Day 19 | Useful Verbs

Today I am teasing out the verbs a little futher by looking at the future, past and have tenses.  I deliberately picked out the words that I use most often on the phone secretly at work.  Unsuprisingly I looked at the verb to leave and to work which I've shown below.  It's a lot of work writing out the transliteration of these as I've done in the past so for this post entry I won't bother and rely on the reader to read the Greek letters.  Let me know if you need any help.

To leave

φυγη	Leave (noun)
θα φυγω	I will leave
θα φυγεις	you will leave
θα φυγει	he/she/it will leave
θα φυγουμε	we will leave
θα φυγετε	you lot leave
θα φυγουν	they will leave
φύγε	you leave! (command)

To work

δουλειά	work (noun)
δουλεύω	I am working
δουλεύεις	you are working
δουλεύει	he/she/it is working
δουλεύουμε	we are working
δουλεύετε	you lot are working
δουλεύουν	they are working
Future tense
θα δουλεψω	I will work
θα δουλεψεις	you will work
θα δουλεψει	he/she/it will work
θα δουλεψουμε	we will work
θα δουλεψετε	you lot will work
θα δουλεψουν	they will work
εσύ δουλεψε!	you work! (command)
Past tense
δουλεψα	I worked
δουλεψες	you worked
δουλεψε	he/she/it worked
δουλεψαμε	we worked
δουλεψατε	you lot worked
δουλεψαν	they worked
Have tense
εχω δουλεψει	Ι have worked
εχεις δουλεψει	you have worked
εχει δουλεψει	he/she/it worked
εχουμε δουλεψει	we worked
εχετε δουλεψει	you lot worked
εχουν δουλεψει	they worked

I don't know about you but that is a danger to the brain.  So many subtle nuance to learn and apply.  I put in the "have" sentances above because it looks like a bit of a cheat since you only have to learn the "to have" verbs and learn only one variation of the operative verb ("worked") instead of loads of different ones.  Good luck to all who embark on this.  I've only just started it so I'll keep repeating the process on different verbs.  Practise makes perfect.  Just keep in your backpocket the below pseudo-rules for verb endings:

I -ω

you -εις

he/she/it -ει

we -ουμε

you lot -ετε

they -ουν

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Day 17 | Face

This is going to be a quick one as need to get some sleep in before work early in the morning.  On the way to Seven Sisters in Sussex on the train I thought a lot about my face (yep, that's right) and decided to start naming parts of it as there is no better way to call out people than by how they look.  So here are the main assets most people are likely to have in both English and Greek (I'm not aware of any major differences between the two populaces), from top to bottom:

Hair	μαλλιά	may-yah	neutral plural
Hair	τρίχα	treeha	feminine singular
Eyebrow	φρύδι	freethee	neutral singular
Eyebrows	φρύδιa	freetheeah	neutral plural
Eye	μάτι	matee	neutral singular
Eyes	μάτια	mateeah	neutral plural
Nose	μύτη	meetee	feminine singular
Ear	αυτί	aftee	neutral singular
Ears	αυτιά	afteeah	neutral plural
Mouth	στόμα	stomah	neutral singular
Tongue	γλώσσα	glossah	feminine singular
Tooth	δόντι	Thondee	neutral plural
Teeth	δόντια	Thondeah	neutral singular

To tease these out some more and their nuances, here are some exemplary sentances.  Note the "have" verb which is another aspect of Greek that I've not really concentrated on in this blog (my bad). 

You have big ears

Εσύ εχεις μεγάλα αύτιά

Esee ekhees meeyraloh afteeah

I have blue eyes

εγώ έχω μάτια μπλε

egho ekho mateeah bleh

They have small feet

Αυτοι εχουν μικρά ποδια

aftee ekhoon mikra potheeah

Another important point is the article "the" which changes when plural.  For example, when you say the girl (singular), the "the" changes for when you say the girls (plural) instead.  In the above example this will apply for when you talk about one nose (υ μύτη) to many noses (οι μύτες).  You won't hear the difference since υ and οι sound exactly the same ("ee") but it nevertheless changes in text.  Let me demonstrate the rule:

το (neutral singular) = τα (neutral plural), "ta"

η (feminine singular) = οι (feminine plural), "ee"

ο (masculine singular) = οι (masculine plural), "ee"

Apologies but have to keep this short and sweet as got to hit the hay for some sleep.  Again, please bring me up on any mistakes (it is late after all!).

καληνύχτα!


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Day 15 | Colours

Back from my business trip in Rome and then contracted a nasty cold which I'm still suffering from (poor me).  That meant learning Italian last week instead of what I should really be doing, which is keeping up with my Greek.  Because of this I'm easing myself into it with some colours to brighten up the horizon.  Below are some of the main ones (I'm not interested in Falu Red, Xanadu, Caput Mortuum or Arsenic and I'm not sure they even exist in Greek).  

Orange	πορτοκαλί	portokalee
Green	πράσινο	Prasinoh
Red	κόκκινο	Kokkeenoh
Black	μαύρο	mahvroh
Grey	γκρί	Gree
White	άσπρο	asproh
Blue	μπλε	bleh
Yellow	κίτρινο	kitrinoh
Brown	καφέ	kafe
Pink	ροζ	roz

Now this is Greek remember so here comes the complications. In English we can describe nouns with colours (a black dog, a white cloud etc) and the colour does not change form.  This is because there is no sense of gender.  However, in Greek the above list shows the neutral colours.  When we apply them to a gender specific noun however as an adjective, these will change. 

This is a black dog

αυτός είναι ένα mαύρος σκύλος

aftos eenah enah mavros skylos

This is my red blouse

αυτή είναι η κόκκινη μπλούζα μου

aftee eenah e kokkinee bloozah mou

Note how the colour is changing as we put them alongside gender specific nouns.  The black goes from the neutral μαύρο to the masculine μαύρος.  The red goes from κόκκινο to female κόκκινη.  So again, we're not learning one word but three (although you might argue we learn the neutral and then use the formula for translating it to male and female with the use of -ος and -η).  

I think I'll look at animals next for the intrigue more than anything (guessing a lot of English words that end with -ios).



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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 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 6 | Gender & Family

As is always the case, work has a tendency of getting in the way of things you think are more important and hence a few days have passed since the last posting (one day I might get round to uploading a personal profile with this Blog to explain what I do & why I'm learning Greek!).  So today I'm looking at the use of Gender by using the simple example of family to tease out its special nuances.

It has already been mentioned that in the Greek language they use the dreaded gender system which means multiplying the learning process by 2 (or as you will find out, 3!).  If you are not familiar with this (Old English or Anglo-Saxon used to have this but now modern English has done away with it), it is simply that words have embedded within them a specific male or female type and based on this all of the other words that surround it (adjectives and articles etc) are changed as a consequence.  This can be show when calling out members of your own family.

Father is known as Πατέρας (pahtehras) and no prizes for what gender this belongs to.  Mother is known as Μιτέρα (Meetehrah) and is of the female persuasion.  What gender would you apply to the word "child" (or Παιδι, Peethee - remember "αι" make "ee") though since there is an equal chance of it being either a boy or girl.  That is where the third gender comes in which is called the "neuter".  So we have three words with three different genders, but what does that mean for those other words that surround it.  We can tease this out using the definite and indefinite articles (the former being "the" and the latter "a"):

Father (m)	Mother (f)	Child (n)
A father, ένας πατέρας     "enas patehras"	A mother, μία μητέρα   "meeah meetehra"	A child, ένα παιδί "ehna peethee"
The father, Ο πατέρας "oh patehras"	The mother, η μητέρα "ee meetehra"	The child, το παιδί "toh peethee"

So the bad news is that we're having to learn genders as well as words.  The good news is that there are clues in which we can get just from looking at the way the word is spelt.  Masculine words for example normally end with ς.  Female nouns end in η and α.  Whilst the neuter words close off using ι or ο.  As I said these are clues and not hard and fast rules to abide by but they should nevertheless give you a hint.  

So in summary there is no one word for "the" or "a" but changes depending on the gender of the noun it is applied to.  To make sure this sinks in, I'm going to put down the following words in English & Greek and want to see whether people can pick up whether they are Masculine, Feminine and Neuter.

Sister αδελφή (adelfee)

Baby μωρό (moroh)

Boy αγόρι (aghoree)

This αυτός (avtos)

This αυτή (avtee)

One of these is a "trick" question (as in what I expected it to be isn't what it is in reality!).  Please leave your attempts in the comments, I'd be interested if other people get the same responses as I did.



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