Vocabulary (Review)

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Lesson Transcript

Let's take a closer look at the conversation.
Do you remember how the civil servant says,
"Your phone number, please."
Παρακαλώ, τον αριθμό τηλεφώνου σας. (Parakaló, ton arithmó tilefónu sas.)
Let’s start with παρακαλώ (parakaló), meaning "please." Παρακαλώ . Παρακαλώ.
Next is τον αριθμό τηλεφώνου σας (ton arithmó tilefónu sas), "your phone number." Τον αριθμό τηλεφώνου σας.
Let's start with αριθμό (arithmó). "Number." Αριθμό . Αριθμό, "number."
In Greek, all nouns have grammatical gender. They also are either singular or plural and have a case that depends on the role they are playing in the sentence.
αριθμό (arithmó) is from the noun, Αριθμός (arithmós), and is masculine singular.
It’s also in the accusative case, as it’s the object of a request:
Your phone NUMBER, please.
Because of this, some other words in the sentence will also be masculine, singular, and in the accusative.
After αριθμό is τηλεφώνου (tilefónu). "telephone." τηλεφώνου . Τηλεφώνου.
Τηλεφώνου is from the noun, τηλέφωνο (tilefóno), and is neuter singular.
It’s in the genitive case because it’s adding detail to the noun αριθμό.
This form of the genitive case is similar to the way "of" is used in the English "department of economics," "secretary of state," or "game of thrones."
To form the genitive of neuter nouns ending in -ο (-o), add an -ου (-u) to the end of the noun.
Τηλέφωνο (tiléfono) becomes τηλεφώνου (tilefónu).
Note, the accent mark on the third-to-last syllable moves one position to the right. This accent change is due to the fact that the final vowel is now long.
Together, it’s αριθμό τηλεφώνου (arithmó tilefónu). This literally means something like "number of phone," but it translates as "phone number." Αριθμό τηλεφώνου.
After αριθμό τηλεφώνου (arithmó tilefónu) is σας (sas). This means "your," in formal situations. Σας . Σας.
Together, αριθμό τηλεφώνου σας, "your telephone number." αριθμό τηλεφώνου σας.
Before this is the article τον (ton). Think of it like "the" in English. Τον . Τον.
Τον is also masculine singular, in the accusative case to agree with αριθμό (arithmó).
Note: in this sentence, the article, τον (ton), does not have a corresponding English translation.
All together it’s Παρακαλώ, τον αριθμό τηλεφώνου σας. (Parakaló, ton arithmó tilefónu sas.) This literally means "Please, number of phone your," but it translates as "Your phone number, please."
Παρακαλώ, τον αριθμό τηλεφώνου σας. (Parakaló, ton arithmó tilefónu sas.)
Remember this request. You’ll hear it again later.
Let's take a closer look at the response.
Do you remember how Mark says,
"My phone number is 6920034570."
Ο αριθμός τηλεφώνου μου είναι 6920034570. (O arithmós tilefónu mu íne éxi eniá dío midén midén tría tésera pénde eftá midén.)
First is ο αριθμός τηλεφώνου μου (o arithmós tilefónu mu), "my phone number." Ο αριθμός τηλεφώνου μου.
This phrase is similar to the one we saw earlier, but there are some key differences.
Let's start with αριθμός (arithmós). "Number." Αριθμός . Αριθμός.
Recall, αριθμός (arithmó) is masculine singular.
Here, αριθμός (arithmó) is the subject of the sentence, so it appears as it would in the dictionary, also known as the nominative case.
Because of this, some other words in the sentence will also be masculine, singular, and in the nominative.
Next is τηλεφώνου (tilefónu), "telephone." Τηλεφώνου. Τηλεφώνου is neuter and singular, and in the genitive case.
Together, it’s αριθμός τηλεφώνου (arithmós tilefónu). This literally means "number of phone," but it translates as "phone number." Αριθμός τηλεφώνου.
After this is μου (mu). "My". Mου . Mου.
Together, αριθμός τηλεφώνου μου, "my phone number." Αριθμός τηλεφώνου μου.
Before this is the article ο (o). Think of it like "the" in English. Ο . Ο.
Ο is also masculine singular, and in the nominative case to agree with αριθμός (arithmós).
Note: in this sentence, the article, ο (o), does not have a corresponding English translation.
Together, ο αριθμός τηλεφώνου μου. This literally means something like "the number of phone my" but it translates as "my phone number." ο αριθμός τηλεφώνου μου.
Next is είναι (íne), "is," as in "my phone number is." Είναι . Είναι.
Είναι (Íne) is from the verb είμαι (íme), meaning "am." Είμαι.
Together, it’s Ο αριθμός τηλεφώνου μου είναι (O arithmós tilefónu mu íne.). "My phone number is." Ο αριθμός τηλεφώνου μου είναι.
Next is Mark’s phone number, 6920034570 (éxi eniá dío midén midén tría tésera pénde eftá midén). 6920034570 (éxi eniá dío midén midén tría tésera pénde eftá midén).
Note how Mark says his phone number.
When giving your phone number in Greek, say each digit separately.
All together, it’s Ο αριθμός τηλεφώνου μου είναι 6920034570. (O arithmós tilefónu mu íne éxi eniá dío midén midén tría tésera pénde eftá midén.)
"My phone number is 6920034570."
Ο αριθμός τηλεφώνου μου είναι 6920034570. (O arithmós tilefónu mu íne éxi eniá dío midén midén tría tésera pénde eftá midén.)
The pattern is
Ο αριθμός τηλεφώνου μου είναι NUMBER.
(O arithmós tilefónu mu íne NUMBER.)
"My phone number is NUMBER."
Ο αριθμός τηλεφώνου μου είναι NUMBER.
To use this pattern, simply replace the NUMBER placeholder with your phone number.
Note: this pattern requires a sequence of digits. For beginners, you can say each digit separately.
Imagine your phone number is 6921122334. Έξι εννιά ένα ένα ένα δύο δύο τρία τρία τέσσερα . (Éxi eniá dío éna éna dío dío tría tría tésera).
Say
"My phone number is 6921122334."
Ready?
Ο αριθμός τηλεφώνου μου είναι 6921122334. (O arithmós tilefónu mu íne éxi eniá dío éna éna dío dío tría tría tésera.)
"My phone number is 6921122334."
Ο αριθμός τηλεφώνου μου είναι 6921122334. (O arithmós tilefónu mu íne éxi eniá dío éna éna dío dío tría tría tésera.)
When giving a phone number in Greek, speakers tend to group the numbers in tens or hundreds. For example, "six, nine" would probably be said as "sixty nine," instead of "six, nine" and "three three four" would be "three hundred thirty four," instead of "three three four."
However, as a beginner, the easiest way to say your phone number is digit-by-digit as in the dialog.

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