Learn about superlative adjectives
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Fay: Hello, everyone. Welcome back to GreekPod101.com, Beginner Season 1, Lesson 25 - The Best Greece Has to Offer! This is Fay. |
| Chrissi: I’m Chrissi. Thanks for joining us for this last lesson of Beginner Season 1. |
| Fay: Last lesson already? What are we learning in this lesson? |
| Chrissi: We are learning about the superlative degree of adjectives. |
| Fay: The conversation takes place in a restaurant in Athens. |
| Chrissi: It’s between Petra Gordon and her Greek hosts, Danai and Kostantina. |
| Fay: The characters are friends so the conversation is informal. |
| Chrissi: Let’s listen. |
Lesson conversation |
|---|
| Πέτρα Γκόρντον: Βεβαίως, το πιο νόστιμο ελληνικό φαγητό που έχω φάει είναι της Δανάης! |
| Δανάη Παπαδοπούλου: Ευχαριστώ! Αλλά είναι το λιγότερο που μπορώ να κάνω αυτόν τον καιρό. Η δουλειά στο γραφείο μού τρώει τις περισσότερες ώρες της ημέρας. |
| Κώσταντίνα Παπαδοπούλου: Παρ' όλα αυτά, θα συμφωνήσω με την Πέτρα—το φαγητό σου είναι το καλύτερο! |
| Δανάη Παπαδοπούλου: Σταματήστε—έχω γίνει κατακόκκινη! |
| Fay: Now let’s listen to the conversation one time slowly. |
| Πέτρα Γκόρντον: Βεβαίως, το πιο νόστιμο ελληνικό φαγητό που έχω φάει είναι της Δανάης! |
| Δανάη Παπαδοπούλου: Ευχαριστώ! Αλλά είναι το λιγότερο που μπορώ να κάνω αυτόν τον καιρό. Η δουλειά στο γραφείο μού τρώει τις περισσότερες ώρες της ημέρας. |
| Κώσταντίνα Παπαδοπούλου: Παρ' όλα αυτά, θα συμφωνήσω με την Πέτρα—το φαγητό σου είναι το καλύτερο! |
| Δανάη Παπαδοπούλου: Σταματήστε—έχω γίνει κατακόκκινη! |
| Fay: Now let’s listen to the conversation with English translation. |
| Πέτρα Γκόρντον: Βεβαίως, το πιο νόστιμο ελληνικό φαγητό που έχω φάει είναι της Δανάης! |
| Fay: Of course, the most delicious Greek food I've tasted is Danai's! |
| Δανάη Παπαδοπούλου: Ευχαριστώ! Αλλά είναι το λιγότερο που μπορώ να κάνω αυτόν τον καιρό. Η δουλειά στο γραφείο μού τρώει τις περισσότερες ώρες της ημέρας. |
| Fay: Thank you. But it's the least I can do these days. My work in the office takes up most hours of my day. |
| Κώσταντίνα Παπαδοπούλου: Παρ' όλα αυτά, θα συμφωνήσω με την Πέτρα—το φαγητό σου είναι το καλύτερο! |
| Fay: Still, I will agree with Petra—your cooking is the best! |
| Δανάη Παπαδοπούλου: Σταματήστε—έχω γίνει κατακόκκινη! |
| Fay: Stop it—I'm blushing! |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Fay: You know, the first time I saw Greeks talking with each other, I thought they were fighting! |
| Chrissi: Yes, it seems that way to most Westerners. We tend to exaggerate sometimes. |
| Fay: “Sometimes”? You yell and gesture at each other! |
| Chrissi: It’s true; most Greeks tend to speak in loud, almost theatrical voices and gesture too much. |
| Fay: It’s a little weird for someone accustomed to more moderate methods of communication. |
| Chrissi: Personally I also find very funny how Westerners react to hugging; it makes them very uncomfortable. |
| Fay: You think that’s funny? It’s invasion of personal space! |
| Chrissi: Think of it as a sign of affection! |
| Fay: I mean, I understand that things are different in different cultures. Still, I think that you Greeks are too extroverted! |
| Chrissi: Is there such a thing as “too extroverted”? |
| Fay: Spoken like a true Greek. But shouldn’t we move on to our vocabulary? |
| Chrissi: Yes, we should. Let’s go! |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Fay: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. First… |
| Chrissi: βεβαίως [natural native speed]. |
| Fay: Certainly. |
| Chrissi: βεβαίως [slowly - broken down by syllable]. Chrissi: βεβαίως [natural native speed] |
| Fay: Next… |
| Chrissi: λιγότερο [natural native speed]. |
| Fay: Less/least. |
| Chrissi: λιγότερο [slowly - broken down by syllable]. λιγότερο [natural native speed]. |
| Fay: Next… |
| Chrissi: περισσότερες [natural native speed]. |
| Fay: More/most. |
| Chrissi: περισσότερες [slowly - broken down by syllable]. περισσότερες [natural native speed]. |
| Fay: Next… |
| Chrissi: ημέρα [natural native speed]. |
| Fay: Day. |
| Chrissi: ημέρα [slowly - broken down by syllable]. ημέρα [natural native speed]. |
| Fay: Next… |
| Chrissi: Παρ' όλα αυτά [natural native speed]. |
| Fay: Still, regardless. |
| Chrissi: Παρ' όλα αυτά [slowly - broken down by syllable]. Παρ' όλα αυτά [natural native speed]. |
| Fay: Next… |
| Chrissi: συμφωνώ [natural native speed]. |
| Fay: I agree. |
| Chrissi: συμφωνώ [slowly - broken down by syllable]. συμφωνώ [natural native speed]. |
| Fay: Next… |
| Chrissi: σταματάω [natural native speed]. |
| Fay: To stop. |
| Chrissi: σταματάω [slowly - broken down by syllable]. σταματάω [natural native speed]. |
| Fay: Next… |
| Chrissi: γίνομαι [natural native speed]. |
| Fay: To become. |
| Chrissi: γίνομαι [slowly - broken down by syllable]. γίνομαι [natural native speed]. |
| Fay: Next… |
| Chrissi: κατακόκκινος [natural native speed]. |
| Fay: Blood-red. |
| Chrissi: κατακόκκινος [slowly - broken down by syllable]. κατακόκκινος [natural native speed]. |
| KEY VOCABULARY AND PHRASES |
| Fay: Let's take closer look at some of the words and phrases from this lesson. So, do you eat time in Greece? |
| Chrissi: I take it you’re referring to the phrase Η δουλειά στο γραφείο μου τρώει τισ περισσότερες ώρες της ημέρας (I douleia sto grafeio mou troei tis perissoteres ores tis imeras.) |
| Fay: Yes. It means “My work in the office takes up most of the hours in my day.” But the verb you use is τρώω (troo) "I eat”. |
| Chrissi: Why not? In everyday conversation you can use “eat” to mean “use up a lot of,” usually in a negative sense. |
| Fay: Such as? |
| Chrissi: Well, if a repairman takes more days than promised to do some repair, you can say Έχει φάει τρεις εβδομάδες (Echei faei treis evdomades) "He has spent three weeks”—when he should have spent less!. |
| Fay: Another example? Listeners, repeat after Chrissi. |
| Chrissi: Έφαγα μισή μέρα ψάχνοντας βα το βρω (Efaga misi mera psachnontas na to vro) means “I wasted half a day looking for it.” |
| Fay: Next, what does παρ’όλα αυτά (par’ ola auta) mean? |
| Chrissi: That means “still” or “even so.” |
| Fay: How can we use it? |
| Chrissi: Είπα ότι θα πάω. Παρ’όλα αυτά δεν μπόρεσα (Eipa oti tha pao. Par’ ola auta den mporesa). Listeners, repeat these sentences. |
| Fay: What do they mean? |
| Chrissi: “I said I’d go. Still, I couldn’t.” |
| Fay: Another example? |
| Chrissi: “I had too much work. Still, I managed to take some days off.” Είχα πολλή δουλειά. Παρ’όλα αυτά, κατάφερα να φύγω μερικές μέρες. (Eicha polli douleia. Par’ ola auta, katafera na fygo merikes meres.) |
| Fay: I think I’ve got it. Do we normally use it in the beginning of a sentence? |
| Chrissi: Usually, yes. It shows a contradiction between the previous sentence and the one it’s in. |
| Fay: Got it. Shall we move on to our main Grammar Point? |
| Chrissi: Let's! |
Lesson focus |
| Fay: The focus of this lesson is superlative adjectives. |
| Chrissi: Yes, the superlative degree. |
| Fay: That that’s the form an adjective takes when we want to say that a noun has the quality of that adjective more than any other noun does. |
| Chrissi: That’s right! |
| Fay: How do we make a superlative adjective in Greek? |
| Chrissi: Remember how to make the comparative degree? |
| Fay: Sure We just put πιο (pio), something like the English “more”, in front of the positive degree. |
| Chrissi: Yes. Σωστός (Sostos) is “right,” so πιο σωστός (pio sostos) is “more right.” Καλός (Kalos) is “good,” so πιο καλός (pio kalos) is “better.” Κακός (Kakos) is “bad,” so πιο κακός (pio kakos) is “worse.” |
| Fay: Thanks for the comparative examples. But what about the superlative? |
| Chrissi: Sorry, I thought it was a good chance for a small review! All we do to make the superlative is to make the comparative and stick a definite article in front of it. |
| Fay: Wow, that easy? |
| Chrissi: It is! |
| Fay: Can we see that in action? |
| Chrissi: Sure, we’ll use the same adjectives. Πιο σωστός (Pio sostos) becomes ο πιο σωστός (o pio sostos) "the most right", πιο καλός (pio kalos) becomes ο πιο καλός (o pio kalos) "the best", and πιο κακός pio kakos) becomes ο πιο κακός (o pio kakos) "the worst”). |
| Fay: So how would we say “Greek is the most difficult language in the world”? |
| Chrissi: Τα ελληνικά είναι η πιο δύσκολη γλώσσα στον κόσμο. (Ta ellinika einai i pio dyskoli glossa ston kosmo.) But it isn’t...is it? |
| Fay: I’m just exaggerating. How might you say “This is the biggest exaggeration I’ve ever heard”? |
| Chrissi: Αυτή είναι η μεγαλύτερη υπερβολή που έχω ακούσει! (Auti einai i megalyteri ypervoli pou echo akousei!) |
| Fay: Simple. But is this comparative-plus-definite article construction the only way to make the superlative in Greek? |
| Chrissi: There are two or three other ways to do it, but they’re rather complicated to explain now. If you’re interested, you can find them in the PDF with plenty of examples. |
| Fay: Hear that, listeners? Our PDF has “the most info” on Greek superlatives! |
| Chrissi: So go wild. But if you’d rather stick to the comparative-plus-article setup, rest assured that it’ll be correct every time. |
| Fay: Wow, how surprisingly trustworthy. Why would you ever use the other methods, then? |
| Chrissi: It mostly has to do with what feels right. With some color adjectives, like κόκκινος (kokkinos) "red", λευκός (leukos) "white", and μαύρος (mauros) "black", it feels better to say κατακόκκινος (katakokkinos) like in our dialogue, κατάλευκος (kataleukos), and κατάμαυρος (katamauros) for “reddest,” “whitest,” and “blackest.” |
| Fay: Listeners, read the PDF for more details on how to exaggerate adjectives. |
| Chrissi: And that’s all we need to cover in this lesson! Listeners, do you know the reason flash cards are so popular? |
| Fay: It’s because they work! |
| Chrissi: We’ve taken this time-tested studying tools and modernized with My Wordbank flashcards. |
| Fay: Learn vocabulary using your eyes and ears. |
| Chrissi: It’s simple and powerful. Save difficult and interesting words to your personal vocabulary list called My Word Bank. |
| Fay: Master words in your My Word Bank by practicing with flashcards. |
| Chrissi: Words in My Word Bank come with audio so you learn proper pronunciation… |
| Fay: …while you learn to recognize words by sight. |
| Chrissi: Go to GreekPod101.com now and try My Word Bank and flashcards today. |
| Fay: Bye! |
| Chrissi: Γεια χαρα! (Geia chara!) |
Comments
HideWhere is the most beautiful Greek sightseeing place for you?
Γεια σου William Park,
Thank you so much for your positive message! 😇❤️️
Feel free to contact us if you have any questions.
We wish you good luck with your language studies.
Γεια χαρά,
Λέβεντε (Levente)
Team GreekPod101.com
About 15 months in... still enjoying these lessons daily and just beginning to see a glimmer of understanding of Greek newspaper headlines and my now much loved Greek folk songs (Γρηγόρης Μπιθικώτσης, Μαρία Φαραντούρη, Μίκης Θεοδωράκης, Χάρις Αλεξίου κ τ λ.). Ευχαριστω !👍
Γεια σου ahmad,
You are very very welcome. 😇❤️️ We were so happy to read your positive message!
Feel free to contact us if you have any questions.
We wish you good luck with your language studies.
Γεια χαρά,
Λέβεντε (Levente)
Team GreekPod101.com
Hi thank you team greecepod101. today 24/12/2020 i finished my first 50 lessons and l am feeling good and progress
thank you.
i can speak greece and i can understand. i like to continue next level
.
Γεια σου Λεωνίδα,
ναι, δυστυχώς δεν γίνεται να επισυνάψεις φωτογραφίες στο μήνυμά σου. Δεν πειράζει όμως. Ένας ακόμα παραπάνω λόγος να εξερευνήσω καλύτερα την περιοχή αν ξαναπάω ποτέ!
Στεφανία
Team GreekPod101.com
Γεια σου, Στεφανία.
Κρίμα που δεν μπορώ να βάλω και μια φωτογραφία στο μήνυμά μου. Δεν είναι δυνατό εδώ.
Γεια σου Λεωνίδα,
έχω πάει εκεί στον Άγιο Νικόλαο, όμως δεν πήγα σε αυτό το σημείο που λες. Τώρα με έπιασε περιέργεια!
Στεφανία
Team GreekPod101.com
Μου αρέσει πολύ η θέα στον Άγιο Νικόλαο (πόλη της Κρήτης) από πάνω. Είναι πανέμορφη!
Hi Sanja,
Congratulations! I'm glad the process was fun 😄
You can feel free to listen to or watch other lessons of the absolute beginner level. Level 1 and Level 2 pathways contain only the lessons that focus on grammar. That means they don't include lessons that focus only on listening or reading, for example.
So I would recommend you have a look at the rest of the Absolute Beginner content before moving on.
All the best,
Stefania
Team GreekPod101.com
Για μένα, ένα από τα πιο όμορφα μέρη έιναι το Μπούρτζι στι Σκιάθο. Εκεί υπάρχουν όλα που θέλει ο άνθρωπος: η θάλασσα, η υσιχεία, το καλό φαγητό και μία πάνεμορφη θέα ❤️️
After 50 lessons and 17 tests I've finished my pathway 1! It was really fun and I am looking forward to continuing pathway 2 starting tomorrow :) I would like to consult you on one thing before I start it - what about all lessons from lesson library that were not included in this pathway 1, but are also marked for absolute beginners (like some 3min lessons etc.), is it safe to proceed to level 2 without them, was this enough for A1 ?
Best wishes, Sanja
Μπράβο Στίβεν!
Συγχαρητήρια! Χαίρομαι που θέλεις να συνεχίσεις! Σε ευχαριστώ για τα καλά σου λόγια! Χαίρομαι πάντα να βοηθάω!
Αυτό είναι το επόμενο βήμα:
https://www.greekpod101.com/lesson-library/level-2-greek/
Στεφανία
Team GreekPod101.com
Τελικά, μετά από τρεις μήνες, τελείωσα level 1 Greek. Ήταν πολύ διασκεδαστικό! Λατρεύω η ελληνική γλώσσα. It's amazing how much you can learn in just 3 months!
Ευχαριστώ Στεφανίa για τη βοήθειά σου επίσης. Your comments are very helpful and uplifting :). I look forward to the next steps!
Γεια χαρά!
Hi Hiro,
I'm impressed that you like such difficult grammar points the most but I'm not surprised. You have a very analytical and structured way to study, so such points won't be an issue for you. To me, the Greek language is like mathematics. Very logical. You just have to move at a specific linear way to build up your knowledge and then even the most difficult grammar topics will make sense and won't seem like irrational information that you can't predict how it works in different ways.
Well, happy studying!
Stefania
Team GreekPod101.com
Just a comment for Μην ανησυχείς για Subjunctive, Conditional, Passive... don't get into those yet!
This point is the most beautiful point of the Greek language for me.
Thanks
Ευχαριστώ Στεφανία!
Ιουστίνα γεια!
Μην ανησυχείς για Subjunctive, Conditional, Passive... don't get into those yet!
"διόρθωσείς σου!">> the second accent does not go here I am afraid.
There are some certain rules about this double accent marks which you also don't need to really follow at this stage. But in case you are wondering, here they are:
http://screencast.com/t/RPLwVpdj0
"Oops! Ι spelled “διόρθωσες” wrong." = Ωπ! Έγραψα το “διορθώσεις” λάθος!
(when you realize where you made a mistake, and then you want to say "I did a mistake "HERE", in Greek we would put that word ("HERE") in its correct form rather than repeat the misspelled word again:wink:
Cheers,
Stefania
Oops! (Πώς λέγεται "oops!" στα ελληνικά;). Ι spelled "διόρθωσες" wrong. (Και πώς λέγεται αυτή η πρόταση στα ελληνικά;).
Subjunctive, Conditional, Passive...my head is swimming!
Ευχαριστώ για τις διόρθωσείς σου! (is it correct to use the second accent here?).
Γεια σου Ιουστίνα,
σε ευχαριστώ και πάλι για τις παρατηρήσεις σου. Yes you were right again, the romanization was correct! I added the missing articles to the Greek sentences. Seems that your instinct in what is right and wrong in Greek is getting stronger. It is a good sign that you are learning well!
Keep it up and I hope there won't be any more mistakes that will create confusion.
Adding the "μου" after "αγαπημένη" in your sentence is a good call:thumbsup:
Have a look at the small corrections:
Ένα από τα αγαπημένα μου μέρη στην Ελλάδα είναι το χωριό Μονοδένδρι στα βουνά της Ηπείρου (feminine). Τα κτίρια είναι φτιαγμένα (passive participle) από τοπική πέτρα. Κοντά στο χωριό είναι το Φαράγγι του Βίκου, το βαθύτερο φαράγγι στον κόσμο. Το νερό της πηγής εμφιαλώνεται (passive voice) εκεί. Υπάρκει ένα μικρό μοναστήρι στην άκρη του γκρεμού. Είναι ένα πολύ ωραίο μέρος.
Very good! Don't worry about using passive voice yet. It is for more advanced levels, just like when I was learning English grammar. It was one of the last things to learn!
Γράφεις πολύ καλά!
And it seems that you have finished this series! Congratulations!
Stefania,
Team GreekPod101.com
Note about my Greek sentences: I forgot the "μου" after αγαπημένη.