Learn about the masculine indefinite article/pronoun enas and find out how we use it in Modern Greek
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Fay: Hello, and welcome to GreekPod101.com, Beginner Season 1, Lesson 2 - Take the Last Greek Train to Athens. This is Fay. |
| Chrissi: And I’m Chrissi. |
| Fay: What are we learning in this lesson? |
| Chrissi: We’ll be introducing the masculine indefinite article (enas). |
| Fay: The conversation takes place at the airport subway station. |
| Chrissi: It is between Peter Gordon, and a station clerk. |
| Fay: Since the characters don’t know each other, the conversation is in formal language. |
| Chrissi: Let’s listen. |
Lesson conversation |
|---|
| Πέτρα Γκόρντον: Συγνώμη, κυρία, εδώ είναι δύο γραμμές αλλά μόνο μια πλατφόρμα; |
| Υπάλληλος σταθμού: Είναι μια γραμμή για το Μετρό και μια για τον Προαστιακό Σιδηρόδρομο. |
| Πέτρα Γκόρντον: Οπότε, μόνο μια πλατφόρμα και για τα δύο τρένα; |
| Υπάλληλος σταθμού: Ναι. Ένας σταθμός, μια πλατφόρμα, δύο τρένα. |
| Fay: Now let’s listen to the slow version. |
| Πέτρα Γκόρντον: Συγνώμη, κυρία, εδώ είναι δύο γραμμές αλλά μόνο μια πλατφόρμα; |
| Υπάλληλος σταθμού: Είναι μια γραμμή για το Μετρό και μια για τον Προαστιακό Σιδηρόδρομο. |
| Πέτρα Γκόρντον: Οπότε, μόνο μια πλατφόρμα και για τα δύο τρένα; |
| Υπάλληλος σταθμού: Ναι. Ένας σταθμός, μια πλατφόρμα, δύο τρένα. |
| Fay: Now with the translation. |
| Πέτρα Γκόρντον: Συγνώμη, κυρία, εδώ είναι δύο γραμμές αλλά μόνο μια πλατφόρμα; |
| Fay: Excuse me, madam, here are two tracks but only one platform? |
| Υπάλληλος σταθμού: Είναι μια γραμμή για το Μετρό και μια για τον Προαστιακό Σιδηρόδρομο. |
| Fay: There is one track for the Metro and one track for the Suburban Railroad. |
| Πέτρα Γκόρντον: Οπότε, μόνο μια πλατφόρμα και για τα δύο τρένα; |
| Fay: So only one platform for both trains? |
| Υπάλληλος σταθμού: Ναι. Ένας σταθμός, μια πλατφόρμα, δύο τρένα. |
| Fay: Yes. One station, one platform, two trains. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Chrissi: So how’s transportation in Greece? Didn’t Athens use to have some problems in that area? |
| Fay: Oh, it still does! There are too many cars, taxis, supply vehicles and buses going around 24 hours a day. Not to mention that Athens was not built for the 6 million people it has now! |
| Chrissi: So what do you do? |
| Fay: Well, we plan ahead; we take into account all possible things that can happen and delay us. And, if it fits, we take the metro. |
| Chrissi: Right! The new metro built for the 2004 Olympics, isn’t it? |
| Fay: Yes. It is great. It’s not very big so you won’t get lost or anything and it will take you to all the important places and to many residential areas. |
| Chrissi: I’ll keep that in mind. Shall we move on to our vocabulary? |
| Fay: Sure! |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Fay: First, we have… |
| Chrissi: Συγνώμη [natural native speed]. |
| Fay: I'm sorry, excuse me, I beg your pardon. |
| Chrissi: Συγνώμη [slowly - broken down by syllable]. Συγνώμη [natural native speed]. |
| Fay: And the next… |
| Chrissi: κύρια [natural native speed]. |
| Fay: Madam. |
| Chrissi: κύρια [slowly - broken down by syllable]. κύρια [natural native speed]. |
| Fay: And the next… |
| Chrissi: γραμμές [natural native speed]. |
| Fay: Tracks, lines. |
| Chrissi: γραμμές [slowly - broken down by syllable]. γραμμές [natural native speed]. |
| Fay: And the next… |
| Chrissi: αλλά [natural native speed]. |
| Fay: But. |
| Chrissi: αλλά [slowly - broken down by syllable]. αλλά [natural native speed]. |
| Fay: And the next… |
| Chrissi: μόνο [natural native speed]. |
| Fay: Only. |
| Chrissi: μόνο [slowly - broken down by syllable]. μόνο [natural native speed]. |
| Fay: And the next… |
| Chrissi: μια [natural native speed]. |
| Fay: One. |
| Chrissi: μια [slowly - broken down by syllable]. μια [natural native speed]. |
| Fay: And the next… |
| Chrissi: πλατφόρμα [natural native speed]. |
| Fay: Platform. |
| Chrissi: πλατφόρμα [slowly - broken down by syllable]. πλατφόρμα [natural native speed]. |
| Fay: And the next… |
| Chrissi: τρένο [natural native speed]. |
| Fay: Trains. |
| Chrissi: τρένο [slowly - broken down by syllable]. τρένο [natural native speed]. |
| Fay: And the next… |
| Chrissi: σταθμός [natural native speed]. |
| Fay: Station. |
| Chrissi: σταθμός [slowly - broken down by syllable]. σταθμός [natural native speed]. |
| KEY VOCABULARY AND PHRASES |
| Fay: Let's take a closer look at the words and phrases in this lesson. I see in our dialogue and our vocabulary that in Greek there are two words for “one.” |
| Chrissi: Actually, there are three—for the masculine, feminine, and neuter genders. |
| Fay: Because Greek uses genders. |
| Chrissi: Yes—extensively! But don’t worry. For the moment, we will focus on the masculine and leave the other two genders for future lessons. |
| Fay: Also, why those last two lines of the dialogue sound somehow strange? |
| Chrissi: Oh, you mean μόνο μία πλατφόρμα για δύο τρένα (mono mia platforma gia dyo trena) and ένας σταθμός, μία πλατφόρμα, δύο τρένα (enas stathmos, mia platforma, dyo trena), right? |
| Fay: Yes. These mean “one platform for two trains” and “one station, one platform, two trains.” Correct? |
| Chrissi: Exactly! Well, they sound a little strange because we tried to keep the verbs out so we wouldn’t confuse the people listening. |
| Fay: But they are normal Greek phrases? |
| Chrissi: Of course they are! You can use them and nobody will say they are not correct. |
| Fay: So in Greek you can omit the verbs arbitrarily? |
| Chrissi: Well, not arbitrarily. But as in most languages, there are parts of a sentence that can be omitted if they are understood from the context. |
| Fay: Another thing—how you translate συγγνώμη (sygnomi)? |
| Chrissi: You can translate it as “I’m sorry," “Excuse me,” or “Pardon me”; it’s the most basic, and at the same time the most flexible, word to apologize in Greek. |
| Fay: So our listeners would do well to remember it, right? |
| Chrissi: Right. So listen and repeat - Συγγ-νώ-μη (Syg-no-mi). Συγγνώμη (Sygnomi). |
| Fay: Okay. Shall we go on to our main grammar point for this lesson? |
Lesson focus |
| Chrissi: Of course! And our main grammar point is… |
| Fay: So let’s define the indefinite article! |
| Chrissi: Greek has two articles. One for situations where we are talking about a specific person or thing… |
| Fay: That’s the definite article, like “the” in English. |
| Chrissi: Right! And one for when we are talking about an unspecified person or thing. |
| Fay: That’s the indefinite article. Like “a/an” in English. |
| Chrissi: Exactly. For now, we will focus at the masculine indefinite article, though. |
| Fay: Oh, there are also feminine and neuter? |
| Chrissi: Yes. As we said in our previous lesson, Greek makes extensive use of genders in many parts of speech. And one of these is articles. |
| Fay: Okay. So the masculine indefinite article is? |
| Chrissi: Enas. |
| Fay: Which means “a” or “an.” Can we say it again? Listeners, please repeat after Chrissi. |
| Chrissi: Enas. |
| Fay: Got it. But aren’t articles declinable in Greek? |
| Chrissi: Yes, they are. But for the moment, we will stick to the nominative case. |
| Fay: So enas is the nominative case of the masculine indefinite article, right? |
| Chrissi: Right! It’s also the masculine indefinite pronoun and the masculine numeral one. |
| Fay: So we learn three for the price of one! How do we know which is which? |
| Chrissi: Well, it doesn’t really matter. If you want to be technical about it—if it’s followed by a noun, it’s an article; if it’s followed by a verb, it’s a pronoun; and if you are counting, it’s a numeral. |
| Chrissi: Yes. And it would be ένας αστυνομικός (enas astynomikos). Repeat after me: έ-νας α-στυ-νο-μι-κός (e-nas a-sty-no-mi-kos). |
| Fay: How will we use it as a pronoun? |
| Chrissi: In our sample sentences, we have Ο ένας είναι ψηλός και ο άλλος κοντός (O enas einai psilos kai o allos einai kontos). |
| Fay: This means “The one is tall and the other is short.” |
| Chrissi: Exactly! So in this case, the word ένας (enas) replaces some noun—maybe the noun “man”—and is followed by the verb είναι (einai). |
| Fay: Which means “is.” |
| Chrissi: Right. So here, ένας (enas) is a pronoun. |
| Fay: And how do we use it as a numeral? |
| Chrissi: That’s easy! It’s when you count: ένας άνθρωπος (enas anthropos), δύο άνθρωποι (dyo anhtropoi), τρεις άνθρωποι (treis anthropoi), etc. |
| Fay: That would be “one man,” “two men,” “three men,” etc. Right? |
| Chrissi: Right! |
| Fay: So to put it all together, in Greek we have an indefinite article with three genders. The masculine gender is… |
| Chrissi: Ένας (Enas). |
| Fay: And this is also the indefinite pronoun and the numeral “one.” |
| Chrissi: Exactly! |
| Fay: OK. That will be it for now. Be sure to check our PDF to see more about the indefinite article and its function. Bye! |
| Chrissi: Γειάαααα! (Geiaaaaa!) |
Comments
HideHave you ever used public transportation in Greece?
Γεια σου Τζόναθαν,
«Νομίζω ότι είναι ένα έργο που δεν θα τελειώσει ποτέ!» 😉
Στεφανία
Team GreekPod101.com
Γεια σου Στεφανία,
χαχα ναι! Νομίζο ότι θα είναι ένα έργο που δεν τελειώνει ποτέ!
(haha yes! I think it will be project that never ends!)
I'm not sure if I got the grammar and structure correct!
Γεια σου Τζόναθαν!
Ελπίζω κάποια στιγμή να χρησιμοποιήσεις και το μετρό στη Θεσσαλονίκη... όποτε το τελειώσουν!
Στεφανία
Team GreekPod101.com
Εγώ είμαι από τη Θεσσαλονίκη και έτσι χρησιμοποιώ το λεωφορείο.
Γεια σου Ζήση,
Σε ευχαριστούμε για το σχόλιό σου!
Στεφανία
Team GreekPod101.com
I learn so much from these lessons
Hi Christos,
Thank you for leaving the comment.
If you have any questions, please let us know.
Sincerely,
Cristiane
Team GreekPod101.com
I love your voice.
Hi Habib,
Thank you for your positive feedback!
Let us know if you have any questions.
Sincerely,
Cristiane
Team GreekPod101.com
this really helps !!
great help, thanks
It was good ! Thnx
Hi Vicky,
Thank you for contacting us.
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I hope this was helpful. If you have any more questions, please let me know!
Kind regards,
Stefania
Team GreekPod101.com
How can I view flashcards to study.
Hi Réka,
Γεια χαρά is a way to say hello or goodbye casually. It literally means "health joy".
You can use it with friends and family.
Let me know if you have any more questions.
Stefania
Team GreekPod101.com
Hello, καλησπέρα,
what does it mean: Γεια χαρά ?
Ευχαριστώ!
Hi Nicole,
"Όσες φορές πήγα στην Αθήνα ήμουνα με κάποιον που είχε αυτοκίνητο. Όμως φέτος θα είμαι χωρίς αυτοκίνητο και θα πρέπει να χρησιμοποιώ τα τρένα και τα λεωφορεία της Αθήνας."
Mind the commas I removed. In Greek they are not necessary in the above sentences.
Le me know if you have any questions.
Stefania
Team GreekPod101.com
Κάθε φωρά που πήγα στην Αθήνα, ήμουνα με κάποιον που είχε αυτοκίνητο. Αλλα, φέτος, θα είμαι χώρις αυτοκίνητο και θα χρειάζομαι να χρησημοποιώ τα τρένα και τα λεωφορεία της Αθήνας.
Could you please correct any of my mistakes? :)
Hey Wim,
Thank you for the comment.
I think you have right, it sounds like "πλατφορμά". But that's not a rule.
In everyday life when me make a question we may put more stress on the last syllable or the last syllable's sound may become longer.
"Συγγνώμη, κυρία, εδώ είναι δύο γραμμές αλλά μόνο μια πλατφόρμα." Affirmation
"Συγγνώμη, κυρία, εδώ είναι δύο γραμμές αλλά μόνο μια πλατφόρμα;" Question
In contrast to english, in greek you can show to the listener that you make a question only by the pronunciation of the last part of your sentence.
Feel free to contact us again, if you have any other question.
All the best,
Nektarios
Team GreekPod101.com
Hello,
In the Greek pronunciation of the sentence "Excuse me, madam, here are two tracks but only one platform?" it sounds to me like "platform" is pronounced as πλατφορμά in stead of πλατφόρμα. Is the accent moved to the last syllable because it is the last word in a interrogative sentence?
/Wim (DK)
Γεια σου Jan S (DK),
Σε ευχαριστούμε για το σχόλιό σου.
1) μια - μία
"Μια" = αόριστο άρθρο και σημαίνει κάποια.
π.χ. μια μέρα => Θα έρθω κάποια μέρα (I will come someday)
"Μία" = αριθμητικό άρθρο και σημαίνει 1.
π.χ. μία μέρα => Θα έρθω 1 μέρα (Ι will come one day)
Ωστόσο, στον προφορικό και καθημερινό λόγο χρησιμοποιούνται και τα δύο. Αν όμως θέλουμε να τονίσουμε το αριθμητικό άρθρο, βάζουμε τον τόνο. Διαφορετικά, η λέξη έχει περισσότερο τη σημασία του "κάποια".
2) και
"Και" = a linking word meaning "and".
Sometimes Greeks use it though when they want to empasize something and it is not translated in English, as you said.
In the above example "Οπότε, μόνο μια πλατφόρμα και για τα δύο τρένα;" the use of "μόνο" in addition to "και" emphasizes the fact that 1 platform is for 2 trains. You could say "Οπότε, μόνο μια πλατφόρμα για τα δύο τρένα;" meaning the same but with less emphasis.
P.S. Spelling mistakes: μάθημα, σημαίνουν
If you have any problem understanding my greek reply, please contact again.
Keep studying Greek with us.
All the best,
Nektarios
Team GreekPod101.com