Learn all you need to know about greetings in Greek
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Intro |
|---|
| Michael: How do you greet someone at different times of the day? |
| Chrissi: And are there any alternatives? |
| Michael: At GreekPod101.com, we hear these questions often. In the following dialogue, Ben Lee is greeting his friend, but he hasn't noticed how late it became. Ben says, "Good morning!" |
| Μπεν Λι: Καλημέρα! (Kaliméra!) |
| Dialogue |
| Μπεν Λι: Καλημέρα! (Kaliméra!) |
| Στέφανος Σαπουντζίδης: Είναι μία ήδη. Καλησπέρα! (Íne mía ídi. Kalispéra!) |
| Michael: Once more with the English translation. |
| Μπεν Λι: Καλημέρα! (Kaliméra!) |
| Michael: "Good morning!" |
| Στέφανος Σαπουντζίδης: Είναι μία ήδη. Καλησπέρα! (Íne mía ídi. Kalispéra!) |
| Michael: "It's already 1. Good afternoon!" |
Lesson focus |
| Michael: In this lesson, we will talk about time-sensitive Greek greetings. Greek, similar to English, has some greetings that are used depending on the time of the day, or |
| Chrissi: ώρα της ημέρας (óra tis iméras) |
| Michael: Greeks mostly differentiate between three particular times of the day, using the following greetings: |
| Chrissi: Καλημέρα! (Kaliméra!) |
| Michael: which means "Good morning." This word is composed of two words, |
| Chrissi: Καλή (Kali) |
| Michael: which means "good," and, |
| Chrissi: μέρα (méra) |
| Michael: which means "morning." It's normally used when greeting someone in the morning and until twelve noon. |
| Chrissi: Καλησπέρα! (Kalispéra!) |
| Michael: This means "Good afternoon," which is also composed of two words. Again, |
| Chrissi: Καλή (Kali) |
| Michael: which means "good," and, |
| Chrissi: εσπέρα (espéra) |
| Michael: which means "afternoon" in older Greek. This greeting is used from twelve noon until late in the evening. And, for "Good evening," we have again, |
| Chrissi: Καλησπέρα (Kalispéra) |
| [Recall 1] |
| Michael: Let's take a closer look at the dialogue. |
| Do you remember how Ben Lee says "Good morning?" |
| (pause 4 seconds) |
| Chrissi: Καλημέρα! (Kaliméra!) |
| Michael: As mentioned, this greeting is used in the morning until twelve noon. Ben Lee didn't realize it was past twelve and used this greeting instead of the one for "Good afternoon." |
| [Recall 2] |
| Michael: Now, let's take a look at our second sentence. |
| Do you remember how Stefanos Sapountzidis says "It's already 1. Good afternoon?" |
| (pause 4 seconds) |
| Chrissi as Stefanos Sapountzidis: Είναι μία ήδη. Καλησπέρα! (Íne mía ídi. Kalispéra!) |
| Michael: Here, Stefanos explains that it's already past twelve noon, which means the correct greeting would be "Good afternoon!" or |
| Chrissi: Καλησπέρα! (Kalispéra) |
| Michael: Don't be surprised if you hear Greek people using this during the late evening hours. That's because |
| Chrissi: Καλησπέρα (Kalispéra) |
| Michael: also means "Good evening," and can be used to greet someone even when it's dark. |
| [Summary] |
| Michael: In today's lesson, we learned that Greek, similar to English, has time-related greetings, which are |
| Chrissi: Καλημέρα! (Kaliméra!) |
| Michael: which means "Good morning," and used in the early hours of the day until twelve noon, and |
| Chrissi: Καλησπέρα! (Kalispéra!) |
| Michael: which means "Good afternoon" or "Good evening," and can be used from twelve noon until late at night. |
| Expansion |
| Michael: Perhaps you're wondering if there are any alternatives to time-sensitive Greek greetings. For instance, English has "Good day," and "Hello." How do you say these in Greek? The expression "Good day" is the same as "Good morning," in Greek, which, as we've already learned, is |
| Chrissi: Καλημέρα! (Kaliméra!) |
| Michael: As for "hello," there are several ways you can say it in Greek, the most common one being, |
| Chrissi: Γεια! (Ya!) |
| Michael: which means "Hi." You can use this expression when addressing friends or people your age or someone younger. A similar greeting would be |
| Chrissi: Γεια σου! (Ya su!) |
| Michael: If you want to sound more polite to show respect, or when you're addressing someone older than you, you can say, |
| Chrissi: Γεια σας! (Ya sas!) |
| Michael: Now, here's a more informal way to greet someone: |
| Chrissi: Τι γίνεται; (Ti yínete?) |
| Michael: This is how you say "What's up?" in Greek. Here's another one: |
| Chrissi: Πώς πας; (Pós pas?) |
| Michael: This means, "How are you doing?" An appropriate greeting for someone you haven't seen for a long time. And, finally, you can say, |
| Chrissi: Πώς τα πας σήμερα; (Pós ta pas símera?) |
| Michael: to ask someone, "How are you doing today" or "How's it going day?" |
| Cultural Insight |
| Michael: Most greetings in Greek start with "Good," or |
| Chrissi: Καλή, καλό (Kali, kaló), |
| Michael: which means it's not too difficult to be familiar with Greek greetings. For instance, if you want to wish someone a "Good night," you can say, |
| Chrissi: Καληνύχτα (Kaliníhta) |
| Michael: In Greek, it's also common to wish someone a good week, which is said as |
| Chrissi: Καλή εβδομάδα (Kalí evdomáda) |
| Michael: When leaving a friend or a group of friends in the afternoon, the expression for "have a good afternoon" is |
| Chrissi: Καλό απόγευμα! (Kaló apóyevma!) |
| Michael: And, when leaving at night, the expression for "have a good evening" is |
| Chrissi: Καλό βράδυ! (Kaló vrádi!) |
| Michael: As a farewell, you can say, |
| Chrissi: Αντίο (Adío) |
| Michael: which means "Goodbye" in Greek. |
Outro |
| Michael: Do you have any more questions? We're here to answer them! |
| Chrissi: Γεια χαρά! (Ya hará!) |
| Michael: See you soon! |
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