Day 14 | Food

Unfortunately (or fortunately) I am off to Rome tomorrow morning for work and not returning until the next weekend so expect a gap!  Inbetween packing and preparing for meetings I decided to concentrate on a staple of Greek culture, which is food.  Last time I looked at how you can ask for something but that's pretty pointless if you don't know what you want.   

Water	νερο	Nero
Alcohol	αλκοόλ	alkool
Potato	πατάτα	patatah
Chicken	κοτόπουλο	kotopoolah
Beef	βοδινό	votheenoh
Goat	κατσίκα	katsika
Tea	tsái	Chay
Juice	χυμός	Xheemos
Fruit	φρούτο	Frootoh
Milk	γάλα	ghala
Rice	ρύζι	reezee

I think quantity is also important when ordering or buying food, so for me I was certain to learn big or small, which for Greek is quite intuitive: μεγάλος (big) μικρό (small).  These are quite generic food types so next post (which will have to be after Rome) I will look at the Greek specific foods (like Souvlaki and Keftedes).  With the list above you will have to apply the article to them (a or the) which will alter based upon the gender.  If you can remember the rule based on gender, look at Day 6 in my posts.  The good news however is that the majority are neutral and so when ordering anything from above you put, for example:

Θέλω το κοτόπουλο

I want the chicken

The only caveats are Potato and Goat (f) and Juice (m), so instead of το just replace with η and ο respectively.  απολαύσετε! (enjoy)

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Day 13 | I do, I don't

Today I thought I would look at how you ask for something and then flip it on its side by telling how you don't want something.  Lets start nice and easy

I want a sandwich

Θέλω ένα σαντουιτς

Thelo ena sandwich (yes, it's the same!)

He wants a sandwich

θέλει ένα σάντουιτς

Thelee ena sandwich

One thing interesting here is that we're not using the "I" or "He" here which I expected (no εγώ or αυτός).  Instead we use the verb itself, which in this case is "want".  Notice how this verb changes with each sentance to align with who we are talking about.  Want is spelt θέλο for I and Θέλει for he, instead of just one want which we have in English.  Because this changes there is no need to put the person at the start and so rely on the verb instead.  I am going to put some more here which I think might help people in vocabulary as well as grammar:

She wants a coffee

θέλει έναν καφέ

Thelee enan kafeh

You want a beer

Θέλετε μια μπύρα

Thelete mia beerah

They want a taxi

θέλουν ένα ταξί

Theloon ena taxee

I want a sleep  

Θέλω έναν ύπνο

Thelo enan hypno 

The eagle-eyed amongst you might have spotted another combination not picked up yet in this blog.  The sound "b" has popped up despite not being in the Greek Alphabet and this comes about from putting the letter μ and π (m and and p) together.  Because of this we can say beer.

OK, so since I have told you to have a beer, the correct response would be to decline it (right?).  There is actually an advantage to say this in Greek because the simple trick is put a δεν at the start of any sentance to negate it.  

I don't want a beer

Δεν θέλω μια μπύρα

Then thelo mia beerah

You wouldn't normally say you don't want one beer (so I'd advise dropping the μια).  If you are that adament about refusing beer then you might want to drop a "never" in it, which is a negative placed at the end of the verb.  Might seem complex but likely to be useful for all them beers you're avoiding.  Note you have to keep the δεν at the start though.

I never want a beer

Δεν θέλω ποτέ μπύρα

Then thelo mia beerah

Pretty useful stuff I reckon.  Let me know what you think.  Keep sober ;)




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Day 12 | Months

As promised in the last post, I decided to look at the Greek months today.  As expected, on first impressions, they look almost exactly the same as the English equivalent except a lot longer.  However, I'm told that they can be shortened to a more informal version which is why in the latter column there is a transliteration which is more commonly used in Greece and more significanty in Cyprus than the more formal version (that you can read off in the middle column).

 

January	Ιανουάριος	Eeanarees
February	Φεβρουάριος	Flevrarees
March	Μάρτιος	martees
April	Απρίλιος	Aprilees
May	Μάιος	Mice(!)
June	Ιούνιος	Yoonees
July	Ιούλιος	Yoolees
August	Αύγουστος	Avgoostos
September	Σεπτέμβριος	Septemvrees
October	Οκτώβριος	Octovrees
November	Νοέμβριος	Novemvrees
December	Δεκέμβριος	Themkemvrees

Like I said, the third column does not read what is in the middle because - as I understand - it is these that are more commonly spoken but the actual Greek text is what is written.  In terms of remembering this I suppose you just take the English month but replace the "-ber" with "-vris" and "-ry" with "-ees".  There are a few messy ones, for example May sounds like "mice" and February in the common version begins with "fl-" but the traditional, formal version it is the standard "fev-".  Compared to everything else, like numbers and days, this is actually a doddle since you don't need to remember them just convert them.

Next post I'll make it more interesting with some actual sentances and phrases (let me know if you have anything in mind you think would help learners learn quicker!).  Make sure to "like" this blog as much as possible with Twitter and Facebook etc please.


Off to catch the train to Λονδίνο!


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Day 11 | Days

Today I concentrated on the days of the week (maybe because there is only a Friday left of the working week?).  You'll be pleased to know there are only 7 words - one for each day - to learn here, not like all of the other aspects of the Greek language I've showcased lately which seem to change depending on context (still getting to grips with the five words for a brother!).  So here is Monday through to Sunday:

Monday	Δευτέρα	thefterah
Tuesday	Τρίτη	Tritee
Wednesday	Τετάρτη	Tetartee
Thursday	Πέμπτη	Pemptee
Friday	Παρασκευή	Paraskevee
Saturday	Σάββατο	Savato
Sunday	Κυριακή	Keeriakee

Again, we come across a combination that messes things up a bit.  Look at Monday and Friday and note the use of ευ and then at how its pronounced as "ef".  Whilst not a rule, the majority of times that ευ are put together we get this unique sound.  Overall these seven ickle words will take an hour or so to get it to stick in your mind permanently.  If you want to put these words into sentances you'll more than likely need to use the "on" preposition which in Greek will be την or teen.  Lets see what that looks like in a sentance:

εγω θα σε δω την δευτέρα

Egho tha seh teen thefterah

Ι will you see on Monday 

Might look at Months next I reckon and thereafter start putting some proper sentances together, unless I get recommendations for anything else to cover.

Καλησπέρα!

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Day 10 | More Numbers

Looks like I've brought the continental snow from Germany with me all the way back to the south of England (note the birds are preferring the white stuff to the asphalt).  Lets hope the cold temperatures continue to drop and the downpour of snow intensifies before tomorrow morning ("working" from home).

I got a very welcomed response from the last post explaining how nouns are altered and why it was that αδελφός would change for what seemed no apparented reason.  I'm unashamedly plaigarising by pasting the explanation below which has definitely shone a light for me at least:

Nominative (subject of the sentence): ο αδελφός μου είναι έδω. My brother is here.
Accusative (object of the sentence): αυτός είναι ο αδελφό μου. This is my brother.
Genitive (showing possession): αύτο είναι το σπίτι του αδελφού μου. This is my brother’s house.
Vocative (calling out to someone): γεια σου, αδελφέ! Hello, brother!

This looks very annoying, having to learn 4 words instead of just one (assuming this is the case for all nouns).  Nevertheless, thanks for picking me up on this, I hope it adds value to everyone else's learning also.  OK, back to the original topic which is Numbers.  I briefly picked this up on the Day 7 entry but only up to 10.  I'm now going to make it possible for someone to count all the way up to 100 without as much effort as you think based on an advantage in how Greeks say numbers.  To remind us of the 1 to 10, look here:

1 ένα (ehnah), 2 δύο (theeoh), 3 τρία (treeah), 4 τέσσερα (tehsserah), 5 πέντε (pendeh), 6 έζι (ehxee), 7 επτά (eptah), 8 οκτώ (oktoh), 9 εννέα (enneeah), 10 δέκα (thehkah)

So as alluded in the Day 7 post we only have to add these to the end of the decimal numbers (10, 20, 30 etc) which will help you reach 100 without any difficulty.  On this then you should only need to learn 20 words (0 to 9 and the 10 decimals).  Lets try:

10	δέκα	thekah
20	είκοσι	eekohsee
30	τριάντα	treeandah
40	σαράντα	sarandah
50	πενήντα	peneendah
60	εξήντα	ekseendah
70	εβδομήντα	evdomeendah
80	ογδόντα	orghthondah
90	ενενήντα	eneneentah
100	εκατό	ekatoh

So there isn't much to do other than reciting these by memory and gluing the 1, 2, 3 etc to the end in order to start telling the time or counting beans!  However, as with everything else with this langauge there are exceptions.  For numbers this deviant is the integers 11 and 12.  So where you would expect everything to read off as δέκα τρία or δέκα οκτώ etc (13 and 18), the 11 and 12 are actually written as έντεκα and δώδεκα (no decimal-number format).  If you're expecting me to explain this nuance you are going to be left wanting as I haven't got the foggiest.  However, I think learning the above 10 numbers with those outlined in Day 7 is a powerful tool to have when conferring in the Greek language so spend some time on it.

Again thanks for the comments (all are welcome!).  On that note I wish everyone καλησπέρα


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Day 9 | Knowing me, Knowing you

2 hour FIFA marathon over, lets get back to the Greek!  Earlier tonight I was looking at introductions since I thought it would reiterate the "to be" verbs which I sometimes still struggle with.  If you want to introduce someone the sentance begins with Να σου συστήσω (nah soo seestehsoh).  However you're unlikely to be so formal so instead you could just say "this is my brother" or ask about someone's mother's age.  Examples of these comments can be found here to tease out the patterns and behaviours of the Greek grammar.

Χαίρο πολύ (kehro poly) nice to meet you (always a good start!)
αυτός είναι ο αδελφός μου (aftos eeneh oh adelfos moo) this is my brother
αυτη είναι η αδελφή μου (aftee eneeh ee adelfee moo) this is my sister
Πόσο κρονών είναι ο πατέρας σού (poso chronon eeneh oh patehras) How old is your father?
έχω και εγώ έναν αδελφό (ehro kay enan adelfoh) I also have a brother
η ματέρα είναν δέκα χρονών (Ee matehra eenan dehka chronon) my mother is 10 years old(!)

Some points to note.  You'll see that where you expect αυ to sound like ah-ee in the He and She (αυτός and αυτη) it actually sounds like "af", which isn't very intuitive.  Also to bear in mind is when you are talking about someone that belongs to you (i.e. "this is my sister") the words are actually ordered as "this is sister my" or in Greek: αυτη είναι η αδελφή μου.  Something more peculiar though which I am still none the wiser about is how the spelling of αδελφος turns into αδελφό when I say "I also have a brother" (please advise why έχο και εγώ έναν αδελφόσ is wrong).  

To break this up a bit, it helped me to look at the interrogative words.  These are the 5 W's (and 1 H) which I'm replicating below for your entertainment: 

Who	Ποιος	pooios
Where	Ποu	poo
What	Τι	tee
Why	Υιατί	Yeeatee
When	πότε	poteh
How	πως	pos

OK, before I get picked up on this you'll notice that the "How" in the above table is different from that used in the "How old is your..." sentance earlier on.  This is because there are two different types of "How".  One for a quantitative translation (how many years, how much money etc) which will be articulated as πόσο (at the top of this post) but when you are asking how someone is for example, it is is read as just πως (for example: ποσ εισαι;).  This complication aside these 6 words can be used as sentances in themselves (Who? What? When? you get the jist), but more importantly understand the point of the sentance being asked!

Thats enough for tonight, Καληνύχτα!

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Day 8 | Who? What? Where?

Apologies all for the break in posting.  I'm now back from a very cold and snowy East Berlin (picture below of me at the Soviet Union Treptower Park).  Learning Greek whilst keeping up with pigeon German in cafés and restaurants was impossible, so I'm desperately throwing myself back into the Greek text books to learn and re-learn what I had lost as a consequence!

So that aside, lets look at some very useful conversation starters.  These might look basic but after a long break its a ruddy struggle to learn (people call it bad day).

What is your name?	πώς σε λένε;	pos seh lehneh?
My name is Andy	Με λένε Andy	meh leneh Andy
Where are you from?	Από πού είσαι;	Apoh poo eeseh?
I am from England	Είμαι από την Ελλάδα	Eemeh apo teen Ehlantha
How old are you?	πόσο χρονών είσαι;	Poso kronon eeseh?
I am 30 years old	Είμαι τρίαντα ετών	Eemeh triantah ehton

Notice I left my name as it is in English (anyone know how Andy would be spelt in Greek?). Another nuance to note is that when we talk about "years" there is ετών (eton) as shown in the above table but you can also use Χπόνωη (Khrohnon) which seems more Cypriot than Greek.  Either way you can adopt both in your grammar tool kit.  Perhaps someone can ask me a question in Greek in the Comments section and I'll try to respond in the next post (missing that feedback!).

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