Learn how to tell time in Greek
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Intro |
|---|
| Michael: How do you ask for the time in Greek? |
| Chrissi: And how do you tell the time? |
| Michael: At GreekPod101.com, we hear these questions often. The following situation is typical. During a school break, Sasha Lee asks her classmate Frosso Giannitsanou about the time. They don't want to be late for their next class. Sasha asks, |
| "What time is it?" |
| Σάσα Λι: Τι ώρα είναι; (Ti óra íne?) |
| Dialogue |
| Σάσα Λι: Τι ώρα είναι; (Ti óra íne?) |
| Φρόσω Γιαννιτσάνου: Είναι τρεις και τέταρτο. (Íne tris ke tétarto.) |
| Michael: Once more with the English translation. |
| Σάσα Λι: Τι ώρα είναι; (Ti óra íne?) |
| Michael: "What time is it?" |
| Φρόσω Γιαννιτσάνου: Είναι τρεις και τέταρτο. (Íne tris ke tétarto.) |
| Michael: "It's 3:15." |
Lesson focus |
| Michael: Knowing how to ask for the time, as well as how to tell time, is fundamental when you're learning Greek. In this lesson, you will learn how to do both. You can always ask for the time and read it in English when you're in Greek-speaking countries, but knowing how to tell time or, |
| Chrissi: ώρα (óra) |
| Michael: in Greek has many benefits and advantages. Keep in mind that, in verbal speech, the 12-hour time format is what's used in Greece. In written speech, however, the 24-hour format is preferred. |
| [Recall 1] |
| Michael: Now, with this being said, let's take a closer look at the dialogue. |
| Do you remember how Sasha asks "What time is it?" |
| (pause 4 seconds) |
| Chrissi as Sasha Lee: Τι ώρα είναι; (Ti óra íne?) |
| Michael: Just as in any language, this is the easiest way to ask for time in Greek. When referring to time as measured in hours and minutes, we use the word, |
| Chrissi: ώρα (óra) |
| Michael: Now, let's say you're asking for the time for a particular event, like a game, for instance. In that case, you can say something like, |
| Chrissi: Τι ώρα ξεκινά το παιχνίδι; (Ti óra xekiná to paichnídi?) |
| Michael: or, "What time does the game start?" This time, let's assume that you want to ask a stranger for the time because you don't have a watch and your phone is dead. The most polite way to ask for time in this case is by saying, |
| Chrissi: Μήπως έχετε ώρα, παρακαλώ (Mípos éhete óra, parakaló?) |
| Michael: This means, "Do you have the time, please?" |
| [Recall 2] |
| Michael: Now, let's take a look at our second sentence. |
| Do you remember how Froso Giannitsanou says "It's 3:15." |
| (pause 4 seconds) |
| Chrissi as Froso Giannitsanou: Είναι τρεις και τέταρτο. (Íne tris ke tétarto.) |
| Michael: This literally means "It's three and a quarter" or "It's a quarter past three." As we all know, 3:15 is a quarter past three. And, in Greek, the word "quarter" is |
| Chrissi: τέταρτο (tétarto) |
| Michael: How do you say "half past" a specific hour? This time, you use the phrase, |
| Chrissi: και μισή (ke misí) |
| Michael: For instance, if it's thirty minutes past six o'clock, you say, |
| Chrissi: Είναι έξι και μισή. (Íne éxi ke misí.) |
| Michael: or "It's half past six." |
| Michael: Telling the hour in Greek is just as easy as asking for the time. You start with the word, |
| Chrissi: Είναι (Íne), |
| Michael: an auxiliary verb, which in the context of asking time could translate to "It is." Next, you simply insert the hour before ending with, |
| Chrissi: η ώρα (i óra) |
| Michael: which translates to "o'clock." For instance, if you want to say, "It's two o'clock," in Greek, that would be |
| Chrissi: Είναι δύο η ώρα. (Íne dio i óra.) |
| Michael: You can also replace the Greek part for "o'clock" with "sharp," or, |
| Chrissi: ακριβώς (akrivós) |
| Michael: as in |
| Chrissi: Είναι δώδεκα ακριβώς (Íne dódeka akrivós) |
| Michael: This means "It's twelve sharp" or "It's exactly twelve." |
| [Summary] |
| Michael: In this lesson, you learned some of the basics of telling time and reading time in Greek. Let's take this time to review some of the things we've learned. |
| Chrissi: Τι ώρα είναι (Ti óra íne?) |
| Είναι τρεις και τέταρτο. (Íne tris ke tétarto.) |
| Michael: "What time is it? It's a quarter past three." |
| Chrissi: Μήπως έχετε ώρα, παρακαλώ (Mípos éhete óra, parakaló?) |
| Ειναι τέσσερις η ώρα. (Íne tésseris i óra.) |
| Michael: "Do you have the time, please? It's four o'clock." And, lastly, |
| Chriss: Τι ώρα η συγκέντρωση (Ti óra i singéndrosi?) |
| Είναι στις δύο. (Íne stis dio.) |
| Michael: "What time is the gathering? It's at two." Here, we can see that the addition of "o'clock" or "sharp" is optional. What's important is that you know the vocabulary words for the numbers. For the hours, that would be from 1 to 12 in verbal speech. Add to that the numbers for the minutes. |
| Expansion/Contrast |
| Michael: As mentioned, the 12-hour format is preferred in oral speech in Greece. Unless a time reference is indicated, it would be difficult to know what exact hour of the day a person is talking about. If you're going to tell time in Greek, be sure to add a time reference. For instance, if you're going to meet someone at six in the morning, use the phrase, |
| Chrissi: το πρωί (to proí) |
| Michael: or "in the morning." |
| Chrissi: Ας συναντηθούμε στις έξι το πρωί. (As sinandithúme stis éxi to proí.) |
| Michael: "Let's meet at six in the morning." Here's another useful phrase: |
| Chrissi: το απόγευμα (to apóyevma) |
| Michael: This one means "in the afternoon," like when you say, |
| Chrissi: Να είστε εδώ στις τρεις το απόγευμα. (Na íste edó stis tris to apóyevma.) |
| Michael: "Be here at three (o'clock) in the afternoon." |
| Michael: While it's common to hear time phrases like "in the morning" or "at night" in everyday speech, in formal situations, the way to indicate time in Greek is with the use of the equivalent of A.M. and P.M. in English. These are, |
| Chrissi: προ μεσημβρίας (pro mesimvrías) |
| Michael: which stands for A.M. and literally means "before midday," and |
| Chrissi: μετά μεσημβρίαν (metá mesimvrían) |
| Michael: which stands for P.M. and means "after midday." Keep in mind, though, that you need to say the full phrase and not just the initials when telling time. |
| Cultural Expansion |
| Michael: Since we're on the subject of time, you might have heard that Greeks have a habit for being late for appointments. The truth, however, is that this is becoming a thing of the past and that now it's not always acceptable to be late, especially in a city like Athens where the transportation system now runs on a telematics system that tracks all vehicles and reports arrival times. With the widespread use of GPS devices and navigators on smartphones, now it's easier than ever to plan rides ahead of time, and predict the trip duration and approximate time of arrival. As you might already know, being on time or |
| Chrissi: το να είμαι στην ώρα μου (to na íme stin óra mu) |
| Michael: is always appreciated in any culture. Still, lateness is not uncommon, especially among friends and family, and up to ten to fifteen minutes of tardiness is usually acceptable. That said, Greeks still expect their counterparts to be on time for appointments, especially for important business meetings, or medical appointments which are called |
| Chrissi: ραντεβού (randevú) |
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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