Learn how to express expectations and wishes
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Iro: I’m Iro. |
| Judith: Judith here. Absolute Beginner Season 1, Lesson 12, A Greek Holiday Argument. Hello and welcome to GreekPod101.com where we study Modern Greek in a fun educational format. |
| Iro: So brush up on the Greek that you started learning long ago or start learning today. |
| Judith: Thanks for being here with us for this lesson. Judith, what are we looking at in this lesson? |
| Iro: In this lesson, you will learn how to express expectations and wishes. |
| Judith: This conversation takes place at the hotel in the morning. |
| Iro: The conversation is between Petros and Ellie who are discussing what to do today. |
| Judith: The speakers are a couple, therefore they’ll be speaking informal Greek. |
| Iro: Let’s listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUES |
| Έλλη:Καλημέρα! |
| Πέτρος:Ααα; Καλημέρα; Τι ώρα είναι; |
| Έλλη:Η ώρα είναι οκτώ. Πάμε για πρωινό; |
| Πέτρος:Οκτώ; Το πρωινό δεν είναι από τις οκτώ μέχρι τις δέκα; |
| Έλλη:Από τις οκτώ μέχρι τις δέκα, ναι. Αλλά πεινάω. Μήπως να πάμε για πρωινό τώρα και μετά στην Ακρόπολη; |
| Πέτρος:Είμαι κουρασμένος, δεν θέλω να πάμε ακόμα. |
| Έλλη:Εεε, εσύ θέλεις συνέχεια να μένεις στο ξενοδοχείο. Όταν ο κόσμος κάνει διακοπές, θέλει να πηγαίνει στα μουσεία, να βλέπει πράγματα! |
| Πέτρος:Κι εγώ θέλω να βλέπω τηλεόραση. Και θέλω να μη δουλεύω. Αυτά είναι όλα. |
| Έλλη:Αχ. |
| English Host: Let’s hear the conversation one time slowly. |
| Έλλη:Καλημέρα! |
| Πέτρος:Ααα; Καλημέρα; Τι ώρα είναι; |
| Έλλη:Η ώρα είναι οκτώ. Πάμε για πρωινό; |
| Πέτρος:Οκτώ; Το πρωινό δεν είναι από τις οκτώ μέχρι τις δέκα; |
| Έλλη:Από τις οκτώ μέχρι τις δέκα, ναι. Αλλά πεινάω. Μήπως να πάμε για πρωινό τώρα και μετά στην Ακρόπολη; |
| Πέτρος:Είμαι κουρασμένος, δεν θέλω να πάμε ακόμα. |
| Έλλη:Εεε, εσύ θέλεις συνέχεια να μένεις στο ξενοδοχείο. Όταν ο κόσμος κάνει διακοπές, θέλει να πηγαίνει στα μουσεία, να βλέπει πράγματα! |
| Πέτρος:Κι εγώ θέλω να βλέπω τηλεόραση. Και θέλω να μη δουλεύω. Αυτά είναι όλα. |
| Έλλη:Αχ. |
| English Host: Now let’s hear it with the English translation. |
| Έλλη:Καλημέρα! |
| Judith:Good morning! |
| Πέτρος:Ααα; Καλημέρα; Τι ώρα είναι; |
| Judith:Ah? Good morning? What time is it? |
| Έλλη:Η ώρα είναι οκτώ. Πάμε για πρωινό; |
| Judith:It's eight o'clock. Shall we go to breakfast? |
| Πέτρος:Οκτώ; Το πρωινό δεν είναι από τις οκτώ μέχρι τις δέκα; |
| Judith:Eight? Isn't breakfast from eight to ten? |
| Έλλη:Από τις οκτώ μέχρι τις δέκα, ναι. Αλλά πεινάω. Μήπως να πάμε για πρωινό τώρα και μετά στην Ακρόπολη; |
| Judith:From eight to ten, yes. But I'm hungry. Maybe we should go to breakfast now and then to the Acropolis? |
| Πέτρος:Είμαι κουρασμένος, δεν θέλω να πάμε ακόμα. |
| Judith:I'm tired, I don't want to go now. |
| Έλλη:Εεε, εσύ θέλεις συνέχεια να μένεις στο ξενοδοχείο. Όταν ο κόσμος κάνει διακοπές, θέλει να πηγαίνει στα μουσεία, να βλέπει πράγματα! |
| Judith:Eh, you always want to stay at the hotel. When people go on vacation, they want to go to museums, to see things! |
| Πέτρος:Κι εγώ θέλω να βλέπω τηλεόραση. Και θέλω να μη δουλεύω. Αυτά είναι όλα. |
| Judith:And I want to watch TV. And I want not to work. That's all. |
| Έλλη:Αχ. |
| Judith:Ugh. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Judith: Well, if you love history and culture, Greece is one of the best places in the world to visit. Judith, what are some popular museums in Athens? |
| Iro: I would say the tourists like to visit the archeological museum. It has exhibits from pre-history to late antiquity. Usually they visit the Acropolis Museum, the Byzantine Museum, and maybe the Goulandris Museum of Cycladic Art. |
| Judith: Also the rest of Greece is full of archeological sites worth visiting like the Oracle of Delphi, the Palace of Knossos which was the center of the Minoan Civilization, or Ancient Olympia where the Olympic Games started. |
| Iro: Or Aegean, the capital of the ancient Macedonian State. This is where you can visit the palace and Royal Tomb of Philip, the father of Alexander the Great. |
| Judith: There is also the Ancient Theatre of Epidaurus, or Delos, the Sacred Island. |
| Iro: Athens and Thessaloniki also have beautiful Roman markets. |
| Judith: In Samos, you can see the Heraion. |
| Iro: And we could go on and on and on. All museums, monuments, and sites are closed from December 25th to January 1st, and during the Official Public Holidays. |
| Judith: In the summer it gets quite hot so maybe the best time to visit historic sites is from September to April. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Judith: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. The first word we shall see is? |
| Iro: ώρα |
| Judith: Hour or time. |
| Iro: ώρα |
| Judith: This word is feminine. Next. |
| Iro: πρωινό |
| Judith: Breakfast. |
| Iro: πρωινό |
| Judith: This word is neuter. Next. |
| Iro: μέχρι |
| Judith: Until. |
| Iro: μέχρι |
| Judith: Next. |
| Iro: αλλά |
| Judith: But. |
| Iro: αλλά |
| Judith: Next. |
| Iro: μήπως |
| Judith: Maybe. |
| Iro: μήπως |
| Judith: Next. |
| Iro: μετά |
| Judith: After or afterwards. |
| Iro: μετά |
| Judith: Next. |
| Iro: συνέχεια |
| Judith: Always or continually. |
| Iro: συνέχεια |
| Judith: Next. |
| Iro: μένω |
| Judith: To stay. |
| Iro: μένω |
| Judith: Next. |
| Iro: όταν |
| Judith: When. |
| Iro: όταν |
| Judith: Next. |
| Iro: κόσμος |
| Judith: World or people. |
| Iro: κόσμος |
| Judith: This word is masculine. Next. |
| Iro: πράγμα |
| Judith: Thing. |
| Iro: πράγμα |
| Judith: This word is neuter. Next. |
| Iro: μην |
| Judith: Don’t. |
| Iro: μην |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Judith: Let’s have a closer look at the usage for some of the words and phrases from this lesson. |
| Iro: The first word we’ll look at is "κουρασμένη". |
| Judith: This is the Greek word for “tired” as we saw before. However, in this dialogue, we also saw "κουρασμένος." It’s the same word except it’s for a guy. Just like many Greek’s women’s names like Ellie ending “i,” so "koyrasmeni" has to end in “i” when it describes a woman. |
| Iro: Many Greek men’s names end in “os” and "koyrasmenos" has to end in “os” when it describes a man. It’s not just "koyrasmenos" either, all adjectives undergo this change depending on the gender of the word they describe. For masculine words, they will end in “os,” for feminine words they will end in “i” and sometimes in “a.” And for neuter words, they will end in “o.” |
| Judith: "πράγματα" “things” is the plural of "πράγμα" “thing.” |
| Iro: There are a bunch of old Greek nouns that still follow this pattern. Incidentally, "comma" is one of them. So if you want to be hypercorrect, tell your friends that the plural of "comma" shouldn’t be "commas," but "commata"! in the original at least. |
| GRAMMAR POINT |
| Judith: The focus of this lesson is a feature called Ipotaktiki. |
| Iro: Ordering a beer in Greek is easy, just say "θέλω μια μπίρα." |
| Judith: Problems start when you want to do something, that is you want to connect a verb and action word. Greek doesn’t have an infinitive in a traditional sense. There is no “to be” just “I am.” |
| Iro: To say “I want to be rich” is literally “I want that I am rich” "θέλω να είμαι πλούσιος." |
| Judith: “I want to always speak Greek” is literally “I want that I speak always Greek.” |
| Iro: The Greek language is called Ellinika... |
| Judith: Think of the English word Hellenic, describing Greek civilization. |
| Iro: So to say “I want to always speak Greek” is "θέλω να μιλάω πάντα ελληνικά." |
| Judith: You cannot avoid this “I want that I speak,” structure. And when is someone else who is wishing for something, you have to adjust accordingly. “He wants to be rich” translates to “He wants that he is rich.” |
| Iro: "θέλει να είναι πλούσιος." |
| Judith: Both verbs adjust. θέλω becomes θέλει and είμαι becomes είναι. “You want to always speak Greek” is “You want that you speak always Greek.” |
| Iro: "θέλεις να μιλάς πάντα ελληνικά." |
| Judith: On the bright side, this makes more complex which is easier. For example, “I want you to always speak Greek” is “I want that you speak always Greek.” |
| Iro: "θέλω να μιλάς πάντα ελληνικά." Θέλω is “I want” and μιλάς is “you speak.” In Greek sentences, it always clear who is to do what. |
| Judith: A negative wish is expressed with μη or μην. |
| Iro: Petros said "θέλω να μη δουλεύω" -“I want that not I work” meaning, “I want not to work,” “I want to not have to do any work.” |
| Judith: They should not be confused with the “δεν θέλω να δουλεύω” “I don’t want to work.” |
| Iro: Either way, the να always introduces the wish. So when you have a free standing να without any θέλω it is still interpreted as a wish or a suggestion. |
| Judith: For example, Ellie asked "Μήπως να πάμε για πρωινό τώρα;" |
| Iro: “Maybe you should go have breakfast now?” Okay. That just about does it for today. |
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Outro |
|---|
| Judith:So, see you next week! |
| Iro:Γεια σας! |
Comments
HideHow would be a perfect vacation for you?
Hi Pernille,
Thank you for your message!
Υπέροχα is an adverb, so there is no conjugation. Example: Πέρασα υπέροχα στις διακοπές.
Also, υπέροχα can be the neuter plural form in the Nominative case of the adjective υπέροχος. -> ο υπέροχος, η υπέροχη, το υπέροχο.
Example: Αυτά τα παιδιά είναι υπέροχα.
You can find more information here: https://www.greekpod101.com/lesson/beginner-23-now-where-was-it-in-greece
Let me know if that answers your question.
Katerina,
Team GreekPod101.com
How to conjugate the word υπέροχα
Hi Brian,
Great question. No, they are not interchangeable. Τώρα means "now" and ακόμα means "still" or "yet". In the dialogue, it should have been translated as "yet". "Now" would be a very free way to interpret it.
I hope this helps!
Stefania
Team GreekPod101.com
Are tora and akoma interchangeable ways of saying 'now'?
Hi Rachel,
Thank you for your message! These are great questions but keep in mind that what you are asking might be hard for an absolute beginner to understand fully just yet. I'll try my best to answer your questions.
At the beginning, I thought you meant the "subject", but then I realized you were referring to the "subjunctive" (not "subjective").
The subjunctive, first of all, is a mood of a verb, and as such it doesn't express tense (present/future and other time references) but instead it expresses the duration of an action. There are three forms of subjunctive, the continuous, the momentary, and the perfective. The continuous one uses the stem from the verb in the present tense, the momentary subjunctive uses the stem from the aorist tense, and so does the perfective one. Old grammar books would say it's the present tense /aorist tense / present perfect tense subjunctive, but the truth is, these forms don't express tense.
Think of it like this:
I want TO BE SEEING... (something). > Continuous Θέλω να βλέπω...
I want TO SEE... (something). > Momentary Θέλω να δω...
I want TO HAVE (something) SEEN. > Perfective > Θέλω να έχω δει...
The subjucntive by itself is tense-agnostic:
Yesterday I wanted TO SEE... (something). Χτες ήθελα να δω...
Tomorrow I want TO SEE... (something) Αύριο θέλω να δω...
For more info on the subjunctive, go to these lessons right here (scroll into the lessons notes because other grammar points are presented as well):
https://www.greekpod101.com/lesson/mustknow-greek-sentence-structures-19-using-the-auxiliary-verb-can/
https://www.greekpod101.com/lesson/mustknow-greek-sentence-structures-20-using-verbs-in-subjunctive-form/?lp=97
I hope this helps!
Stefania
Team GreekPod101.com
Hi Greekpod101!
Please can you explain something to me? In your example: θέλω να βλέπω τηλεόραση, the present tense is used to form the subjective. However, I've also seen the future tense used to form the subjective e.g. θέλω να δω τηλεόραση. Please can you explain why you have used the present tense in this case and not the future?
Thank you!
Hi Salih,
Great question.
One translates as "I want not to work" and the other "I don't want to work". They are both saying the same thing but the second one is more strong because it uses the indicative mood. The indicative mood presents the meaning of the verb as a fact, something certain, whereas the first one uses the subjunctive mood. The subjunctive mood presents the meaning of the verb as something that is not a fact, it's either a wish a desire, or an intention. So the first one implies that maybe the person is working and is just expressing the wish to not do that, while the second one is a declaration that the person does not want to work.
I hope this helps.
Stefania
Team GreekPod101.com
I do not fully understand that what is the difference between "θέλω να μη δουλεύω" and "δεν θέλω να δουλεύω".
Γεια σου Άννα,
συμφωνώ μαζί σου!
Στεφανία
Team GreekPod101.com
#TeamEllie
Γεια σου Μπάρμπαρα!
Το καλοκαίρι στην Ελλάδα είναι φανταστικά! Μακάρι να πας!
I have the perfect lesson for you that will answer your question:
https://www.greekpod101.com/lesson/absolute-beginner-questions-answered-by-stefania-5-when-do-you-keep-the-final-%CE%BD-n-of-a-word/?lp=96
I hope this helps!
All the best,
Stefania
Team GreekPod101.com
Γιεα σας.
θέλω πολύ να κάνω ένα ταχίδι στο Ελλάδα σε καλοκαίρι. θα ήθελα να τρωώ το ελλινικό φαγητό, και να βλέπω οι όμορφες πόλεις, και να κολυμπάω και να κάνω κατάδυση στο θάλασσα.
Could you clarify, or is there somewhere you can direct me to, how to decide if using δεν/μην versus δε/μη - what makes one drop the ν?
Hi Matthias,
When people say είμαι καλά they are using the adverb version of the adjective καλός, καλή, καλό. So καλά does not mean "good", it means "well" because it's an adverb. Adverbs are non-gendered, non-declinable words in Greek.
I hope this helps clear out the confusion :)
Cheers,
Stefania
Team GreekPod101.com
Does "Καλα" also have a masculine or neuter gender`? The guy always says " Είμαι Καλα". It is also an adjective, but he did not say "Είμαι Καλoς" in the previous lessons.
Hi Karla,
συνέχεια = continuously (or "all the time" depending on the context which might be translated as "always" if it sounds more natural in English)
πάντα = always ( or "every time" depending on the context)
All the best,
Stefania
Team GreekPod101.com
HI,
Could explain the difference between συνέχεια versus πάντα?
Thanks!
Γεια σου Λεωνίδα,
κάθε μέρα μαθαίνουμε και κάτι καινούριο!
Γεια χαρά,
Στεφανία
Team GreekPod101.com
Γεια σου Στεφανία,
έχεις δίκιο, και το Sasha είναι υποκοριστικό του Alexander.
Γεια σου Λεωνίδα,
Α μάλιστα! Εγώ ήξερα το Sasha ως υποκοριστικό του Alexander. Νόμιζα ότι το Sanja ήταν θηλυκό κιόλας😅.
Στεφανία
Team GreekPod101.com
Γεια σου, Στεφανία,
το Sanja είναι υποκοριστικό του Alexander, όπως ο Αλέξανδρος = ο Αλέξης ή ο Αλέκος στα ελληνικά.