti siméni to ónomá su?].

T: Very good. Ξέρεις τι σημαίνει το όνομά σου; And how would you say, to more
than one person, Do you know what your names mean? Do you know what your
names mean? Now we’re talking plurally, to more than one person.

S: Ξέρετε τι σημαίνουν τα όνομά σας; [ksérete ti siménun to ónomá sas?].

T: Very good for changing the verbs, no? But we didn’t change the noun.

S: Yeah. Um. Ξέρετε τι σνμαίνουν τα ονόματά σας; [ksérete ti siménun ta onómatá
sas?].

T: Ξέρετε τι σνμαίνουν τα ονόματά σας; Very good.

466
 So if you don’t put these stresses, these extra stresses on the words, of course you
will be perfectly understood. But it’s nice to listen out and be reminded of these
rules, so we can do it ourselves and just sound much more fluent and native. The
more fluent and the more native we sound, the less we distract from the meaning
of what we’re saying, when we speak another language.

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Complete Greek, Track 97 – Language Transfer

Teacher: What was, I write?

Student: Γράφω [ghráfo].

T: Γράφω. And the closed version?

S: Γράψω [ghrápso].

T: Γράψω. And the order, Write!

S: Γράψε [ghrápse].

T: Γράψε. Good. So usually, we build this order by using the closed form of the verb,
and an E (ε) ending. So, what was, I play?

S: Παίζω [pézo].

T: Παίζω. Good. And the closed version?

S: Παίξω [pékso].

T: Παίξω. And, Play!, as an order? Play!

S: Παίξε [pékse].

T: Παίξε. How is, I wait?

S: Περιμένω [periméno].

T: Περιμένω. So with, περιμένω, we don’t have a closed version to use for the order,
so we can just use, περιμένω. But when we have longer verbs, like “περιμένω”,
we will want the accent third from the end in the order: we will add our E (ε) on
the end, and have our accent third from the end. So how would you say, Wait!

S: Περίμενε [perímene].

T: Περίμενε. But without context, what else could “περίμενε” mean? Περίμενε.

S: He was waiting.

T: He waited. He was waiting. No? But it’s so obvious when someone is giving you an
order. It’s pretty hard to get these confused.

What was, I change?

468
S: Αλλάζω [alázo].

T: Αλλάζω. And the closed version?

S: Αλλάξω [alákso].

T: Αλλάξω. Change!

S: ‘Αλλαξε [álakse].

T: ‘Αλλαξε. And what else could this mean?

S: He was changing; or, He changed.

T: Not either.

S: Ah. He changed.

T: He changed, only, no? Because here we have an open and a closed version. So,
άλλαξε [álakse] is just “he changed” or “she changed” or “it changed”.

If you want to say “Change it!”, “Buy it!”, “Wait for me!” … when we make a
positive order, when we say, “to do something”, the word for “it”, for “me”, it
goes after the verb. So again tell me how do you say, Change! Not “Change it!”,
just, Change!

S: ‘Αλλαξε [álakse].

T: ‘Αλλαξε. And we have the accent third from the end, no, in longer verbs, when we
make the order. ‘Αλλαξε. Now if you say “Change it”, well here we have another
example of a double accent. We will come up on the end again, on the end of the
verb, to join that all together and make it sound all connected. Change it! So how
would you say that? Change it!

S: ‘Αλλαξέ το [álaksé to].

T: Άλλαξέ το. Very good. So we get an accent on the [α] (Ά/ά), like always, and then
up again on the end. ‘Αλλαξέ το. How would you say, Ηe changed it? He changed
it.

S: Το άλλαξε [to álakse].

T: Το άλλαξε. Very good. So you couldn’t get this confused, no, with, άλλαξέ το
[álaksé to]. How would you say, Wait! again – giving the order, Wait!

S: Περίμενε [perímene].

469
T: Περίμενε. Wait for me.

S: Περ ...Περιμένε με. Περιμέν ... No wait. Περίμενέ με [ … perímené me].

T: Περίμενέ με [perímené me]. Νο? Περίμενε – περίμενέ με [perímene, perímené
me]. How would you say, He waited for me?

S: Με περίμενε [me perímene].

T: Με περίμενε. How would you say, Buy! – giving the order. Buy!

S: Αγόρασε [aghórase].

T: Αγόρασε. Good. Αγόρασε. Again the accent third from the end. Αγόρασε. And,
Buy it!

S: Αγoρασέ το [aghorasé to].

T: Yes, but we don’t just move the accent – we double it, no? So we have two:
αγόρασε – αγόρασέ το [aghórase, aghórasé to]. Like I said, you will come across
things in Greek that remind you of all of these rules, and seem impossible to
remember. And when you get those reminders, you realise it’s a very finite
amount of rules, actually – when you come across them and you get those
reminders again, that this thing happens or something else happens.

So for example, you might see around Greece, or on the Internet in Greek,
αγόρασέ το με δέκα ευρώ [aghórasé to me dhéka evró], for example; “buy it with
ten euros”, you know, for some offer. And that will remind you, ah, okay, why is it
happening there? Why do we have the double accent: αγόρασέ το? Especially
when you see it written; you see a written accent on the [o] (“ό”), and then
another one on the [e] (“έ”). Then you can think about why that’s there, and in
this way it reminds you of the rule – that we are connecting “αγόρασέ” and “το”.
Aγόρασέ το με δέκα ευρώ.

And this is also another example of prepositions, these little words like, με, σε, για
[me, se, ya], not crossing over too well from one language to another, no? In
English we’d say, “Buy it for ten euros”, no, but in Greek, “Buy it with ten euros”.

If you want to give an order to a third person, like to him or her, like in English,
“Let him write”, you know. “Let him write”, it’s like, okay, we may mean, “Leave
him to do it”, or we may mean, like you know, “He should do it”. We can use “να”
[na] in Greek, to do this. So how would you say that? Let him write.

S: Να γράψε [na ghrápse].

T: After “να”, we just need to use our normal verb endings. So it’s just literally, “να,
he writes”.

470

S: Να γράψει [na ghrápsi].

T: Να γράψει. So this is like, “Let him write”. Να γράψει, or, Να γράφει [na ghráfi],
depending on the context. You know, maybe he wants to be a writer, and we
want to say something more like, “Let him be a writer.” So, Να γράφει. Let her buy
it. Let her buy it.

S: Να το αγοράσει [na to aghorási].

T: Να το αγοράσει. Να το αγοράσει αυτή [na to aghorási aftí]. So when we use “να”
[na], we know where everything goes, no? – the “το” before the verb. Everything
behave like it usually does. Να το αγοράσει.

We can also do this with “you”, no, for more emphasis. So, for example, you could
say, Αγόρασέ το [aghórasé to], you know, “Buy it!” – αγόρασέ το. Or, “να – you
buy it, you know. And let’s use the word for “you” to give that emphasis, no?
Otherwise we will just say, αγόρασέ το. But imagine, you know, you want to say,
you know, like: You should be the one that buys it. “Να – you buy it”. So how
would that be?

S: Να το αγοράσεις εσύ [na to aghorásis esí].

T: Good. Να το αγοράσεις εσύ. So we don’t have to worry about any different
ending for the order, no? With “να” [na], we know how everything behaves. Να το
αγοράσεις εσύ [na to aghorásis esí]. You guys should buy it. You guys should be
the ones that buy it. Να ... ?

S: Να το αγοράσετε εσείς [na to aghorásete esís].

T: Να το αγοράσετε εσείς. If you want to say, “Buy it”, to more than one person,
“Buy it” – instead of, αγοράσετε [aghorásete], we have, αγοράστε [aghoráste]. So
the “ετε” [ete], the [e] (ε) of the “ετε” gets contracted when we’re making the
order. Αγοράστε.

S: Αγοράστε.

T: So this is “Buy!”, no, as an order to more than one person. So, instead of adding
“ετε” [ete] for the “you” plural, the [e] (ε) gets swallowed up. Well no, not always,
no, but it does get contracted away, especially after an S (σ). And as we know,
what most of our closed forms end in, is an S [s], no: “ξ” [ks], “ψ” [ps], “σ” [s]. So,
most of the time we will just see TE (“τε”): αγοράστε [aghoráste]. How would you
say, Buy it, to more than one person?

S: Αγοράστε το [aghoráste to].

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T: Αγοράστε το. And here we don’t double the accent, no? We don’t have the accent
third from the end on, αγοράστε. So, we don’t have to worry about that “το”
causing the accent to double. Αγοράστε το.

What is, I try?

S: Προσπαθώ [prospathó].

T: Προσπαθώ. And the closed version?

S: Προσπαθήσω [prospathíso].

T: Προσπαθήσω. How would you say, Try, talking to one person? Try!

S: Προσπάθησε [prospáthise].

T: Προσπάθησε. Good. Now, talking to more than one person, we’re going to add
“ετε” [ete], but the “ε” is going to get contracted away. So how would that sound?

S: Προσπαθήστε [prospathíste].

T: Προσπαθήστε. And the accent is on the [i] (“ή”): προσπαθήστε, as if it were third
from the end, as if that [e] (“ε”) didn’t disappear – as if it were, προσπαθήσετε
[prospathísete]. So when we contract it, we don’t move the accent:
προσπαθήσετε – προσπαθήστε [prospathísete, prospathíste]; αγοράσετε –
αγοράστε [aghorásete, aghoráste]. What if you wanted to say, “να”, you know,
like, You guys should try, and give that extra emphasis. Just, “να – you guys try”.
How would that be?

S: Να προσπαθήστε [na prospathíste].

T: So, προσπαθήστε, is when you give the order, no, that very direct order. But when
we use “να” [na], when we use “ας” [as], when we use a different way of showing
that we want someone to do something, then everything behaves as we would
expect it to.

S: Να προσπαθήσετε [na prospathísete].

T: Να προσπαθήσετε. Να προσπαθήσετε εσείς [na prospathísete esís]. You know,
You guys should try; we are trying. How would you say, Play, talking to more than
one person?

S: Παίξτε [pékste].

T: Παίξτε. Very good. I take. What was, I take?

S: Παίρνω [pérno].

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T: Παίρνω. Good. So we have, παίρνω [pérno] and, πάρω [páro]. No? How would
you say, Call me (take me phone) when you want? Call me when you want.

S: Πάρε με τηλέφωνο όταν θέλεις [páre me tiléfono ótan thélis].

T: Good. The word for “when” here is not a question, so we use, όταν [ótan], not
πότε [póte]. Πάρε με τηλέφωνο όταν θέλεις. Call me when you want.

But we could also use, όποτε [ópote]. So we have, πότε [póte] for “when”, and if
we add an “o” to this – όποτε – and accent that “ό” (όποτε [ópote]), we get the
word for “whenever”. So if you want to say, Call me whenever you want, you can
say, όποτε. So how would that be?

S: Πάρε με τηλέφωνο όποτε θέλεις [páre me tiléfono ópote thélis].

T: Πάρε με τηλέφωνο όποτε θέλεις. And I mentioned that, θέλεις [thélis] can also
contract to, θες [thes], so it’s very common to hear, “όποτε θες” [ópote thes]. So
actually, we can add an “o” to the beginning of question words, to get this
meaning of “ever”, in English. For example, we have the word for “what”, which
is?

S: Τι [ti].

T: Τι. And, whatever, is?

S: Ότι [oti].

T: Ότι. Good. But “ότι” also means ... what else does “ότι” mean? Νομίζω ότι
[nomízo óti].

S: That.

T: That. Νομίζω ότι – I believe that; I think that. So “ό,τι” of “whatever”, is actually
written O,TI – “ό - comma - τ - ι ; a comma, no, not an apostrophe, a comma, and
that makes one word: “ό - comma - τ - ι”, to differentiate it from the “ότι” of
“that”. So we have “ό,τι” – “whatever”. You could say, Take whatever you want.

S: Πάρε ό,τι θέλεις [páre óti thélis].

T: Πάρε ό,τι θέλεις. Πάρε ό,τι θες [páre óti thes]. Take whatever you want. You
might also hear in Greek, “ό,τι να ’ναι” [óti na’ne], for “whatever”, but in that
sense of, “Oh, whatever!” You know, Whatever! – ό,τι να ’ναι.

S: Ό,τι να ’ναι.

T: What do you think it means literally – Ό,τι να ’ναι?

473

S: Whatever that it is.

T: Yes. Να ’ναι. It’s ... what is, να ’ναι?

S: Να είναι [na íne].

T: Good. Exactly. Να είναι, contracted. Ό,τι να ’ναι – “Whatever it be”. What is the
word for, where?

S: Πού [pu].

T: Πού. Wherever?

S: Όπου [ópu].

T: Όπου. And do you remember the word for, how? As in, How are you?

S: Πώς [pos].

T: Πώς. However?

S: Όπως [ópos].

T: Όπως. Good.

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Complete Greek, Track 98 – Language Transfer

Teacher: What was, I take?

Student: Παίρνω [pérno].

T: Παίρνω. And the closed version?

S: Πάρω [páro].

T: Πάρω. Call me; Take me phone?

S: Πάρε με τηλέφωνο [páre me tiléfono].

T: Πάρε με τηλέφωνο. Good.

With these shorter verbs, when we make orders – so mostly just short verbs of a
syllable or two, like “πάρε”, no – when we add a word on the end with T (τ), so,
“το, τα, τους, την” [to, ta, tus, tin], any of those, we can have a contraction. So
instead of saying, πάρε το [páre to], we say, πάρ’ το [pár’to]. Πάρ’ το.

S: Πάρ’ το.

T: But not when we add “me” (με [με]), no? How was, Call me?

S: Πάρε με [páre me].

T: Πάρε με. So, when we have one of these with T (τ), no – “το, τα”, etc., we can
contract. So how would you say, Take it whenever you want? Take it whenever
you want.

S: Πάρ’ το όποτε θέλεις [pár’to ópote thélis].

T: Good. Πάρ’ το όποτε θέλεις. Πάρ’ το όποτε θες [pár’to ópote thes]. Take them
(and we mean a masculine “them”) … take them whenever you want.

S: Πάρ’ τους όποτε θες [pár’tus ópote thes].

T: Good. Πάρ’ τους όποτε θες. If we had things of a mixed gender, what would we
use to say, Take them whenever you want?

S: The same. Πάρ’ τους όποτε θες.

T: You would use “τους” [tus]? So “τους”, we can use for people of mixed gender.
But when we are talking of things of mixed gender, we would just use … ?

S: Okay. Πάρ’ τα. Πάρ’ τα όποτε θες [pár’ta ópote thes].

475

T: Πάρ’ τα όποτε θες. No? So things of a mixed gender are just “things”, like
πραγμάτα – τα πραγμάτα [prághmata, ta prághmata]. Πάρ’ τα όποτε θες [pár’ta
ópote thes]. But like I said, this contraction of, πάρε [páre] to, πάρ’ το [pár’to] or,
πάρ’ τα [pár’ta] – only when we have these words beginning T (τ). So if you say,
for example, Call us; how would that be?

S: Πάρε μας [páre mas].

T: Πάρε μας. Πάρε μας τηλέφωνο [páre mas tiléfono].

We had, δείχνω [dhíkhno] and, δείξω [dhíkso], for “I show”. And how do you say,
Show – giving the order, to one person.

S: Δείξε [dhíkse].

T: Δείξε. And to more than one person?

S: Δείξτε [dhíkste].

T: Δείξτε. Show me it. Show me it (still to more than one person).

S: Δείξτε μου το [dhíkste mu to].

T: Δείξτε μου το. So, whereas usually we have the personal one first, we have, μου
[mu] or, σου [su] or, μας [mas] first, when we have these little words after the
verb, in this situation where we give orders, then we see much more flexibility in
the word order. So we could have, like in English, Show me it – δείξστε μου το
[dhíkste mu to] or, Show it to me. So how would that be, still talking formally, or
plurally to more than one person? Show it to me.

S: Δείξτε το μου [dhíkste to mu].

T: Δείξτε το μου. How is, Show – talking just to one person. Show!

S: Δείξε [dhíkse].

T: Δείξε. And this one can contract with the “το”, no? So how would that sound?
Show it!

S: Δείξε το. Δείξ’ το [dhíks’to].

T: Δείξ’ το. Νο? We can’t contract “δείξτε” [dhíkste] and “το” [to], no? That’s too
difficult. But “δείξε” and “το” – that’s no problem: δείξ’ το. Show it to me!

S: Δείξ’ το μου [dhíks’to mu].

476
T: Δείξ’ το μου. Show them to me (things).

S: Δείξ’ τα μου [dhíks’ta mu].

T: Δείξ’ τα μου. Show them to us.

S: Δείξ’ τα μας [dhíks’ta mas].

T: Δείξ’ τα μας. And if you say, Show us it – in that order. Show us it.

S: Δείξε μας το [dhíkse mas to].

T: Δείξε μας το. So we can’t contract “μας” and “δείξε”, because “μας” [mas] doesn’t
begin with T (τ), like “το” [to] and “τους” [tus]. So the fact that we can contract
these beginning with T (τ), is probably why we break our normal word order here,
no – to be able to contract them. Δέιξ’ το μας.

If you want to say, “Don’t show me”, then this is quite different. You will say, Μην
μου το δείξεις [min mu to dhíksis]. Μην μου το δείξεις.

S: Μην μου το δείξεις.

T: So we have “μην” [min] for “not” or “don’t” here, rather than “δεν” [dhen]. But
everything else continues like normal, no? We have the small words back at the
beginning, before the verb in their normal positions, no? But after “μην”, as you
can notice in, Μην μου το δείξεις, we also have to choose – we have to decide
whether we want the open or the closed form of the verb. So, Mην μου το δείξεις
[min mu to dhíksis]. Don’t show me it. But, Don’t show me them.

S: Μην μου τα δείξεις [min mu ta dhíksis].

T: Μην μου τα δείξεις. What if you are talking to more than one person? Don’t show
me them.

S: Μην μου τα δείξετε [min mu ta dhíksete].

T: Μην μου τα δείξετε. Good. Don’t show them (things) to me (to more than one
person): Μην μου τα δείξετε. So actually, the negative orders are much simpler,
no, than the positive, in Greek. For example, if you contrast, Wait for me; how is,
Wait for me?

S: Περίμενέ με [perímené me].

T: Good. Περίμενέ με. So we have to think about having the accent third from the
end, and adding our E (ε), for the order, and then when we put “με” [me], pulling
the accent back up again. Περίμενέ με. As opposed to, Don’t wait for me, which is
much simpler.

477

S: Μην με περίμενεις [min me periménis].

T: Μην με περίμενεις. Good. But, you know, if we don’t want to think our way
through, περίμενέ με, we can also just say, Μπόρεις [borís], no, “can you” –
Μπόρεις να με περίμενεις [borís na me periménis]. So if we want to communicate
something quickly, we can find other ways of expressing what we want to happen.
How would you say, Wait! – as an order to more than one person?

S: Περιμέντε [periménte].

T: It might sound like “περιμέντε” [periménte], but actually, here, we don’t contract
normally: περιμένετε [periménete]. But when people speak fast, and we have the
accent third from the end, it might very well sound like, περιμέντε [periménte] …
περιμένετε [periménete], with a very soft E (ε). Wait for me – to more than one
person.

S: Περιμένετέ με [periméneté me].

T: Περιμένετέ με. But, Don’t wait for me – still formal or plural.

S: Μην με περιμένετε [min me periménete].

T: Μην με περιμένετε. What is, I do, or, I make?

S: Κάνω [káno].

T: Κάνω. So we have, κάνω – “I do”, and to give an order to one person, we would
say, κάνε [káne], or to more than one person, or formally, we actually have, κάντε
[kánde] or, κάντε [káde]. So whilst we don’t usually contract “ετε” [ete] to N (ν),
with this common verb we do, and this gives us N-T (ν-τ) together, which give us a
N-D [nd] sound, or just a D [d] sound: κάντε, κάντε [kánde, káde]. So whilst we
wouldn’t usually contract our “ετε” after an N (ν), this very common verb is a bit
irregular. We get, κάντε [kánde] or, κάνετε [kánete]; you can hear both, but κάντε
[kánde] is very common. So how would you say, Do it (still formal or plural)?

S: Κάνετέ το [káneté to].

T: So if we go from, κάνετε – κάνετέ το; and if we go from, κάντε [kánde], much
more simple – we don’t have to worry about any double accent: κάντε το [kánde
to]. Don’t do it (still to more than one person).

S: Μην το κάνετε [min to kánete].

T: Μην το κάνετε. How about to one person? Do! – giving the order, Do!

S: Κάνε [káne].

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T: Κάνε. And how would you say, Do it!

S: Κάνε το [káne to].

T: So you could say, κάνε το, but also with these short verbs, like we saw with, πάρε
[páre], δείξε [dhíkse], you can contract that: παρ’ το [pár’to], δελιξ’ το [dhíks’to],
κάν’ το [kán’do]. Just, Do it! – Κάν’ το.

S: Κάν’ το.

T: But this is only with those little words beginning T (τ). So, I don’t know, if you said
like, Do whatever you want with me; Do to me whatever you want – then you
wouldn’t join it. How would that be?

S: Κάνε μου όποτε θες [káne mu ópote thes].

T: Whatever you want.

S: Ό,τι θες [óti thes]. Sorry.

T: It’s a funny sentence. There’s a … there’s an odd … there’s an odd song in Greek
that says something like this: Πάρε με και κάνε με ό,τι θες [páre me ke káne me
óti thes], and “με” [me], not “μου” [mu], actually. I think maybe “μου” would
sound something like, “make for me”, rather than, “do to me”. And how would
you say, Don’t do it – talking to one person?

S: Μην το κάνεις [min to kánis].

T: Μην το κάνεις. Much more simple, no? So with our positive orders, we’ve seen
two common contractions, when we add a small word beginning with T (τ). So, we
go from, πάρε [páre] to, πάρ’ το [pár’to]; from, κάνε [káne] to, κάν’ το [kán’do].
And we’ve also seen that the “ετε” [ete], that we add for “you” (plural), can
contract to “τε” [te], and this depends on the previous sound. We can contract it
easily with an S (σ), which is what we tend to end in, in our closed form anyway:
δείξε, δείξτε [dhíkse, dhíkste]; παίζω, παίξω [pézo, pékso], “I play” – παίξε
[pékse], Play! – παίξτε [pékste], to more than one person. And even with some
common verbs, we can find this “ετε” [ete] contracted after sounds where it
might not usually be contracted. So we could have, κάνετε [kánete] or, κάντε
[kánde].

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Complete Greek, Track 99 – Language Transfer

Teacher: How do you say, Take it – to one person?

Student: Πάρ’ το [pár’to].

T: Πάρ’ το. And what if you are talking to more than one person?

S: Πάρετέ το [páreté to].

T: Πάρετέ το. But here, most commonly, you would hear, πάρτε το [párte to],
because the “ετε” [ete] contracts very easily with the R (ρ). So you may just have
to listen out, especially with orders. We tend to give the same orders all the time,
so you can hear, live, the different versions that you are most likely to hear. So, so
far we’ve been using the closed version for the order, no? But this may not
necessarily always be the case.

If you want to say in Greek, Such things are things like this, you can say, τέτοια
πραγμάτα [tétia prághmata]. Τέτοια πραγμάτα.

S: Τέτοια πραγμάτα.

T: So if you say something like, Don’t show me things like this, even though you may
be referring to now, you might actually hear a habit of just using that open form.
Because when you say something like, Don’t show me these kind of things (Don’t
show me things like these), it has a general, open feeling, you know. Don’t show
me things like this – generally. So how would you do that? Don’t show me this kind
of thing.

S: Μην μου δείχνεις τέτοια πραγμάτα [min mu dhíkhnis tétia prághmata].

T: Good. Μην μου δείχνεις τέτοια πραγμάτα. So we could see the open form, the
open, standard form of the verb, in orders as well.

What was, I eat?

S: Τρώω [tróo].

T: Τρώω. And the closed version?

S: Φάω [fáo].

T: Φάω. How would you say, Don’t eat it?

S: Μην να το φ ... Ah, ... μην το φάς [min to fas].

T: Good. Just “μην”. Μην το φάς. How would you say, Don’t eat this kind of thing?

480

S: Μην φάς τέτοια πραγμάτα [min fas tétia prághmata].

T: Good. Μην φάς τέτοια πραγμάτα, is possible, but maybe, with “τέτοια πραγμάτα”
you mean, you know, “this kind of junk food – generally”, in which case you might
give a ongoing, general order.

S: Μην τρως τέτοια πραγμάτα [min tros tétia prághmata].

T: Μην τρως τέτοια πραγμάτα.

“The floor” is, το πάτωμα [to pátoma]. Το πάτωμα.

S: Το πάτωμα.

T: We saw this “πατ” in “περπατάω” [perpatáo], which means “to walk”. And the
“πάτωμα”, το πάτωμα, is the floor, no, where you step. So if you say, Don’t eat off
the floor, to your child, or your dog, or whatever, you’re maybe giving a general
order. So, Don’t eat off the floor. Don’t eat from the floor.

S: Μην τρως από το πάτωμα [min tros apó to pátoma].

T: Good. Μην τρως από το πάτωμα. Or, απ’ το πάτωμα [ap’to pátoma]. We can
contract, από το – απ’ το πάτωμα. So that’s how we tend to make orders in Greek
with the great majority of verbs. But you may find exceptions, like those verbs
ending “άω” [áo] or “ώ” [ó], with their accent on the end. So, for example, how is,
I speak?

S: Μιλάω [miláo].

T: Μιλάω. So, for “Speak!” you could go from the closed version – which is what?

S: Μιλήσω [milíso].

T: And say, Speak! How would that be?

S: Μίλησε [mílise].

T: Good. Μίλησε. Speak to me.

S: Μίλησέ με [mílisé me].

T: Very nice with the accent, ah. But it’s not so much “με” [me], no? Speak to me.

S: Μίλησέ μου [mílisé mu].

481
T: Μίλησέ μου. So with our verbs with our accent on the ending, we actually get our
closed order, μίλησε [mílise], in the same way as with any other verb. We take our
closed form, we use an E (ε), and if we have a longer verb, we make sure our
accent is third from the end. Μίλησε.

But our open, ongoing order, for verbs like, μιλάω, ρωτάω [miláo, rotáo], that can
end “άω” as well as “ώ” … for these verbs, instead of using an E (ε), they use [a]
(α). So we get, μίλα [míla]. Μίλα. And as this is much easier to say than, μίλησε
[mílise], we might hear this more often than, μίλησε. Μίλα. So you could hear
both. Μίλησε – μίλησε μου [mílise mu] or, μίλα μου [míla mu]. The same with “I
ask”, for example. What was, I ask?

S: Ρωτάω [rotáo].

T: Ρωτάω. Ask us.

S: Ρώτα μας [róta mas].

T: Ρώτα μας. Νο? You could say, ρώτα μας, like, μίλα μας. Ρώτα μας. So with verbs
like, μιλάω, ρωτάω [miláo, rotáo], these open orders are also like short cuts.
They’re really used much more, even when we don’t necessarily mean an open
time. So, μην με ρώτας [min me rótas] or, μίλα μου [míla mu]. But generally
speaking, no, our open order – an order based on the open, standard form of the
verb, gives us an ongoing, open feeling of an ongoing order. So Greek makes us
think about whether our orders are ongoing, when we say, Don’t eat that kind of
trash! Do we mean right now, or generally speaking?

But our open order form is also used to achieve another feeling. So this open
order, which we form with the standard version of the verb, either with our [e]
(ε), like we do for most verbs, or with [a] (α), with our verbs ending “άω” [áo] –
this open version of the order, no, of the imperative, can be used for ongoing
orders or ideas that we understand as ongoing, but it also has a feeling of, like,
“get going”, “start writing”, you know, “start going”, “get going”. So you can also
use this open form when you’re a bit impatient, for example, or, you know, if you
want to give the feeling of, “Get on with it!” Γράφε [ghráfe] – “Get writing!” So,
we can also use the open orders for that feeling, which of course, if we think
about it, is just another ongoing feeling, no? Get writing! Start writing! That’s an
open, ongoing feeling, which we’re using our open standard verb form for. So
again, this is something we want to listen out for and understand in real life, in
context, how this is used, and the feeling associated with it . How will you say, Ask
me whatever you want?

S: Ρώτα με ό,τι θέλεις [róta me óti thélis].

T: Ρώτα με ό,τι θέλεις. Good. So we might be using “ρώτα” here, just because it’s
much easier than “ρώτησε” [rótise]. We may be using “ρώτα”, because we mean,
you know, generally, Whenever, you can ask me whatever you like; that’s open. Or

482
 we may be using “ρώτα” here to mean like, Come on, just … just get on with it and
ask me what it is that you want to know. No? Like, Get asking! Ρώτα [róta]. So this
is why, whilst we talk about what’s going on there in Greek, you really want to just
listen out and see what people tend to use in different contexts.

What was the word just for, what, rather than, whatever?

S: Τι [ti].

T: Τι. And the word for, never – very similar to, when, just with a change in accent.
So we have, πότε [póte] – “when”, and ... ?

S: Ποτέ [poté].

T: Ποτέ. The word for “nothing”, or “anything”, for “nothing” or “anything” is, τίποτε
[típote] or τίποτα [típota]; you can hear both in Greek – τίποτε, τίποτα, although
τίποτα is much more common. Τίποτα.

S: Τίποτα.

T: Don’t ask us anything. Don’t ask us anything.

S: Μην μας ρωτήσεις τίποτα [min mas rotísis típota].

T: Μην μας ρωτήσεις τίποτα. Or we could just mean generally, no, an ongoing order.
How might that be?

S: Μην μας ρωτάς τίποτα [min mas rotás típota].

T: Good. Μην μας ρωτάς τίποτα. Of course we’ll also find other ways of finding the
order. For example, if we have a closed version that’s very small, like, πω [po],
from, λέω [léo] – “I say”, “I tell”; like, δω [dho] from, βλέπω [vlepo] – “I see”; we
have a slightly different order. For, Tell me, we have, πες. Πες μου [pez mu] – “tell
me”.

S: Πες μου.

T: For “See”, See, like giving an order, we have, δες [dhes]. Δες.

S: Δες.

T: Maybe in something like, Δες θεάτρο με δέκα ευρώ [dhes théatro me dhéka
evró]. What does that mean? Δες θεάτρο με δέκα ευρώ.

S: Come and see a theatre play for 10 euros.

483
T: Yeah, exactly, no? See theatre for 10 euros, or, “with 10 euros” in Greek; με δέκα
ευρώ [me dhéka evró]. Very good.

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Complete Greek, Track 100 – Language Transfer

Teacher: What was, I go, or, I’m going?

Student: Πηγαίνω [piyéno].

T: Πηγαίνω. I was going?

S: Πήγαινα [píyena].

T: Πήγαινα. And what was the closed version of, πηγαίνω?

S: Πάω [páo].

T: Πάω. Good. So this is also our alternative form of, πηγαίνω, no – like, the
contracted form that can mean the same as, πηγαίνω, but it’s also the closed
version. So we saw, πήγαινα [píyena] for, I was going. If you want to say, “I went”,
how do you build that from, πάω? Well actually, the G (γ) pops back up, the “γ” of
πηγαίνω, that we contract away in, πάω, pops back up, and we get, πήγα [pígha].
Πήγα. So, “I went” is, πήγα.

S: Πήγα.

T: So this is quite a strange past form, no? Πήγα – “I went”. We went?

S: Πήγαμε [píghame].

T: Πήγαμε. We didn’t go?

S: Δεν πήγαμε [dhen píghame].

T: Δεν πήγαμε. So, πήγα [pígha] is a little bit like, πήρα [píra] (I took), from παίρνω
[pérno]; βρήκα [vríka] (I found) from, βρίσκω [vrísko]. So we have some odd, short
pasts with an initial [i] (η) sound in their first syllable: πήρα, βρήκα, πήγα.

“Around about”, or “approximately” is, περίπου [perípu]. Περίπου.

S: Περίπου.

T: So we have, περι [peri], no, then που [pu] – περίπου. How would you say, He
went around 5 o’clock? So for “5 o’clock”, we will say “to the 5”, in the feminine,
because we mean, “to the 5 hours”; and hours is feminine: ώρα, ώρες [óra, óres],
feminine. The word for “5” is, πέντε [pénde], like pentagram. So, He went around
5 o’clock (to the 5 – in the feminine plural).

S: Πήγα περίπου [pígha perípu] ...

485
T: He went.

S: Ah. Πήγε περίπου στις πέντε [píye perípu stis pénde].

T: Πήγε περίπου στις πέντε. Very good. The word for “ten” is, δέκα [dhéka]. Δέκα.

S: Δέκα.

T: What might we relate that to? Δέκα?

S: Decathlon – this kind of sport where you do ten … ten disciplines.

T: Ah yeah, I didn’t know that.

S: Or decade.

T: So, yeah, we can try to find something in English, no, and we do. We find
“decade”, no, which is ten years, even “December”, which is 10, the 10th month,
well it used to be when our calendar had 10 months. I mentioned that October
used to be the 8th month like, οχτώ [okhtó]. So how would you say, They went
around 10 o’clock? They went around 10 o’clock.

S: Πήγανε περίπου στις δέκα [píghane perípu stis dhéka].

T: Good. Πήγαν [píghan] (or, πήγανε) περίπου στις δέκα. Very good. How might you
say, Don’t go! Don’t go!

S: Μην πας [min pas].

T: Μην πας. Very good. So for our negative order, no, we have “μην” for “don’t”.
Μην πας. But we also use “μην” when “don’t” comes after “να”. For example, we
could say, I don’t want you to go. No? How is that? I don’t want ... ?

S: Δεν θέλω [dhen thélo].

T: You to go.

S: Να πας [dhen thélo na pas].

T: Δεν θέλω να πας [na pas]. But we could also say, I want you not to go. So here we
would put the “not” or the “don’t” after “να”. No? I want - να - you don’t go. So
here we would use “μην”, rather than “δεν”. So how would that be? I want you
not to go.

S: Θέλω να μην πας [thélo na min pas].

486
T: Very good. Θέλω να μην πας. So this is rather than, I don’t want you to go. I want
you not to go.

What was, I sell, like in “monopoly”?

S: Πουλάω [puláo].

T: Πουλάω. I don’t want you to sell it – let’s talk to one person. I don’t want you to
sell it.

S: Δεν θέλω να το πουλάς [dhen thélo na to pulás].

T: Good. Δεν θέλω να το πουλάς. And this would work if you mean generally, no,
which you might if you’re saying, I don’t want you to sell it. But if you’re referring
to a specific event or situation, how would it be?

S: Δεν θέλω να το πουλήσεις [dhen thélo na to pulísis].

T: Δεν θέλω να το πουλήσεις. And what if you were to say, I want you not to sell it.

S: Θέλω να μην το πουλήσεις [thélo na min to pulísis].

T: Good. Θέλω να μην το πουλήσεις. So, it means the same thing, no, but we have a
slight difference in feeling in Greek, as well as we do in English. I don’t want you to
sell it – Δεν θέλω να το πουήσεις [dhen thélo na to pulísis]; I want you not to sell it
– Θέλω να μην το πουλήσεις [thélo na min to pulísis].

487
Complete Greek, Track 101 – Language Transfer

Teacher: Give me again, I go, or, I’m going.

Student: Πηγαίνω [piyéno].

T: Πηγαίνω. So, πηγαίνω is, I go, or, I’m going, but we can also get the form, “going”.
This is, πηγαίνοντας [piyénondas]. Πηγαίνοντας.

S: Πηγαίνοντας.

T: So we have “-οντας” [ondas] which is our ending for “-ING”, and in this way we
build “going” – πηγαίνοντας. This isn’t “I’m going”, or “you’re going”; just “going”
– πηγαίνοντας. And we notice that we have the accent before the “οντας”.
Πγγαίνοντας [piyénondas].

S: Πηγαίνοντας.

T: That’s, O (ο) - N (ν) - T (τ) - A (α) - S (ς). So we have the NT (ντ) again giving us ND
[nd] or D [d]. How is, I see?

S: Βλέπω [vlépo].

T: Βλέπω. Seeing?

S: Βλέποντας [vlépondas].

T: Βλέποντας. “Television” is, τηλεόραση [tileórasi]. Τηλεόραση.

S: Τηλεόραση.

T: Do you remember the meaning of “τηλε” [tile], like in, τηλέφωνο [tiléfono]? Τηλ
[til]. Τηλέφωνο, meant what?

S: Um ... like the … ?

T: You remember what “φωνο” [fono] means?

S: “Voice”, something like that.

T: “Sound” or “voice”. And do you remember what “τηλ” [til] meant then?

S: Something like distance.

T: Yes.

S: Distance.

488

T: Distance, far, far voice. So, τηλεόραση [tileórasi] is something like “far vision” –
something like this. So that’s the television. So how would you say, I watch (or, I’m
watching) television?

S: Βλέπω τηλεόραση [vlépo tiliórasi].

T: Τηλε [tile], τηλεόραση [tileórasi]. Βλέπω τηλεόραση [vlépo tileórasi]. So this is, I
watch, or, I’m watching. No? Βλέπω τηλεόραση. But if you want to say something
like, I’m eating popcorn watching television, there we need “watching”, no?
“Seeing”: βλέποντας.

So “popcorn” is, πόπκορν [pópkorn], in Greek. Give me the first bit – I eat (I’m
eating) popcorn.

S: Τρώω πόπκορν [tróo pópkorn].

T: Τρώω πόπκορν ... watching television (seeing television).

S: Βλέποντας τηλεόραση [vlépondas tileórasi].

T: Good. So maybe someone calls you and they tell you like, “What are you doing?”
And you say, Τρώω πόπκορν βλέποντας τηλεόραση [tróo pópkorn vlépondas
tileórasi] – “I’m eating popcorn watching television”. How would you say, I was
eating popcorn watching television? So we have, τρώω [tróo], which has a G (γ)
swallowed up in it, which pops back out when we say, I was eating.

S: Έτρωγα [étrogha].

T: Έτρωγα. So, I was eating popcorn watching television.

S: Έτρωγα πόπκορν βλέποντας τηλεόραση [étrogha pópkorn vlépondas tileórasi].

T: Έτρωγα πόπκορν βλέποντας τηλεόραση. Good. And it came out more Greek, your
“popcorn”, no, which is natural, of course, when you are in the tonality and the
rhythm of a language. It would be more effort to break it to say “popcorn” with a
more native English accent, than to put it into your Greek accent. Έτρωγα πόπκορν
βλέποντας τηλεόραση. If you want to say “eating” from “τρώω”, that hidden G (γ)
pops out again. So how do you think that would be?

S: Τρώγοντας [tróghondas].

T: Very good. Τρώγοντας. That’s “eating” – τρώγοντας. You might hear, Τρώγοντας
έρχεται η όρεξη [tróghondas érchete i óreksi], which means, “eating (or, by eating)
comes the appetite” – used for many things, not just food, no, this expression.
Like, “You have to get started to want more.”

489
 How would you say, I saw him when I was going to the centre? I saw him when I
was going to the centre.

S: Τον είδα όταν [ton ídha ótan] ...

T: I was going …

S: Πήγαινα [píyena] …

T: To the centre.

S: Στο κέντρο [sto kéndro].

T: Τον είδα όταν πήγαινα στο κέντρο [ton ídha ótan píyena sto kéndro]. Now we
could also say, as a shortcut, “I saw him going to the centre” but this “going” is
also like “by going”, or “whilst going”. So this doesn’t … this doesn’t mean, “I saw
him and he was going to the centre”, no. This means, “I saw him – όταν πήγαινα
[ótan píyena] (when I was going) to the centre”. So instead of, Τον είδα όταν
πήγαινα στο κέντρο, we can make a shortcut and say, “I saw him going (I’m the
one that’s going) to the centre.” So how would you do that? I saw him going to the
centre?

S: Τον είδα πηγαίνοντας στο κέντρο [ton ídha piyénondas sto kéndro].

T: Good. Τον είδα πηγαίνοντας στο κέντρο. “I saw him going to the centre.” And this
means, “I saw him when I was going to the centre.”

So “-οντας” [óndas], this “-ING”, matches the person that’s in charge of the verbs,
let’s say, no. Εγώ είδα [eghó ídha], and then, πηγαίνοντας [piyénondas] can only
refer to me. If we want to say something like, I saw him going to the centre, with
the meaning of: I saw him, in the act of, he was going, no, to the centre, then we
can say, Τον είδα να πηγαίνει [ton ídha na piyéni]. Τον είδα – “I saw him” – να
πηγαίνει. That [i] (ει) of “πηγαίνει” refers back to him – στο κέντρο. So this is how
you would say, “I saw him going on his way to the centre.”

Do you remember how to say, I drive?

S: Οδηγάω [odhigháo].

T: Οδηγώ [odhighó], οδηγάω. So, I saw her when I was driving in the centre.

S: Την είδα όταν οδηγούσα στο κέντρο [tin ídha ótan odhighúsa sto kéndro].

T: Very good. Την είδα όταν οδηγούσα στο κέντρο. Very good. So with, οδηγώ
[odhighó], we have, οδηγήσω [odhiyíso], our closed version. But then, for our
open past, with our verbs with our accent on the end, like “οδηγώ”, we have

490
 “ούς” [us], “ούς”, “οδηγούσα” [odhighúsa]. I saw her when I was driving in the
centre – Την είδα όταν οδηγούσα στο κέντρο.

But we can also make a shortcut for this, no? We can say, I saw her driving in the
centre, and of course we would mean, I saw her whilst I was driving in the centre,
but using “driving”, no? How do you think, driving, from “οδηγώ” might sound?

S: Οδήγωντας [odhíghondas].

T: Οδηγώντας [odhighóndas]. So here we have the accent on the “ώντας” [óndas],
because we have the accent on the ending of, οδηγώ [odhighó]. Οδηγώ,
οδηγώντας.

S: Οδηγώντας [odhighóndas].

T: So, instead of, Την είδα όταν οδηγούσα στο κέντρο [tin ídha ótan odhighúsa sto
kéndro], we could say, I saw her driving in the centre, meaning, when I was driving
in the centre.

S: Την είδα οδηγώντας στο κέντρο [tin ídha odhighóndas sto kéndro].

T: Good. Την είδα οδηγώντας στο κέντρο. No?

And if we wanted to say, I saw her – she was the one that was driving in the
centre, rather than, I saw her whilst I was driving in the centre, there we have
quite a different structure, no? With “να” and just the present. How would that
be? I saw her driving in the centre.

S: Την είδα να οδηγεί στο κέντρο [tin ídha na odhiyí sto kéndro].

T: Good. Την είδα (I saw her) να οδηγεί (referring back to her, driving) στο κέντρο.

So we don’t use this -ING, “οντας/ώντας”, in all of the places that we would use it
in English. And it refers to the same person that is doing the verbs. So, Εγώ τον
είδα πηγαίνοντας [eghó ton ídha piyénondas], the “πηγαίνοντας” can only refer to
“εγώ” not to “τον”.

491
Complete Greek, Track 102 – Language Transfer

Teacher: So if you are male, and have a Greek name, like me, but mostly speak with
non-Greek speakers, then people are constantly calling you wrong. People call me
Michalis (Μιχάλης [mikhális]), but really it should be Michali, when they call me.

So we’ve seen a lot about case, no, how some words can change, depending on
how they are behaving – whether they are acting like “he”, “him” or “to him”;
whether they are behaving like “she”, “her” or “to her”. Αnd all of this is called
case. But in Greek, there’s also something called a vocative case. This means a
version of the noun or adjective you use to call someone. And this is only for the
masculine singular. So this is quite specific, no, what Greek does here – a case for
calling somebody. But it’s very difficult to forget about, because when someone
calls Μιχάλης, you hear “Μιχάλη” [mikháli]; when someone calls Γρηγόρης
[ghrighóris], you will hear “Γρηγόρη” [ghrighóri]. And we know that masculine
names end in S (-ς), so we will be reminded of this often when we hear the names
without the S (-ς).

We have something like this vocative in English too – like we say, “O Michael”, no,
for example. This “O” is a vocative; we use it to show we’re calling someone. Or
you might have heard it even in another language, without realising. Most people
know the Arabic word “Habíbi”, no, meaning like, “my dear”, or something like
that; and you may have heard, “ya habibi”, “ya habibi”; this “ya” is just a vocative.
So this idea is not as weird as it might sound; quite a few languages do this. So,
how would you say, for example, My Grigoris, calling Γρηγόρης [ghrighóris]?

Student: Γρηγόρη μου [ghrighóri mu].

T: Γρηγόρι μου. Good. This is very common: Γρηγόρη μου; Μιχάλη μου. And this isn’t
just with names, no? You might call someone any noun or adjective. For example,
λεβέντης [levéndis]. Λεβέντης means like, how would you translate “λεβέντης”?
Like a good example of a man, no? Somebody that might be like, tall and strong,
and good looking and smart, and nice, and combines all of this – λεβέντης. And,
you know, this is often said to somebody, affectionately. So, if you call somebody,
λεβέντης, how will it sound?

S: Λεβέντη [levéndi].

T: Λεβέντη. Λεβέντη μου [levéndi mu]. If the word ends OS (-ος), we don’t just drop
the S (-ς), we replace [os] with an [e], with an E (ε). So for example, what was the
word for, friend?

S: Φίλος [fílos].

T: Φίλος. Good. And if you call somebody, Friend.

S: Φίλε [fíle].

492

T: Φίλε. So this isn’t saying, “You are my friend”, you know. If you say, You are my
friend, you will say ... ?

S: Είσαι ο φίλος μου [íse o fílos mu].

T: Είσαι ο φίλος μου. This is when you use the word “friend”, to call somebody. Φίλε.
Or, My friend.

S: Φίλε μου [fíle mu].

T: Φίλε μου. You remember the word for, big, like “mega”?

S: Μεγάλος [meghálos].

T: Μεγάλος. And if you were to call somebody, Big? How might it be?

S: Μεγάλε [meghále].

T: Μεγάλε. So you might do this actually, you know. You might say like, “I agree, big
guy, I agree”, meaning like, you know, “What you said is great” – Μεγάλε
συμφωνώ [meghále simfonó]. Ψηλός [psilós], ψηλός, means “tall”. Ψηλός.

S: Ψηλὀς.

T: So you might call somebody like “tall-y” or something, you know. Or, you know,
“giant”, or something like this. How would it be, from, ψηλὀς?

S: Ψηλέ [psilé].

T: Ψηλέ. My giant.

S: Ψηλέ μου [psilé mu].

T: Ψηλέ μου. The word for “beautiful” in Greek is, όμορφος [ómorfos]. Όμορφος.

S: Όμορφος.

T: This is like in metamorphosis. Μορφος [morfos] means like “form”, form; a
metamorphosis is your after-form. And, όμορφος, “beautiful”, means something
like, well-formed. So if you say to a guy, You are beautiful, how would that be?

S: Είσαι όμορφος [íse ómorfos].

T: Είσαι όμορφος. But if you call him, like, Hey, beautiful, how would it be?

S: Όμορφε [ómorfe].

493

T: Όμορφε. Good. How would you say, My beautiful?

S: Όμορφέ μου [ómorfé mu].

T: Good. You came back up on the E (έ).

S: Yeah.

T: Όμορφέ μου [ómorfé mu]. Bravo. So we have the double accent there, no,
because we have “μου” [mu]. We have the accent on O (ό), όμορφε – third from
the end: όμορφε. So when we put “μου”, we come up again on the end – όμοργέ
μου [ómorfé mu]. Very good.

So this special vocative form, we only have it for the masculine singular, no? If we
say to a girl or a woman, for example, “beautiful”, we will just use the feminine. So
how would that be?

S: Όμορφη [ómorfi].

T: Good. And, My beautiful?

S: Όμορφή μου [ómorfí mu].

T: Όμορφή μου. Do you remember the word for, brother?

S: Αδελφός [adhelfós].

T: Αδελφός. And we said we will also hear, very commonly, αδερφός [adherfós].
Αδερφός. And if you call, Brother.

S: Αδελφέ [adhelfé].

T: Αδελφέ. Good. Αδελφέ μου [adhelfé mu] – “My brother”. What if you call to your
sister?

S: Αδελφή μου [adhelfí mu].

T: Αδελφή μου. Notice we just use the … the feminine. And what if you call to your
two sisters?

S: Αδελφές [adhelfés]. Αδελφές μου [adhelféz mu].

T: Αδελφές μου. And to your two brothers?

S: Αδελφοί μου [adhelfí mu].

494
T: Αδελφοί μου. Again [i], no, but spelt OI (οί). So for this vocative, we remove the S
(ς) or, if we have OS (ος), we remove that and we put an E (ε). But with our male
names ending OS (ος), we might use the E (ε), or we might just drop the S (ς);
when it comes to names, they behave a tiny bit differently. So, for example,
Γιώργος [yórghos], if you call “Γιώργος”, you would just drop the S (ς).

S: Γιώργο [yórgho].

T: Γιώργο. The name “Mario” in Greek is ... ? Well, I think you can guess how would
you make “Mario” Greek.

S: Μάριος [mários].

T: Μάριος, no? You just put the S (ς) for the masculine. Now if you call “Μάριος”,
this OS (ος) is going to become an E (ε).

S: Μάριε [márie].

T: Μάριε. Μάριε. So Greek speakers can hear quite a few versions of their own
names, if you think about it. We could have, for example, Marios is waiting. How
would that be?

S: Ο Μάριος περιμένει [o mários periméni].

T: Ο Μάριος περιμένει. We could have, I’m waiting for (or, I’m awaiting) Marios.
How would that be?

S: Περιμένω τον Μάριο [periméno ton mário].

T: Περιμένω τον Μάριο. So here we don’t have “Μάριος” [mários], but “Μάριο”
[mário]. How would you say, I am waiting for the friend of Marios (I’m waiting for
Marios’s friend)?

S: Περιμένω τον φίλο του Μάριου [periméno ton fílo tu máriu].

T: Very good. Περιμένω τον φίλο του Μάριου. So we’ve seen Μάριος, Μάριο,
Μάριου. Maybe you know two Marioses, two guys called Marios, and you call
them, you know, the Marioses, and you might say something like, you know, I’m
waiting for the friends of the Marioses. How would that be?

S: Περιμένω τους φίλους τους Μάριους [periméno tus fílus tus márius].

T: So, if we were to say, for example, Περιμένω τους φίλους τους [periméno tus fílus
tus] – “their friends” – that would be fine. But if we’re saying, “the friends of the
teachers”, “the friends of the Marioses”, we don’t use “τους” [tus], no? We have a
change. So give that another try. I’m waiting for the friends of the Marioses.

495
S: Περιμένω τους φίλους των Μάριων [periméno tus fílus ton márion].

T: Good. Περιμένω τους φίλους των Μάριων. And this, των [ton], and the [on] (-ων)
of, Μάριων, both with the ωμέγα [omégha] (ω), the [o] that looks like a “w”.
Good. And then we could say, for example, Marios. Wait here. How would we do
that?

S: Μάριε. Περίμενε εδώ [márie. perímene edhó].

T: Very good. Μάριε. Περίμενε εδώ. So we’ve seen two uses of [e] (ε) actually, no, to
make our orders: περίμενε [perímene], and also to call somebody – or to call a
male, no, to be more specific. And if you think about it, to call somebody is a little
bit like an order, no? You call them to get their attention. Μάριε [márie]. Ψηλέ
μου [psilé mu]. Φίλε μου [fíle mu].

So your name is quite a flexible concept in Greek, no? You can hear many versions
of it: Μάριε, Μάριος, Μάριου, Μάριο [márie, mários, máriu, mário]. So this isn’t
just about addressing males, this vocative feature, but also about using masculine
words. You might address a male using a feminine word, too. For example, if you
say, My love. Do you remember how that was?

S: Αγάπη μου [aghápi mu].

T: Αγάπη μου. This is a noun, and it’s feminine. There’s no masculine version, so just
“αγάπη μου”, no? Even though we’re speaking to a male, we’re calling “my love”,
and the word “love” is feminine. Or, for example, “soul”, we saw was, ψυχή
[psichí], like in “psychology”. So if you say, My soul?

S: Ψυχή μου [psichí mu].

T: Ψυχή μου. No? You don’t have to worry about changing that. And I couldn’t
possibly talk about this vocative question without mentioning the most frequent
of vocatives, μαλάκα [maláka]. Μαλάκας is a crude word meaning, “a not very
nice person”, let’s say. I don’t have to go into the logistics of it. But like many
crude words, it can jump the line into mainstream culture between familiars,
between friends. So friends in Greek often call each other “μαλάκα”, emphatically
in conversation – to put a point, to get someone’s attention, to say something like,
Έλα μαλάκα [éla maláka] – “Come on, what are you talking about”. Τι λες; [ti les?].
Some people say it all the time, others rarely, and then others can’t stand it at all.
So don’t throw it around too much. And like I said, it’s something you should use
only with people you’re familiar with. Unless you are having a fight, of course; you
can throw it around as much as you like. But there we see the word is “μαλάκας”
[malákas], but of course when you call somebody, you don’t have the S (ς). So
that’s the most frequent vocative you will hear in Greek.

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Complete Greek, Track 103 – Language Transfer

Teacher: What was the word for, house?

Student: Σπίτι [spíti].

T: Σπίτι, which is actually related to “hospital” and “hospitality”. Σπίτι.

To say “little house”, you can change the ending of “σπίτι” to “σπιτάκι” [spitáki];
so putting ΑΚΙ (άκι) [áki] – “little house”.

S: Σπιτάκι [spitáki].

T: So this means “a little house”, in the sense of a physically small house, or just, kind
of like, to make it cuter, you know, like as you can do in English: “I love your little
house”, no? It might not necessarily be small; it might just be endearing. How is
the word for, houses?

S: Σπίτια [spítia].

T: Σπίτια. So how might, little houses, be?

S: Σπιτάκια [spitákia].

T: Σπιτάκια. How is, the friend – a feminine friend?

S: Η φίλη [i fíli].

T: Η φίλη. Το φιλί [to filí], το φιλί, is “the kiss”, the kiss. Το φιλί.

S: Το φιλί.

T: How would you say, a little kiss?

S: Φιλάκι [filáki].

T: Φιλάκι. How would you say, little kisses?

S: Φιλάκια [filákia].

T: And this is used on males, “φιλάκια”, and also said, as well, when you’re saying
goodbye – maybe somebody says, Φιλάκια – “little kisses”.

“The water” was, το νερό [to neró]. Το νερό – “the water”.

S: Το νερό.

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T: So you may notice that with certain words, it’s very common to use this “άκι” [áki]
ending, like for example, with “water”. You know, maybe you would say, Do you
want a little water? How would that be?

S: Θες νεράκι; [thes neráki?].

T: Θες νεράκι; So this may mean, a little water, or it just may mean when people
refer to water, they use this cute ending, no? Because, you know, really if we
wanted to say “little”, we would say there’s “λίγο” [lígho], no? There’s, λιγο νερό
[lígho neró]. So with some words, you might find it’s used quite often, like with,
νερό – νεράκι.

So “ακι” is mostly used with neuter nouns, but not always. For example, we could
have, η γάτα [i gháta] – “the cat”. And then the “little cat” is, γατάκι [ghatáki]; but
“the little cat” is, το γατάκι [to ghatáki]. So if we use “άκι” for a word that isn’t
neuter, we make it neuter: η γάτα – το γατάκι.

But for masculine nouns, we have “άκης” [ákis]. What was “George” in Greek?

S: Γιώργος.

T: Γιώργος. Little George?

S: Γιωργάκης [yorghákis].

T: Γιωργάκης. And how would you call him, little George, and you’re calling to him?

S: Γιωργάκη [yorgháki].

T: Γιωργάκη. We have my name, no, Μιχάλης [mikhális]. And how would you say
like, little Μιχάλης?

S: Μιχαλάκη [mikhaláki].

T: Again?

S: Μιχαλάκης [mikhalákis].

T: Good. Μιχαλάκης. And if you were calling, little Michael?

S: Μιχαλάκη [mikhaláki].

T: Μιχαλάκη. So we have “άκι” [áki] with neuter, “άκης” [ákis] with masculine, to
achieve this meaning of “little” something.

For feminine nouns we could have, ούλα [úla], ούλα.

498
S: Ούλα.

T: Καρδιά [kardhiá], καρδιά – maybe you can guess what “καρδιά” means; it relates
to something in English.

S: Cardiac, like, cardiac arrest. Heart.

T: “Heart” – καρδιά. My heart. Imagine you are calling somebody, My heart.

S: Καρδιά. Καρδιά μου [kardhiá mu].

T: Καρδιά μου. And how would you say, My little heart? So, we will take away the
ending “ια” [ia] (both the I (ι) and the A (α) off of, καρδιά), and we will add, ούλα
[úla], to get “little heart”. So how would that be?

S: Καρδούλα [kardhúla].

T: Καρδούλα. My little heart?

S: Καρδούλα μου [kardhúla mu].

T: Καρδούλα μου. So, καρδούλα μου, you know, you could say it to a male or a
female. Just the word is feminine, which also means we have no change in the
vocative, no, when we use it to call somebody. Καρδιά μου. Καρδούλα μου.

Κώστας [kóstas] is another common name in Greek. Κώστας.

S: Κώστας.

T: Which is also like, the same name as, Κωνσταντίνος [konstandínos]; it’s like a
shortened version. You will find in Greek sometimes you have a few versions of
the same name, actually. So, Κώστας. How would you say, little Costas?

S: Κωστάκης [kostákis].

T: Κωστάκης. How would you say, My little Costas, calling to him?

S: Κωστάκη μου [kostáki mu].

T: Κωστάκη μου. How would you say, This is for little Costas?

S: Αυτό είναι για τον Κωστάκη.

T: Αυτό είναι για τον Κωστάκη. Very good. So “άκι” [áki] and “ούλα” [úla] aren’t the
only endings, actually, that we can use to give this affectionate feel. You might
hear “ούλη” [úli]; you might hear “ίτσα” [ítsa], and others. And you may also

499
 notice that different regions have different preferences for the one that they go to
automatically.

And in addition to all of these various sounds you might hear to make something
smaller or cuter, there are other sounds that make things big and great. So, for
example, you could hear “γυναίκα” [yinéka], no, meaning “woman”, and then
“γυναικάρα” [yinekára], meaning like, a “great woman”. So there “άρα” [ára] is
giving us the meaning of “big” or “great”. So listen out for these in context, and
also notice how some words tend to prefer certain endings. We won’t use any of
our possible endings for all words. So you will pick them up in context. And also
this emphatic-ness of being cuter or smaller, or big and great, is often shown in
the voice as well, and that will help us pick it out when we’re practising Greek.

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Complete Greek, Track 104 – Language Transfer

Teacher: What was, I start, in Greek?

Student: Αρχίζω [archízo].

T: Αρχίζω. And the closed version?

S: Αρχίσω [archíso].

T: Αρχίσω. How would you say, She started to speak? She started to speak.

S: Άρχισε να μιλήσει [árchise na milísi].

T: Why “μιλήσει”?

S: Well actually, in this case, it’s probably more fitting to say, να μιλάει [na milái],
because it’s probably something she’s going to keep doing. Right?

T: For sure, no? The starting – She started; well, that is a moment in time, no, and
you used, άρχισε [árchise]. But, “the speaking”, no, is … is an ongoing, it’s going to
go on. So, Άρχισε να μιλάει [árchise na milái]. So we don’t want to get too
automatic, no, going to ”μιλήσει” [milísi] after “να” [na]. We want to think about
it, and also constantly listen to hear when native speakers maybe choose a
different form to the one we would. How would you say, She’s starting to speak
now? She’s starting to speak now.

S: Αρχίζει να μιλάει τώρα [archízi na milái tóra].

T: Very good. Αρχίζει να μιλάει τώρα.

So now that we’ve seen about case, no, about how nouns change in different
functions, I can talk more about the word “τώρα” [tóra], which is probably, την
ώρα [tin óra] – “the hour”, contracted together to form the word “τώρα”, for
“now”. And of course we have this in the “her” form, because it’s like, “on the
hour – on her”, rather than “on she”, no? So, τώρα – την ώρα, much like the
Spanish, ahora, also meaning “to the hour”, or something like that.

“It’s raining”, It’s raining in Greek is, βρέχει [vréchi]. Βρέχει.

S: Βρέχει.

T: How would you say, Ιt’s starting to rain now?

S: Αρχίζει να βρέχει τώρα [archízi na vréchi tóra].

T: Αρχίζει να βρέχει τώρα. What is, I learn?

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S: Μαθαίνω [mathéno].

T: And the closed version?

S: Μάθω [mátho].

T: Μάθω. I learnt to drive. What was, I drive?

S: Οδιγάω [odhigháo].

T: Οδιγώ [odhighó], οδιγάω. I learnt to drive.

S: Έμαθα να οδιγάω [ématha na odhigháo].

T: Very good. Έμαθα να οδιγάω. Έμαθα να οδιγώ [ématha na odhighó]. So here we
left it open, no? I learnt – that’s closed – έμαθα [ématha], to drive – well this is an
ongoing, open thing. Έμαθα να οδιγώ.

So we have “οδιγώ” - “I drive”, and “I explain” was ... ? So, οδιγώ, is something like
“to lead on the roads”, something like this; and “to explain” is something like, “to
lead out of” – beginning exactly like “explain”, actually.

S: Εξιγήζω [eksiyízo].

T: Ok; that’s a version that came to your head, no? But, you want to know what
you’re working with, so find, you know, your standard version you will refer back
to.

S: Εξηγώ [eksighó].

T: Εξηγώ. How would you say, He started to explain it to me but I wasn’t listening
and so he left? So we will begin with, He started to explain it to me.

S: Άρχησε να μου το εξηγεί [árchise na mu to eksiyí].

T: Very good. Άρχησε να μου το εξηγεί ... but … ?

S: Αλλά [alá].

T: Αλλά (μα [ma]) ... I wasn’t listening. Now, “I listen”, sounded like “acoustic”. How
was, I listen?

S: Ακούω [akúo].

T: Ακούω. So for, “I wasn’t listening” we have this open past, no, – I wasn’t listening.
How would you say, I listened? What is the closed version?

502

S: Ακούσω [akúso].

T: Ακούσω. I listened.

S: Άκουσα [ákusa].

T: Άκουσα. “I was listening” is, άκουγα [ákugha]. Άκουγα. So we have a [gh] (γ)
popping up, that’s been swallowed away in, ακούω. And we also have the accent
at the beginning, just like, άκουσα [ákusa]. Άκουγα [ákugha].

S: Άκουγα.

T: So, I wasn’t listening?

S: Δεν άκουγα [dhen ákugha].

T: Αλλά δεν άκουγα [alá dhen ákugha]. Good. So, He started to explain it to me but I
wasn’t listening. Άρχησε να μου το εξήγει αλλά δεν άκουγα [árchise na mu to
eksiyí alá dhen ákugha] ... and so he left. And so … , or just, So he left. For this “so”,
no, we can say, και έτσι [ke étsi], which means, literally, “and like this” – και έτσι.
We can say, και για αυτό [ke ya aftó] – “and because of” or, “and for this” ... “and
because of this (και για αυτό) he left”. So, “I leave” is, φεύγω [févgho], and the
closed version is, φύγω [fígho]. So how would you say, And so he left?

S: Και έτσι έφυγε [ke étsi éfiye].

T: Good. Και έτσι έφυγε. Άρχησε να μου το εξήγει αλλά δεν άκουγα και έτσι έφυγε
[árchise na mu to eksiyí alá dhen ákugha ke étsi éfiye]. Or … και για αυτό έφυγε
[ke ya aftó éfiye]. Very good.

How would you say, He wants me to work at the school because he heard me
teaching and he liked it? So, He wants me to work – let’s begin there. He wants
that I work.

S: Θέλει να δουλέψω [théli na dhulépso].

T: Θέλει να δουλέψω. He wants me to work at the school. So the “school” was,
σχολείο [skholío]; we had CH in school, giving us the [kh] (χ) in Greek – σχολείο.
So, He wants that I work at the school.

S: Θέλει να δουλέψω στο σχολείο [théli na dhulépso sto skholío].

T: Good. Θέλει να δουλέψω στο σχολείο. He wants that I work at the school ...
because ... ?

S: Γιατί [yatí].

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T: Γιατί (επειδή [epidhí]) ... he heard me teaching. So, διδάσκω [dhidhásko] is “I
teach”. How do we say, He heard me teaching?

S: Με άκουσε να διδάξω [me ákuse na dhidhákso].

T: Almost, uh. Με άκουσε – that’s good – He heard me, no? Με άκουσε … teaching.
Why did you go to the closed version form of the verb?

S: Because, I thought he was just listening to me teach for a closed period of time.

T: So, Με άκουσε [me ákuse] – He heard me, that’s closed … να διδάσκω [na
dhidhásko] – He heard me teaching. He heard me doing something open and
ongoing, no? Με άκουσε να διδάσκω … He heard me teaching and he liked it.

S: Με άκουσε να διδάσκω και τον άρεσε ... και του άρεσε [me ákuse να dhidhásko
ke ton árese … ke tu árese].

T: Very good. Θέλει να δουλέψω στο σχολέιο επειδή με άκουσε να διδάσκω και του
άρεσε [théli na dhulépso sto skholío epidhí me ákuse na dhidhásko ke tu árese].
So here we had -ING, no, “he heard me teaching”; but that -ING was different
from the person that is doing the main verb: με άκουσε να διδάσκω. If we were to
say, με άκουσε διδάσκοντας [me ákuse dhidháskondas], if we were to use that
“ING”, it would mean something completely different – He heard me whilst he was
teaching; He heard me when he was teaching.

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Complete Greek, Track 105 – Language Transfer

Teacher: What was the word for, where?

Student: Πού [pu].

T: Πού. And we also said that we can use this like, “that”, when “that” is like “which”,
no? So, for example, if you say, The book that you bought. How would that be?

S: Το βιβλίο που αγόρασες [to vivlío pu aghórases].

T: Το βιβλίο που αγόρασες. Very good. But we also have a more, another more
complicated way of doing this, but we may have a preference for using that in
certain situations. Mostly you can just use “που”, but there also exists, ο οποίος [o
opíos]. So, for example, you could say, Το βιβλίο το οποίο αγόρασες [to vivlío to
opío aghórases], and it means the same as, Το βιβλίο που αγόρασες [to vivlío pu
aghórases]. It’s more like, “Τhe book the which you bought” – Το βιβλίο το οποίο
αγόρασες. And you can see that, το βιβλίο, and, το οποίο, are matching.

What was, I live, like in “zoo”?

S: Ζω [zo].

T: Ζω. And the word for, woman, like in “misogyny”?

S: Γυναίκα [yinéka].

T: Good. How would you say, The women that live there? Let’s do the easy option
first with “που”. The women that live there. The women who live there.

S: Οι γυναίκες που ζούν εκεί [i yinékes pu zun ekí].

T: Good. Οι γυναίκες που ζούν εκεί (που ζούνε εκεί [pu zúne ekí]). And like I said,
instead of που [pu], you can use, ο οποίος [o opíos]. But you’re going to match “ο
οποίος” to “οι γυναίκες”. So how would that be? The women who live there.

S: Οι γυναίκες οι οποίες ζούν εκεί [i yinékes i opíes zun ekí].

T: Good. Οι γυναίκες οι οποίες ζούν εκεί. Good. What was, I know?

S: Ξέρω [kséro].

T: Ξέρω. So, ξέρω, is our general verb for “know”, and we can use it to know people
as well. But especially with talking about people, you may also hear, γνωρίζω
[gnorízo]. Γνωρίζω.

S: Γνωρίζω.

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T: Γνωρίζω, for “I know”, like in “cognitive” – that’s connected, no? And you can also
use, γνορίζω, like “to meet”. So, for example, you could say, “The man that you
met”. What might be the closed form of, γνορίζω?

S: Γνορίσω [gnoríso].

T: Γνορίσω. How would you say, The man that you met?

S: Ο άνδρας που γνόρισες [o ándras pu gnórises].

T: Good. Ο άνδρας που γνόρισες. So that’s the simpler form, no? But you could also
use, ο οποίος, and do it like that. So how would that be? The man the which you
met.

S: Ο άνδρας ο οποίος γνόρισες [o ándras o opíos gnórises].

T: Good. But unlike “The women that live there (who live there)”, behaving like
“they”, no – “they live there” – this is, “The man that (who) I met”. So here it’s not
behaving like “he”, no? “I met him”, rather than “he”.

S: Ο άνδρας τον οποίον γνόρισες [o ándras ton opíon gnórises].

T: Very good. Very good. Ο άνδρας τον οποίον – you said, which was really well
thought out. You decided that it behaves more like the words for “the”, than just
any old noun or adjective, no? But like I said, that’s kind of falling out of use, and
there are some changes happening to Greek. So, for example, you know, you
could hear, O άνδρας τον οποίον [o ándras ton opíon] – either “the man I saw”, or,
O άνδρας τον οποίο [o ándras ton opío]. Either. We could also say, το άτoμο [to
átomo]. Το άτoμο, which is gender-free. That can be a man or a woman: το άτομο
– the atom, the person. So how would you say, The people that you met?

S: Οι άτομοι [i átomi] …

T: So, το άτομο – what gender is it?

S: Ah ... Τα άτομα τα οποία γνόρισες [ta átoma ta opía gnórises].

T: Very good. Τα άτομα τα οποία γνόρισες. Or just, που [pu] – Τα άτομα που
γνόρισες [ta átoma pu gnórises]. Also, if you want to say something a little more
complicated like, “This is the girl who I spoke to”, “This is the friend I saw going to
the centre”, you may have a preference for “ο οποίος” over “που” in some
situations, to make it clearer what you’re saying. So, for example, I went, from
πηγαίνω [piyéno] – it was a little like, πήρα [píra], “I took”, like, βρήκα [vríka], “I
found”. How is, I went?

S: Πήγα [pígha].

506

T: Πήγα. So if you want to say something like, “Is this the friend you went with?”, we
will say, “This is the friend with the which you went”. So how would that be? First
bit is, This is the friend – and let’s talk about the masculine friend.

S: Αυτός είναι ο φίλος [aftós íne o fílos].

T: Good. Αυτός είναι ο φίλος ... with the who you went. So we will use “ο οποίος”
here, no, but we do need to think about what it’s doing and how it will behave. So,
With the who you went.

S: Με … με τον οποίο πήγες [me ton opío píyes].

T: Good. Αυτός είναι ο φίλος με τον οποίο πήγες [aftós íne o fílos me ton opío píyes].
And you could also say, Με τον οποίο πήγατε [me ton opío píghate]. So, Υou
(plural) went. So you can include the other person, no, even if you’re not referring
to you and somebody else going with that person – only if you mean you and that
one other person, no? You can say, “Is that the friend with who you guys went?”,
even though you just mean “you two”. That’s quite a common habit in, in Greek,
you know. You can hear, for example, Μιλάμε με τον Γιώργο [miláme me ton
yórgho], and it just means, “I’m talking with Giorgo”, but you include both of you
in the verb – Μιλάμε με τον Γιώργο.

So, we could have, Αυτός είναι ο φίλος με τον οποίο πήγες (πήγατε) [aftós íne o
fílos me ton opío píyes (píghate)]. Or maybe you want to add the word, μαζί [mazí]
– που πήγατε μαζί [pu píghate mazí]. Μαζί means “together”. So, “This is the
friend that you guys went together” – Αυτός είναι ο φίλος που πήγατε μαζί. Are
these the friends you went with? – still masculine or mixed friends. Are these the
friends you went with?

S: Αυτόι είναι οι φίλοι που πήγατε μαζί; [aftí íne i fíli pu píghate mazí?].

T: Good. Αυτόι είναι οι φίλοι που πήγατε μαζί; Or, if you wanted to use, ο οποίος,
how would that be? Are these the friends that you went with?

S: Αυτόι είναι οι φίλοι με τους οποίους πήγατε εκεί; [aftí íne i fíli me tus opíus
píghate ekí?].

T: Okay. You added “there” (εκεί), but that’s fine. Αυτόι είναι οι φίλοι με τους
οποίους πήγες [aftí íne i fíli me tus opíus píyes] (or, πήγατε [píghate]). Αυτόι είναι
οι φίλοι με τους οποίους πήγες εκεί (πήγατε εκεί).

These are the friends I saw going to the centre. These are the friends I saw going to
the centre. So if we want to say something like this, first we need to really know
what we mean. Do we mean, “When I was going”, or “When they were going”?
“These are the friends I saw when I was going to the centre”, or “These are the
friends that I saw and they were going to the centre”? So let’s do the first one first.

507
 We’re going to say, These are the friends I saw going to the centre, and we mean
when I was going. So the first bit is, These are the friends.

S: Αυτόι είναι οι φίλοι [aftí íne i fíli].

T: That I saw.

S: Τους οποίους είδα [tus opíus ídha].

T: Good. Or just, που είδα [pu ídha], no? We could have either. Αυτόι είναι οι φίλοι
τους οποίους είδα [aftí íne i fíli tus opíus ídha], or just, που είδα … going to the
centre. So here we mean, “I was going to the centre”, no, “Whilst I was going to
the centre”.

S: Πηγαίνοντας στο κέντρο [piyénondas sto kéndro].

T: Good. Αυτόι είναι οι φίλοι τους οποίους είδα πηγαίνοντας στο κέντρο [aftí íne i fíli
tus opíus ídha piyénondas sto kéndro]. So it’s not that “πηγαίνοντας” only works
for “I”; no? Ιt’s that it matches whoever is in charge of the main verb, which is
“είδα”, no – “I saw”. So it matches whoever that verb refers to, automatically.
Αυτόι είναι οι φίλοι τους οποίους (or just, που) είδα πηγαίνοντας (when I was
going) στο κέντρο (to the centre).

But the same sentence in English may mean, “These are the friends I saw going to
the centre”, like, “They were going to the centre”. In Greek, we show this in a
different way. So let’s try that. These are the friends I saw.

S: Αυτόι είναι οι φίλοι που είδα [aftí íne i fíli pu ídha].

T: Going to the centre – and we mean, “they were going”.

S: Nα πηγαίνουν στο κέντρο [na piyénun sto kéndro].

T: Αυτόι είναι οι φίλοι που είδα να πηγαίνουν στο κέντρο [aftí íne i fíli pu ídha na
piyénun sto kéndro]. We’re using the open, ongoing form of the verb to give us:
“-ing” – στο κέντρο. Αυτόι είναι οι φίλοι τους οποίους (or just, που) είδα να
πηγαίνουν στο κέντρο.

“The girl”, the girl, is, η κοπέλα [i kopéla]. H κοπέλα.

S: Η κοπέλα.

T: Have you seen the girl who we went to the centre with? So Have you seen the girl?

S: Έχεις δει την κοπέλα; [échis dhi tin kopéla?].

T: Έχεις δει την κοπέλα ... with the which we went to the centre?

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S: Με την οποία πήγαμε στο κέντρο [me tin opía píghame sto kéndro].

T: Very good. Έχεις δει την κοπέλα με την οποία πήγαμε στο κέντρο; [échis dhi tin
kopéla me tin opía píghame sto kéndro?].

How would you say, The man we explained it to? The man to the which we
explained it – using the word for “to” (σε [se]).

S: Ο άνδρας στον οποίο το εξηγήσαμε [o ándras ston opío to eksiyísame].

T: Good. The man we explained it to. The man to the which we explained it. Ο άνδρας
στον οποίο το εξηγήσαμε. We could also just say, O άνδρας που του το εξηγήσαμε
[o ándras pu tu to eksiyísame] – The man that to him it we explained. No? Ο
άνδρας που του το εξηγήσαμε.

I mentioned briefly the word, μαζί [mazí], which means ”together” or “together
with”, and it’s actually quite common in Greek , this word, μαζί. You will hear it
thrown around a lot. If you say, “together with me”, you will say, Μαζί μου [mazí
mu]. So we use “μου” like, as if it were “to me”, “with me”, no – “together with
me”, “together to me”: Μαζί μου.

S: Μαζί μου.

T: Together with you?

S: Μαζί σου [mazí su].

T: Μαζί σου. How would you say, I want to go with you? I want to go together with
you.

S: Θέλω να πάω μαζί σου [thélo na páo mazí su].

T: Good. Θέλω να πάω μαζί σου. How would you say, The man we met wants to go
to the party together with you? So, The man we met.

S: Ο άνδρας που τον γνωρής ... γνωρήσαμε [o ándras pu ton gnorís … gnorísame].

T: So when you use “που”, things stay quite simple. Ο άνδρας που γνωρήσαμε [o
ándras pu gnorísame]. No? But when we use “ο οποίος” – and that’s why we think
about it as “ο οποίος” – then you have two different bits to think about: “ο” and
“οποίος”. Ο άνδρας τον οποίο γνωρήσαμε [o ándras ton opío gnorísame]. But
with “που”, it’s very simple: O άνδρας που γνωρήσαμε … in the centre.

S: Στο κέντρο [sto kéndro].

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T: Στο κέντρο ... wants to go to the party with you. “The party” is, το πάρτι [to párti].
Wants to go to the party together with you.

S: Θέλει να πάει στο πάρτι μαζί σου [théli na pái sto párti mazí su].

T: Good. Ο άνδρας που γνωρήσαμε (τον οποίο γνωρήσαμε) στο κέντρο θέλει να πάει
στο πάρτι μαζί σου [o ándras pu gnorísame (ton opío gnorísame) sto kéndro théli
na pái sto párti mazí su]. Very good.

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Complete Greek, Track 106 – Language Transfer

Teacher: “I come” or, “I’m coming” in Greek is, έρχομαι [érkhome]. Έρχομαι.

Student: Έρχομαι.

T: So this is strange, no? It’s not what we’re used to. It’s a verb – it’s “I come” – but
it’s not ending O (ω) [o]. Έρχομαι. So what’s going on in, έρχομαι – “I come”?

I mentioned, briefly, a while back, that, in the Cypriot dialect, a lot of the time we
have the words like “me” – με, σε, τον – after the verb. So, instead of, μου αρέσει
[mu arési] – Αρέσκει μου [aréski mu]. This habit actually comes from ancient
Greek, and some verbs, built a long time ago, seem to be doing this very same
thing. They were built in this way. So, έρχομαι [érkhome], although one word, is
probably something like, έρχω με [érkho me]. Something like, “I come myself”, or
maybe, “I bring myself”, only the “με” is coming afterwards, as it used to be in
Greek, when this vocabulary would have been formed.

So we actually have O (ω) [o], έρχω [érkho], for “I”, and then, με [me]. No?
Έρχομαι [érkhome] – “I come”. And the [me] is actually spelt, M-A-I (μαι) [me]; the
AI (αι) there together gives us the [e] sound. Έρχομαι.

S: Έρχομαι.

T: I’m not coming.

S: Δεν έρχομαι [dhen érkhome].

T: Δεν έρχομαι. “You come”, you come, you are coming, is, έρχεσαι [érchese].
Έρχεσαι.

S: Έρχεσαι.

T: This is like E-R-X-E-S-A-I. So again, we have the AI (αι) giving us the [e] sound, like
in, έρχομαι, like in, και [ke], the word for “and”. Aren’t you coming?

S: Δεν έρχεσαι; [dhen érchese?].

T: Δεν έρχεσαι. Why don’t you come tomorrow?

S: Γιατί δεν έρχεσαι αύριο; [yatí dhen érchese ávrio?].

T: Very good. Γιατί δεν έρχεσαι αύριο;

Another verb like this is “I think”, I think – σκέφτομαι [skéftome].

S: Σκέφτομαι.

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T: “I think” then, is literally something like, you know, “I think myself”. So again we
have the “-ομαι” ending. Σκέφτομαι also means “to think about”. So, I’m thinking
about my friend. How would you say that? Let’s say a masculine friend.

S: Σκέφτομαι τον φίλο μου [skéftome ton fílo mu].

T: Σκέφτομαι τον φίλο μου. And a female friend?

S: Σκέφτομαι την φίλη μου [skéftome tin fíli mu].

T: Σκέφτομαι την φίλη μου. Σκέφτομαι, is of course related to “sceptical”, no? So a
sceptical person is just a thinking person; it’s got a really bad name for them. So
we saw, έρχομαι [érkhome] – “I come” and, έρχεσαι [érchese] – “you come”. So
how would you say, You think?

S: Σκέφτεσαι [skéftese].

T: Σκέφτεσαι. What do you think?

S: Τι σκέφτεσαι; [ti skéftese?].

T: Τι σκέφτεσαι; “A thought” so like the noun, no, “a thought” is, μία σκέψη [mia
sképsi].

S: Μία σκέψη.

T: You may hear, Μετά από … μετά από σκέψη [metá apó sképsi] – “after much
consideration”, or, μετά από πολλή σκέψη [metá apó polí sképsi]. And the plural
of, σκέψη – what do you think it might be, the word for, thoughts?

S: Τα σκέψια [ta sképsia]. No wait.

T: It’s, Μία σκέψη, η σκέψη, so it’s feminine.

S: Um.

T: And then, what’s the next thing you do? I mean, where would you look?

S: Um, to the ending.

T: Yeah, but, when you want to decide how that ending goes into plural, where
would you look?

S: At another word that I know, like, γυναίκα – γυναίκες [yinéka, yinékes].

T: But it doesn’t end like, σκέψη [sképsi].

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S: True.

T: You could look at, πόλη [póli], the word for city. And what was the plural of that?

S: Πόλεις [pólis].

T: Πόλεις. No? So we will have an intuition, something that feels right, and that
might just be really random, and it might be from something that we’ve heard,
no? So we also want to consciously look for other words that might share the
pattern. So, μία σκέψη [mía sképsi], and then “thoughts” – σκέψεις [sképsis]; just
like, πόλη, and then “cities” – πόλεις.

So these verbs, έρχομαι, σκέφτομαι, were historically built, or thought of, in this
way, no? But we can also build verbs in this way to achieve some alternative
meanings. So, for example, I find, was ... ?

S: Βρίσκω [vrísko].

T: Βρίσκω. “I find myself”, “I am found” – like in a place – is, βρίσκομαι [vrískome].

S: Βρίσκομαι.

T: So we can also do that ourselves, no? We can change “βρίσκω” to “βρίσκομαι”,
and we get a new meaning: “I find myself” or, you know, “I am in a place”, “I am
found in a place”. So, you might say, for example, I find myself in Athens. “Athens”
is Αθήνα [athína]. So how would you say, I find myself in Athens?

S: Βρίσκομαι στην Αθήνα [vrískome stin athína].

T: Βρίσκομαι στην Αθήνα. So we can get a slightly different meaning using [ome]
(ομαι), no, instead of [o] (ω); βρίσκομαι, instead of, βρίσκω. If you think about it,
“ομαι”, other than sounding like [o] and [me], also sounds and looks like, είμαι
[íme] – “I am”. No? Είμαι [íme] is spelt E-I-M-A-I, and you have that AI (αι) on the
end giving us the [e] sound, as you do in “ομαι” [ome]. The same with the “εσαι”
[ese] ending – βρίσκεσαι [vrískese]; “εσαι” also looks and sounds a lot like “είσαι”
[íse] – “you are”.

So we can get new meanings from the concepts of, you know, something like
“myself” or “I am”, “I find myself”, “I am found”. So we saw, βρίσκομαι – “I find
myself”; βρίσκομαι στην Αθήνα – “I find myself in Athens”. How would you say,
Where do you find yourself? – just a … quite a common way in Greek of asking,
“Where are you?”, “Where do you find yourself?” or, “Where are you living at the
moment?”

S: Πού βρίσκεσαι; [pu vrískese?].

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T: Που βρίσκεσαι;

“I lose”, is, χάνω [kháno]. Χάνω.

S: Χάνω.

T: I lose myself? So, I get lost – I lose myself, would be, I get lost, in English.

S: Χάνομαι [khánome].

T: Χάνομαι. The word for “easy”, the masculine, was, εύκολος [éfkolos]. Εύκολος.

S: Εύκολος.

T: How would you say, I get lost easily here?

S: Χάνομαι εδώ εύκολο [khánome edhó éfkolo]. Ah, no, wait! “Easily”. Χάνομαι
εύκολα … [khánome éfkola].

T: Εύκολα [éfkola]. Good for “-ly”, no? “Easily”. We have the [a] (α) ending – εύκολα.
Χάνομαι εύκολα ... here?

S: Εδώ [edhó].

T: Χάνομαι εύκολα εδώ [khánome éfkola edhó]. And, You get lost?

S: Χάνεσαι [khánese].

T: Χάνεσαι. And just, You lose?

S: Χάνεις [khánis].

T: Χάνεις. Νο?

So we may find old verbs, very common verbs like, έρχομαι [érkhome], no, that in
our modern Greek are not coming from anything else. Έρχομαι is just, έρχομαι,
no? But historically, it would have been built from another verb. And we can also
build on verbs that we already know, in this same way, to get different meanings,
like: βρίσκω [vrísko] – “I find”, and then, βρίσκομαι [vrískome] – “I find myself”, “I
am found”; χάνω [kháno] – “I lose”, χάνομαι [khánome] – “I lose myself”, “I get
lost”.

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Complete Greek, Track 107 – Language Transfer

Teacher: So what was, I come, in Greek?

Student: Έρχομαι [érkhome].

T: Έρχομαι. And, You come?

S: Έρχεσαι [érkhese].

T: Έρχεσαι. So we saw that, with this type of verb, no, we have “ομαι” [ome] as an
ending for “I”, like, είμαι, like – “I am”, and also spelt in a similar way, no: that [e]
on the end of “ομαι” is AI (αι). And then we have “εσαι” for “you” like, είσαι, like –
“you are”. Do you remember how to say, I think, like “sceptical”?

S: Σκέφτομαι [skéftome].

T: Σκέφτομαι. And, You think?

S: Σκέφτεσαι [skéftese].

T: Σκέφτεσαι. So we have “ομαι” [ome] like “είμαι” [íme]; “εσαι” [ese] like “είσαι”
[íse]. What was, We are?

S: Είμαστε [ímaste].

T: Είμαστε. Good. We are here.

S: Είμαστε εδώ [ímaste edhó].

T: Είμαστε εδώ. For “We come (We’re coming)” we have, ερχόμαστε [erkhómaste].
Ερχόμαστε.

S: Ερχόμαστε.

T: So, we add “όμαστε” [ómaste], and we accent, the O [o]; we’re actually accenting
the ending here. Ερχόμαστε.

S: Ερχόμαστε.

T: We don’t do that with, έρχομαι [érkhome], nor, έρχεσαι [érkhese], no – accent the
ending. Ερχόμαστε. How do you say, We’re not coming today?

S: Δεν ερχόμαστε σήμερα [dhen erkhómaste símera].

T: Δεν ερχόμαστε σήμερα. We think?

515
S: Σκεφτομάστε [skeftomáste].

T: Σκεφτόμαστε [skeftómaste].

Φαντάζομαι [fandázome] – “I fantasy me”, “I am fantasied”. What do you think it
might mean – φαντάζομαι?

S: I imagine.

T: I imagine. Yes. And it’s used quite colloquially as well, like – I guess, I guess so.
Φαντάζομαι – I imagine so. You can say, What do you imagine? like, you know,
What do you suppose? What do you think? What do you imagine?

S: Τι φαντάζεσαι; [ti fandázese?].

T: Τι φαντάζεσαι; And, φαντάζομαι, φαντάσεσαι [fandázome, fandázese] is spelt NT
(ντ), no? So this gives us either ND [nd] or D [d], depending on the dialect of
Greek, or the age of the person. D [d] is used much more by younger people. So,
you know, we could hear [fandázome] or [fadázome], but not a T sound [t], even
though we have NT (ντ) written there. We imagine?

S: Φανταζόμαστε [fandazómaste].

T: Φανταζόμαστε. Very good. What was the word for, good, in Greek?

S: Καλός [kalós].

T: Καλός. And in the neuter?

S: Καλό [kaló].

T: Καλό. And, καλώ [kaló] is also “I invite”, or “I call”, no? But of course spelt with the
[o] of “I” on the end; so that’s with the ωμέγα [omégha] (ω), that looks like a “w”.
Καλώ. The closed version of, καλώ, is, καλέσω [kaléso]. Καλέσω. So, instead of
inserting [is] here, no, προσπαθώ – προσπαθήσω [prospathó, prospathíso], we
have an [es], an ES (ες): καλέσω. Like, μπορώ – μπορέσω [boró, boréso].

S: Καλέσω.

T: Καλεσμένος [kalezménos] means “invited”. Καλεσμένος.

S: Καλεσμένος.

T: Good. So we’ve seen “-μένος” [ménos] adjectives before, no, like, κουρασμένος
[kurazménos] – “tired”. And these adjectives are connected to the closed forms of
verbs, no? We have, καλώ – καλέσω [kaló, kaléso], and then καλεσμένος – invited.

516
 How would you say, We imagine that we are not invited? We imagine that we’re
not invited.

S: Φανταζόμαστε ότι δεν είμαστε καλεσμένος ... καλεσμένοι, καλεσμένοι
[fandazómaste óti dhen ímaste kalezménos … kalezméni, kalezméni].

T: Good. Φανταζόμαστε ότι δεν είμαστε καλεσμένοι [fandazómaste óti dhen ímaste
kalezméni]. Good.

We saw “σίγουρος” which means “sure”. And how would you say, surely, or like,
for sure? Surely.

S: Σίγουρα [síghura].

T: Σίγουρα. Surely you don’t imagine that you’re invited. How would you say that?
Let’s talk to a male. Surely you don’t imagine that you’re invited.

S: Σίγουρα δεν φαντάζεσαι ότι είσαι καλεσμένος [síghura dhen fandázese óti íse
kalezménos].

T: Very good. Σίγουρα δεν φαντάζεσαι ότι είσαι καλεσμένος. So before we saw,
κουρασμένος [kurazménos], which meant “tired”.

S: Κουρασμένος.

T: This is from, κουράζω [kurázo] – “I tire”. Like “I tire him” – Τον κουράζω [τον
kurázo] – I tire him. And we could also get from, κουράζω (I tire), “I get tired” –
κουράζομαι [kurázome]. Κουράζομαι.

S: Κουράζομαι.

T: So we have, κουράζω – I tire, like, I tire somebody (somebody else); and
κουράζομαι – I get tired. So how would you say, Do you get tired?

S: Κουράζεσαι; [kurázese?].

T: Κουράζεσαι; You could say, “No” – όχι [óchi]; or you could say, καθόλου [kathólu]
– “Not at all”. And this is often used like “no”: καθόλου – Not at all.

S: Καθόλου.

T: How would you say, I don’t get tired at all?

S: Δεν κουράζομαι καθόλου [dhen kurázome kathólu].

T: Δεν κουράζομαι καθόλου. How would you say, I imagine that you didn’t like it at
all? I imagine that it didn’t please you at all.

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S: Φαντάζομαι ότι δεν … δεν σου άρεσε καθόλου [fandázome óti dhen … dhen su
árese kathólu].

T: Very good. Φαντάζομαι ότι δεν σου άρεσε καθόλου [fandázome óti dhen su árese
kathólu].

So some verbs in Greek became like this a long time ago – when I say, “became
like this”, I mean with an “ομαι” [ome] or “εσαι” [ese] ending. And these words
are fixed, let’s say: έρχομαι, σκέφτομαι. But also, as we’ve seen, other verbs can
be made like this, to change a little their meaning. So we have, κουράζω “I tire”,
and κουράζομαι – “I get tired”. We saw, φαντάζομαι – “I imagine”, and also,
φαντάζω [fandázo] exists by itself. We saw “I find”. What was, I find?

S: Βρίσκω [vrísko].

T: Βρίσκω. And, I am found, like, you know, I am at a place; I am found at.

S: Βρίσκομαι [vrískome].

T: Βρίσκομαι. Where are you now? Where are you found now?

S: Πού βρίσκεσαι τώρα; [pu vrískese tóra?].

T: Πού βρίσκεσαι τώρα; So you could say this on the phone, no? Πού βρίσκεσαι
τώρα; Like, “Where are you now?” But if you say it in person, Πού βρίσκεσαι
τώρα; – It might mean like, you know, “Where are you living now?” or even,
“What are you up to now?” How would you say, We find ourselves in Athens.

S: Βρισκόμαστε στην Αθήνα [vriskómaste stin athína].

T: Βρισκόμαστε στην Αθήνα.

So with some verbs, we have both, you know. We have, βρίσκω [vrísko] and
βρίκομαι [vrískome]; we have, κουράζω [kurázo] and, κουράζομαι [kurázome].
But with other verbs like, έρχομαι [érkhome], σκέφτομαι [skéftome] – they’re just
built this way. And they were built this way a long time ago from other verbs that
don’t exist any more.

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Complete Greek, Track 108 – Language Transfer

Teacher: Θεωρώ [theoró], θεωρώ, means “I consider”. I consider – θεωρώ.

Student: Θεωρώ.

T: Like “theory”; it’s like, you know “I theorise” – θεωρώ. How would you say, We
consider?

S: Θεωρούμε [theorúme].

T: Θεωρούμε. “I am considered”, I am considered, is also [theorúme] – θεωρούμαι.

S: Θεωρούμαι.

T: So you will find that those verbs with their accent on the end like, θεωρώ, will
have alternative versions; instead of “-ομαι” [ome], we can have “-ούμαι” [úme],
“-άμαι” [áme], or “ιέμαι” [iéme], instead of our standard “ομαι”.

So, [theorúme] (θεωρούμε), other than “We consider”, is also “I am considered
(θεωρούμαι). And we have the “ούμαι” [úme] ending like “ομαι” [ome], which of
course means it’s spelt with AI (αι) on the end for that [e] sound – the [theorúme]
of “I am considered” (θεωρούμαι), rather than, “We consider”. How would you
say, I am considered a good teacher? I am considered a good teacher. What was
the word for, teacher?

S: Δάσκαλος [dháskalos].

T: Δάσκαλος. Good.

S: Θεωρούμαι καλός δάσκαλος [theorúme kalós dháskalos].

T: Good. Θεωρούμαι καλός δάσκαλος. Or, for a female, Θεωρούμαι καλή δασκάλα
[theorúme kalí dhaskála]. Good. I am considered a good teacher.

So, θεωρούμαι, other than “I am considered”, also sounds like, “We consider”. But
we understand what’s happening because, you know, “We consider good teacher”
wouldn’t make any sense, no? So whilst we may see other versions, no, like
“ούμαι” [úme], generally we have “ομαι” [ome], to build this kind of verb for “I”.
So how was, I am coming?

S: Έρχομαι [érkhome].

T: Έρχομαι. So whilst we may see other endings, like with these verbs that have their
accent on the end (θεωρώ – θεωρούμαι [theoró, theorúme]), generally we know
we have “ομαι” to build this kind of verb. And what was the ending for “you”? We
have “-ομαι” for “I”, and for “you”?

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S: -εσαι [ese].

T: -εσαι. So, You’re coming (You come).

S: Έρχεσαι.

T: Έρχεσαι. And the ending for, We?

S: -όμαστε [ómaste].

T: -όμαστε. Good; and with the accent on the [o] – όμαστε [ómaste]. So, We’re
coming (We come)?

S: Ερχόμαστε [erkhómaste].

T: Ερχόμαστε. Έρχεται [érchete] is, “he comes/she comes/it comes”. Έρχεται.

S: Έρχεται.

T: And we notice, no, with, έρχεσαι, έρχεται [érchese, érchete] that the [kh] (χ) is
softened by that E (ε). So we have, ερχόμαστε, έρχομαι [erkhómaste, érkhome],
and then, έρχεσαι, έρχεται [érchese, érchete]. So we have the “εται” [ete] ending
for he/she and it. This is spelt like ET (ετ), again AI (αι) on the end, like the verb,
είναι [íne].

Before, I mentioned the saying, Τρωγόντας έρχεται η όρεξη [tróghondas érchete i
óreksi] – “Eating comes the appetite”. So that was what this was: Έρχεται – It
comes. Τρωγόντας έρχεται η όρεξη.

How would you say, Where is she now (Where does she find herself now)?

S: Πού βρίσκεται τώρα; [pu vrískete tóra?].

T: Very good. Πού βρίσκεται τώρα; So the “εται” [ete] ending actually sounds like the
plural “you” ending. No? It’s spelt differently, but it sounds exactly the same. How
do you say, You (plural) find?

S: Βρίσκετε [vrískete].

T: Good. So, Αυτός (or αυτή) βρίσκεται [aftós (aftí) vrískete] – He (or, she) is found,
and, Εσείς βρίσκετε [esís vrískete] – You guys find, sounds the same. But, Πού
βρίσκεται [pu vrískete], like, Where is she, you know, we … we will understand
what it means, because, Πού βρίσκετε [pu vrískete] – as, Where do you guys find,
isn’t a complete sentence, no? So if somebody stops there, then we understand
what it means. So again, you’ll have to keep an open mind in Greek, and not

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 decide too quickly that one or the other is going on, you know; and keep an open
mind to the general, grander context.

Νοικιάζω [nikiázo] means “I rent”. Νοικιάζω.

S: Νοικιάζω.

T: How would you say, He rents (or, She rents, or, She is renting).

S: Νοικιάζει [nikiázi].

T: Νοικιάζει. You (plural) are renting. You guys are renting.

S: Νοικιάζετε [nikiázete].

T: Νοικιάζετε. Νοικιάζεται [nikiázete], νοικιάζεται, with the ending spelt ETAI (-εται)
– so the [e] on the end with AI (αι), no, rather than “You guys are renting” – means
“It rents itself”, or “for rent”: For rent, like an apartment’s for rent. But if you see
this on a sign, you will see, Ενοικιάζεται [enikiázete], and this is because, on signs,
which are like, more formal, no, an older, formal version of the language is used.
So some words you see around, you won’t actually use them, you know. So here
we have a small difference between, νοικιάζω [nikiázo], no, and ενοικιάζω
[enikiázo], which is the older, more formal version of the verb.

The same goes for, “For sale”. If you see that on a sign you will see, Πωλείται
[políte]; if someone says it, you will hear, Πουλιέται [puliéte]. So, πωλείται on the
sign and, πουλιέται in speech. So these are small changes, no: ενοικιάζεται –
νοικιάζεται; πωλείται – πουλιέται. But sometimes you will find completely
different words being used on signs, than what are used in real life. So pay
attention to that. How would you say, This house isn’t for rent? This house isn’t for
rent.

S: Αυτό το σπίτι δεν νοικιάζεται [aftó to spíti dhen nikiázete].

T: Very good. Αυτό το σπίτι δεν νοικιάζεται. Δεν νοικιάζεται αυτό το σπίτι [dhen
nikiázete aftó to spíti]. So, again, sounding the same as “you” plural meant, but
spelt with the AI (αι) ending – like the verb, είναι. Νοικιάζεται. So, if you go
around a Greek city, you are likely to see this word quite often, ενοικιάζεται, on
signs. But when we speak, we say, νοικιάζεται. So watch out for some of those
words.

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Complete Greek, Track 109 – Language Transfer

Teacher: Εννοώ [enoó], εννοώ, means “I mean”, you know, like, when you say, “What
do you mean?”. How would you say that – What do you mean? And, εννοώ, has
two O’s [oó], and the last is accented. Εννοώ [enoó].

Student: Τι εννοείς; [ti enoís?].

T: Τι εννοείς. Good. So we have the accent on the end, nο? Εννοώ, εννοείς [enoó,
enoís]. Which means that we’re not going to use “ετε” [ete] for “you” plural. So,
how would you say, What do you guys mean?

S: Τι εννοείτε; [ti enoíte?].

T: Τι εννοείτε. Very good. Εννοείται [enoíte], spelt with ΑΙ (αι) on the end – “It is
meant”, means, “of course” or, “for sure”. So, you know, maybe you say, “Can I
use the bathroom?” Αnd somebody says, Εννοείται, like, “Of course”. And in many
different contexts and circumstances – you could hear this. Εννοείται.

S: Εννοείται.

T: So again, the same sound as the plural, Εσείς [esís], no? Τι εννοείτε [ti enoíte] –
“What do you guys mean?”; or just, Εννοείται – “It is meant”, “Of course”.

Χρειάζομαι [khriázome], χρειάζομαι is “I need”. Χρειάζομαι.

S: Χρειάζομαι.

T: How would you say, We need?

S: Χρειαζόμαστε [khriazómaste].

T: Χρειαζόμαστε. So we have the accent on the ending here, no? Our ending is
“όμαστε” [ómaste], and we accent the beginning of it. Χρειaζόμαστε. But we don’t
generally do this, no? Χρειάζομαι [khriázome] – “I need”. You need?

S: Χρειάζεσαι [khriázese].

T: Χρειάζεσαι. He needs (or, She needs)?

S: Χρειάζεται [khriázete].

T: Χρειάζεται.

So our “-εται” [ete] ending doesn’t look a lot like “είναι” [íne], no? As “-ομαι”
[ome] looks like “είμαι” [íme], and “-όμαστε” [ómaste] looks like “είμαστε”
[ímaste], and “-εσαι” [ese] looks like “είσαι” [íse], “-εται” doesn’t look so much

522
 like “είναι”, although it does end AI (αι), like “είναι”, and we do have the T (τ)
present in “εται” like the T (τ) from “την” [tin] and “τον” [ton] and “το” [to], nο? So
we can make some connections there for “-εται” – why we have “-εται”:
χρειάζεται [khriázete] – “He needs, She needs”. What does he need?

S: Τι χριεάζεται; [ti khriázete?].

T: Τι χριεάζεται. So we have “τι” for “what”; and how would we build, Whatever?

S: Ὀ,τι [óti].

T: Ὀ,τι. Good. So you could say, Whatever’s necessary; Whatever it needs;
Whatever’s necessary.

S: Ὀ,τι χριεάζεται [oti khriázete].

T: Ὀ,τι χριεάζεται. So if you hear a verb like this, you know you’re really likely to hear
“-εται” [ete], and think that it’s referring to “εσείς” [esís], if you don’t know the
verb. Maybe you work it out in the context, but if you don’t know the verb, if you
don’t know that you have, χριεάζομαι, normally, you might hear this and be
focusing on “εσείς” (“you” plural), and try to understand what’s going on. In
writing, you can’t have that mistake, because you have the AI (αι) ending. But in
spoken Greek, you can get confused if you are not looking at the bigger, general
context to understand what’s going on.

Φαίνομαι [fénome],φαίνομαι, means “I seem”. Φαίνομαι.

S: Φαίνομαι.

T: How would you say, We seem?

S: Φαινόμαστε [fenómaste].

T: Φαινόμαστε. You could say, We seem like children. “Like” here is, σαν [san]. We
seem like children. Σαν, for “like”.

S: Φαινόμαστε σαν παιδιά [fenómaste san pedhiá].

T: Very good. Φαινόμαστε σαν παιδιά. You seem?

S: Φαίνεσαι [fénese].

T: Φαίνεσαι. And, It seems/He seems/She seems?

S: Φαίνεται [fénete].

T: Φαίνεται. You remember the word for, Ηow?

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S: Πώς [pos].

T: Πώς. If you want to say, like, you know, “What does it look like?”, “What does it
seem like?”, you can say, How does it seem?

S: Πώς φαίνεται; [pos fénete?].

T: Πώς φαίνεται; Or you could say, How does it seem to you? – like, “What do you
think?”, “How does it look?”. How does it seem to you?

S: Πώς σου φαίνεται; [pos su fénete?].

T: Πώς σου φαίνεται;

Θυμάμαι [thimáme], θυμάμαι, is “I remember”. Θυμάμαι.

S: Θυμάμαι.

T: Θυμάμαι. So you see we have quite a lot of verbs that are built in this way, and
many extremely common ones as well, like “I come” – έρχομαι, “I need” –
χρειάζομαι, “I remember” – θυμάμαι. And do you notice something strange
about, θυμάμαι? If you compare, χρειάζομαι, έρχομαι, θυμάμαι?

S: Mm. It’s “-άμαι” [áme] not “ομαι” [ome].

T: Good. It’s “-άμαι”. And what else do you notice though? Ἐρχομαι, χρειάζομαι,
θυμάμαι.

S: The accent is on the “-άμαι”.

T: Good. The accent’s on the “-άμαι”. So, θυμάμαι [thimáme] is “I remember”, and
we have [á] (ά), “-άμαι”, instead of “-ομαι”. And this [á] will carry through to the
“you” form. So how would you say, You remember?

S: Θυμάσαι [thimáse].

T: Θυμάσαι. And also to the he/she/it form. So how would you say, He (or, she)
remembers?

S: Θυμάται [thimáte].

T: Θυμάται. Good. So we have the A (ά) carrying through: -άμαι, -άσαι, -άται. He
doesn’t remember?

S: Δεν θυμάται [dhen thimáte].

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T: Δεν θυμάται. But this A (α) doesn’t carry through to the “we” form. We still have
“-όμαστε” [ómaste]. So how would you say, We remember?

S: Θυμόμαστε [thimómaste].

T: Θυμόμαστε. And we already have the accent on “-όμαστε” [ómaste], on the
ending, which is maybe why it doesn’t change. Θυμόμαστε. We don’t remember?

S: Δεν θυμόμαστε [dhen thimómaste].

T: Δεν θυμόμαστε.

Κοιμάμαι [kimáme] is “I sleep”. Κοιμάμαι.

S: Κοιμάμαι.

T: Κοιμάμαι. And again we have “-άμαι” [áme] instead of “-ομαι” [ome], no?
Κοιμάμαι. This is actually related to “cemetery”. So “cemetery” is a sleeping place,
no, a “resting place” we say in English, and that’s related to, κοιμάμαι. Actually,
Latin C’s in English – Latin C’s – so that means a C that sounds like an S, rather than
a [k], we can often relate back to Greek. And it probably went into English through
Latin, but we can relate them back to Greek words, or words in Greek that also
came from Latin. So, for example, we’ve already seen, το κέντρο [to kéndro],
which means ... ?

S: The centre.

T: The centre. We could have “pharmacy”. We already have the “ph” there,
suggesting to us that the words will be similar in Greek, but we also have the C
that sounds like an S, in “pharmacy” – φαρμακείο [farmakío], becoming a K in
Greek.

S: Φαρμακείο.

T: Or, “medicine” or “drugs” – το φάρμακο, τα φάρμακα [to fármako, ta fármaka]. Ο
κύκλος [o kíklos] – What do you think that might mean? Ο κύκλος. Ο κύκλος.

S: The cycle.

T: The cycle. What do you think, κυνικός [kinikós] might mean? Κυνικός.

S: Cynic?

T: Yes. Cynical, nο? Cynical. So we may find this Latin C to K pattern as well, like in
κοιμάμαι, and “cemetery”. Also “Cyprus” actually – Κύπρος [kípros]; “ceramic” –
κεραμικός [keramikós]; “cinnamon” – κανέλλα [kanéla]. So we have, κοιμάμαι – “I
sleep”. How would you say, Where do you sleep?

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S: Πού κοιμάσαι; [pu kimáse?].

T: Πού κοιμάσαι. Good. So the A (ά) carried over, and the accent as well, no? We’re
accenting the endings now. Κοιμάμαι, κοιμάσαι. Πού κοιμάσαι; He’s sleeping
now?

S: Κοιμάται τώρα [kimáte tóra].

T: Κοιμάται τώρα.

S: Κοιμάται τώρα.

T: He doesn’t sleep at all. So, “at all” was, καθόλου [kathólu]. Καθόλου.

S: Καθόλου.

T: He doesn’t sleep at all.

S: Δεν κοιμάται καθόλου [dhen kimáte kathólu].

T: Δεν κοιμάται καθόλου. So we have [á] (ά) again there in “-άται” [áte]. But, We
sleep. How is, We sleep?

S: Κοιμόμαστε [kimómaste].

T: Κοιμόμαστε. We just have our normal “-όμαστε” [ómaste]. Κοιμόμαστε. So we’ve
seen some verbs that have “-άμαι” [áme], no, instead of “-ομαι” [ome]: κοιμάμαι
– “I sleep”; θυμάμαι – “I remember”. We could also have, φοβάμαι [fováme], like
“phobia”. No? PH to F [f] (φ); a V [v] (β) and a B – such close sounds. Φοβάμαι –
“I’m scared”. Φοβάμαι.

S: Φοβάμαι.

T: I’m not scared.

S: Δεν φοβάμαι [dhen fováme].

T: Δεν φοβάμαι. So here, in English, we’re using a verb (“I am”), and then an
adjective (a describing word) – “scared”, whereas in Greek, we just have a verb,
with all of that included, no? But we see, with the ending “-άμαι” [áme], we
already have “είμαι” included in there. So actually we’re doing something very
similar to English, if you think about it, when we say “I am scared. We’re just
building it in a different way. Δεν φοβάμαι. So we have this [á] (ά) for “-άμαι”, and
we expect that to carry through. So how do you say, You are scared?

S: Φοβάσαι [fováse].

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T: Φοβάσαι. And, He (or, she) is scared?

S: Φοβάται [fováte].

T: Φοβάται. And, We are scared?

S: Φοβόμαστε [fovómaste].

T: Φοβόμαστε. No? We don’t carry the A (ά) over to “we” – φοβόμαστε. So, with
these verbs that don’t end as expected, like “-ομαι”, “-εσαι”, “-εται”, we can find
our own patterns to help us internalise them.

What was, I bring, like in “periphery”, “ferry”; like in “transfer”, “transfer”.

S: Φέρω [féro].

T: Think a little more.

S: Φέρνω [férno].

T: Φέρνω. Good. And the closed version?

S: Φέρω [féro].

T: Φέρω. It’s easy to come up with the closed version, because we often build with
the closed version of, φέρνω [férno], like in “transfer”, “periphery”. And also in
Greek, we can build with this closed version. So, for example, we have the verb, “I
with around bring myself” – συμπεριφέρομαι [simberiférome], which means “to
behave”, no? How you comport yourself. If you think in English, you have
“comport”, and it means exactly the same thing. “Port” – portable – bring; “con” is
like Latin, like Spanish, you know – with. “Com-port” – with-bring. And,
συμπεριφέρομαι is “with” from old Greek (συμ [sim]), “περι” – “around”, φερόμαι
– “I bring”. So the same idea, there fossilised in a completely different wοrd.
Συμπεριφερόμαι – “I behave”.

And the M (μ) actually softens the P (π) – the M (μ) of “συμ” [sim] softens that P
[p] (π), to a B [b]. Συμπερι [simberi]. And actually, whenever we want to write a B
[b] sound, no, we don’t use the letter that looks like a B (β) – that gives us V [v] in
Greek – we combine M (μ) and P (π), just like in, μπορώ [boró] – “I can”. So we
have, συμ-περι [sim-peri], but when we say this verb, it’s going to sound more like
a B [b]. Συμπεριφέρομαι [simberiférome].

S: Συμπεριφέρομαι.

T: Συμπεριφέρομαι. So of course, if you look up a word like, you know, “I behave”, in
the dictionary, and you find, Συμπεριφέρομαι, you … you want to smash your

527
 head on the dictionary. But when you divide it up, you know, it becomes very
digestible, and you don’t want to lose that habit. Even if you can’t work out where
the bits come from, even if you can’t make yourself the relations that we make
here (and you will be able to), just dividing it up and splitting it up is such a great
practice. Συμπεριφέρομαι. You behave?

S: Συμπεριφέρεσαι [simberiférese].

T: Συμπεριφέρεσαι. He behaves well.

S: Συμπεριφέρεσαι καλά [simberiférese kalá].

T: He behaves well.

S: Συμπεριφέρε ... συμπεριφέρεται καλά [simberifére … simberiférete kalá].

T: Συμπεριφέρεται καλά. We behave.

S: Συμπεριφερόμαστε [simberiferómaste].

T: Very good. Συμπεριφερόμαστε. All one word, no? Συμπεριφερόμαστε.

So now verbs get even longer, and as I said, we don’t want to stop trying to break
them up and make connections. And we’ll get forever better at that. And like I
said, even if you don’t find any interesting connection, no, just breaking the word
up and digesting it in that way, and seeing “συμ-περι-φέρομαι“, is really great for
digesting your vocabulary.

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Complete Greek, Track 110 – Language Transfer

Teacher: What was, I am?

Student: Είμαι [íme].

T: Είμαι. And, I come?

S: Έρχομαι [érkhome].

T: Έρχομαι. You are.

S: Είσαι [íse].

T: Είσαι. And, You come.

S: Έρχεσαι [érchese].

T: We are.

S: Είμασατε [ímaste].

T: Είμασατε. And, We come.

S: Ερχόμαστε [erkhómaste].

T: Ερχόμαστε. He/She/or It is?

S: Είναι [íne].

T: Είναι. And not so much like “είναι”, we have, He, or She/It comes?

S: Έρχεται [érchete].

T: Έρχεται. So we have the [e] on the end, spelt like AI (αι), like it is in “είναι”. We
also have a T (τ), no, in “έρχεται” like “τον, την, το” [ton, tin, to], so that can help
us. Έρχεται. Έρχονται [érkhonde] means “they come”. Έρχονται.

S: Έρχονται.

T: So we have ONTAI (“-ονται”) for our ending. And again we have the NT (vt)
combination, which gives us ND [nd], or just D [d]. Έρχονται, έρχονται [érkhonde,
érkhode] – not the T [t] sound. So here, “-ονται” looks more like “είναι”, which of
course is also “they are” – είναι. Νο? We have an N (ν), but maybe we can think of
that N (ν) as like the “-ουν” [un] ending for “they”, that we generally have, but a
little contracted. Again the T (τ) popping up, which also relates to “τους”, as well
as “τον, την, το”, no? So, έρχονται [érkhonde] or, έρχονται [érkhode], for “they”.

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S: Έρχονται.

T: They’re not coming now.

S: Δεν έρχονται τώρα [dhen érkhonde tóra].

T: Δεν έρχονται τώρα. They’re not coming tomorrow.

S: Δεν έρχονται αύριο [dhen érkhonde ávrio].

T: Δεν έρχονται αύριο. But she is coming today. But she is coming today.

S: Μα αυτή έρχεται σήμερα [ma aftí érchete símera].

T: Very good. Μα (αλλά) αυτή έρχεται σήμερα [ma (alá) aftí érchete símera]. So, very
good for saying “αυτή”, no? We’re making that contrast; they’re not coming
tomorrow, but she is coming today. And when we say “but she”, you know, that’s
a heavy contrast; we really should put “αυτή”. Αλλά αυτή (μα αυτή) – and, μα
[ma] would be more emphatic than, αλλά [alá]. Αλλά is much more neutral and
common, let’s say. Αλλά αυτή έρχεται σήμερα.

Νoικιάζω [nikiázo], νοικιάζω, was, “I rent”. Νοικιάζω.

S: Νοικιάζω.

T: And we saw like, you know, For rent. How was that?

S: Νοικιάζεται [nikiázete].

T: Νοικιάζεται. So how would you say, For rent, if you meant more than one building,
no? They are for rent.

S: Νοικιάζονται [nikiázonde].

T: Νοικιάζονται. The word for “flat”, like, a flat, is, διαμέρισμα [dhiamérizma],
διαμέρισμα. A flat – διαμέρισμα.

S: Διαμέρισμα.

T: So we have, διαμέρισμα: “μέρισμα” is from, μέρος [méros], which means “place”
or “part”. So like “apart-ment” – δια-μέρισμα. So “the flat” is, το διαμέρισμα [to
dhiamérizma]. So how would you say, flats, or, the flats?

S: Τα διαμερίσματα [ta dhiamerízmata].

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T: Very good. Τα διαμερίσματα. We can’t add an A (α) to this neuter word to get the
plural. It already ends in A (α), so we must add [ta] (τα), and that pulls the accent
as well. Διαμέρισμα – διαμερίσματα [dhiamérizma, dhiamerízmata]. How would
you say, Flats for rent? Flats for rent.

S: Διαμερίσματα νοικιάζονται [dhiamerízmata nikiázonde].

T: Διαμερίσματα νοικιάζονται. Good. Or, maybe more common, Νοικιάζονται
διαμερίσματα [nikiázonde dhiamerízmata]. But if you just want to say, They are
renting flats, and you refer to people that are renting flats, how would that be?

S: Νοικιάζουν διαμερίματα [nikiázun dhiamerízmata].

T: Very good. Νοικιάζουν διαμερίματα. So as we’ve seen with some verbs, we have
both versions, no? Νοικιάζω [nikiázo] – “I rent”; νοικιάζομαι [nikiázome] (very
uncommon in the “I” form, no?) – I am rented, I am for rent.

Χρειάζομαι [khriázome], χρειάζομαι, was ... ?

S: I need.

T: I need. And how would you say, You need?

S: Χρειάζεσαι [khriázese].

T: Χρειάζεσαι. Using this verb how do you think you might say, It’s not necessary?

S: Δεν χρειάζεται [dhen khriázete].

T: Δεν χρειάζεται. How would you say, They need?

S: Χρειάζονται [khriázonde].

T: Χρειάζονται. We need?

S: Χρειαζόμαστε [khriazómaste].

T: Χρειαζόμαστε. We need it for today.

S: Το χρειαζόμαστε για σήμερα [to khriazómaste ya símera].

T: Good. Το χρειαζόμαστε για σήμερα.

Αισθάνομαι [esthánome], αισθάνομαι, means “I feel”. Αισθάνομαι.

S: Αισθάνομαι.

531
T: Αισθάνομαι. This is like in “aesthetics”. Aesthetics refers to the feelings that are
caused. Like the numbing drug, no? Αναισθησία [anesthisía] (anaesthesia); “αν” is
like “not”, like, “not feeling”. Like in “anorexia” – ανορεξία [anoreksía], which is
“not appetite”. So we can relate, αισθάνομαι – “I feel”, to “aesthetics”,
αναισθησία (anaesthesia). How would you say, I don’t feel very well?

S: Δεν αισθάνομαι πολύ καλά [dhen esthánome polí kalá].

T: Δεν αισθάνομαι πολύ καλά. How do you feel today? How do you feel today?

S: Πώς αισθάνεσαι σήμερα; [pos esthánese símera?].

T: Very good. Πώς αισθάνεσαι σήμερα; He feels?

S: Αισθάνεται [esthánete].

T: Αισθάνεται. And, They feel?

S: Αισθάνονται [esthánonde].

T: Αισθάνονται. Good. So, for this type of verbs, we have just the “you” plural left to
see. So what is the word for, You (plural). We have, εσύ [esí], which is “you”; but
then to make that plural or formal ... ?

S: Εσείς [esís].

T: Εσείς. And how do you say, You (plural), or, You (formal) are? You guys are. You
are. Εσείς ... ?

S: Είστε [íste].

T: Είστε. So for these types of verbs, like, έρχομαι, for example, for “εσείς”, our
ending is “-εστε” [este]. Again, very similar to “έιστε”. So, “You guys are coming”
is, έρχεστε [ércheste].

S: Έρχεστε.

T: Aren’t you guys coming?

S: Δεν έρχεστε; [dhen ércheste?].

T: Δεν έρχεστε; And again, the [kh] (χ) is softened here, no, by the [e] (ε) that follows,
the [e] (ε) of “-εστε” [este]. Έρχεστε [ércheste]. Also, the “-εστε” [este] ending is
spelt with an E (ε). That [e] sound on the end is spelt with an E (ε), just like “είστε”.
Είστε [íste] is also spelt with an E (ε), rather than the AI (αι) that you usually find in
the verb for “to be”.

532
 How would you say, What do you need? – and we are talking to one person. What
do you need?

S: Τι χρειάζεσαι; [ti khriázese?].

T: Τι χρειάζεσαι; And to more than one person?

S: Τι χρειάζεστε; [ti khriázeste?].

T: Τι χρειάζεστε; So in sound as well, we can just think of this as adding a T (τ) sound
[t], no, to the singular “you”. We have, χρειάζεσαι [khriázese], and, χρειάζεστε
[khriázeste]. So adding a Τ (τ) after the S (σ), in sound. Χρειάζεσαι – χρειάζεστε.

How would you say, Where do you find yourself? – again, talking to one person.

S: Πού βρίσκεσαι; [pu vrískese?].

T: Πού βρίσκεσαι; Where do you guys find yourselves? Or, Where do you find
yourself, speaking formally.

S: Πού βρίσκεστε; [pu vrískeste?].

T: Πού βρίσκεστε; So in sound, we’re just adding a T (τ) after the S (σ). Βut in spelling,
we also spelt the final E just with an E (ε), rather than with AI (αι). Πού βρίσκεστε;

We saw, I sleep, like in “cemetery”, but that starts with a K sound [k].

S: Κοιμάμαι [kimáme].

T: Κοιμάμαι. You sleep?

S: Κοιμάσαι [kimáse].

T: Κοιμάσαι. You guys sleep.

S: Κοιμάσεστε ... κοιμάστε [kimáseste … kimáste].

T: Κοιμάστε [kimáste]. And we’ve carried that A (ά) [á] over as well, nο? The A (ά)
from “-άμαι” [áme]: κοιμάμαι, κοιμάσαι, κοιμάστε [kimáme, kimáse, kimáste].

How was, I’m scared, like in “phobia”?

S: Φοβάμαι [fováme].

T: Φοβάμαι. Are you scared? (to one person, or informally).

S: Φοβάσαι; [fováse?].

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T: Φοβάσαι; And to more than one person. Are you guys scared?

S: Φοβάστε; [fováste?].

T: Φοβάστε; Very good.

534
Complete Greek, Track 111 – Language Transfer

Teacher: What was, I come?

Student: Έρχομαι [érkhome].

T: Έρχομαι. And, I need? Do you remember it? It started “Χρει ... ” [khri].

S: Χρειάζομαι [khriázome].

T: Χρειάζομαι. I imagine – like “fantasy”?

S: Φαντάζομαι [fandázome].

T: Φαντάζομαι. So these verbs behave in a slightly different way, no, with “-ομαι”
[ome], “-εσαι” [ése], etc., and now that we’re so far into our investigation of
Greek, and of language, you’re already aware of all of the things that you need to
find out, in order to use these verbs, no? I mean the closed form, the pasts, how
to give the order, etc., etc., etc. And that’s not daunting; it actually just means we
now understand how to break down language. And if you want to learn any other
language, you have a great idea now, right from the outset, of what you’re looking
for. So we get to recap all of the things we can do with verbs, with this new type of
verb. So let’s find their closed form; let’s find the closed forms of these verbs.

What was, You speak? You speak – informally.

S: Μιλάς [milás].

T: Μιλάς. And, You will speak?

S: Θα μιλήσεις [tha milísis].

T: Θα μιλήσεις. So just as with these verbs that have their accents on the end, we go
back to normal endings when we’re in the closed form, no? We go from, Μιλάς
[milás] to, Θα μιλήσεις [tha milísis]: we use “-εις” [is], the normal ending, for
“you”. Also, with these “-ομαι” [ome], “-εσαι” [ese] verbs, we will just use normal
endings when we go into our closed form. So rather than “-ομαι”, [o] (-ω); rather
than “-εσαι”, [is] (-εις).

But of course we need to find that closed form. So for those verbs not using
“-ομαι” [ομε], no, using “-άμαι” [áme], for example, and having their accents on
the endings as well (like in, θυμάμαι [thimáme] – “I remember”; like in, κοιμάμαι
[kimáme] – “I sleep”), for this type of verb, which is especially common, to get the
closed form of these, we add [ith] (ηθ), and then we add our ending, which we
accent. So, θυμάμαι, in its closed form becomes, θυμηθώ [thimithó]. Θυμηθώ. We
lose “-άμαι”, our ending, we add [ith] (ηθ), and then we add our ending for “I”,
and we accent that. Θυμηθώ.

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S: Θυμηθώ.

T: So how would you say, You must remember?

S: Πρέπει να θυμηθείς [prépi na thimithís].

T: Πρέπει να θυμηθείς. What was, I sleep, related to “cemetery”?

S: Κοιμάμαι [kimáme].

T: Κοιμάμαι. So if we want to find the closed form of, κοιμάμαι, what’s the first thing
we do?

S: The “-άμαι” gets dropped.

T: Good. We lose the “-άμαι”, and we’re left with “κοιμ ... [kim]”, no? And then what
do we add?

S: [ith] (ηθ).

T: [ith] (ηθ). And then?

S: And then the ending.

T: So, if you want to say, I sleep, in the closed form?

S: Κοιμηθώ [kimithó].

T: Κοιμηθώ. And we accent that ending as well. Κοιμηθώ. I will sleep.

S: θα κοιμηθώ [tha kimithó].

T: θα κοιμηθώ. Will you sleep now?

S: Θα κοιμηθείς τώρα; [tha kimithís tóra?].

T: Θα κοιμηθείς τώρα; I saw him sleeping. I saw him sleeping. So this isn’t “I saw him
whilst I was sleeping” – so we don’t look for “-ING”, no? We don’t use this “-ing” in
Greek as much as we do in English. So when we have a sentence like this – “I saw
him sleeping”, and we mean, “He was sleeping”, we connect these ideas with “να”
[na]. I saw him, να, he sleeps.

S: Τον είδα να κοιμάται [ton ídha na kimáte].

T: Very good. Τον είδα να κοιμάται. He will sleep.

536
S: Θα κοιμηθεί [tha kimithí].

T: Θα κοιμηθεί. Θεωρώ [theoró], θεωρώ, was “I consider”. I consider.

S: Θεωρώ.

T: We consider?

S: Θεωρούμε [theorúme].

T: Θεωρούμε. And, I am considered? I’m considered.

S: Θεωράμαι [theoráme].

T: It’s actually the same as the “we” form of, θεωρώ [theoró].

S: Θεωρούμαι [theorúme].

T: Θεωρούμαι. So, you know, “-ομαι” [ome] is our standard ending for “I” with this
type of verb, but then we can have other endings that are accented. Θεωρούμαι
[theorúme]. We’ve seen “-άμαι” [áme]; we’ve seen “-ούμαι” [úme]. How would
you say, I will be considered? So what’s the first thing you do to, θεωρούμαι?

S: Drop the “-ούμαι” [úme] and then add [ith] (ηθ).

T: Good. So, I will be considered?

S: Θα θεωρηθώ [tha theorithó].

T: Very good. Θα θεωρηθώ. A lot of [th] (θ), no? Θα θεωρηθώ. Good. So this isn’t like
to be considered for a job, or something. This is “to be considered as”, “thought of
as something”. So you could say something like, you know, “I will be considered
dishonest if I do that”, you know. “Dishonest” – we have, ανέντιμος [anéndimos].
Ανέντιμος.

S: Ανέντιμος.

T: So again, ανέντιμος, that’s spelt with a T (τ); we have NT (ντ) there, giving us an
ND [nd] or D [d] sound: ανέντιμος, ανέντιμος [anéndimos, anédimos]. So it’s
important to realise that’s a T (τ), if we want to break the word up. We saw
before, τιμή [timí], the word for price, or honour, as in, προτιμώ [protimó] – “I
prefer” (I first honour). So, ανέντιμος [anéndimos]: we have, έντιμος [éndimos],
which means “honourable”; and then, ανέντιμος – that “αν” gives us like “dis”,
dishonourable, dishonest. Ανέντιμος. So you could say something like, I will be
considered dishonourable (dishonest) if I do that. So, I will be considered.

S: Θα θεωρηθώ [tha theorithó].

537

T: Dishonourable.

S: Ανέντιμος [anéndimos].

T: Θα θεωρηθώ ανέντιμος [tha theorithó anéndimos] (or, ανέντιμη [anéndimi] for a
female). If I do that. Or, If I do this – probably be most common in Greek.

S: Aν θα έκανα αυτό [an tha ékana aftó].

T: That means, “If I would do that”, which you don’t really need to say.

S: Aν κάνω αυτό [an káno aftó].

T: Aν κάνω αυτό. Good. Θα θεωρηθώ ανέντιμος αν κάνω αυτό [tha theorithó
anéndimos an káno aftó]. And you might also hear that information of “αυτό”
repeated – Αν το κάνω αυτό. Θα θεωρηθώ ανέντιμος αν το κάνω αυτό [tha
theorithó anéndimos an to káno aftó].

So with this type of verb, this “-ομαι” [ome] verb, and when we don’t use “-ομαι”
we use a different ending, which takes the accent, the closed form is really easy to
find. We just add [ith] (ηθ), nο? Θυμάμαι – θυμηθώ; κοιμάμαι – κοιμηθώ;
θεωρούμαι – θεωρηθώ.

What was, I walk?

S: Περπαταώ [perpatáo].

T: Περπαταώ. And the closed version of, περπαταώ?

S: Περπατήσω [perpatíso].

T: Περπατήσω. So actually, we see something in common between “περπαταώ” and
“περπατήσω”, and “κοιμάμαι” and “κοιμηθώ”, for example. With those verbs,
those normal verbs with their accents on the ending, like, περπαταώ, no, to get
the closed form we add [is] (ης) – περπατήσω; and in the same way when we have
“-άμαι” [áme], for example, you know, carrying the accent, we go to [ith] (ηθ). So
just like it was very easy to find the closed form with those verbs with their
accents on the end, no: μιλαώ – μιλήσω [miláo, milíso]; αγαπαώ – αγαπήσω
[aghapáo, aghapíso]; ρωταώ – ρωτήσω [rotáo, rotíso]; the same goes with this
second family of verbs we’re seeing, no? They use [ith] (ηθ) when they have their
accents on the end: κοιμάμαι – κοιμηθώ; θεωρούμαι – θεωρηθώ.

But with those verbs that don’t have their accent on the end – so those that use
“-ομαι” [ome], “-εσαι” [ese], “-εται” [ete], finding the closed form is a little more
complicated. So, for example, we have “I get lost” – χάνομαι [khánome]; and then
the closed form is, χαθώ [khathó].

538

S: Χαθώ.

T: How would you say, We won’t get lost?

S: Δεν θα ... δεν θα χάθουμε [dhen tha … dhen tha kháthume].

T: Good. But like in, χαθώ [khathó], no, we will accent the ending. So, Δεν θα
χαθούμε [dhen tha khathúme].

We have, σκέφτομαι [skéftome] – “I think”, like “sceptical”, and then the closed
version is, σκεφτώ [skeftó].

S: Σκεφτώ.

T: How would you say, I will think about it, or just, I will think it?

S: Θα το σκεφτώ [tha to skeftó].

T: Θα το σκεφτώ.

“I need” was, χρειάζομαι [khriázome].

S: Χρειάζομαι.

T: How is, You need?

S: Χρειάζεσαι [khriázese].

T: Χρειάζεσαι. The closed version of, χρειάζομαι, is, χρειαστώ [khriastó]. Χπρειαστώ.

S: Χπρειαστώ.

T: So how would you say, When will you need it? When will you need it?

S: Πότε θα το χρειαστείς; [póte tha to khriastís?].

T: Very good. Πότε θα το χρειαστείς; How would you say, For how long will you need
it? So for, “For how long”, you could say “For how much”, and it can be
understood that you mean, time. Or you can say “For how much time”. So the
word for, How, was?

S: Πώς [pos].

T: Πώς. And “How much” is, πόσο [póso]. So, For how much time (for how long) will
you need it?

539
S: Για πόσο θα το χρειαστείς; [ya póso tha to khriastís?].

T: Για πόσο θα το χρειαστείς; Or, Για πόσο καιρό θα το χρειαστείς; [ya póso keró tha
to khriastís?]. Καιρός [kerós], by the way, also means “weather”, other than
“time”; also “weather” – like “tiempo” in Spanish, no, which is “time” and
“weather”. How would you say, How is the weather there? How is the weather
there?

S: Πώς είναι ο καιρός εκεί; [pos íne o kerós ekí?].

T: Good. Πως είναι ο καιρός εκεί; How is the weather there?

So as we see in, χάνομαι – χαθώ, σκέφτομαι – σκεφτώ, χρειάζομαι – χρειαστώ,
getting the closed version of these verbs is a little more complicated than with our
verbs which accent the endings, no, and just use [ith] (ηθ). But we will find many
patterns, as we did with our standard verbs before, in order to find our closed
version.

We notice that we always have a T (τ) or a TH (θ), no? Χαθώ, σκεφτώ, χρειαστώ
[khathó, skeftó, khriastó]. And we also see that we can have another sound
change to the consonant before – that [th] (θ) or that [t] (τ). It can completely
disappear, like the N (ν) does in, χάνομαι [khánome], when we get, χαθώ [khathó];
that N (ν) completely disappears. We can see a letter change, like in, χρειάζομαι
[khriázome] and χρειαστώ [khriastó]. That Z (ζ) in χρειάζομαι changes to an S (σ)
when we add our T (τ) – χρειαστώ. And we can also think that we are always
adding TH (θ), but TH (θ) might interact with the previous sound in a number of
ways, no, either deleting it, changing it, or the TH (θ) itself changing to a T (τ).

540
Complete Greek, Track 112 – Language Transfer

Teacher: What is, I sleep?

Student: Κοιμάμαι [kimáme].

T: Κοιμάμαι. And the closed version of, κοιμάμαι?

S: Κοιμηθώ [kimithó].

T: Κοιμηθώ. So we have our accent on the ending, on “-άμαι” [áme] – κοιμάμαι. So
we go, κοιμηθώ. They want to sleep.

S: Θέλουν να κοιμηθούν [thélun na kimithún].

T: Θέλουν να κοιμηθούν. How is, I remember?

S: Θυμάμαι [thimáme].

T: Θυμάμαι. And the closed version of, θυμάμαι?

S: Θυμηθώ [thimithó].

T: Θυμηθώ. What was the word for, When?

S: Πότε [póte].

T: Πότε. And “when”, when it’s not a question, like, you know, “Tell me when you
remember?

S: Όταν [ótan].

T: Όταν. “Tell”, as an order was, πες [pes]. Πες. A bit strange because, you know, we
are working with, πω [po]. So we get, πες, for “tell”. So how would you say, Tell
me when you remember?

S: Πες μου όταν θυμηθείς [pez mu ótan thimithís].

T: Very good. Πες μου όταν θυμηθείς. Πες μου όταν το θυμηθείς [pez mu ótan to
thimithís]. So after “όταν”, no, we have to think about also whether we want our
open or closed form of the verb. So, “When you remember”, you know, that’s
definitely a closed event. Once. Πες μου όταν το θυμηθείς. Πες μου όταν
θυμηθείς.

So it’s easy to get the closed version of these verbs that have their accent on the
ending – we just add [ith] (ηθ). Θυμάμαι–θυμηθώ [thimáme, thimithó]; κοιμάμαι–
κοιμηθώ [kimáme, kimithó]. With other verbs it’s slightly more complicated, but

541
 we can find our own patterns, and mostly we will have the same TH (θ) [th] or T (τ)
[t] sound popping up. So I mentioned, χάνομαι [khánome] – “I get lost”, and the
closed version, χαθώ [khathó]. So here we have a TH (θ), and then TH (θ) deletes
the N (ν) of, χάνομαι. Χάνομαι – χαθώ.

S: Χαθώ.

T: How would you say, You will get lost?

S: Θα χάθεις [tha kháthis].

T: We have our accent on the ending, no? Even if we don’t in, χάνομαι, when we go
into the closed form, χαθώ, no, we accent that ending. So, You will get lost.

S: Θα χαθείς [tha khathís].

T: Θα χαθείς [tha khathís]. Very good. Θα χαθείς. So we have a TH (θ) for our closed
form, and that deletes the N (ν). So, we want to look out to see if this is a pattern
– if this happens in other places.

The word for “crazy” in Greek is, τρελός [trelós]. Τρελός.

S: Τρελός.

T: Like, T-R-E-L-O-S. Τρελός. How would you say, You’re crazy?

S: Είσαι τρελός [íse trelós].

T: Είσαι τρελός. Είσαι τρελή [íse trelí]. How would you call somebody “crazy”, talking
to a male, like, “Hey, Crazy!”?

S: Τρελέ [trelé].

T: Τρελέ. Very good. We have “-ος” [os], no, so to get our vocative, to call a male (we
only use this with males, in the singular), we remove that “-ος” and we add “-ε”
[e]: τρελέ. If you go to Cyprus, you will hear, Πελέ [pelé] all the time. In Cyprus we
say, πελός [pelós] for “crazy”, so you will hear, πελέ, a lot, in … only between
friends. Πελέ μου [pelé mu]. “I go crazy” is, τρελαίνομαι [trelénome].

S: Τρελαίνομαι.

T: Τρελαίνομαι. So “-ομαι” [ome] carries the meaning, literally, no, of “myself” or
like, “I am”. In this case, “I get crazy” is something like “I crazy myself”, rather than
“I am crazy”, no, which would be, Είμαι τρελός [íme trelós]. So, Τρελαίνομαι – “I
crazy myself”, “I get crazy”. So, we have an N (ν) there, no? Τρελαίνομαι. So when
we go into our closed form and we add [th] (θ), that N (ν) will disappear, just like
between, χάνομαι and, χαθώ. But also we have another change: τρελαίνομαι, this

542
 [e] sound, of “λαί” [le], τρελαίνομαι, is spelt AI (αι) [e], and that I (ι) gets
swallowed up when we add our TH (θ). So you want to give that a try? How that
will sound – the closed form of, τρελαίνομαι [trelénome]?

S: Τρελαθώ [trelathó].

T: Τρελαθώ. Very good. So, we have AI (αι), giving us [e] in, τρελαίνομαι, but if we
lose that I (ι), we’re just left with the A (α), no? Τρελαθώ. I will go crazy.

S: Θα τρελαθώ [tha trelathó].

T: Θα τρελαθώ. So again we lose the N (v), no? Χάνομαι – χαθώ; τρελαίνομαι –
τρελαθώ. Although we have another small change there, as well, no, in the vowel;
τρελαίνομαι – τρελαθώ [trelénome, trelathó].

And we can get the past quite easily from our closed version of these verbs. We
have the same past endings as always, but we add [ik] (“-ηκ-”) before the past
ending. So, “I got lost” is, χάθηκα [kháthika]. Χάθηκα.

S: Χάθηκα.

T: And we have the accent third from the end like always, no, in the past. And
actually the reason we’re adding this [ik] (ηκ), is to give us an extra syllable. It’s to
give us an extra syllable, but instead of adding one at the beginning as we do with
normal verbs, so for example, χάνω [kháno] to χάσω [kháso] and, έχασα [ékhasa]
– “I lost”, no? With these verbs we’re adding a syllable, but it’s before the ending,
[ik] (ηκ). So we get [ika], χάθηκα [kháthika]. How would you say, I got crazy? We
have, τρελαθώ [trelathó], so … ?

S: Τρελάθηκα [treláthika].

T: Τρελάθηκα. So it doesn’t matter, you know, if we have already more than two
syllables, no? We’re always putting this [ik] (ηκ); we’re always inserting this extra
syllable. Τρελάθηκα. We got crazy?

S: Τρελαθήκαμε [trelathíkame].

T: Good. We keep the accent third from the end. Τρελαθήκαμε. Why did you get
crazy, my friend? Why did you get crazy, my friend?

S: Γιατί τρελάθηκες, φίλε μου; [yatí treláthikes, fíle mu?].

T: Very good. Γιατί τρελάθηκες, φίλε μου; Or you could say, βρε φίλε μου [vre fíle
mu]. This is common, the word “βρε” [vre] – it’s like to get someone’s attention,
to be emphatic. Βρε [vre], or ρε [re]. Γιατί τρελάθηκες, βρε φίλε μου; [yatí
treláthikes, vre fíle mu?]. What if you are talking to more than one person. Why
did you guys get crazy, my friends?

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S: Γιατί τρελαθήκατε, φίλοι μου; [yatí trelathíkate, fíli mu?].

T: Very good. Γιατί τρελαθήκατε, φίλοι μου; … βρε φίλοι μου [vre fíli mu]. And, you
know, for the plural “friends”, we don’t have any different way to address them –
just, φίλοι [fíli], the plural.

What was, I need?

S: Χρειάζομαι [khriázome].

T: Χρειάζομαι. The closed version was, χρειαστώ [khriastó]. Χρειαστώ.

S: Χρειαστώ.

T: You remember how to say, I get tired? We had, κουράζω [kurázo], for “I tire”, like
“I tire someone else”. But, I get tired; I tire myself?

S: Κουράζομαι [kurázome].

T: Κουράζομαι. The closed version of κουράζομαι is, κουραστώ [kurastó]. Κουραστώ.

S: Κουραστώ.

T: So actually we’ve found another pattern, no: “-άζομαι” [ázome] to “-αστώ” [astó].
Χρειάζομαι – χρειαστώ [khriázome, khriastó]; κουράζομαι – κουραστώ [kurázome,
kurastó]. And in both cases the Z’s (ζ) are changing to S’s (σ), no? Κουράζομαι –
κουραστώ; χρειάζομαι – χρειαστώ. Do you get tired?

S: Κουράζεσαι; [kurázese?].

T: Κουράζεσαι; You will get tired.

S: Θα κουραστείς [tha kurastís].

T: Θα κουραστείς. I got tired.

S: Κουράστηκα [kurástika].

T: Κουράστηκα. This can also mean, like, you know, “I got fed up”. Κουράστηκα.
Κουράστηκα με αυτον – “I got fed with him”. Did you get tired?

S: Κουράστηκες; [kurástikes?].

T: Κουράστηκες; Did you guys get tired?

S: Κουραστήκατε; [kurastíkate?].

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T: Κουραστήκατε; Very good. They got tired.

S: Κουράστηκαν [kurástikan].

T: Κουράστηκαν or, κουραστήκανε [kurastíkane], we could hear.

What was, I imagine?

S: Φαντάζομαι [fandázome].

T: Φαντάζομαι. So, do you notice anything? Do notice you a familiarity, a familiar
pattern?

S: It has the “-ζομαι” [zome].

T: Good. So how might the closed version be?

S: Φανταστώ [fandastó].

T: Φανταστώ. Φανταστώ. Let’s imagine.

S: Να φαντασούμε [na fandastúme]. Ας φαντασούμε [as fandastúme].

T: Good. Να φαντασούμε. Ας φαντασούμε. Let’s imagine.

“I am born”, I am born is, γεννιέμαι [yenyéme]. Γεννιέμαι.

S: Γεννιέμαι.

T: So what’s the first thing you notice about, γεννιέμαι?

S: It’s got the “-ιέμαι” [yéme].

T: It’s “-ιέμαι”; it’s not “-ομαι” [ome]. No? Which also means that it’s accented, no?
We notice it’s accented; the ending there is accented. Γεννιέμαι. So even though
it’s not a familiar one like “-άμαι” [áme], you know, that we’ve seen more
commonly, we still know what it does to get into the closed form. It has the accent
on the end, so the closed form of, γεννιέμαι – I am born, is?

S: Γεννηθώ [yenithó].

T: Γεννηθώ. Γεννιέμαι [yenyéme], which is the, γάμα [gháma] (γ) - E (ε) - Double N
(ν) - IE (ιέ) – which gives us this [yé] sound – MAI (μαι) [me]. Γεννιέμαι – “I am
born”, is actually related to “genetics”, no? Spelt with γάμα [gháma] (γ), which has
been softened by the E sound [e], and we have the G in “genetics”. Γεννιέμαι –

545
 “I’m born”, and, γεννηθώ [yenithó], no, the closed version. How would you say, He
will be born soon?

S: Θα γεννηθεί σύντομα [tha yenithí sídoma].

T: Θα γεννηθεί σύντομα. He was born.

S: Γεννήθηκε [yeníthike].

T: Γεννήθηκε. You were born.

S: Γεννήθηκες [yeníthikes].

T: Γεννήθηκες. Where were you born?

S: Πού γεννήθηκες; [pu yeníthikes?].

T: Πού γεννήθηκες; I was born in England. So to say, I was born in England, we will
say, in the England. “England” is, Αγγλία [anglía]. Αγγλία.

S: Αγγλία.

T: Αγγλία is spelt with two gammas (γ). We’ve seen how that gives us NG [ng], or just
a G [g], like in the word, άγγελος [ángelos] – “angel”, or “Angelo”. No? We could
hear άγγελος [ángelos] or, άγγελος [ágelos]. So for “England”, we could hear
[anglía] or [aglía]. So how would you say, I was born in England? I was born in the
England.

S: Γεννήθηκα στην Αγγλία [yeníthika stin anglía].

T: Γεννήθηκα στην Αγγλία. How would you say, I wasn’t born yesterday? I wasn’t
born yesterday.

S: Δεν γεννήθηκα χθες [dhen yeníthika khthes].

T: Very good. Δεν γεννήθηκα χθες. I wasn’t born yesterday. You know, like, “I’m not
stupid”.

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Complete Greek, Track 113 – Language Transfer

Teacher: How would you say, Do you remember me? Do you remember me?

Student: Με θυμάσαι; [me thimáse?].

T: Do you remember me? Με θυμάσαι; How would you say, You will remember me?

S: Θα με θυμηθείς [tha me thimithís].

T: Θα με θυμηθείς. Very good. And, Θα με θυμηθείς, you can also use like an
expression to mean, like, “You will see that I am right”. You will remember me. Θα
με θυμηθείς. What was, I lose?

S: Χάνω [kháno].

T: Χάνω. I get lost.

S: Χάνομαι [khánome].

T: Χάνομαι. And, χάνομαι, in the closed version?

S: Χαθώ [khathó].

T: Χαθώ, χαθώ. I don’t want us to get lost. I don’t want, να [na], we get lost.

S: Δεν θέλω να χαθούμε [dhen thélo na khathúme].

T: Very good. Δεν θέλω να χαθούμε. And this can also be used like an expression,
meaning, “Let’s stay in touch”, or “Let’s not lose touch”. No? Δεν θέλω να
χαθούμε. Like, “I don’t want that we lose each other”.

So we’ve seen, in the closed form, we have our standard endings, no, and we
accent them. Θυμάμαι – θυμηθώ [thimáme, thimithó]; θυμάσαι – θυμηθείς
[thimáse, thimithís]. So we’re using our standard endings, no? We’re just
accenting them. But there is one exception. For the “you” plural, we pretty much
always use “-είτε” [íte], rather than our standard “-ετε” [ete]. But this is of course
fitting, considering we have the accent on the end, in these closed forms. And we
know that “-είτε” [íte] belongs to that realm, no, of their accents on the end.
Μπορώ – μπορείτε [boró, boríte]. So, if you were to say, You guys will get lost?

S: Θα χαθείτε [tha khathíte].

T: Θα χαθείτε. I sleep?

S: Κοιμάμαι [kimáme].

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T: Κοιμάμαι. The closed version?

S: Κοιμηθώ [kimithó].

T: Κοιμηθώ. When will you guys sleep?

S: Πότε θα κοιμηθείτε; [póte tha kimithíte?].

T: Very good. Πότε θα κοιμηθείτε; What was, I am scared, I get scared, I fear – like
“phobia”?

S: Φοβάμαι [fováme].

T: Φοβάμαι. So again, we don’t have “-ομαι” [ome], no? We have “-άμαι” [áme], an
accented ending – φοβάμαι. So our closed form would be … ?

S: Φοβηθώ [fovithó].

T: Φοβηθώ. And how would you say, Don’t be scared; Don’t fear? What do we use
instead of “δεν” [dhen], for our negative orders, when we say, “Don’t”?

S: Μην [min].

T: Μην. Good. Don’t be scared. Don’t fear.

S: Μην φοβηθείς [min fovithís].

T: Very good. Μην φοβηθείς. Don’t get scared but I need to tell you something. Don’t
get scared but I need to tell you something.

S: Μην φοβηθείς αλλά πρέπει να σου πω κάτι [min fovithís alá prépi na su po káti].

T: Very good. Μην φοβηθείς αλλά πρέπει να σου πω κάτι. So we can move from,
φοβηθώ [fovithó] to get the past, no? “I got scared” – we just have to add [ik] (ηκ),
before we add our past ending. So, I got scared; I was scared?

S: Φοβήθηκα [fovíthika].

T: Φοβήθηκα. Very good. What was, I work?

S: Δουλεύω [dhulévo].

T: Δουλεύω. There also exists another verb for, “to work”, which is maybe a little
more like, “to be employed at”, and this verb is, εργάζομαι [ergházome].
Εργάζομαι.

S: Εργάζομαι.

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T: So how would you say, Where do you work?

S: Πού εργάζεσαι; [pu ergházese?].

T: Πού εργάζεσαι; So again, we have “-άζομαι” [ázome], “-άζεσαι” [ázese], which
means that our closed form might be?

S: [ste]?

T: So, ... ?

S: [st] … something?

T: Yeah, maybe it’s better to look at another verb, no? So the first one that comes to
mind with this pattern? Maybe … maybe, I imagine.

S: Φαντάζομαι [fandázome].

T: Yeah. That’s a … that’s a easy hook, no? So, φαντάζομαι becomes?

S: Φανταστώ [fandastó].

T: Good. And that’s easy to move between, okay, φαντάζομαι – φανταστώ
[fandázome, fandastó]. So, εργάζομαι [ergházome] ... ?

S: Εργαστώ [erghastó].

T: Εργαστώ. No? And you can actually work with sound as well, once you’ve found
these patterns. Εργαστώ. Where will you work?

S: Πού θα εργαστείς; [pu tha erghastís?].

T: Πού θα εργαστείς; Πού θα ’ργαστείς; [pu tha’rghastís?]. And we said that we can
move very easily between this closed form and the past – just before adding our
past ending, we add [ik] (ηκ). So, if you wanted to say, Where did you work? –
referring to a closed period of time. Where did you work?

S: Πού εργαστήθηκες; [pu erghastíthikes?].

T: Εργαστήθηκες? You’re doing something twice. So go again from, εργαστέις
[erghastís]. That’s our closed form; we said, Πού θα εργαστείς; – “Where will you
work?” So how would you get, You worked from, εργαστείς? What do we add onto
our closed form, before we add on our past ending?

S: Πού εργάστηκες; [pu erghástikes?].

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T: Πού εργάστηκες; Very good. So, εργαστείς [erghastís] is our closed form; we don’t
need to add [th] (θ) to make it closed. We’ve done that already. So to all these
patterns that we see, we will also find, of course, some important and strange
exceptions, that are just doing their own thing. So, for example, the verb, I come,
was?

S: Έρχομαι [érkhome].

T: Έρχομαι. The closed form is, έρθω [értho]. Έρθω.

S: Έρθω.

T: And what do you notice that’s very strange about, έρθω?

S: The stress is not on the end, but on the first syllable.

T: Yes, exactly. We don’t have the accent on the ending, no? Έρθω. Will you come?

S: Θα έρθεις; [tha érthis?].

T: Θα έρθεις; And this is very commonly contracted in Greek to, Θα ’ρθείς [thá’rthís].
Θα ’ρθείς. How would you say, I want you to come?

S: Θέλω να έρθεις [thélo na érthis]. Θέλω να έρθεις.

T: Θέλω να έρθεις. Or contracted, Θέλω να ’ρθείς [thélo ná’rthis]. Do you want us to
come? Do you want ... να ... we come?

S: Θέλεις να ’ρθουμε; [thélis ná’rthume?].

T: Very good. Θέλεις να έρθουμε; [thélis na érthume?]. Θέλεις να ’ρθουμε; And the
past “I came” is, ήρθα [írtha]. Ήρθα. So here it’s behaving as if it were any other
verb, no, to build the past. We don’t have any [ik] (ηκ) popping up. Ήρθα – “I
came”.

S: Ήρθα [írtha].

T: I didn’t come.

S: Δεν ήρθα [dhen írtha].

T: Did you come?

S: Ήρθες; [írthes?].

T: We saw Γεννιέμαι, which was, I am born, like “genetics”. Γίνομαι [yínome],
γίνομαι, is “I become”. So they sound a little bit similar, no? Γίνομαι – “I become”.

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S: Γίνομαι.

T: The closed version of, γίνομαι is, γίνω [yíno]. Γίνω. So it’s very exceptional. How
would you say, I will become?

S: Θα γίνω [tha yíno].

T: Θα γίνω. It will become.

S: Θα γίνει [tha yíni].

T: Θα γίνει. And this can also mean like, “It will happen”. Θα γίνει – It will happen.
How would you say, It became? Now, you will treat γίνω [yíno] like any other verb,
a normal verb, to build the past. Not like one of these, you know, γίνομαι [yínome]
verbs. Here it will behave like any verb. How would you say, It became?

S: Έγινε [éyine].

T: Έγινε. Good. And this is also used like a common expression, you know, if you
agree something, you know, έγινε – “Okay”. Or maybe to say goodbye also. Έγινε,
like, you know, “Ιt became”, or, “We close here” – something like this. So we can
have, Έγινε [éyine] – “It became”, or “It happened”. So how would you say, What
happened?

S: Τι έγινε; [ti éyine?].

T: Τι έγινε; And “Τι έγινε;” can also be used like an expression, like, “What’s up?”
when you greet somebody. And also in the present, Τι γίνεται; [ti yínete?] –
“What’s going on?” “What’s happening?”. Τι γίνεται; Τι έγινε; – What’s
happening? What happened? What’s up?

We had, τίποτα [típota] – “nothing”. So you could say, “Nothing happened”, and
we have a double negative here in Greek, no? Nothing didn’t happen. It didn’t
happen nothing.

S: Δεν έγινε τίποτα [dhen éyine típota].

T: Δεν έγινε τίποτα. So this is a very strange verb, no? Γίνομαι [yínome], and then the
closed version, γίνω [yíno]. Building its past in a totally regular way for normal
verbs, not for these “-ομαι” [ome] verbs – έγινε [éyine]. So, έρχομαι [érkhome],
γίνομαι [yínome], break all the rules.

Κάθομαι [káthome], κάθομαι, means “I sit down”. Κάθομαι.

S: Κάθομαι.

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T: The closed version of, κάθομαι is, καθήσω [kathíso].

S: Καθήσω.

T: Or, κάτσω [kátso]. So here we have two closed versions of the verb. They both
exist. Καθήσω, κάτσω [kathíso, kátso]. They will sit here.

S: Θα καθήσουνε εδώ [tha kathísune edhó].

T: Θα καθήσουν (θα καθήσουνε) εδώ [tha kathísun (tha kathísune) edhó]. And if you
want to say “I sat”, you will treat, καθήσω, like any other “-ησω” [iso] verb, rather
than, you know, using [ik] (ηκ). So how would you say, I sat.

S: Κάθησα [káthisa].

T: Κάθησα. And if we were to go from, κάτσω [kátso], that also behaves like any
normal verb. You would have, έκατσα [ékatsa]. We sat?

S: Καθήσαμε [kathísame].

T: Καθήσαμε. Or, κάτσαμε [kátsame], going from, κάτσω.

You may hear the expression in Greek, Στα καλά καθούμενα [sta kalá kathúmena].
Στα καλά καθούμενα. This means “out of the blue”. Out of the blue. What do you
think is going on here? What do you think it means, literally – καλά καθούμενα?
What does, καλά [kalá] mean?

S: Good. Well.

T: “Good” or “well”. Good. And, καθούμενα? Try to see what type of word do you
think this is? Do you think it’s an adjective, a describing word. Is it the verb? Is it a
noun? What does it looks like?

S: Well the ending seems a bit like from “-μενος” [menos]. So maybe the … the state
of sitting here?

T: Okay.

S: So, “Well sat”?

T: Well sat. Yes. Well done. Well done. That’s exactly what it means. Well sat. So this
means, like, “Out of the blue”, so it’s kind of used when something, you know like,
sudden happens, you know, maybe you’re driving and a bird falls out of the sky, or
something like this. And, so it literally means like, “Well sat” – as if the things were
there, sitting there waiting for you to come, out of the blue, you know. They were
there … there in place. Very good.

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Complete Greek, Track 114 – Language Transfer

Teacher: What was, I lose?

Student: Χάνω [kháno].

T: Χάνω. Good. And, I was losing?

S: Έχασα [ékhasa].

T: So not, “I lost” but, “I was losing”. We … we don’t need to go to the closed form
for this. No?

S: Έχανα [ékhana].

T: Έχανα.

S: Έχανα.

T: Good. What was the word for, woman?

S: Γυναίκα [yinéka].

T: Γυναίκα. You know “misogyny” in English? What does it mean?

S: Um. Someone who hates women.

T: Yeah. No? Someone that hates women; a woman hater; a misogynist. The “-gyny”
bit there is like, γυναίκα; and [misó] in Greek (μισώ), means “I hate”. Μισώ.

S: Μισώ.

T: How would you say, They hate?

S: Μισούν [misún].

T: Μισούν. If you want to say something like, “They hate one another”, you can say,
Μισούν ο ένας τον άλλο [misún o énas ton álo]. Μισούν ο ένας τον άλλο. So, “Ο
ένας τον άλλο” is like an expression, “one to the other”. So how would you say
that? They hate each other?

S: Μισούν ο ένας τον άλλο [misún o énas ton álo].

T: Good. Μισούν ο ένας τον άλλο. And you could also hear, Μισούν ο ένας τον άλλον
[misún o énas ton álon]. So we have, μισώ, which is “I hate”, with the accent on
the end. So what would be the closed version of, μισώ.

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S: Μισήσω [misíso].

T: Μισήσω. And, I hated? Hated.

S: Μίσησα [mísisa].

T: Μίσησα. So that’s, I hated. If you want to say “I was hating”, or “I used to hate”;
with these verbs, no, with their accent on the end, we have a different way of
going into this open past. We don’t go from, μισώ [misó]. What do we do to say, I
used to hate, I was hating?

S: We add the “-ούσα” [úsa].

T: Mmm. Good.

S: So it would be, μισούσα [misúsa].

T: Μισούσα. Good. So we have “ους” [us] instead of “ης” [is], like in the closed form,
but we also accent that “ους”. Μισούσα. So we’ve seen how, with these verbs,
with their accent on the end, like μισώ, like μιλαώ [miláo], for example, we have a
different way of forming our open past. And the same goes for our “-ομαι” [ome],
“-άμαι” [ame], “-έσαι” [ese] verbs. For this type of verb, we also have a different
way of forming our open, ongoing past. What was, I am?

S: Είμαι [íme].

T: Είμαι. And, I was?

S: Ήμουν [ímun].

T: Ήμουν. Good. Or, ήμουνα [ímuna], we could have as well: ήμουν, ήμουνα. You
are?

S: Είσαι [íse].

T: Είσαι. And, You were?

S: Ήσουν [ísun].

T: Ήσουν, ήσουνα [ísuna]. We had, He/she/it is, and also, They are; all the same
word.

S: Είναι [íne].

T: Είναι. And the past of, είναι? It was, She was, He was, They were?

S: Ήταν [ítan].

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T: Ήταν. Or, ήτανε [ítane], we could have. The plural, You are, was είστε [íste]. So we
had, είσαι [íse] and, είστε [íste].

S: Είστε.

T: And the past of, είστε – ήσασταν [ísastan]. Ήσασταν. How would you say, Where
were you guys?

S: Πού ήσασταν; [pu ísastan?].

T: Πού ήσασταν; What is, We are?

S: Είμαστε [ímaste].

T: We are – είμαστε. Good. The past of, είμαστε is, ήμασταν [ímastan]. Ήμασταν.

S: Ήμασταν.

T: So we have these two very similar pasts, no? Ήσασταν, for “you” plural, and
ήμασταν, for “we”; “we were”. We were here.

S: Ήμασταν εδώ [ímastan edhó].

T: Ήμασταν εδώ. So we’ve seen how “-ομαι” [ome], “-εσαι” [ese], etc., is very much
like the verb “to be” in the present. Χάνομαι [khánome] is like, χάνω [kháno] and
είμαι [íme]. What was, I was, the past of, είμαι?

S: Ήμουν [ímun].

T: Ήμουν. If we want to say “I was getting lost”, instead of “I am getting lost” –
χάνομαι, instead of adding “-ομαι”, which is like, είμαι, we will add “-όμουν”
[ómun], which is like, ήμουν [ímun], and you accent the [o] of “-όμουν”. So, I was
getting lost?

S: Χανόμουν [khanómun].

T: Χανόμουν. Good. So we have, χάνομαι with “-ομαι”, that’s like, είμαι, no – “I get
lost”; and, χανόμουν with “-όμουν” which is like, ήμουν – “I was getting lost”.

So maybe “I was getting lost” is not such a common thing to say, but we know, we
also form the “would” time with “θα” and this open past. So maybe you want to
say something like “I would get lost”. So if we have, χανόμουν, how is, I would get
lost?

S: Θα χανόμουν [tha khanómun].

555
T: Θα χανόμουν or, θα χανόμουνα [tha khanómuna] – also, we could have.

So we get “-όμουν” from “ήμουν” and from “ήσουν” we get “-όσουν”. So our
ending for “you” in this open past is “-όσουν”. So how would you say, You would
get lost?

S: Θα χανόσουν [tha khanósun].

T: Θα χανόσουν. What was, I think?

S: Σκέφτομαι [skéftome].

T: Σκέφτομαι. I was thinking?

S: Σκεφτόμουν [skeftómun].

T: Σκεφτόμουν. Good. You were thinking.

S: Σκεφτόσουν [skeftósun].

T: Σκεφτόσουν. What were you thinking? What were you thinking about?

S: Τι σκεφτόσουν; [ti skeftósun?].

T: What were you thinking about? Τι σκεπτόσουν; What was, I need?

S: Χρειάζομαι [khriázome].

T: Χρειάζομαι. And the closed version of, χρειάζομαι? We had a pattern with those
that have “-άζομαι” [ázome]. They become … ?

S: “-στώ” [sto].

T: “-αστώ” [astó]. Good. So, χρειάζομαι, in its closed form?

S: Χρειαστώ [khriastó].

T: Χρειαστώ. How would you say, I needed? So for “I needed”, rather than “I was
needing”, no? I needed. What do we add to the closed form to get this past?

S: Was it “ηκα” [ika]?

T: “ηκ” [ik]. Good. And then our normal ending, no? So, I needed?

S: Χρειάστηκα [khriástika].

556
T: Χρειάστηκα. But maybe you want to refer to needing something in, like, in an
open, ongoing time: “was needing” or “needed over many times”. So how would
you say that – I was needing?

S: Χρειαστόμουν [khriastómun].

T: So we don’t want to go back to, χρειαστώ, no? That’s the closed form. We just
need to go back to, χρειάζομαι. And instead of “-ομαι” [ome], use ... ?

S: “-όμουν” [ómun].

T: “-όμουν”. Χρειαζόμουν [khriazómun]. What did you need? What were you
needing? Or, What were you in need of?

S: Τι χρειαζόσουν; [ti khriazósun?].

T: Τι χρειαζόσουν; But if you wanted to say, What did you need, as a closed period of
time – this is very different, and the thinking process is very different as well, to
find it. What did you need?

S: Τι χρειάστηκες; [ti khriástikes?].

T: Τι χρειάστηκες; Good. We go from, χρειάζομαι [khriázome] to, χρειαστώ
[khriastó]. Χρειάστηκες [khriástikes].

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Complete Greek, Track 115 – Language Transfer

Teacher: What was, He is, She is, It is?

Student: Είναι [íne].

T: Είναι. Good. And with this type of verb that we’re looking at: νοικιάζεται
[nikiázete] – “for rent”, σκέφτεται [skéftete] – “he/she thinks”, the ending “-εται”
[ete], doesn’t look too much like, είναι [íne], apart from the fact that that final E
([e]) is spelt AI (αι), just like, είναι. But also we have the T (τ) there, no, like
representing “την, τον, το” [tin, ton, to]. So, He needs, She needs, It needs?

S: Χρειάζεται [khriázete].

T: Χρειάζεται. And what was, He was, She was, It was?

S: Ήταν [ítan].

T: Ήταν. Or, ήτανε [ítane], we could also have. “He was needing”, “She was needing”,
or “ … was in need of” is, χρειαζόταν [khriazótan]. Χρειαζόταν.

S: Χρειαζόταν.

T: Or, χρειαζότανε [khriazótane], just like we have, ήταν [ítan] or ήτανε [ítane].
Χρειαζόταν. Χρειαζότανε. So this “-όταν” ending looks much more like “ήταν” than
we have in the present between “-εται” [ete] and “είναι” [íne], no? Χρειαζόταν.
He (or, she) needed it (was in need of it)?

S: Το χρειαζόταν [to khriazótan].

T: Το χρειαζόταν. Το χρειαζότανε [to khriazótane]. He was going to need it. She was
going to need it (or, would need it).

S: Θα το χρειαζόταν [tha to khriazótan].

T: Very good. Θα το χρειαζόταν. What was, They were?

S: Ήτανε [ítane].

T: Ήταν [ítan]. Ήτανε. The same, no? But we do differentiate this with the verbs. No?
We don’t use the same endings for, he/she and it, and they, even though “είναι”
and ”ήταν” represents all of those people. So in the present, we have, for
example, χρειάζεται [khriázete] and, χρειάζονται [khriázonde], for “he needs” and
“they need”. And in the open past we have, χρειαζόταν [khriazótan] for “he was in
need of” and, χρειάζονταν [khriázondan], χρειάζονταν, for “they were in need of”.
So we get an N (ν), no? Instead of “-όταν” [ótan], “-ονταν” [ondan], but also we

558
 move the accent, to make these sound more dissimilar as well. Χρειαζόταν – “he
needed”. Χρειάζονταν – “they needed”, in our open past.

What was, I think?

S: Σκέφτομαι [skéftome].

T: Σκέφτομαι. He thinks?

S: Σκέφτεται [skéftete].

T: Σκέφτεται. He was thinking.

S: Σκεφτόταν [skeftótan].

T: Σκεφτόταν. And for, They were thinking, instead of “-όταν” [ótan], we will have
“-ονταν”; but also we don’t accent that. We move the accent one behind as well,
to make them sound more different. So, They were thinking?

S: Σκέφτονταν [skéftondan].

T: Σκέφτονταν. How would you say, What were they in need of? What did they need?

S: Τι χρειάζονταν; [ti khriázondan?].

T: Τι χρειάζονταν; What would they need? What would they need?

S: Τι χρειά ... Τι θα χρειάζονταν [ti tha khriázondan?].

T: Τι θα χρειάζονταν. How was, I get lost?

S: Χάνομαι [khánome].

T: Χάνομαι. I was getting lost.

S: Χάθηκα [kháthika]. Χάνονται [khánonde].

T: So don’t guess. All you need to do is to look at what we have for “I was”. What is, I
was?

S: Ήμουν [ímun].

T: Ήμουν. So, I was getting lost?

S: Χανόμουν [khanómun].

T: Χανόμουν. Χανόμουνα [khanómuna]. Very good. You were getting lost?

559

S: Χανόσουν [khanósun].

T: Χανόσουν. He (or, she) was getting lost? It was getting lost?

S: Χανόταν [khánotan].

T: Χανόταν. And, They were getting lost.

S: Χανόνταν [khanótan].

T: That sounds far too much like, χανόταν. So what do we do to make that sound
more different?

S: Χάνονταν [khánondan].

T: Χάνονταν. So that’s, They were getting lost. And how would we say, They would
get lost; They were going to get lost?

S: Θα χανον ... Θα χάνονταν [tha khánondan].

T: Θα χάνονταν. So we have, χάνονταν, with a different accent to, χανόταν, which
helps to make them sound more different. But we also have another form for
“they” in our open past for these types of verbs. Instead of “χάνονταν” for
example, we could also have, χανόντουσαν [khanóndusan]. Χανόντουσαν. So you
don’t have to worry about producing that, but you may hear it. What was, I
imagine, like “fantasy”?

S: Φαντάζομαι [fandázome].

T: Φαντάζομαι. I was imagining.

S: Φανταζόμουν [fandazómun].

T: Φανταζόμουν. He imagines.

S: Φαντάζεται [fandázete].

T: Φαντάζεται. He was imagining.

S: Φανταζόταν [fandazótan].

T: Φανταζόταν. They imagine. Again, back to the present. They imagine.

S: Φαντάζονται [fandázonde].

560
T: Good. Φαντάζονται. So, you know, we’re seeing a lot of forms, but all we need to
do is go back and look at the verb “to be”, to be reminded. So even though “they
are”, is just, είναι, even that [e] (αι) at the end of είναι, helps us remember that
we have, φαντάζονται, and not the very similar sounding “-ονταν” [ondan], for
example, which is for, ήταν [ítan], no, for that open past. They were imagining?

S: Φαντάζονταν [fandázondan].

T: Φαντάζονταν. And as I mentioned, we also have this alternative form,
φανταζόντουσαν [fandazóndusan]. Φανταζόντουσαν, which you don’t need to
worry about building, no? We can continue building in the way that we’ve been
doing, looking back to the verb, “to be”. But, you know, you will hear that
alternative form, and maybe some others as well. So if you notice, you know, that
an alternative form is especially more heard than the one you’re using, feel free to
pick it up. But for now, for building, we want to look back to the verb, “to be”, for
the present and the open past. You imagine – in the present. You imagine.

S: Φαντάζεις [fandázis]. Φαντάζεσαι [fandázese].

T: Φαντάζεσαι [fandázese]. You were imagining?

S: Φανταόσουν [fandazósun].

T: Φανταόσουν. What was, I sleep?

S: Κοιμάμαι [kimáme].

T: Κοιμάμαι. So this κοιμάμαι has the accent on the ending, and it’s also “-άμαι”
[áme], no? But that doesn’t cause any problem when we build, for example, “I was
sleeping”. We still use “όμουν” [ómun]. So how would that be – I was sleeping?

S: Κοιμόμουν [kimómun].

T: Κοιμόμουν. Were you sleeping? Were you sleeping?

S: Κοιμόσουν; [kimósun?].

T: Κοιμόσουν; He was sleeping.

S: Κοιμόταν [kimótan].

T: Κοιμόταν. We just look back to, ήταν, no, and we get, κοιμόταν. They were
sleeping?

S: Κοιμόταν [kimótan].

561
T: So how do we differentiate “-όταν” from “ήταν”, and the ending that we have for
“they”? What do we add to it? The sound that we generally have for “they”?

S: An N (ν).

T: An N. So what does “όταν” become?

S: “-ονταν” [ondan].

T: “-ονταν”. And actually here with κοιμάμαι, that takes the accent on the ending,
with the “they” form, we won’t see the accent move. It’s going to be on “-όνταν”.
So, They were sleeping.

S: Κοιμόνταν [kimóndan].

T: Κοιμόνταν. In the present for κοιμάμαι, we get, κοιμούνται [kimúnde] instead of
“-όνται”. Κοιμούνται. So with, κοιμάμαι, we have, κοιμούνται, no, for “they”, and
we always want to, you know, try to make our own patterns. So, okay, we have
“άμαι” going to, κοιμούνται, so we might also try that with, φοβάμαι [fováme] –
“I’m scared”. So how might, They’re scared, be?

S: Φοβούνται [fovúnde].

T: Φοβούνται. And we saw that expression, ο ένας τον άλλο [o énas ton álo], to say
“one to the other”, “each other”, or “of each other”. So how would you say,
They’re scared of each other?

S: Φοβούνται ο ένας τον άλλο [fovúnde o énas ton álo].

T: Very good. Φοβούνται ο ένας τον άλλο. And, They were scared, as an open past?

S: Φοβόνταν [fovóndan].

T: Φοβόνταν. Good. And again we have the accent here on “-όνταν” [óndan], just
like with, κοιμόνταν, because κοιμάμαι and φοβάμαι have their accent on the
end. What was, We are?

S: Είμαστε [ímaste].

T: Είμαστε. And, We were?

S: Ήμασταν [ímastan].

T: Ήμασταν. So what might we have for our ending for this open, ongoing past, if we
went from “ήμουν” to “-όμουν”, “ήσουν” to “-όσουν”; we might go from
“ήμασταν” to ... ?

562
S: “-όμασταν” [ómastan].

T: “-όμασταν”. Good. How would you say, We were sleeping? We were sleeping.

S: Κοιμόμασταν [kimómastan].

T: Κοιμόμασταν. We would sleep; or, We were going to sleep.

S: Θα κοιμόμασταν [tha kimómastan].

T: Θα κοιμόμασταν. What was, You are, the formal, or the plural? Εσείς [esís] ... ?

S: Είστε [íste].

T: Eσείς είστε [esís íste]. So we have, είστε, for “you are” (formal or plural). And the
past, which is very similar to “ήμασταν”, is ... ?

S: Ήσασταν [ísastan].

T: Ήσασταν. You were; You guys were. Where were you guys?

S: Πού ήσασταν; [pu ísastan?].

T: Πού ήσασταν; So what ending might we expect for our open past, for “εσείς”, for
“you” plural or formal, if we have “ήσασταν”.

S: “-όσασταν” [ósastan].

T: “-όσασταν”. I get lost. How is, I get lost?

S: Χάνομαι [khánome].

T: Χάνομαι. You guys are getting lost.

S: Χάνεστε [kháneste].

T: Χάνεστε. Very good. Χάνεστε. How would you say, You guys were getting lost?

S: Χανόσασταν [khanósastan].

T: Χανόσασταν. Good. You would get lost. You guys would get lost.

S: Θα χανόσασταν [tha khanósastan].

T: Θα χανόσασταν. And what was the closed version of, χάνομαι?

S: Χαθώ [khathó].

563

T: Χαθώ. Good. So from, χαθώ, we can find the past easily, no, our standard “I got
lost”, rather than “I was getting lost”. All we have to do is to add [ik] (ηκ). So, I got
lost?

S: Χάθηκα [kháthika].

T: Χάθηκα. You guys got lost.

S: Χαθήκατε [khathíkate].

T: Χαθήκατε. Very good. What is, You guys have? Just, You guys have.

S: Έχετε [échete].

T: Έχετε. Have you got lost? Have you got lost? So now we need, “got lost”. But we
know how to find that “have” past.

S: Έχετε χάθει [échete kháthi].

T: Good. But where does the accent go? On “χα... ”.

S: Χαθεί [khathí].

T: Good. Έχετε χαθεί [échete khathí]. You guys have got lost. So we know how to find
that, no? We go from the closed form, χαθώ, and put it in he/she/it form – χαθεί.
Έχω χαθεί [ékho khathí], έχετε χαθεί. If we want to say, You had got lost, You had
got lost – then we just need the past of, έχετε. So “I had” was, είχα [íkha]. So how
would, You guys had, be?

S: Είχατε [íkhate].

T: Είχατε. You guys had got lost.

S: Είχατε χαθεί [íkhate khathí].

T: Είχατε χαθεί. And we can get, You would have got lost. No? What do we add to,
είχατε – You had, to get, You would have?

S: Θα [tha].

T: Good. So, You would have got lost? Still plural.

S: Θα είχατε χαθεί [tha íkhate khathí].

T: Very good. Θα είχατε χαθεί.

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Complete Greek, Track 116 – Language Transfer

Teacher: What was, I lose?

Student: Χάνω [kháno].

T: Χάνω. And, I get lost?

S: Χάνομαι [khánome].

T: Χάνομαι. I was getting lost.

S: Χανόμουν [khanómun].

T: Χανόμουν. We were getting lost.

S: Χαν ... Χανόμασταν [khanómastan].

T: Good. Χανόμασταν. And the closed version of, χάνομαι – how is it?

S: Χαθώ [khathó].

T: Χαθώ. So how would you say, We have got lost? We have got lost.

S: Έχουμε χαθεί [ékhume khathí].

T: Έχουμε χαθεί. We had got lost.

S: Είχαμε χαθεί [íkhame khathí].

T: Είχαμε χαθεί. We would have got lost. We would have got lost.

S: Θα είχαμε χαθεί [tha íkhame khathí].

T: Θα είχαμε χαθεί. We would have got lost.

If you want to say, “Don’t get lost” (this can be used like, “Stay in touch”, you
know, “Don’t get lost”), you can say, Μην χαθείς [min khathís]. Μην χαθείς.

S: Μην χαθείς.

T: Or you could also say, Μην χάνεσαι [min khánese]. This “Don’t get lost”, in the
sense of, “Stay in touch”, that’s open and ongoing, maybe. So you could hear
either. So with this we see the negative orders, with this type of verb like
“χάνομαι”, is pretty standard – what we would expect to do. After “Μην”, we
have to decide whether we want the open or closed form. So how would you say
that to more than one person, or formally? Don’t get lost.

565

S: Μην χάθετε [min kháthete].

T: Good. But with, χαθώ [khathó], we have the accent on the end. No?

S: Μην χαθέτε [min khathéte].

T: And it would be, μην χαθέτε, but because we have the accent on the end, what
happens to “-έτε” [ete]?

S: Μην χαθείτε [min khathíte].

T: We get “-είτε”. So this is the only change that we have with the endings in the
closed forms. No? Like in, χαθώ. Everything else is what we would expect: χαθώ,
χαθείς, χαθεί, χαθούμε. No? But with “you” (plural), we get, χαθείτε, which we
mentioned was very fitting, considering that we have the accent on the end there.
And we know “-είτε” really belongs to that realm. So you would have, Μην
χαθείτε, for “Don’t get lost”, plurally.

So as we see, the negative command is pretty straightforward, no? We just use
“μην”, like with the other verbs, and then choose what form of the verb that we
want. Mostly we will build this with the closed form. So how would you say, for
example, you know, Don’t think? You need to find the closed form of, Σκέφτομαι.

S: Σκεφτώ [skeftó].

T: Σκεφτώ. That’s the closed form. Good. So, Don’t think?

S: Μην σκεφτείς [min skeftís].

T: Μην σκεφτείς. Αnd to more than one person?

S: Μην σκεφτείτε [min skeftíte].

T: Very good. Μην σκεφτείτε. We have, κοιμάμαι. For “-άμαι” [áme], for these verbs
that have their accent on the ending, we have an easy way to get the closed form.

S: Κοιμηθώ [kimithó].

T: Κοιμηθώ. Good. We have [ith] (ηθ), no? Κοιμηθώ. Don’t sleep.

S: Μην κοιμηθείς [min kimithís].

T: Μην κοιμηθείς. So I said mostly we’d have the closed version, no, with this kind of
orders. Μην κοιμηθείς. Don’t sleep, like, now. And to more than one person?

S: Μην κοιμηθείτε [min kimithíte].

566

T: Μην κοιμηθείτε. The positive command … the positive command with these verbs
like, φαντάζομαι [fandázome], κοιμάμαι, sees other forms, mostly with “σου” [su]
on the end. So we have, φαντάζομαι – “I imagine”; and the closed version of,
φαντάζομαι, is?

S: Φανταστώ [fandastó].

T: Φανταστώ. And then, Imagine, as an order is, φαντάσου [fandásu]. Φαντάσου.

S: Φαντάσου.

T: But this is only for the singular, this strange, φαντάσου. If we are talking to more
than one person, you will just go from the closed form and add “-είτε”. So, how
would you say, to more than one person – Imagine?

S: Φανταστείτε [fandastíte].

T: Φανταστείτε. Good. For, Think! – to give an order, so from, σκέφτομαι, we have,
σκέψου [sképsu]. Σκέψου.

S: Σκέψου.

T: Think about it!

S: Σκέψου το [sképsu to].

T: Σκέψου το. Good. So with these positive commands, no, we have words like “το”
after the verb. Σκέψου το. And the closed version of, σκέφτομαι, is?

S: Σκεφτώ.

T: Σκεφτώ. So if you say, Think, to more than one person, you say ... ?

S: Σκεφτείτε [skeftíte].

T: Σκεφτείτε. Think about it.

S: Σκεφτείτε το [skeftíte to].

T: Σκεφτείτε το. Good. So we have quite a difference, no, between, σκέψου, for one
person and, σκεφτείτε, addressing more than one person, or being formal, or
polite. Σκεφτείτε – Think!

We had “I sleep” – κοιμάμαι. And the order, the positive order to one person is,
κοιμήσου [kimísu]. Κοιμήσου.

567
S: Kοιμήσου.

T: Kοιμήσου. So, you know, you kind of really need to hear these in context; they’re
a bit all over the place, no – φαντάσου, σκέψου, κοιμήσου [fandásu, sképsu,
kimísu]. But then the formal, or the plural order, is much easier to find. We just go
from the closed versions. So we have, κοιμάμαι, and its closed form is?

S: Κοιμηθώ [kimithó].

T: Κοιμηθώ. And then if you tell more than one person to sleep.

S: Κοιμηθείτε [kimithíte].

T: Κοιμηθείτε. Sleep now.

S: Κοιμηθείτε τώρα [kimithíte tóra].

T: Κοιμηθείτε τώρα. Don’t sleep now.

S: Μην κοιμηθείτε τώρα [min kimithíte tóra].

T: Μην κοιμηθείτε τώρα. And to one person. Don’t sleep.

S: Μην κοιμηθείς [min kimithís].

T: Μην κοιμηθείς. Good. Don’t sleep. Μην κοιμηθείς. The word for “ready” in Greek
is, έτοιμος [étimos]. Έτοιμος.

S: Έτοιμος [étimos].

T: And you’ll hear this used, like, you know, “Are you ready?” – Έτοιμος; Έτοιμη; So
we have, έτοιμος for “ready” or “prepared”. Αnd, ετοιμάζω, is “I ready” or “I
prepare” – ετοιμάζω. But if we use “-ομαι” instead of [ο] (ω): ετοιμάζομαι – “I
prepare myself”, “I prepare me”, you say “I get ready”. Ετοιμάζομαι [etimázome].

S: Ετοιμάζομαι.

T: Ετοιμάζομαι. So, apart from “έτοιμος”, what do you notice there that’s familiar in,
ετοιμάζομαι?

S: “-ζομαι” [zome].

T: Good. “-άζομαι” [ázome], “-ζομαι”. Which means that the closed form of,
ετοιμάζομαι, might be? So we don’t really need to find the instruction, we just
need to find another “-ζομαι” verb. So we can think, φαντάζομαι ... ?

S: Φανταστώ [fandastó].

568

T: Good. Ετοιμάζομαι?

S: Ετοιμαστώ [etimastó].

T: I will get ready.

S: Θα ετοιμαστώ.

T: Θα ετοιμαστώ. Will you get ready now?

S: θα ετοιμαστείς τώρα; [tha etimastís tóra?].

T: Very good. θα ετοιμαστείς τώρα; Will you get ready now? And the order, “Get
ready!” is, ετοιμάσου [etimásu]. Ετοιμάσου.

S: Ετοιμάσου.

T: But not for “you”, plural, no? If you tell more than one person to get ready, you
can just go from the closed form. So again, what is the closed form of,
ετοιμάζομαι?

S: Ετοιμαστώ.

T: Ετοιμαστώ. So if you say, Get ready, to more than one person, or to one person,
formally?

S: Ετοιμαστείτε [etimastíte].

T: Ετοιμαστείτε. Good. So we have some odd forms popping up for the positive
order, no, when we tell somebody to do something, to one person, with these
“-ομαι”, “-άμαι” verbs. But we see that the orders also have a lot in common.
There is one big exception: έρχομαι [érkhome]. To say, Come! from, έρχομαι – “I
come”, we say: έλα [éla]. Έλα.

S: Έλα.

T: How do you think you would say to more than one person, Come! You will go from
έλα. What might you add on to “έλα” to get, Come! to more than one person?

S: “-τε” [te].

T: Good. So how would it sound?

S: Eλάτε [eláte].

T: Ελάτε. Good. Ελάτε. So that’s an exception.

569
Complete Greek, Track 117 – Language Transfer

Teacher: Πλένω [pléno] in Greek, πλένω, is “I wash”. Πλένω.

Student: Πλένω.

T: And, πλένομαι [plénome] is “I wash myself” – mostly used for like, to wash your
hands, or something, but you might hear it used, like, “to bathe”. Πλένομαι.

S: Πλένομαι.

T: So to find the closed version of, πλένομαι, we should try to find some “-νομαι”
somewhere and see what happens. So we had, χάνομαι [khánome], and what
happened to get the closed form of, χάνομαι?

S: Χαθώ [khathó].

T: Χαθώ. Good. So what might Πλένομαι become, when it’s in its closed form?

S: Πλεθώ [plethó].

T: Good. That would be a good guess. No? Πλένομαι – πλεθώ. So, if you haven’t
heard it before, you would try that, and maybe you can show with your intonation
that you’re not sure about it. Πλεθώ … ? And you would get the correction, πλυθώ
[plithó], πλυθώ, and you’d think, oh, okay, we have the [th] (θ) there deleting the
N (ν), but the vowel changes a little bit too. Πλένομαι – πλυθώ.

So, “I will wash myself” or like, “I will wash my hands (or something)”.

S: Θα πλυθώ [tha plithó].

T: Θα πλυθώ. So we don’t have to think of “myself” there, no? It’s included in the
verb. Θα πλυθώ, from, πλένομαι. How would you say, I washed (I washed myself)?

S: Πλύθηκα [plíthika].

T: Πλύθηκα. Good, no? We go to our closed form, πλυθώ; we add [ik] (ηκ), and our
normal ending for the past – for “I”, [a] (α); πλύθηκα. And tell me again, I wash
myself, in the present?

S: Πλένομαι.

T: Πλένομαι. And, I was washing myself.

S: Πλενούσα, … πλένουσα [plenúsa, plénusa].

T: Where do you look, to get this, our open past?

570

S: To “ήμουν” [ímun].

T: Good. So we know a lot of Greek, and we know a lot of endings. And if you don’t
want to just pick the first one that comes into your head, you need to stop and go:
What do I do? I wash myself. How is it?

S: Πλένομαι.

T: Πλένομαι. And there “-ομαι” is like “είμαι”, no? And if you want to say, I was
washing myself, instead of “-ομαι” [ome], like “είμαι”, we will have something like
“ήμουν”.

S: Πλενόμουν [plenómun].

T: Πλενόμουν. Good. We accent the ending, no? “-όμουν” [ómun]. Πλενόμουν, or
πλενόμουνα [plenómunα], like “ήμουνα”, which we know also exists.

And the order, “Wash! (Wash yourself!)” is, πλύσου [plísu]. Πλύσου. How would
the plural order be?

S: Πλυθείτε [plithíte].

T: Πλυθείτε. Good. So sometimes this “-ομαι” verb, like in, πλένομαι – “I wash
myself”, is giving this meaning of “myself” or “yourself”. Πλένω – I wash; and
πλένομαι – I wash myself. But other times in Greek, when you want to give this
meaning of “myself (yourself)”, you will use, ο εαυτός σου [o eaftós su] – ο εαυτός
σου, for “yourself”. Ο εαυτός σου.

S: Ο εαυτός σου.

T: So this is again like, αυτό [aftó], like “auto”, no? “Myself” – o εαυτός μου [o eaftós
mu]. But it’s not a word like, αυτος (αυτη); it’s just a noun, εαυτός, meaning “the
self”. And for this reason, it doesn’t go into the feminine, no? So if you say
“myself”, and you are a female, you still say, ο εαυτός μου.

What was, I speak?

S: Μιλαώ [miláo].

T: Μιλαώ. So if you want to say, I speak to myself, I speak with myself, you won’t try
to build a “-ουμαι”, “-ομαι”,”-αμαι” verb out of “μιλαώ”. You will use, ο εαυτός
μου. So how would you say that? I speak with myself?

S: Μιλαώ με τον εαυτό μου [miláo me ton eaftó mu].

571
T: Very good. Very good. Because it’s like “with me”, rather than “with I”, no? “With
him”, rather than “with he”. Μιλαώ με τον εαυτό μου. So we could say that. We
could also say, Μιλάω μόνος μου [miláo mónos mu], no? “I speak on my own (by
myself)”. And that would also be understood, “I speak to myself”, depending on
the meaning you want to give.

“I draw”, I draw, was ζωγραφίζω [zoghrafízo]. Zωγραφίζω – like, ζω [zo], “life” –
ζωή [zoí], like the name “Zoe”; and γράφω [ghráfo]. But we get, ζωγραφίζω – I
draw. How would you say, He (or, she) draws?

S: Ζωγραφίζει [zoghrafízi].

T: Ζωγραφίζει. He only draws himself. Again, you won’t try to make this verb like,
ζωγρσφίζεται. No? You will just use, ο εαυτός. So, He only draws himself.

S: Μόνο ζωγραφίζει τον εαυτό του [móno zoghrafízi ton eaftó tu].

T: Very good. Μόνο ζωγραφίζει (ζωγραφίζει μόνο) τον εαυτό του. And if we were
saying, She draws herself, we would say, τον εαυτό της [ton eaftó tis], because as
we mentioned, ο εαυτός, is just a masculine noun meaning, “the self”.

He hates himself. We had, μισώ [misó], like in “misogyny”. He hates himself.

S: Μισεί τον εαυτό του [misí ton eaftó tu].

T: Very good. Μισεί τον εαυτό του. And, She hates herself?

S: Μισεί τον εαυτό της [misí ton eaftó tis].

T: Μισεί τον εαυτό της. Very good.

So we see that sometimes we achieve this meaning of “myself/yourself” with one
of these “-ομαι” verbs; like in, πλένω – I wash, to, πλένομαι – I wash myself; and
other times with this expression, ο εαυτός – the self. O εαυτός σου, you know, and
all of the versions we could have it in.

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Complete Greek, Track 118 – Language Transfer

Teacher: How would you say, I find? How is, I find, in Greek?

Student: Βρίσκω [vrísko].

T: Βρίσκω. And, I don’t find?

S: Δεν βρίσκω [dhen vrísko].

T: Δεν βρίσκω. With some words, like “δεν”, for example, you may hear and see in
writing, the N (ν) of “δεν”, being dropped before certain sounds. So, for example,
you might hear, δε βρίσκω [dhe vrísko]. Δε βρίσκω.

S: Δε βρίσκω.

T: And you can also see this written, or you will see this written. This is because [v]
(β) is a soft consonant. And when we have soft consonants, we can drop this N (ν)
of “δεν”. So, δε βρίσκω.

A T (τ), for example, a [t], is a hard consonant. So if you say, I don’t find it, then you
won’t drop this N (ν) of “δεν”. So how is that? I can’t find it; I don’t find it.

S: Δεν το βρίσκω [dhen to vrísko].

T: Δεν το βρίσκω.

So you can … you can hear and see this change with a few words like “δεν”, like
“μην”, like “την”, or “τον”. But it has nothing to do with meaning. It’s just a sound
change. And also it’s not obligatory; you don’t have to do it. It’s not incorrect to
not do it. And also a lot of natives do it in different ways, depending on dialect and
even idiolect. So, this isn’t something you need to worry about. But I wanted to
run through it, especially so people don’t get confused when they see “δε” instead
of “δεν”, and “τη” instead of “την”, or “το” instead of “τον”, for example. So we
see that V (β) is a soft sound. So, for example, if we say, I don’t find, we can say, Δε
βρίσκω. How would you say, I don’t see?

S: Δε βλέπω [dhe blépo].

T: Δε βλέπω. No? So it’s not wrong to say, δεν βλέπω, but you will hear often, δε
βλέπω, and see it written as well. Δε βλέπω.

[m], [ma] – an M sound – is also a soft consonant. So how would you say, Don’t
you see me?

S: Δε μου βλέπεις; [dhe mu vlépis?].

573
T: Again.

S: Δεν μου βλέπεις;

T: Μου [mu]?

S: Δε με βλέπεις; [dhe me vlépis?].

T: Δε με βλέπεις; So you could lose the Ν (ν) there as well, because of the M (μ). Δε
με βλέπεις; Don’t you see them?

S: Δεν τους βλέπεις; [dhen tus vlépis?].

T: Good; [t] is a hard consonant, so we don’t lose the N (ν). Δεν τους βλέπεις;

So I said “την” and “τον” can also lose their N (ν), but this is mostly when “την”
and “τον” are behaving like “the”; although, like I said, you can hear people
breaking this rule. So if you say, I find it, and you mean a masculine thing?

S: Τον βρίσκω [ton vrísko].

T: Τον βρίσκω. You don’t lose the N (ν) of “τον” when it’s like “it” or like “him”. But
when “τον” is like “the”, we can lose the N (ν). So, ο λόγος [o lóghos], ο λόγος, like
in “psychology”, “biology”. O λόγος, is “the reason”. Ο λόγος.

S: Ο λόγος.

T: If you say, I don’t find the reason, this is like “I don’t figure it out”, “I can’t figure it
out”. I don’t find the reason. So how would that be? I can’t figure it out (I don’t
find). And we have, ο λόγος.

S: Δεν βρίσκω τον λόγος. Τον … τον λόγο [dhen vrísko ton lóghos … ton … ton lógho].

T: Δεν βρίσκω (or, δε βρίσκω) τον λόγο. And I can tell you that [l] (λ) is also a soft
sound, so we could lose the N (ν) of “τον” in, τον λόγο. So how would that be? I
don’t find the reason. I don’t figure it out.

S: Δεν βρίσκω το λόγο [dhen vrísko to lógho].

T: Δεν βρίσκω (or, δε βρίσκω) το λόγο. Good. So when “τον” or “την” is behaving like
“the”, it’s especially common to lose the N (ν) if it’s followed by a soft sound. The
past of, βρίσκω was, βρήκα [vríka]. Βρήκα.

S: Βρήκα.

T: Like “Eureka” in English. Βρήκα. So, I figured it out; I found the reason.

574
S: Βρήκα το λόγο [vríka to lógho].

T: Βρήκα το λόγο. So we could have, τον λόγο, or, το λόγο. Τον λόγο isn’t a mistake;
it’s not obligatory to move this Ν (ν). So you can just be safe and leave all your N’s
everywhere. Βρήκα τον λόγο. Δεν βρήκα τον λόγο. But, you know, if you want to
sound more native and more fluent, you can listen out to when this happens, you
know, and incorporate it into your speech. Δε βρήκα το λόγο [dhe vríka to lógho].

So, so far we’ve seen that [v] (β), [l] (λ), [m] (μ) are soft sounds, or soft
consonants, to be more precise, because we never lose the N (ν) before a vowel.

How was, the brother?

S: Ο αδελφός [o adhelfós].

T: Ο αδελφός. So how would you say, We found our brother? We found our brother.

S: Βρήκαμε τον αδελφό μας [vríkame ton adhelfó mas].

T: Βρήκαμε τον αδελφό μας. Very good. So we don’t have the option to lose the N
(ν) on “τον”, because “αδελφό” starts with a vowel. Βρήκαμε τον αδελφό μας.

How would you say, I don’t buy?

S: Δεν αγοράζω [dhen aghorázo].

T: Δεν αγοράζω. So again, we can’t lose the N (ν) of “δεν”, because “αγοράζω” starts
with a vowel. Δεν αγοράζω. How would you say, He didn’t buy me anything? He
didn’t buy me anything. He didn’t buy me nothing.

S: Δεν μου αγόρασε τίποτα [dhen mu aghórase típota].

T: Good. Δεν μου αγόρασε τίποτα. Αnd we could also have, Δε μου αγόρασε τίποτα
[dhe mu aghórase típota], because here we have, μου [mu], no? And the M (μ) is
soft. Δε μου αγόρασε τίποτα. And like as I mentioned, this isn’t just a spoken
phenomenon. You will find also these N’s left off in writing, too.

So before, we wanted to focus on how words are changing for their meaning, no?
O λόγος – τον λόγο. But apart from that, you can also hear these phonetic changes
and find, το λόγο. That doesn’t mean you have a neuter word of course. And like I
said, it doesn’t matter if you don’t do this; it’s not a mistake to not remove N’s.
But it can sound like a mistake to remove an N where you shouldn’t. So you can
stay safe and keep your N’s, until you’re sure on when to let them go. And you can
learn about when you should remove these N’s, just by listening. If you know that,
ο λόγος, is masculine and you hear, το λόγο, then you can think, okay, before the L
(λ), we remove that N (ν).

575
 What was, I remember?

S: Θυμάμαι [thimáme].

T: Θυμάμαι. TH [th] (Θ/θ) is a soft sound. So if you say, I don’t remember.

S: Δε θυμάμαι [dhe thimáme].

T: Δε θυμάμαι. I won’t remember. I will not remember.

S: Δε θα θυμάμαι [dhe tha thimáme].

T: Δε θα θυμάμαι. Or, δε θα θυμηθώ [dhe tha thimithó], depending on the context. I
don’t want.

S: Δε θέλω [dhe thélo].

T: Δε θέλω. So again, especially with common expressions like, δε θέλω, δε θυμάμαι,
you’re really likely to notice that N (ν) missing, which can remind you that you can
let these N’s go before TH (θ). But like I said, this is just the ends of “δεν, μην, τον”
and “την”; and also those other words that behave like “the”, no? “Αυτόν, αυτήν,
άλλον, έναν”.

I leave. What was, I leave, like, you know, “I leave from a place”?

S: Φεύγω [févgho].

T: Φεύγω. And the [f] (φ) is also soft. So, I don’t leave; I’m not leaving.

S: Δε φεύγω [dhe févgho].

T: Δε φεύγω. And the closed version of, φεύγω?

S: Φύγω [fígho].

T: Φύγω. So I said that “μην” can also lose its N (ν). So how might you say, Don’t
leave?

S: Μη φύγεις [mi fíyis].

T: Μη φύγεις. And what was, I leave, in the sense of “I leave something”?

S: Αφήνω [afíno].

T: Αφήνω. And the closed form?

S: Αφήσω [afíso].

576

T: Αφήσω. Αφήνω starts with a vowel, no? Αφήνω, αφήσω – we have a vowel there,
and we can’t lose our N’s (ν) before vowels. So, Don’t leave anything. How would
that be? Don’t leave anything!

S: Μην αφήσεις τίποτα [min afísis típota].

T: Μην αφήσεις τίποτα. Very good. And, Don’t leave it.

S: Μην το αφήσεις [min to afísis].

T: Μην το αφήσεις. No? “Το” and T – still a hard sound. Μην το αφήσεις. Don’t leave
it to us! Don’t leave us it!

S: Μην μας το αφήσεις [min mas to afísis].

T: Very good. Μην μας το αφήσεις. And also, apart from “μην”, we could have?

S: Μη [mi].

T: Why?

S: Because the M (μ) is a soft ...

T: Good. We have “μας” there. Great. Μη μας το αφήσεις [mi mas to afísis]. Good.
You can also say “μην” by itself, like “No!” or “Don’t!” But when you do say “μην”
by itself, it also loses the N (ν). So, μη [mi]. Μη!

S: Μη!

T: So if you hear “Μη!”, it’s like “No!”, “Don’t!”. [p] (Π/π) is also a hard consonant. So
how would you say, I don’t play?

S: Δεν παίζω [dhen pézo].

T: Δεν παίζω. Don’t play!

S: Μην παίζεις [min pézis].

T: Μην παίζεις. Μην παίξεις [min péksis], depending on the context, no?

How was, I understand?

S: Καταλαβαίνω [katalavéno].

T: Καταλαβαίνω. And here we have a hard consonant, a [k] (κ). So, I don’t
understand.

577

S: Δεν καταλαβαίνω [dhen katalavéno].

T: Δεν καταλαβαίνω.

Also, noticing what is a soft and a hard consonant, can also help you with other
sound issues in Greek. For example, we saw that the AU (αυ) and the EU (ευ) in
Greek, gives us either [av] or [af], either [ev] or [ef]. We can expect an [av] or [ev]
before soft consonants: like, ευρό [evró] – Euro; like, Ευριπίδης [evripídhis] – the
name (Euripides); like, αύριο [ávrio] – tomorrow. And [af] and [ef], we can expect
before harder consonants: like in, αυτό, αυτός [aftó, aftós]; like in, ευκάλυπτος
[efkáliptos] – eucalyptus. Ευκάλυπτος. So this issue about dropping N’s (ν) will also
raise our consciousness about hard and soft sounds, which we may find useful for
other bits and pieces in Greek, too.

578
Complete Greek, Track 119 – Language Transfer

Teacher: What was the word for, and?

Student: Και [ke].

T: Και. You can also find “κι” [ki] for “and” as well, like before vowels. Και or κι –
“and”, is used in quite a few expressions in Greek; it’s used quite creatively as a
word. For example, we’ve seen it in, και άλλο [ke álo] – “and other”, meaning
“more”. Θέλεις και άλλο; – Do you want more? We’ve seen it as “also”: Θέλω και
εγώ [thélo ke eghó] – I also want, or, κι εγώ [ki eghó].

And we can combine “και” in quite a few ways to get different meanings. We
already saw, very briefly, και έτσι [ke étsi] – meaning “so”, like “and so”, και έτσι.
Now we know that could also be, κι έτσι [ki étsi]; έτσι was “like this”. And, “and
like this” – “so”, “therefore”, in a sentence like, I didn’t like it so I left. So how
would that be? I didn’t like it so I left.

S: Δεν μου άρεσε και έτσι έφυγα [dhen mu árese ke étsi éfigha].

T: Very good. Δεν μου άρεσε και έτσι έφυγα. We could say, Έτσι και έτσι [étsi ke étsi]
as well, again combining with “έτσι” which means “like this”. Έτσι και έτσι, means
“So-so”. Έτσι και έτσι, or, έτσι κι έτσι [étsi ki étsi].

S: Έτσι κι έτσι.

T: How are you? So-so. How did it go? So-so.

But we can use “και” in all kinds of colourful ways. For example, we could have, Αν
και [an ke] – “if and”. Αν και – “if and”, like “even though”. Αν και.

S: Αν και.

T: Αν και. So you could say, you know, Even though I’m very tired I will come. How
might that be? Even though I’m very tired, I will come.

S: Αν και είμαι πολύ κουράσμενος θα έρθω [an ke íme polí kurazménos tha értho].

T: Very good. Αν και (αν κι) είμαι πολύ κουρασμένος θα έρθω.

The word for “sick” is, άρρωστος [árostos]. Άρρωστος, in the masculine.

S: Άρρωστος.

T: Even though I was unwell (I was sick) I went to work. Give me the first bit, Even
though I was sick.

579
S: Αν και ήμουν άρρωστος [an ke ímun árostos] …

T: Αν και ήμουν άρρωστος ... I went to work. “I went” was, πήγα [pígha]. We had
that strange form from, πηγαίνω [piyéno] – πήγα. So, I went to the work, or, I
went to the job?

S: Πήγα στην δουλειά [pígha stin dhuliá].

T: Very good. Αν και ήμουν άρρωστος πήγα στην δουλειά [an ke ímun árostos pígha
stin dhuliá]. Or we could also have, στη δουλειά [sti dhuliá], as [dh] (δ) is a soft
consonant. Αν και ήμουν άρρωστος (or, άρρωστη, for feminine) πήγα στη
δουλειά.

So, και, other than “and”, might also be carrying meaning from the Latin, que [ke],
like in Spanish or Italian that you have, que, which means like “that”. It would be a
huge coincidence that “αν και” in Spanish is, aunque. And it means exactly the
same thing – “even though”. So you may find some odd colourful and creative
uses of “and”, and maybe you need to zoom out a little in the sentence to
understand its meaning, by the wider context.

To exemplify also how flexible this “και” is in different sayings, both “και έτσι” and
“αν και”, if we say … if we turn them around, and we say “έτσι και”,”και αν” or “κι
αν” we have completely different meanings. Έτσι και [étsi ke] can be used like a,
like a warning, for example, you know. Έτσι και ... Ι will come and find you, if you
do that, you know. Something like this – like a warning. And … and of course we
saw, και έτσι, as like, “and so” and “therefore”.

We saw “αν και” as “although”, “even though”; and then “και αν” or “κι αν”
means “what if”. Τι κι αν [ti ki an] means “so what”. Τι κι αν. But like I said, “και” is
really used a lot in Greek.

Some more examples: Και αυτό και εκείνο [ke aftó ke ekíno] – “both this and that”
(and this and that). If you want to say, Both this and that – και αυτό και εκείνο.

You can use it in other ways to emphasise. For example, you know, if you want to
say “I can both sing and dance” – Και τραγουδάω και χορεύω [ke traghudháo kai
khorévo] – And I sing and I dance, meaning, “I can both sing and dance”. Και
τραγουδάω και χορεύω. Like, “I’m not just a singer”, for example.

You might hear, Και τρώς και πίνεις. Και τρώς και πινείς – And you eat and you
drink. This is a saying, meaning like, you know, “You are doing two things at once
when you shouldn’t be”. Και τρώς και πίνεις – You eat and drink at once.

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Complete Greek, Track 120 – Language Transfer

Teacher: So I could go on and on, telling you more and more about Greek, but I really
don’t need to at this stage. You now have all the knowledge and tools and
perspective of language to broaden and fine-tune your Greek through practice,
exposure, and analysis; or thought, let’s say.

You can look at words you don’t know and work out, either just by the word, or
the larger context, what kind of word it is, and how it’s built, or what it’s built of,
and how it’s behaving. You can look at unfamiliar structures, and with what you
know about Greek, and how to think about Greek, work out what’s going on.

We’ve learnt not to shut down when we come across something unfamiliar, but to
begin with what is familiar, and in this way revise what we do know, until it
becomes second nature. And when it does, Greek will slow right down to your ear,
and you will find yourself with more mental time or space to analyse and
incorporate the Greek you come across – be it vocabulary, or variations of
structure, to achieve different meanings.

Learning in this conscious, analytical and curious way, we are very conscious of our
Greek. We get an intimate relationship with the language that most native
speakers don’t have in their language. But nevertheless, we may be able to say
much more than what we can understand at the beginning. And this is normal, as
listening is a separate skill, but one that will quickly improve, so long as you
concentrate on picking out what you can identify, instead of panicking about what
you don’t. Relax, see what you recognise, and the more you do that, the more
Greek will slow down to your ear. Listening is extremely important. You need to
see the world of Greek as a constant source of clarification and expansion for your
Greek.

A great way to practice is to find a Greek speaker who wants to learn a language
you speak, like English, for example. You can decide to mix the languages, moving
in and out of Greek and English, or Spanish, or Arabic for example, and when you
have a thought or say something that you realise you can express in Greek, then
you can switch to Greek. When you can’t, in order to keep the conversation
flowing, you can move back to English, or whatever language you’re sharing. And
if it’s something you feel is important, and you really want to know how to say it,
you can ask – rather than asking how to say everything, you know. The important
thing is to keep the flow, and that’s why mixing is a great way to practice. And you
can slowly move to speaking more and more Greek through mixing languages.

In this way you also get to prioritise what are the most important things for you to
learn, for now. For example, the verb “to swim”, might be more important to you
than “to saw”, unless you are a carpenter of course. So prioritise; you don’t have
to learn everything at once. You can pick out what feels more important to you
right now. And when something feels important to you, you just learn it much
more easily.

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If you live in a city, you can find a language exchange to practice your Greek. And
of course you can also find people to practice online. And practicing doesn’t just
mean speaking with people; it also means consuming culture, music, movies,
literature. Enjoy your new language. Watch cinema with sub-titles in English, and
enjoy the movie. Relax, and see what you can pick out. Maybe you learn some
new words; maybe you just recognise things you know already; maybe you find
the closed, or an open, form of a verb in an interesting place that makes you think.
And all the while, you are training you ear to Greek, enjoying your new language,
thinking about it, analysing it, and you will be constantly studying without even
realising it.

You can also find bilingual books in Greek, and Language Transfer hopes to release
original short stories by budding writers in Greek, with elaborated translations
into English. This will be a voted publication, so you can vote for that, if it’s not out
when you hear this message. And there’s also a voted publication for reading and
writing in Greek script. You can find more information on this on the support tab
on the website – support tab: Voting Campaign.

Speaking of which, there is also an option to vote for further Greek audio material,
in the way of a Cypriot Greek conversion course. Now the Cypriot dialect is a
fascinating and colourful mix of archaic Greek habits and the influence of other
languages, such as Turkish and Arabic. So the Greek Cypriot conversion will be a
fascinating historical journey through the Cypriot Greek dialect, and help anyone
speak like and understand, not only the island natives, but the Diaspora – like the
many Cypriot Greek speakers there are in London, for example, who generally
have very little to no command of standard Greek, like I didn’t, until I made this
course. So again, if you want to see this awesome material come to light, then
please support through making an occasional donation or joining the monthly
campaign, and voting.

You may even want to write in your new language, trying your hand at poetry or
short stories, and getting a friend to check it for you. All of this exposure, practice,
and thought, is great for solidifying what you know, and just as importantly,
becoming aware of your grey areas and actively dealing with them, actively
clarifying them. In this way you will control the language, rather than feeling
controlled or limited by it.

After a period of using the language, you may want to repeat this course from the
beginning. This is a great way to solidify any doubts, but also, when you go over
the parts of the course you are clear on, you will often find yourself taking on a
new focus and processing the finer points.

As I’ve mentioned, you may hear various alternative forms of what we’ve learnt, in
different dialects. In Greece, for example, we’ve seen, περπατούσα for, I was
walking. In the south of Greece, you may hear, περπάταγα. Περπάταγα. So, “άγ“
[ágh], instead of “ούς” [ús]. So you may find slight differences in different areas of

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 Greece, or speaking with different Greek speakers. And if you’re living in Greece,
or have friends from a particular part of Greece, then you can pick up their dialect,
if you like. The more you speak like the Greek that you are hearing, the more you
will understand and pick up.

Thank you very much for participating in the Language Transfer project, just by
doing this course and becoming a Greek speaker. Please share the project far and
wide, as much as you can, and help more people enjoy whatever benefits the
experience of a Language Transfer course might bring them, or might bring our
societies, or society as a whole.

Learning a language in the way we do, blurs the lines of the often homogenous
and divisive identities we are taught to have. As a Cypriot, I’m used to this, in
being asked constantly if I’m Greek or Turkish – and occasionally, being told that
my blood is Greek, and I should stop all this silly Turk-hugging in regards to my
work in Cyprus and also Language Transfer. I enjoy replying, pulling out the
Turkish words, pronunciations, or habits, that were used to tell me this sentence
in Cypriot Greek, and reply that our blood would be something like our tongue.
And this for me is a huge motivation in the Language Transfer project. We really
are each other, and it is constantly on the tip of our tongues, and in our ideas, our
beliefs, in our technologies, as well as in our blood.

As you probably know by now, Language Transfer is a completely independent and
unfunded project – or rather, it’s funded by you. So if you love the product and
the ethos of the project, then please check out the support tab on the website,
languagetransfer.org, where you can donate, vote, and also volunteer, to help
create courses.

Language Transfer is currently in a phase of expansion, where my focus is shifting
to teaching more people to create courses, rather than me creating them all – to
then invest my energy in expanding the project in other ways. So again, if you
want to help that happen, if you want to help get this incredible product out to
more people, and to create more, then please donate or volunteer. And share.

Language Transfer has very little funds for dissemination, so we really do rely on
users to share the project far and wide, sharing their own personal experience.
You can also get yourself a dissemination pack to share the project. Check that out
on the support tab, again on the website. On donation packs there are some really
fun and great packs there to help you share Language Transfer; and the “price” (in
inverted commas) just covers the cost of printing these products and getting them
out to you. So it really is just a collaboration that helps you share this project.

Again, thanks for forming part of this collective experience. It’s been a pleasure to
be able to reach out and share this experience with so many of you. And I hope to
see you around.

Enjoy your Greek.

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