Learn about the third declension of Greek nouns, which are neuter in gender
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Fay: Hello, everyone! This is Fay. Welcome to GreekPod101.com, Beginner Season 1, Lesson 23 - Now, Where Was It in Greece? |
| Chrissi: I’m Chrissi. Thanks for joining us at GreekPod101.com – the fastest, easiest, and most fun way to learn Greek. |
| Fay: What are we learning in this lesson? |
| Chrissi: We are looking at third declension of nouns. |
| Fay: The conversation takes place in Danai’s car. |
| Chrissi: It’s between Petra, Danai, and Kostantina. |
| Fay: The characters are friends, so the conversation is informal. |
| Chrissi: Let’s listen. |
Lesson conversation |
|---|
| Δανάη Παπαδοπούλου: Αν δεν κάνω λάθος, το εστιατόριο είναι μετά από αυτό το φανάρι, έτσι δεν είναι Κοσταντίνα; |
| Κοσταντίνα Παπαδοπούλου: Νομίζω. Είναι σε ένα μικρό στενό, δίπλα σε ένα μαγαζί με ρούχα. |
| Πέτρα Γκόρντον: Δεν το ξέρω αυτό το μέρος. Πώς λέγεται; |
| Δανάη Παπαδοπούλου: Καλαμάκι. Ερχόμαστε συχνά το καλοκαίρι. |
| Fay: Now let’s listen to the conversation one time slowly. |
| Δανάη Παπαδοπούλου: Αν δεν κάνω λάθος, το εστιατόριο είναι μετά από αυτό το φανάρι, έτσι δεν είναι Κοσταντίνα; |
| Κοσταντίνα Παπαδοπούλου: Νομίζω. Είναι σε ένα μικρό στενό, δίπλα σε ένα μαγαζί με ρούχα. |
| Πέτρα Γκόρντον: Δεν το ξέρω αυτό το μέρος. Πώς λέγεται; |
| Δανάη Παπαδοπούλου: Καλαμάκι. Ερχόμαστε συχνά το καλοκαίρι. |
| Fay: Now let’s listen to the conversation with English translation. |
| Δανάη Παπαδοπούλου: Αν δεν κάνω λάθος, το εστιατόριο είναι μετά από αυτό το φανάρι, έτσι δεν είναι Κοσταντίνα; |
| Fay: If I'm not mistaken, the restaurant is after this traffic light, isn't it, Kostantina? |
| Κοσταντίνα Παπαδοπούλου: Νομίζω. Είναι σε ένα μικρό στενό, δίπλα σε ένα μαγαζί με ρούχα. |
| Fay: I think so. It's in an alley next to a shop selling clothes. |
| Πέτρα Γκόρντον: Δεν το ξέρω αυτό το μέρος. Πώς λέγεται; |
| Fay: I don't know this place. What is it called? |
| Δανάη Παπαδοπούλου: Καλαμάκι. Ερχόμαστε συχνά το καλοκαίρι. |
| Fay: Kalamaki. We come here often in the summer. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Fay: So is Athens an easy city to drive around? |
| Chrissi: It definitely isn’t! |
| Fay: I remember you mentioning something about too many cars. Is there something else? |
| Chrissi: Well, “too many cars” isn’t a small problem; if you see what I mean by “too many cars,” you’ll understand! |
| Fay: How about the road network? |
| Chrissi: This is the other half of the problem. There are many small streets that get crowded very quickly. And these streets lead to big streets that also get crowded very quickly; you get the idea. |
| Fay: So I’ll probably need a GPS to get around. Are there GPSes for Athens? |
| Chrissi: Of course—in English, too, if by then your Greek isn’t up to par. Taxi drivers use them all the time. But I suggest you don’t drive in Athens. Walk, take the metro, maybe rent a motorcycle, but avoid driving! |
| Fay: Duly noted. Shall we move on to our vocabulary? |
| Chrissi: Yes! |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Fay: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary in this lesson. First… |
| Chrissi: λάθος [natural native speed]. |
| Fay: Mistake, wrong. |
| Chrissi: λάθος [slowly - broken down by syllable]. λάθος [natural native speed]. |
| Fay: Next… |
| Chrissi: εστιατόριο [natural native speed]. |
| Fay: Restaurant. |
| Chrissi: εστιατόριο [slowly - broken down by syllable]. εστιατόριο [natural native speed]. |
| Fay: Next… |
| Chrissi: φανάρι [natural native speed]. |
| Fay: Traffic light. |
| Chrissi: φανάρι [slowly - broken down by syllable]. φανάρι [natural native speed]. |
| Fay: Next… |
| Chrissi: νομίζω [natural native speed]. |
| Fay: I think. |
| Chrissi: νομίζω [slowly - broken down by syllable]. νομίζω [natural native speed]. |
| Fay: Next… |
| Chrissi: μικρό [natural native speed]. |
| Fay: Small. |
| Chrissi: μικρό [slowly - broken down by syllable]. μικρό [natural native speed]. |
| Fay: Next… |
| Chrissi: στενό [natural native speed]. |
| Fay: Alley. |
| Chrissi: στενό [slowly - broken down by syllable]. στενό [natural native speed]. |
| Fay: Next… |
| Chrissi: μαγαζί [natural native speed]. |
| Fay: Shop. |
| Chrissi: μαγαζί [slowly - broken down by syllable]. μαγαζί [natural native speed]. |
| Fay: Next… |
| Chrissi: ρούχα [natural native speed]. |
| Fay: Clothes. |
| Chrissi: ρούχα [slowly - broken down by syllable]. ρούχα [natural native speed]. |
| Fay: Next… |
| Chrissi: μέρος [natural native speed]. |
| Fay: Place. |
| Chrissi: μέρος [slowly - broken down by syllable]. μέρος [natural native speed]. |
| Fay: Next… |
| Chrissi: καλοκαίρι [natural native speed]. |
| Fay: Summer. |
| Chrissi: καλοκαίρι [slowly - broken down by syllable]. καλοκαίρι [natural native speed]. |
| KEY VOCABULARY AND PHRASES |
| Fay: Let's take a closer look at some of the words and phrases from this lesson. So φανάρι (fanari) means “traffic light”? |
| Chrissi: In everyday conversation, yes. But it can mean all kinds of lamps. |
| Fay: Like? |
| Chrissi: Like a car’s headlights, as in Άναψα τα φανάρια γιατί είχε σκοτάδι (Anapsa ta fanaria giati eiche skotadi) "I turned on the headlights because it was dark”. |
| Fay: I see. What other kind of lamps can φανάρι (fanari) be? |
| Chrissi: The ones we put in gardens, even the old handheld ones with a candle inside; all these are φανάρια (fanaria). |
| Fay: Let’s go to νομίζω (nomizo). What does that mean? |
| Chrissi: It means “I think” in the sense of “I believe”, as in “I think it’s going to rain.” |
| Fay: Some examples? |
| Chrissi: “I think it’s going to rain” is Νομίζω ότι θα βρέξει (Nomizo oti tha breksei). Listeners, repeat that. |
| Fay: Another example? |
| Chrissi: Νομίζω ότι έχει δίκιο (Nomizo oti echei dikio). “I believe that he is right.” |
| Fay: Νομίζω ότι έχει δίκιο (Nomizo oti echei dikio). |
| Chrissi: We can use νομίζω (nomizo) in all such cases. |
| Fay: Cool. Next, what’s “alley” in Greek? |
| Chrissi: Στενό (Steno) or its diminutive, στενάκι (stenaki). |
| Fay: Could we get an example? |
| Chrissi: “The shop is in the alley” is Το μαγαζί είναι στο στενό (To magazi einai sto steno). |
| Fay: And another one? |
| Chrissi: “Turn left at the alley” is Στρίψε αριστερά στο στενό (Stripse aristera sto steno). |
| Fay: Okay. Now that you mention μαγαζί (magazi), this means “store,” right? |
| Chrissi: Yes. “Store” or “shop.” |
| Fay: But the word is generic. |
| Chrissi: A “hardware store” specifically is μαγαζί με εργαλεία (magazi me ergaleia), which literally means “store with tools.” |
| Fay: And a shoe store? |
| Chrissi: Μαγαζί με παπούτσια (Magazi me papoutsia). Listeners, repeat that, too. |
| Fay: So a bookstore would be μαγαζί με βιβλία (magazi me vivlia)? |
| Chrissi: Actually, no! There are some dedicated words for particular shops. |
| Fay: So what is a bookstore? |
| Chrissi: Βιβλιοπωλείο (Vivliopoleio). Literally, book-selling place. |
| Fay: I see. And a clothing store? |
| Chrissi: Back to μαγαζί με ρούχα (magazi me roucha)! |
| Fay: A little complicated, isn’t it? |
| Chrissi: Oh, you get used to it. |
Lesson focus |
| Fay: The focus of this lesson is the third declension. Μαγαζί (Magazi) "shop” is a neuter noun, isn’t it? |
| Chrissi: Yes. So it belongs to the third declension. |
| Fay: After the first declension (masculine) and the second (feminine), we get to the third, which is for neuter nouns, right? |
| Chrissi: Right! All neuter nouns belong to the third declension, but there are smaller divisions within this declension. |
| Fay: What are they? |
| Chrissi: The first class, which includes parisyllabic nouns, and the second class, which includes imparisyllabic nouns. |
| Fay: Big words! |
| Chrissi: Yes, but what they mean is quite simple, frankly. Parisyllabic nouns are those with the same number of syllables in the singular and plural; the others are imparisyllabic. |
| Fay: That’s easy! Can we have some examples? |
| Chrissi: Μαγαζί (Magazi) becomes μαγαζιά (magazia) in the plural—same number of syllables, so it’s parisyllabic. Φανάρι (Fanari) "traffic light” becomes φανάρια (fanaria)—also parisyllabic. And τραπέζι (trapezi) "table” becomes τραπέζια (trapezia)—another parisyllabic noun. |
| Fay: How about imparisyllabics? |
| Chrissi: Κύμα (Kyma) "wave” becomes κύματα (kymata) in the plural. That’s one more syllable than the singular had. |
| Fay: Another example? |
| Chrissi: Φως (Fos) "light,” as in “sunlight” or “electric light” becomes φώτα (fota) in the plural. Again, one more syllable. And κρέας (kreas) "meat” becomes κρέατα (kreata). |
| Fay: One more syllable. I’m guessing that neuter nouns, like masucline and feminine nouns, have a variety of endings. |
| Chrissi: It’s true. We use those endings and the parisyllabic/imparisyllabic distinction to categorize neuter nouns. |
| Fay: What endings do they have? |
| Chrissi: Let’s see. They can end in -o like το δέντρο (to dentro) "the tree", in -i like το ποτήρι (to potiri) "the glass", in -os like το μήκος (to mikos) "the length", in -ma like το βλέμμα (to vlemma) "the look", in -simo like το γράψιμο (to grapsimo) "the writing", in -as like το τέρας (to teras) “the monster”, and in -os [but with omega, the other o] like το φως (to fos) "the light” that we just mentioned. |
| Fay: Does every neuter noun fall into one of those seven categories? |
| Chrissi: Actually, most fall into the first three—-o, -i, and -os (with omicron, the regular o). The other four categories have very few nouns. |
| Fay: Is there anything we can say about all neuter nouns to help our listeners? |
| Chrissi: Two things. They’ll make life a lot easier. |
| Fay: Let’s hear them! |
| Chrissi: All neuter nouns have three identical cases in both numbers—the nominative, the accusative, and the vocative. |
| Fay: Okay. Less to remember! |
| Chrissi: Yes! |
| Fay: And the other note? |
| Chrissi: All neuter nouns form their genitive plural with the ending -on. |
| Fay: Also less to remember. |
| Chrissi: Yes. You’ll find all these nouns more in the PDF. |
| Fay: So don’t forget to download it, okay? Get instant access to all of our language learning lessons. |
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| Fay: Instantly access them all right now at GreekPod101.com. Bye for now! |
| Chrissi: Γεια! (Geiá)! |
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