First Greek Phrases
I have presented below some important first phrases which go beyond the ubiquitous ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ and enable you to ask and answer simple questions.
| καλημέρα | good day |
| καλησπέρα | good afternoon/evening |
| καληνύχτα | good night |
| γειά σου | hello, good bye |
| γειά σας | hello, good bye (formal/plural) |
| Πώς σε λένε; | What are you called? |
| Με λένε … | I am called … |
| Κι εσύ, πώς σε λένε; | And you, what are you called? |
| Με λένε Μαρία. | I am called Maria |
| Τι κάνεις; | How are you? |
| Καλά, ευχαριστώ. | Well, thanks. |
| Κι εσύ; | And you? |
| Είμαι πολύ καλά, ευχαριστώ. | I am very well thanks. |
| Πώς είσαι; | How are you? |
| Καλά, ευχαριστώ. | Well, thanks. |
| Κι εσύ; | And you? |
| Είμαι πολύ καλά, ευχαριστώ. | I am very well thanks. |
| Τι κάνετε; | How are you? (plural/polite) |
| Καλά, ευχαριστώ. | Well, thanks. |
| Κι εσύ; | And you? |
| Είμαι πολύ καλά, ευχαριστώ. | I am very well thanks. |
| Πώς είστε; | (plural/polite) |
| Καλά, ευχαριστώ. | Well, thanks. |
| Κι εσύ; | And you? |
| Είμαι πολύ καλά, ευχαριστώ. | I am very well thanks. |
| Άπο που είσαι; | Where are you from? |
| Άπο που είστε; | Where are you from? (plural/polite) |
| Άπο την Σκωτία. | From Scotland |
| Πόσο χρονών είσαι; | How old are you? |
| Είμαι δέκα εφτά χρονών. | I am 17 years (old). |
| Πόσο χρονών είστε; | How old are you? (plural/polite) |
| Είμαι δέκα εφτά χρονών. | I am 17 years (old). |
| Ναι | Yes |
| Όχι | No |
A couple of things to note before we use the flash cards below:
The Greek language and culture is very polite. Respect is given in Greek, to those who are more senior in age or status, by the use of the polite plural (similar to French and German). So, γειά σου (hello and goodbye) would be said to someone who is of equal status or to someone who is younger than you, while the more polite form, γειά σας, is used to greet someone who is older or of higher status or someone you do not know.
As in many languages, there is more than one way to ask, “How are you?” Both the ones in my list are very common, although I was introduced to Τι Κάνεις; first from Greek speakers and from lessons. As Τι Κάνεις; literally means “What are you doing?” there can sometimes be confusion about what is being asked. It may be safer to stick to Πώς είσαι; – the choice is very much up to you.
I have put these phrases into quizlet below to aid learning. Quizlet is a fantastic free resource (unless you want to pay for some advanced features) which is an excellent learning tool for languages. You can change some settings in the card set below to suit your own learning. I prefer to view Greek side first and play the sound (which, I think, is more than passable). Once you have been through the cards a few times, you can choose one of the other study modes. Enjoy!
First Verbs
With the following verbs, conversations can become a bit more interesting. The verbs on the left are in the second person. The dots indicate that a word has been missed e.g. Μένεις στο Εδιμβούργο; (Do you stay in Edinburgh?). The response is in the first person: Ναι, μένω στο Εδιμβούργο (Yes, I stay in Edinburgh). You will see that the second person ends in εις and the first person ends in ω.
| Μένεις …………; | Ναι, μένω … | ||||
| Ξέρεις …………; | Ναι, ξέρω … | ||||
| Θέλεις …………; |
εις |
Οχι, δεν θέλω … |
ω |
||
| Περιμένεις ……; | Ναι, περιμένω … | ||||
| Καταλαβαίνεις ..; | Ναι, καταλαβαίνω … | ||||
| Εχεις ……………; | Οχι, δεν έχω … |
It is worth noting at this stage that, unlike many other languages, Greek verbs do not have an infinitive. They are known by their first person, singular. So, the verb ‘to stay’ is called μένω (I stay). Another thing to note is that the Greek verbs do not require a personal pronoun (I, you, he, she, it, etc). The verbs shown in the table above were:
- μένω (I stay)
- ξέρω (I know)
- θέλω (I want)
- περιμένω (I wait)
- καταλαβαίνω (I understand)
- έχω (I have)
The card set below will help you with the pronunciation until I find a way to upload some sound. Again, feel free to play around with the settings to suit yourself.
The Verb είμαι (to be)
Although the verb είμαι is irregular, it is very important and must be discussed at this point. We have already come across some examples of the use of είμαι. Πώς είσαι; (How are you?) Από που είσαι; (Where are you from?) Είμαι καλά (I am well). Είμαι από την Σκωτία (I am from Scotland). The table below shows the parts of the verb:
| singular | plural | |||
| είμαι | I am | είμαστε | we are | |
| είσαι | you are | είσαστε/είστε | you are | |
| είναι | he, she, it is | είναι | they are |
Again some cards to support:
Numbers (οι αριθμοί):
We are already familiar with some of the Greek numbers, although we might not know it yet. Whether it is the shapes in maths such as triangle (τρία – 3), pentagon (πέντε 5), hexagon (έξι – 6), heptagon (επτά – 7) or from creatures like the octopus (οχτώ – 8) we find Greek numbers in unexpected places. We know that duo means 2 but probably do not know that this is from the Greek δύο (2). The list below shows the numbers from zero to 20 which is probably enough to start with. (Unless you are shopping for the whole boat, you are unlikely to be spending more than 20 euros at a time.)
| μηδέν | 0 | έντεκα | 11 |
| ένα | 1 | δώδεκα | 12 |
| δύο | 2 | δεκατρία | 13 |
| τρία | 3 | δεκατέσσερα | 14 |
| τέσσερα | 4 | δεκαπέντε | 15 |
| πέντε | 5 | δεκαέξι | 16 |
| έξι | 6 | δεκαεπτά | 17 |
| επτά (εφτά) | 7 | δεκαοκτώ | 18 |
| οκτώ | 8 | δεκαεννιά | 19 |
| εννιά | 9 | είκοσι | 20 |
| δέκα | 10 |