Learn all the possible forms of the word πολύ
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Intro |
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| Hi, everybody! Stefania here. Welcome to Ask a Teacher, where I’ll answer some of your most common Greek questions. |
| The Question |
| The question for this lesson is “Why does the word πολύ (polí) sometimes have different forms?” |
| Explanation |
| This is something I get asked a lot. What you need to know about πολύ (polí) is that there are two types. |
| First, there's the adverb πολύ (polí) meaning "very", "very much," or "a lot." |
| And second, there's the declinable adjective ο πολύς, η πολλή, το πολύ (o polís, i polí, to polí) in the masculine, feminine, and neuter gender respectively, meaning "many" for measurable things or "much" for non-measurable things like the noun "knowledge", for example. |
| Let's go into more detail. First, let's see the first type, where πολύ (polí) is an adverb. |
| In this case, it is not declined and it can be used in combination with verbs, adverbs, adjectives and participles. |
| For example, |
| Χιονίζει πολύ. (Hionízi polí.) (verb + πολύ) "It's snowing a lot." |
| Τρώω πολύ γρήγορα. (Tróo polí grígora.) (πολύ + adverb) "I eat very fast." |
| Είναι πολύ καλός άνθρωπος. (Íne polí kalós ánthropos.) (πολύ + adjective) "He is a very good man." |
| Είναι πολύ εκνευρισμένος. (Íne polí eknevrizménos.) (πολύ + participle) "He is very irritated." |
| Many people, including native Greeks, misspell it, because they confuse the adverb with the adjective ο πολύς, η πολλή, το πολύ (o polís, i polí, to polí, meaning "many/much"). |
| Here are some sample sentences. |
| Σ' αγαπώ πολύ. (S' agapó polí.) |
| "I love you very much." |
| Το ίντερνετ εδώ είναι πολύ αργό. (To ínternet edó íne polí argó.) |
| "The internet here is very slow." |
| Following up, the adjective is declined in all 3 genders and is always used to define a noun. Therefore, it always needs to "agree" with the noun's gender, number, and case. |
| Let's see some sample sentences. |
| Εδώ υπάρχει πολύς θόρυβος. (Edó ipárhi polís thórivos.) (masculine) "There is too much noise here." |
| Τρώω πολλή σοκολάτα. (Tróo polí sokoláta.) (feminine) "I eat a lot of chocolate." |
| Πέφτει πολύ χιόνι. (Péfti polí hióni.) (neuter) "It's snowing a lot." |
| Έχεις πολλούς μαρκαδόρους. (Éhis polús markadórus.) (masculine) "You have many markers." |
| Η Μαρία έχει πολλές τσάντες. (I María éhi polés tsándes.) (feminine) "Mary has many handbags." |
| Έχω πολλά παιδιά. (Ého polá pediá.) (neuter) "I have many children." |
| Keep in mind that in the plural, the adjective is spelled with double λάμδα (λλ). |
| For example, |
| Σου το είπα πολλές φορές. (Su to ípa polés forés.) |
| "I told you many times." |
| And, |
| Πέρασαν πολλά χρόνια από τότε. (Pérasan polá hrónia apó tóte.) |
| "Many years passed by ever since." |
| If you are unsure of which type of πολύ (polí) to use, just think of the word that it will be defining. If it is a noun, then you need to use the adjective type in the correct form. If it will be used to define any other word, then you need to use the indeclinable adverb. |
Outro |
| How was the lesson? Pretty interesting, right? |
| Do you have any more questions? Leave them in the comments below and I’ll try to answer them! |
| Γεια χαρά! (Ya hará!) |
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