Vocabulary (Review)

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Lesson Transcript

Let's take a closer look at the conversation.
Do you remember how Mark asks,
"Are you a student?"
Είστε φοιτητής; (Íste fititís?)
First is είστε (íste), "[you] are" when using formal Greek. Είστε . Είστε.
Note: είστε (íste) is a shortened form of εσείς είστε (esís íste), "you are," plural, as in "you all are." It's also the formal way to address a single person, as is the case here, where Panagiotis is addressing Mark.
In Greek, εσείς (esís), "you," is usually omitted, as it’s understood from context.
Είστε is from the verb είμαι (íme), "am." Είμαι.
Next is φοιτητής (fititís), "student." Φοιτητής . Φοιτητής.
In Greek, all nouns have grammatical gender and case, and are either singular or plural.
As Mark is addressing Panagiotis Papakonstantinou Φοιτητής is masculine and singular.
Note: this word is only used for university students.
All together, Είστε φοιτητής; (Íste fititís?) literally, "Are [you] student," but translates as "Are you a student?"
Είστε φοιτητής; (Íste fititís?)
Now, let's take a closer look at the response.
Do you remember how Panagiotis says,
"No, I'm not a student. I'm an investor."
Όχι, δεν είμαι φοιτητής. Είμαι επενδυτής. (Óhi, den íme fititís. Íme ependitís.)
First is the expression, όχι (óhi), meaning, "no." Όχι . Όχι.
It answers Mark's yes-or-no question, "Are you a student?" Είστε φοιτητής; (Íste fititís?)
After this, Panagiotis specifies that he’s not a student. Δεν είμαι φοιτητής. (Den íme fititís.) "I'm not a student." Δεν είμαι φοιτητής.
First is δεν (den), "not." Δεν . Δεν.
Next is είμαι (íme). "[I] am." Είμαι . Είμαι.
Note: here είμαι (íme) is a shortened form of εγώ είμαι (egó íme), "I am." In Greek, εγώ (egó), "I," is usually omitted, as it’s understood from context.
Είμαι is also the dictionary form of the verb "I am." Είμαι.
Together, it's δεν είμαι (den íme), literally "Not [I] am," but it translates as "I'm not." Δεν είμαι.
Next is φοιτητής (fititís). "Student." Φοιτητής.
Recall, in Greek, all nouns have grammatical gender and are either singular or plural.
As Panagiotis is responding to the question, Φοιτητής (Fititís) is masculine singular.
All together, Όχι, δεν είμαι φοιτητής. (Óhi, den íme fititís.) literally, “No, not [I] am student,” but translates as "No, I'm not a student." Όχι, δεν είμαι φοιτητής.
Panagiotis then tells Mark his actual occupation. Είμαι επενδυτής. (Íme ependitís.) "I'm an investor." Είμαι επενδυτής.
First, είμαι (íme) "[I] am." Είμαι.
Next is επενδυτής (ependitís), "investor." Επενδυτής . Επενδυτής.
Επενδυτής (Ependitís) is masculine singular.
Together, Είμαι επενδυτής. (Íme ependitís.) "I'm an investor." Είμαι επενδυτής.
All together, Όχι, δεν είμαι φοιτητής. Είμαι επενδυτής. (Óhi, den íme fititís. Íme ependitís.)
"No, I'm not a student. I'm an investor."
Όχι, δεν είμαι φοιτητής. Είμαι επενδυτής. (Óhi, den íme fititís. Íme ependitís.)
The pattern is
Όχι, δεν είμαι OCCUPATION. Είμαι ACTUAL OCCUPATION.
(Óhi, den íme occupation. Íme actual occupation.)
"No, I'm not OCCUPATION. I'm ACTUAL OCCUPATION."
To use this pattern, simply replace the OCCUPATION and ACTUAL OCCUPATION placeholders with the occupations that are appropriate to the conversation.
Note: This pattern requires nouns in their dictionary form, which is also known as the nominative form. Their gender will depend on the gender of the speaker.
Imagine you’re Emma Efthimiou a student. The word for a female student is φοιτήτρια (fitítria). Φοιτήτρια . Φοιτήτρια.
Panagiotis Papakonstantinou asks you if you’re a teacher, δασκάλα (daskála). “A female teacher.” Δασκάλα . Δασκάλα.
Say
"No, I'm not a teacher. I'm a student."
Ready?
Όχι, δεν είμαι δασκάλα. Είμαι φοιτήτρια. (Óhi, den íme daskála. Íme fitítria.)
"No, I'm not a teacher. I'm a student."
Όχι, δεν είμαι δασκάλα. Είμαι φοιτήτρια. (Óhi, den íme daskála. Íme fitítria.)
In Greek, many of the occupation nouns differ depending on gender.
For example, δασκάλα (daskála) is feminine, and δάσκαλος (dáskalos) is masculine.
δασκάλα (daskála),
δάσκαλος (dáskalos).
In Greek, there are some rules of thumb for gender of nouns.
Nouns that end in -ς (sigma) tend to be masculine.
Δάσκαλος (dáskalos). "Teacher."
Φοιτητής (fititís). "Student."
While nouns that end in -α (alpha) or -η (eta) tend to be feminine.
Νοσοκόμα (nosokóma). "Nurse."
However, some occupations have the same word for both genders.
For example, γιατρός (yatrós), "doctor."

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