Category: Modern Greek

  • Cases: what they are and how to use them

    Cases: what they are and how to use them

    Greek nouns are volatile. Their form and spelling change according to their case. A case represents the noun’s role and function in a sentence. Modern Greek has four cases: the nominative (ονομαστική), the genitive (γενική), the accusative (αιτιατική) and the vocative (κλητική). The nominative mainly replies to “Who?” and is the subject of the verb.…

  • Verbs

    Verbs

    Examples with “έχω”: Έχω ένα πρόβλημα. (I have a problem.) Έχεις δύο παιδιά. (You have two children.) Έχει αυτοκίνητο. (He has a car.) Έχουμε χρόνο. (We have time.) Έχετε τρία εισιτήρια. (You have three tickets.) Έχουν ραντεβού. (They have an appointment/ date.)   You can use the verb έχω as a conjugation model for several…

  • How to use the articles

    How to use the articles

    There are two kinds of articles: the definite article (equivalent to “the”) and the indefinite article (equivalent to “a, an”). Articles must follow the noun’s gender, number and case (the noun’s function in a sentence).  Τip: Study the articles together with nouns. You will learn them faster and you may also remember the cases more easily.…

  • Basic structure

    Basic structure

    A. The verb subject The personal pronoun (I, you, etc) is used for emphasis. It is not part of the conjugation. For example, when you want to say “I am working today”, you don’t need it. However, if you want to say “Me, I am working today”, you must mention it. “Είμαστε”    → “We…

  • The verb “είμαι”

    The verb “είμαι”

    The second-person plural has two versions, “είσαστε” and “είστε”.   “Είμαι” is an irregular but very common and useful verb.  You can use it for most kinds of information exchange, even at intermediate and advanced levels.  Examples with “είμαι”: Είμαι η Χριστίνα.   (I am Christina.) Είσαι φοιτητής.   (You are a student.)(masc.) Είναι 60 χρόνων.…

  • Intro – The building blocks

    Intro – The building blocks

    Learning Greek may seem daunting at first, because of all the verb endings, noun cases and duplicate versions, but in reality it is easy enough. All you need to do is to focus your efforts on sentence structure in the beginning of your learning journey. This “frontloaded” studying strategy is the most efficient for both…