Learn about the aorist tense stem of verbs in the active voice
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| Intermediate, Season 1, lesson 6 |
| A Night to Remember in Greece |
| INTRODUCTION |
| Brandon: Hello everyone, and welcome back to GreekPod101.com. This is Intermediate, Season 1, Lesson 6: A Night to Remember in Greece. I’m Brandon. |
| Stefania: And I’m Stefania. |
| Brandon: In this lesson, we'll focus on the aorist tense stem of verbs in the active voice. |
| Stefania: This conversation takes place outside a theater in which our characters sang in a concert. It’s between Erato, Natalia, and Sakis. |
| Brandon: The characters are good friends, so they’ll be using informal Greek. Okay, let's listen to the conversation! |
Lesson conversation |
|---|
| Σάκης: Καλά, πολύ την ευχαριστήθηκα την παράσταση αυτή! |
| Ναταλία: Το ντουέτο μας έσκισε! |
| Ερατώ: Νομίζω πως ήταν η καλύτερη παράσταση που έχουμε κάνει ως τώρα! Και το Βεάκειο ήταν καταπληκτικό! |
| Σάκης: Ναι, τώρα το καλοκαιράκι το ανοιχτό θέατρο αυτό ήταν ό,τι έπρεπε. Το φινάλε πάντως πρέπει να εντυπωσίασε πολύ το κοινό. Χειροκροτούσαν όλοι για πολλή ώρα! |
| Ναταλία: Εμ, βέβαια! Πού να περίμενε ο κόσμος ότι θα κάναμε και χορογραφία κιόλας! |
| Ερατώ: Εμένα με συγκίνησε πολύ το τραγούδι με τα φαναράκια! |
| Σάκης: Αν και δεν είμαι ιδιαίτερα ρομαντικός, το θέαμα : πρέπει να ήταν πολύ όμορφο. |
| Ερατώ: Το φεγγάρι, τα φαναράκια, οι φωνές, η μουσική... Πόσο θα ήθελα να το ξαναζήσω αυτό! |
| Ναταλία: Όταν βγει το DVD της παράστασης έλα από το σπίτι μας, Σάκη, να το δούμε όλοι μαζί! |
| Σάκης: ΟΚ, έγινε! |
| Brandon: Now let’s hear it with the English translation. |
| Σάκης: Καλά, πολύ την ευχαριστήθηκα την παράσταση αυτή! |
| Brandon: Well, I enjoyed this performance so much! |
| Ναταλία: Το ντουέτο μας έσκισε! |
| Brandon: Our duet rocked! |
| Ερατώ: Νομίζω πως ήταν η καλύτερη παράσταση που έχουμε κάνει ως τώρα! Και το Βεάκειο ήταν καταπληκτικό! |
| Brandon: I think it was the best show we've ever done so far! And Veakeio Theater was amazing! |
| Σάκης: Ναι, τώρα το καλοκαιράκι το ανοιχτό θέατρο αυτό ήταν ό,τι έπρεπε. Το φινάλε πάντως πρέπει να εντυπωσίασε πολύ το κοινό. Χειροκροτούσαν όλοι για πολλή ώρα! |
| Brandon: Yes, because it’s summer, an open-air theater was just what was needed. The finale, however, must have greatly impressed the audience. Everyone applauded for a long time! |
| Ναταλία: Εμ, βέβαια! Πού να περίμενε ο κόσμος ότι θα κάναμε και χορογραφία κιόλας! |
| Brandon: But of course! They weren't expecting that we’d have choreography as well! |
| Ερατώ: Εμένα με συγκίνησε πολύ το τραγούδι με τα φαναράκια! |
| Brandon: I was deeply moved by the song with the little lanterns! |
| Σάκης: Αν και δεν είμαι ιδιαίτερα ρομαντικός, το θέαμα πρέπει να ήταν πολύ όμορφο. |
| Brandon: Although I'm not particularly romantic, the sight must have been very beautiful. |
| Ερατώ: Το φεγγάρι, τα φαναράκια, οι φωνές, η μουσική... Πόσο θα ήθελα να το ξαναζήσω αυτό! |
| The moon, the lanterns, the voices, the music... I’d like so much to experience this again!Brandon: |
| Ναταλία: Όταν βγει το DVD της παράστασης έλα από το σπίτι μας, Σάκη, να το δούμε όλοι μαζί! |
| Brandon: When the show DVD comes out, come by our home Saki, and we’ll all watch it together! |
| Σάκης: ΟΚ, έγινε! |
| Brandon: Okay, sure! |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Brandon: Where is the Veákio open-air theater, mentioned in the dialogue? |
| Stefania: It's in Piraeus! My hometown! And more specifically on the hill of Προφήτης Ηλίας. |
| Brandon: That's not very far from Athens is it? |
| Stefania: No, it's about twenty-five minutes by car. From this theater, you have a beautiful view of the Argosaronic Gulf and the southern suburbs of Athens. |
| Brandon: Sounds like the place to be on a starry summer night! |
| Stefania: Yes, it's lovely up there! Every summer, both locals and tourists flock to Veákio and other open-air theaters all over Greece. |
| Brandon: So could you say that this is a tradition in Greece? |
| Stefania: Definitely! Most modern open-air theaters are built into the slopes of hills, so they have a lot in common with ancient Greek theaters. |
| Brandon: Check one out if you get the chance, listeners! Okay, now let’s move on to the vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Brandon: Let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| : The first word we shall see is: |
| Stefania: ευχαριστιέμαι [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: to enjoy, to take pleasure in |
| Stefania: ευχαριστιέμαι [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Stefania: ευχαριστιέμαι [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Stefania: σκίζω [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: to tear, to rip , to excel, to rock (slang) |
| Stefania: σκίζω [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Stefania: σκίζω [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Stefania: Βεάκειο [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: Veakeio Theater |
| Stefania: Βεάκειο [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Stefania: Βεάκειο [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Stefania: ανοιχτό θέατρο [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: open-air theater |
| Stefania: ανοιχτό θέατρο [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Stefania: ανοιχτό θέατρο [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Stefania: χειροκροτώ [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: to clap; to applaud |
| Stefania: χειροκροτώ [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Stefania: χειροκροτώ [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Stefania: πού [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: where |
| Stefania: πού [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Stefania: πού [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Stefania: χορογραφία [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: choreography, dancing routine |
| Stefania: χορογραφία [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Stefania: χορογραφία [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Stefania: συγκινώ [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: to move deeply, to touch (emotionally), to excite |
| Stefania: συγκινώ [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Stefania: συγκινώ [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Stefania: φαναράκι [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: small lantern |
| Stefania: φαναράκι [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Stefania: φαναράκι [natural native speed] |
| : And Last: |
| Stefania: ξαναζώ [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: to relive, to experience, to live again |
| Stefania: ξαναζώ [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Stefania: ξαναζώ [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Brandon: Let's have a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson. What's our first word? |
| Stefania: First is Ευχαριστιέμαι, meaning "to enjoy" or "to take pleasure in." This is the passive tense of the verb ευχαριστώ, meaning "to thank" or "to please someone.” |
| Brandon: Why does the meaning change between the passive and the active voice? |
| Stefania: Well, that happens with some verbs. Perhaps our ancestors decided that saying "to be thanked by myself" doesn’t make sense! |
| Brandon: Οkay! What's next? |
| Stefania: The locative interrogative adverb πού, meaning "where." We also use this with indirect questions. |
| Brandon: For example? |
| Stefania: Τον ρώτησε πού ήταν. Meaning, "He asked him where he was." |
| Brandon: Is there anything special about this word? |
| Stefania: Yes, this accented πού shouldn't be confused with the non-accented word που, which is translated as "who" or "that." |
| Brandon: In our dialogue though, it’s used in a way that doesn’t make much sense to me. |
| Stefania: Ah, the sentence, "Πού να περίμενε ο κόσμος ότι θα κάναμε και χορογραφία κιόλας!" Right? |
| Brandon: Yeah! |
| Stefania: This means, "They weren't expecting that we’d have choreography as well!" Πού here is used idiomatically. When you combine it with "να," plus a past tense verb in an exclamatory sentence, you don't translate it, you just turn the sentence into a strong negative. So the part περίμενε ο κόσμος... |
| Brandon: ..."the people were expecting"... |
| Stefania: ...becomes "the people weren't expecting." |
| Brandon: I see. It’s all clear now. What's the last word? |
| Stefania: Φαναράκι, meaning a "small lantern." It's the diminutive of φανάρι, meaning "traffic light," "tail light," or "lantern." |
| Brandon: So, for example, if we were to say "red Chinese lanterns," which one of these two words would we use? |
| Stefania: Well, since you ask, saying κόκκινα φανάρια in Greece means "red light district" or "brothels!" |
| Brandon: Oh no! |
| Stefania: So it’s better to use the diminutive and say κόκκινα φαναράκια, regardless of the size of the lantern. |
| Brandon: Well, that's good to know! Now let's move onto the grammar. |
Lesson focus |
| Brandon: In this lesson, you’ll learn about the aorist tense stem of verbs in the active voice. You should know that there’s also a passive aorist stem, but we'll leave that for the future. For now, just make sure you keep the lesson notes visible while listening! |
| Stefania: First of all, a verb in the first person singular of the aorist tense, in the indicative mood of active voice, will end in -σα/ψα/ξα or -ησα. This is called "sigmatic aorist." There’s also a less common ending, and that is a simple -α. |
| Brandon: That’s the "asigmatic aorist." |
| Stefania: If you remove the augmentation, if any, and the final ending -α from the -σα/ψα/ξα/-α and -ησα parts, you’ll get the aorist stem. |
| Brandon: We can produce the aorist stem by applying some rules to the character of the present tense stem. Let's see the sigmatic aorist of the first conjugation group of verbs. Check out the first table in the lesson notes. |
| Stefania: You’ll see that the stems that end in a vowel or a double vowel will get an extra -σ. Add the ending -α and you get -σα at the end of the verb. |
| Brandon: The examples in the table will make it more clear. Next we are going to talk about? |
| Stefania: Stem characters like π, β, φ or the double letters αυ, ευ, πτ and φτ, change into ψ, resulting in the -ψα ending. |
| Brandon: What about stems that end in a velar consonant? |
| Stefania: Κ, γ, χ and the double σκ, χν and γγ become ξ. With the -α ending we get -ξα. |
| Brandon: Next we have the dental and sibilant consonants. |
| Stefania: Τ(τ), δ, θ, σ(σ) and ζ change either into -σ or -ξ. There’s no rule that decides which characters become σ or ξ. |
| Brandon: I was about to ask that! |
| Stefania: Next we have the nasal consonant ν which changes into -σ. This applies to all verbs that end in -ώνω and to many verbs that end in -νω, -αίνω and -άνω. The latter two change their stem vowel in aorist, so these are irregular forms. |
| Brandon: I see. And finally, we have the second conjugation group. |
| Stefania: Here the stem gets an extra -ησ at the end. Add the ending -α and you get -ησα. |
| Brandon: Listeners, be sure to check the second conjugation group table because we included some exceptions there. |
| Stefania: We also have tables where we conjugate two examples from our dialogue in all the active forms that use the aorist stem. |
| Brandon: And we’ll continue talking about the aorist stem in the next lesson. |
Outro |
| Brandon: Well, that’s all for now, everyone! Thanks for listening, and we’ll see you next time. |
| Stefania: Γεια χαρά! |
| MARKETING PIECE |
| Brandon: Listeners, ever have any Greek language or lesson-related questions? |
| Stefania: Or maybe you have some feedback for us... |
| Brandon: Leave us a comment or ask a question on the lessons page! |
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| Brandon: ...click on comments, |
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