Learn about the comparison of Greek adjectives and find out how to form the comparative degree
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Fay: Hello, and welcome back to GreekPod101.com, Beginner Season 1, Lesson 24 - Cheaper and Better in Greece. I’m Fay. |
| Chrissi: I’m Chrissi. |
| Fay: What are we learning in this lesson? |
| Chrissi: We are looking at the comparative degrees of adjectives. |
| Fay: The conversation takes place in a restaurant in Athens. |
| Chrissi: It’s among Petra, Danai, and Kostantina. |
| Fay: The characters are friends, so the conversation is informal. |
| Chrissi: Let’s listen. |
Lesson conversation |
|---|
| Πέτρα Γκόρντον: Το φαγητό σ' αυτό το μέρος είναι από τα νοστιμότερα που έχω δοκιμάσει! |
| Κωσταντίνα Παπαδοπούλου: Ναι, είναι από τα καλύτερα εστιατόρια που ξέρουμε. Και αρκετά φτηνότερο από άλλα της περιοχής. |
| Πέτρα Γκόρντον: Καλύτερο και φτηνότερο –εξαιρετικός συνδυασμός! |
| Δανάη Παπαδοπούλου: Όμως ο περισσότερος κόσμος πιστεύει ότι όταν κάτι είναι ακριβότερο είναι πάντα καλύτερο. |
| Fay: Now let’s listen to the conversation one time slowly. |
| Πέτρα Γκόρντον: Το φαγητό σ' αυτό το μέρος είναι από τα νοστιμότερα που έχω δοκιμάσει! |
| Κωσταντίνα Παπαδοπούλου: Ναι, είναι από τα καλύτερα εστιατόρια που ξέρουμε. Και αρκετά φτηνότερο από άλλα της περιοχής. |
| Πέτρα Γκόρντον: Καλύτερο και φτηνότερο –εξαιρετικός συνδυασμός! |
| Δανάη Παπαδοπούλου: Όμως ο περισσότερος κόσμος πιστεύει ότι όταν κάτι είναι ακριβότερο είναι πάντα καλύτερο. |
| Fay: Now let’s listen to the conversation with English translation. |
| Πέτρα Γκόρντον: Το φαγητό σ' αυτό το μέρος είναι από τα νοστιμότερα που έχω δοκιμάσει! |
| Fay: The food in this place is among the best I've tasted. |
| Κωσταντίνα Παπαδοπούλου: Ναι, είναι από τα καλύτερα εστιατόρια που ξέρουμε. Και αρκετά φτηνότερο από άλλα της περιοχής. |
| Fay: Yes, it's one of the best restaurants we know, and quite cheaper than others in the area. |
| Πέτρα Γκόρντον: Καλύτερο και φτηνότερο –εξαιρετικός συνδυασμός! |
| Fay: Better and cheaper—great combination! |
| Δανάη Παπαδοπούλου: Όμως ο περισσότερος κόσμος πιστεύει ότι όταν κάτι είναι ακριβότερο είναι πάντα καλύτερο. |
| Fay: Still, most people believe that when something is more expensive, it is always better. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Fay: I always thought that Greece was a cheap country. |
| Chrissi: It’s complicated. |
| Fay: It usually is! But what do you mean? |
| Chrissi: Well, life in Greece used to be rather cheap, but then the euro came. |
| Fay: So after the euro, prices went up? |
| Chrissi: More or less. Nowadays, it seems to me that prices in Greece are the same as in all EU countries. Sometimes even higher. |
| Fay: So it’s not good for a budget traveler? |
| Chrissi: You can still get some very decent prices for lodging and food, but you have to plan more carefully. |
| Fay: So it’s better to avoid the summer high season, huh? |
| Chrissi: Isn’t it always? Also, try to find small tavernas—neighborhood restaurants where the locals eat. |
| Fay: Good food? |
| Chrissi: Occasionally, even exceptional. And the prices in those places are still very cheap. |
| Fay: Thanks—I’ll keep that in mind. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Let’s take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. First… |
| Chrissi: νοστιμότερο [natural native speed]. |
| Fay: Tastier. |
| Chrissi: νοστιμότερο [slowly - broken down by syllable]. νοστιμότερο [natural native speed]. |
| Fay: Next… |
| Chrissi: δοκιμάζω [natural native speed]. |
| Fay: I try, taste. |
| Chrissi: δοκιμάζω [slowly - broken down by syllable]. δοκιμάζω [natural native speed]. |
| Fay: Next… |
| Chrissi: καλύτερο [natural native speed]. |
| Fay: Better. |
| Chrissi: καλύτερο [slowly - broken down by syllable]. καλύτερο [natural native speed]. |
| Fay: Next… |
| Chrissi: ξέρουμε [natural native speed]. |
| Fay: We know. |
| Chrissi: ξέρουμε [slowly - broken down by syllable]. ξέρουμε [natural native speed]. |
| Fay: Next… |
| Chrissi: φτηνότερο [natural native speed]. |
| Fay: Cheaper. |
| Chrissi: φτηνότερο [slowly - broken down by syllable]. φτηνότερο [natural native speed]. |
| Fay: Next… |
| Chrissi: εξαιρετικός [natural native speed]. |
| Fay: Great, superb. |
| Chrissi: εξαιρετικός [slowly - broken down by syllable]. εξαιρετικός [natural native speed]. |
| Fay: Next… |
| Chrissi: συνδυασμός [natural native speed]. |
| Fay: Combination. |
| Chrissi: συνδυασμός [slowly - broken down by syllable]. συνδυασμός [natural native speed]. |
| Fay: Next… |
| Chrissi: πιστεύει [natural native speed]. |
| Fay: He/she/it believes. |
| Chrissi: πιστεύει [slowly - broken down by syllable]. πιστεύει [natural native speed]. |
| Fay: Next… |
| Chrissi: όταν [natural native speed]. |
| Fay: When. |
| Chrissi: όταν [slowly - broken down by syllable]. όταν [natural native speed]. |
| Fay: Next… |
| Chrissi: ακριβότερο [natural native speed]. |
| Fay: More expensive. |
| Chrissi: ακριβότερο [slowly - broken down by syllable]. ακριβότερο [natural native speed]. |
| Fay: Next… |
| KEY VOCABULARY AND PHRASES |
| Fay: Let's take a closer look at some of the words and phrases from this lesson. “Cheap” is φθηνός (fthinos) or φτηνός (ftinos)? |
| Chrissi: Both. Certain combinations of letters like f + t and ch + t, are considered a little vulgar by some; but you can use either of these words with no problem at all. |
| Fay: Then “This shirt is cheap?” would be... |
| Chrissi: Αυτό το πουκάμισο είναι φτηνό (Auto to poukamiso einai ftino) or Αυτό το πουκάμισο είναι φθηνό (Auto to poukamiso einai fthino). They’re exactly the same. |
| Fay: Okay. Now I have to admit, I’m troubled by the translation of “Do you have a better idea?” |
| Chrissi: I know why! The Greek phrase is Έχεις καμιά καλύτερη ιδέα (Echeis kamia kalyteri idea?) |
| Fay: But what does that kamia mean? |
| Chrissi: “None.” |
| Fay: So what you’re saying is “Do you have none better idea?” |
| Chrissi: Literally, yes. But Greek uses the negative pronouns κανένας (kanenas), καμία (kamia), and κανένα (kanena), which all mean “none,” in situations where English would use “a/an,” “any,” or “some.” |
| Fay: Oh? Could we hear some examples? |
| Chrissi: “Do you know any good dentists?” is Ξέρεις κανέναν καλό οδοντίατρο; (Ksereis kanenan kalo odontiatro?) Listeners, repeat that question—although we hope you won’t need to ask it? |
| Fay: Another example? |
| Chrissi: “Shall we go to a taverna?” is Πάμε σε καμιά ταβέρνα; (Pame se kamia taverna?) Repeat that, too. |
| Fay: It’s really okay to use κανένας (kanenas), καμιά (kamia), or κανένα (kanena) in a question like that? |
| Chrissi: Yes. And not just in a question. “I’m thinking of buying some books” is Λέω να αγοράσω κανένα βιβλίο. (Leo na agoraso kanena vivlio.) |
| Fay: And that’s correct? |
| Chrissi: Well, we could also use the indefinite pronouns κάποιος (kapoios), κάποια (kapoia), and κάποιο (kapoio). Ξέρεις κάποιον καλό οδοντίατρο; (Ksereis kapoion kalo odontiatro?) |
| Πάμε σε κάποια ταβέρνα; (Pame se kapoia taverna?) |
| Λέω να αγοράσω κάποια βιβλία. (Leo na agoraso kapoia vivlia.) But the first version sounds more natural. |
| Fay: That’ll take some getting used to. There’s one more thing I’d like to ask. What does όταν (otan) mean? It’s in our dialogue. |
| Chrissi: Όταν κάτι είναι ακριβότερο (Otan kati einai akrivotero) "when something is more expensive”. |
| Fay: That’s the one. |
| Chrissi: It means “when,” but only as the subordinating conjunction "I’ll come when I’m finished", not as the interrogative adverb "When will you finish?” or as the relative adverb "Sunday is the day when we go to church”. |
| Fay: I see. It’s more limited than the English “when.” Okay, on to the grammar! |
Lesson focus |
| Fay: The focus of the lesson is comparison of adjectives. |
| Chrissi: That’s right! |
| Fay: Like “My car is more expensive than yours”? |
| Chrissi: Right! In Greek, as in English, adjectives have three degrees. First is the positive. |
| Fay: That just states a characteristic. |
| Chrissi: As in Αυτό το σάντουιτς είναι νόστιμο (Auto to santouits einai nostimo) "This sandwich is tasty”. Then we have the comparative. |
| Fay: That compares one noun to another. |
| Chrissi: As in Αυτό το σάντουιτς είναι πιο νόστιμο από εκείνο (Auto to santouits einai pio nostimo apo ekeino) "This sandwich is tastier than that one”. |
| Fay: And the last one? |
| Chrissi: The superlative, as in Αυτό το σάντουιτς είναι το πιο νόστιμο απ’όλα (Auto to santouits einai to pio nostimo ap’ ola) "This sandwich is tastiest of all”. |
| Fay: We use the superlative degree we want to say that the quality the adjective describes is far greater in one noun than in all others. |
| Chrissi: Right! |
| Fay: How can we make a Greek adjective comparative? |
| Chrissi: There are two ways. First, we can add the quantitative adverb pio, which is just like putting “more” in front of the positive degree of an English adjective. |
| Fay: That sounds simple enough. Some examples? |
| Chrissi: Sure. Listeners, try to repeat these. Νόστιμος (Nostimos) "tasty” becomes πιο νόστιμος (pio nostimos) "tastier”. Καλός (Kalos) “good” becomes πιο καλός (pio kalos) "better”. Γρήγορος (Grigoros) "fast” becomes πιο γρήγορος (pio grigoros) "faster”. Ακριβός (Akrivos) "expensive” becomes πιο ακριβός (pio akrivos) "more expensive”. And φτηνός (ftinos) "cheap” becomes πιο φτηνός (pio ftinos) "cheaper”. |
| Fay: No problems there. And the other way? |
| Chrissi: It’s similar to the English “-er” suffix. In Greek, we add the suffix -eros at the end of the adjective. |
| Fay: So the examples we just mentioned would be...? |
| Chrissi: Listeners, repeat these, too. Νόστιμος (Nostimos) "tasty” becomes νοστιμότερος (nostimoteros) "tastier”. Καλός (Kalos) "good” becomes καλύτερος (kalyteros) "better”. Γρήγορος (Grigoros) "fast” becomes γρηγορότερος (grigoroteros) "faster”. Ακριβός (Akrivos) "expensive” becomes ακριβότερος (akrivoteros) "more expensive”. And φτηνός (ftinos) "cheap” becomes φτηνότερος (ftinoteros) "cheaper”. |
| Fay: But it seems that this doesn’t work for all adjectives. |
| Chrissi: It doesn’t. It’s like English that way. |
| Fay: So it’s better to use the first method, with πιο (pio). |
| Chrissi: Safer, anyway. Πιο ασφαλές (Pio asfales)! |
| Fay: Are there any irregular adjectives? |
| Chrissi: There are a few, and four of them are very common. But they are irregular only if we use the suffix -eros to create the comparative; if we use pio, they behave like all the other adjectives. |
| Fay: And if we want to use the -eros suffix? |
| Chrissi: In that case, καλός (kalos) "good” becomes καλύτερος (kalyteros) "better", κακός (kakos) "bad” becomes χειρότερος (cheiroteros) "worse", μεγάλος (megalos) "big” becomes μεγαλύτερος (megalyteros) "bigger", and πολύς (polys) "much” becomes περισσότερος (perissoteros) "more”. |
| Fay: Whew—I think those are enough for now! Listeners, don’t forget to download the PDF! |
| Chrissi: You’ll find all the verbs from this lesson in there! Listeners, can you understand Greek TV shows, movies or songs. |
| Fay: How about friends and loved ones’ conversations in Greek? |
| Chrissi: If you want to know what’s going on, we have a tool to help. |
| Fay: Line-by-line audio. |
| Chrissi: Listen to the lesson conversations line-by-line and learn to understand natural Greek fast. |
| Fay: It’s simple really. |
| Chrissi: With a click of a button, listen to each line of the conversation. |
| Fay: Listen again and again and tune your ear to natural Greek. |
| Chrissi: Rapidly understand natural Greek with this powerful tool. |
| Fay: Find this feature on the lesson page under premium member resources at GreekPod101.com. Bye! |
| Chrissi: Γεια! (Geia!) |
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