Learn how to use indefinite and definite articles
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Iro:I’m Iro. |
| Judith: Judith here, Absolute Beginner, Season 1, Lesson 4, Greek cafes are about more than ordering coffee. |
| Iro: Hello, everyone. I’m Iro, and welcome to GreekPod101.com. |
| Judith: With us, you’ll learn how to speak Greek with fun and effective lessons. |
| Iro: We also provide you with cultural insights. |
| Judith: And tips you won’t find in a textbook. In this lesson, you will learn how to order a refreshing drink in Greek. |
| Iro: This conversation takes place at a café in Athens. |
| Judith: The conversation is between Petros, Ellie and the waitress. |
| Iro: The speakers are young. Therefore, they will be speaking informal Greek. |
| Judith: Let’s listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUES |
| Πέτρος: Δεν είναι αυτό το ξενοδοχείο! |
| Έλλη: Ωχ, ναι... Θέλω μια πορτοκαλάδα. |
| Πέτρος: Εντάξει... Α, να μία καφετέρια. Πάμε. |
| Σερβιτόρα: Παρακαλώ. |
| Έλλη: Μία πορτοκαλάδα, παρακαλώ. |
| Πέτρος: Εγώ θέλω ένα νερό. |
| Σερβιτόρα: Αυτά είναι όλα; |
| Πέτρος: Ναι. |
| Σερβιτόρα: Βεβαίως.... Ορίστε η πορτοκαλάδα, το νερό και ο λογαριασμός. |
| Έλλη και Πέτρος: Ευχαριστώ. |
| English Host: Let’s hear the conversation one time slowly. |
| Πέτρος: Δεν είναι αυτό το ξενοδοχείο! |
| Έλλη: Ωχ, ναι... Θέλω μια πορτοκαλάδα. |
| Πέτρος: Εντάξει... Α, να μία καφετέρια. Πάμε. |
| Σερβιτόρα: Παρακαλώ. |
| Έλλη: Μία πορτοκαλάδα, παρακαλώ. |
| Πέτρος: Εγώ θέλω ένα νερό. |
| Σερβιτόρα: Αυτά είναι όλα; |
| Πέτρος: Ναι. |
| Σερβιτόρα: Βεβαίως.... Ορίστε η πορτοκαλάδα, το νερό και ο λογαριασμός. |
| Έλλη και Πέτρος: Ευχαριστώ. |
| English Host: Now let’s hear it with the English translation. |
| Πέτρος: Δεν είναι αυτό το ξενοδοχείο! |
| Judith: This isn't the hotel! |
| Έλλη: Ωχ, ναι... Θέλω μια πορτοκαλάδα. |
| Judith: Oh, yes... I want an orange juice. |
| Πέτρος: Εντάξει... Α, να μία καφετέρια. Πάμε. |
| Judith: Okay... Ah, there's a café. Let's go. |
| Σερβιτόρα: Παρακαλώ. |
| Judith: May I help you? |
| Έλλη: Μία πορτοκαλάδα, παρακαλώ. |
| Judith: One orange juice, please. |
| Πέτρος: Εγώ θέλω ένα νερό. |
| Judith: I want a water. |
| Σερβιτόρα: Αυτά είναι όλα; |
| Judith: Is that all? |
| Πέτρος: Ναι. |
| Judith: Yes. |
| Σερβιτόρα: Βεβαίως.... Ορίστε η πορτοκαλάδα, το νερό και ο λογαριασμός. |
| Judith: Of course... Here's the orange juice, the water, and the bill. |
| Έλλη και Πέτρος: Ευχαριστώ. |
| Judith: Thank you. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Judith: Okay, what about coffee? Why aren’t they ordering coffee? I heard that Greeks love coffee. |
| Iro: Yes. This is true. Greeks are coffee lovers. When they go to a café, they usually drink coffee. Greek coffee is similar to Arabic coffee. It is boiled with sugar and served in a cup. Traditionally, they serve a small cookie on the side as well. |
| Judith: So, where would I go to get some good Greek coffee? |
| Iro: Greek coffee can be found in most cafes. But the best place to drink it would be at the original καφενείο. |
| Judith: kafeneío what’s that? |
| Iro: In the past, every neighborhood and village had its own kafeneío. There many would sip coffee or ouzo, play backgammon and discuss politics. At that time, women never went to the kafeneío. Nowadays, this kind of place is much less common and can only be found on the islands, in villages and some districts of big cities. |
| Judith: So what can I get at the kafeneío? |
| Iro: At the καφενείο they serve traditional sweets, coffee and other non-alcoholic beverages, also some alcoholic drinks. Of course, nowadays, women can go to the kafeneío as well. |
| Judith: What about the summer time? It gets really hot in Greece. Do people still drink coffee? |
| Iro: Yes, of course, especially cold coffee which is called φραπέ. This was actually invented in my city, Thessaloniki. That’s why people call my city, "φραπεδομάνα" which means “a mother of frappé.” |
| Judith: What is frappé actually? |
| Iro: "Frappé," is a drink made of instant coffee and sugar shaken together. You can add water, milk and ice cubes, depending on how you like it. In the last few years, Italian coffee, especially cold has also become very popular, freddo espresso, cappuccino, freddoccino, et cetera. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Judith: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. The first word we shall see is. |
| Iro: θέλω |
| Judith: To want. |
| Iro: θέλω |
| Judith: Next. |
| Iro: ένας, μια, ένα |
| Judith: A or an. |
| Iro: ένας, μια, ένα |
| Judith: This is the indefinite article, first masculine, feminine and neuter. Next. |
| Iro: πορτοκαλάδα |
| Judith: Orange juice. |
| Iro: πορτοκαλάδα |
| Judith: This word is feminine. Next. |
| Iro: να |
| Judith: There or here. |
| Iro: να |
| Judith: Next. |
| Iro: καφετέρια |
| Judith: Café. |
| Iro: καφετέρια |
| Judith: This word is feminine. Next. |
| Iro: παρακαλώ |
| Judith: Please, you’re welcome or may I help you? |
| Iro: παρακαλώ |
| Judith: Next. |
| Iro: εγώ |
| Judith: I. |
| Iro: εγώ |
| Judith: Next. |
| Iro: νερό |
| Judith: Water. |
| Iro: νερό |
| Judith: This word is neuter. Next. |
| Iro: βεβαίως |
| Judith: Certainly, of course. |
| Iro: βεβαίως |
| Judith: Next. |
| Iro: ορίστε |
| Judith: Here you are. |
| Iro: ορίστε |
| Judith: Next. |
| Iro: ο, η, το |
| Judith: The. |
| Iro: ο, η, το |
| Judith: Next. |
| Iro: λογαριασμός |
| Judith: Bill. |
| Iro: λογαριασμός |
| Judith: This word is masculine. |
| 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 "παρακαλώ". |
| Judith: It’s a very versatile Greek word and you’ll hear it a lot. It literally means “I request.” There are three different situations in which you can use it. |
| Iro: One is the obvious when making a request, "παρακαλώ" can be translated as “please” in that case. |
| Judith: Secondly, "παρακαλώ" is also the answer to "ευχαριστώ". When somebody thanks you in Greek, you should reply "παρακαλώ". It’s the same as saying “you’re welcome.” |
| Iro: Thirdly, you may also hear a waiter or a clerk say, "παρακαλώ." In that case, they mean “may I help you?” |
| Judith: To summarize, "παρακαλώ" can mean “please, you’re welcome or may I help you?” Depending on the context. |
| Iro: "ορίστε" can mean “here you are,” when you are giving something to somebody. That is why the waiter said, "ορίστε" as he gave Ellie and Petros their drinks. This is the most common use of the word. However, "ορίστε" can also be used to mean “pardon, sorry,” if you did not understand or hear something that someone said to you. |
| Judith: ορίστε? |
| Iro: I said, "ορίστε" can also mean “pardon, sorry.” |
| GRAMMAR POINT |
| Judith: The grammar focus of this lesson is indefinite and definite articles. |
| Iro: If you have study some German before, then you have an advantage in learning Greek. Just like in German, Greek nouns come in three flavors, masculine, feminine and neuter. |
| Judith: For some words it’s obviously. The man is obviously a masculine word. And the woman is obviously feminine. You can also easily determine the gender of brother, sister, actor, actress and the like. However, the problem is that Greek assigns a grammatical gender to every noun and often there is no logic behind it. |
| Iro: For example, why is the bill masculine, the orange juice feminine and the water neuter? |
| Judith: Students of German and French spend a lot of time memorizing the illogical genders of nouns by rote. But fortunately, in Greek, you can usually tell from the word ending which gender a word is. For example, words ending in -ος should be masculine, words ending -ο should be neuter, and words ending in -α are usually feminine. But what are the effects of something being declared masculine, feminine or neuter? |
| Iro: In Greek, the article and also the adjective endings will be different according to the gender. For masculine words, the equivalent of “the” is "ο". And the equivalent of “A” is "ένας." ο λογαριασμός, ένας λογαριασμός. |
| Judith: For neuter words, the equivalent of “the” is "το". And the equivalent of “A” is "ένα." For feminine nouns, the equivalent of “the” is η. And the equivalent of “A” is μία. Η πορτοκαλάδα, μία πορτοκαλάδα. That just about does it for today. |
Outro |
|---|
| Iro: Listeners, looking for a cheat sheet to memorizing Greek vocabulary? |
| Judith: Have you checked out our video vocab series? This themed “video lessons” combine visual cues with the voices of native speakers. |
| Iro: Just another effective method of learning and retaining thousands of vocabulary words. |
| Judith: Go to GreekPod101.com. |
| Iro: Click on the video lessons tab. |
| Judith: And hit play. |
| Iro: It’s that easy. |
| Judith: But don’t take our word for it. |
| Iro: Try it for yourself at GreekPod101.com. |
Comments
HideDo you like Greek coffee?
Hi Chris,
In this case τα λένε has a meaning of hanging out talking, socializing. Καφετέρια is a café, it can serve, coffees, teas, drinks, beers, and light snacks while καφενείο is a more traditional establishment and with less menu options. It serves mainly coffee, and it's a place where usually older males hang out. You won't see women at a καφενείο. Also, κάνω παρέα means "to hang out".
So neither of the translations is wrong. Sometimes there's just more ways you can translate or interpret a phrase. Machine translations lack that human factor of interpreting information, especially without context. It's like a flip of a coin. You get either or.
When in doubt about vocabulary and its uses, you can use this free dictionary which has many examples that will be helpful:
www.wordreference.com/engr/
All the best,
Stefania
Team GreekPod101.com
Hi,
I am puzzled by the Quiz sentence, ‘The friends are hanging out at a coffee shop’, ‘Οι φίλοι τα λένε σε μια καφετέρια’.
Google translate gave me ‘The friends are talking in a café’, for ‘Οι φίλοι τα λένε σε μια καφετέρια’.
Google translate gave me ‘Οι φίλοι κάνουν παρέα σε ένα καφενείο’ for ‘The friends are hanging out in a coffee shop.’
Can you explain this please?
Hi Mike,
Thank you for contacting us.
I see there is a lot of confusion with the word να. I hope I'll be able to clarify things a little.
First of all, it's not a matter of spelling of the same word what you describe here, but different words. Να is a particle that we use when we point at things or give something to someone. Since it has no exact translation in English, it is usually rendered as "here/there" as in "Here/there you go!" It goes at the beginning of the sentence, just like in English you don't say "You go here!" (in reverse) when you give someone something.
Εδώ/εκεί are adverbs that denote location and answer to the question "Where?". They can go anywhere in a sentence.
So these words are different.
Words with different spelling would be αδερφή vs αδελφή ("sister") for example.
I hope this is clearer now.
Kind regards,
Stefania
Team GreekPod101.com
Hello
I get so confused on words that have 2-3 different spellings. You used the word na and say it means here or there. I have learned edo and ekei to mean that. This is what confuses me as in English, here and there are used anywhere in a sentence and always have the same spelling. With Greek, if it comes in beginning of a sentence it's spelt one way and if it comes in the end, it is spelt differently, I just find it confusing and I am sure eventually I may figure it out.
Hi Andres!
They are completely different when it comes to the texture! Perhaps you won't like the Greek coffee so much because you can feel the grain when you drink it.
If you ever try them, let us know what did you prefer!
Cheers,
Stefania
Team GreekPod101.com
What an interesting lesson! I would like to taste Colombian ang Greek coffee and see which one is better 😅😆
Hi Manoli,
Thank you for contacting me.
Your method so far sounds good to me. As for the absolute beginner lessons, just focus on the specific vocabulary that is being presented in detail in the lesson audio. It's around 10 words per lesson. That, and on the grammar, of course. Also, if you follow the Level 1 pathway, you will have assessments every few lessons to help you practice and reinforce what you've learned.
I hope this helps!
All the best,
Stefania
Team GreekPod101.com
I reviewed the alphabet before beginning the lessons. I wrote down each vocabulary word and created a flash card too. I do the same with the vocabulary from each lesson. I also saved the most 100 common words. I printed the absolute beginner sheets and all other materials you email, like the cheat sheets.
My question/comment is that I am only on lesson 1.4 and with all the vocabulary words I can’t keep up as I am only 1 week into the program; I feel like I’m drinking from a fire hose. What should I focus on as a new student so I don’t get overwhelmed and/discouraged?
Thank you!
Γεια σου Görkem,
Το σωστό είναι: Θέλω να πιω έναν σκέτο. Μερικές φορές δεν λέμε τη λέξη «καφέ» όταν παραγγέλνουμε.
Γεια χαρά,
Στεφανία
Team GreekPod101.com
Thélo na pio éna sketos kafe, parakalo.
Hi Harry,
Not all syllables with two vowels in a row are a diphthong. Many unaccented syllables that consist with [i] plus a different vowel need to be pronounced separately. Those are to be learned by hearing. So like I said, καφετέρια not being a diphthong, should be pronounced with the vowels separately, ρι-α, not -ργια.
Regards,
Stefania
Team GreekPod101.com
Why the ια in καφετέρια is not a diphthong? It looks like it. Is it a exception? If so, should not i read it as ργα?
Hi Harry,
For the σ/ς pronunciation, please refer to the consonants video in the pronunciation series to see how exactly the lips are formed. They should not be round ever.
-ια in καφετέρια is not a diphthong, it's two separate vowels. Use καφετέρια and not καφετερία (uncommon, no one uses it).
I've also corrected the missing accent mark to match the audio, although both versions are correct as mentioned before.
Regards,
Stefania
Team GreekPod101.com
Μια in the vocabulary audio button is μία，could someone listen to it for checking for me? If I am right, could someone correct it? For example, correct to μία on the vocabulary list on the lesson page and the note pdf
καφετέρια. ια is a diphthong or not? If yes, should palatalise ρ? ργα？
καφετερία is the same meaning and usage as καφετέρια?
Thank you for answer my question.
Βεβαίως is the σ with lips rounded or flat at the end?
Hi Harry,
I've reviewed the audio and I can't perceive it as "sh". It sounds normal to me.
Since you've been sending us many pronunciation questions over the last few days, I would suggest you join the Premium Plus program, so a tutor can provide you better help. The 'My Teacher' platform can support audio, so it would be far better than our commenting system. I hope you can consider.
As for παρακαλώ, it has many uses including in the sense of "How may I help you?" See all its uses here:
https://www.wordreference.com/gren/%CF%80%CE%B1%CF%81%CE%B1%CE%BA%CE%B1%CE%BB%CF%8E
Thank you,
Stefania
Team GreekPod101.com
Παρακαλώ in the vocabulary of lesson page is may I help you, not you are welcome? Is it for a waiter to ask customer the first question?
Βεβαίως in the vocabulary audio button. The σ in the end sounds like sh in shake,not like s in snake. What should it be? Which is wrong?
Hi Harry,
Yes, they are pronounced differently. You can enter the words in Google Translate to hear the difference:
https://translate.google.com/?sl=el&tl=en&text=%CE%BC%CE%B9%CE%B1&op=translate
Cheers,
Stefania
Team GreekPod101.com