Learn how to use the sentence pattern "What...?"
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| INTRODUCTION |
| John: Hi everyone, I'm John. |
| Chrissi: And I'm Chrissi. |
| John: And welcome to Must-Know Greek Sentence Structures, Season 1, Lesson 10. Asking for Information About Something. |
| John: In this lesson, you'll learn how to use a sentence pattern for asking for information about something. |
| PATTERN |
| John: For example, |
| John: "What does that mean?" |
| Chrissi: Τι σημαίνει αυτό; (Ti siméni aftó?) |
| Chrissi: [slow] Τι σημαίνει αυτό; (Ti siméni aftó?) |
| John: The pattern for asking for information about something has three elements. First, the interrogative pronoun meaning "what". |
| Chrissi: Τι (Ti). |
| John: Second, the verb "to mean" in the 3rd person singular meaning "means". |
| Chrissi: σημαίνει (siméni). |
| John: Third, the neuter demonstrative pronoun in the nominative meaning "that". |
| Chrissi: αυτό (aftó). |
| John: Altogether, we have... "What does that mean?" |
| Chrissi: Τι σημαίνει αυτό; (Ti siméni aftó?) [slow] Τι σημαίνει αυτό; (Ti siméni aftó?) [normal] Τι σημαίνει αυτό; (Ti siméni aftó?) |
| John: To ask information about something, start with the interrogative pronoun… |
| Chrissi: τι (ti)... |
| John: meaning "what." Next you can use a verb in the form that demonstrates to whom or what you are referring, for example, your subject. In the end, you can add more details about the information you want. For example, it can be another verb, a noun phrase, an adverbial or prepositional phrase, a subordinate clause, etc. |
| Chrissi: Τι σημαίνει αυτό; (Ti siméni aftó?) |
| John: So remember, to ask for information about something, start with the interrogative pronoun… |
| Chrissi: τι (ti)... |
| John: meaning "what," continue with a conjugated verb, and finish with a complement for more details. |
| John: Here is another example meaning, "What do you want for your birthday?" First, we have the interrogative pronoun meaning "what". |
| Chrissi: Τι (Ti). |
| John: Second, we have the verb "to want" in the 2nd person singular meaning "you want". |
| Chrissi: θέλεις (thélis). |
| John: Third, we have the prepositional phrase consisting of a preposition + a neuter noun phrase in the accusative meaning "for your birthday". |
| Chrissi: για τα γενέθλιά σου (ya ta yenéthliá su). |
| John: Altogether we have... |
| Chrissi: Τι θέλεις για τα γενέθλιά σου; (Ti thélis ya ta genéthliá su?) [slow] Τι θέλεις για τα γενέθλιά σου; (Ti thélis ya ta genéthliá su?) [normal] Τι θέλεις για τα γενέθλιά σου; (Ti thélis ya ta genéthliá su?) |
| John: "What do you want for your birthday?" |
| [pause] |
| Chrissi: Τι θέλεις για τα γενέθλιά σου; (Ti thélis ya ta genéthliá su?) |
| John: How do you say - "What do you know about this?" To give you a hint, "about this" is... |
| Chrissi: για αυτό (ya aftó). [slow] για αυτό (ya aftó). [normal] για αυτό (ya aftó). |
| John: "What do you know about this?" |
| [pause] |
| Chrissi: Τι ξέρεις για αυτό; (Ti xéris ya aftó?) [slow] Τι ξέρεις για αυτό; (Ti xéris ya aftó?) [normal] Τι ξέρεις για αυτό; (Ti xéris ya aftó?) |
| [pause] |
| Chrissi: Τι ξέρεις για αυτό; (Ti xéris ya aftó?) |
| REVIEW |
| John: Let's review the sentences from this lesson. I will tell you the English equivalent of the phrase and you are responsible for shouting it out loud in Greek. Here we go. |
| John: "What does that mean?" |
| [pause] |
| Chrissi: Τι σημαίνει αυτό; (Ti siméni aftó?) |
| [pause] |
| Chrissi: Τι σημαίνει αυτό; (Ti siméni aftó?) |
| John: "What do you want for your birthday?" |
| [pause] |
| Chrissi: Τι θέλεις για τα γενέθλιά σου; (Ti thélis ya ta genéthliá su?) |
| [pause] |
| Chrissi: Τι θέλεις για τα γενέθλιά σου; (Ti thélis ya ta genéthliá su?) |
| John: "What do you know about this?" |
| [pause] |
| Chrissi: Τι ξέρεις για αυτό; (Ti xéris ya aftó?) |
| [pause] |
| Chrissi: Τι ξέρεις για αυτό; (Ti xéris ya aftó?) |
Outro |
|---|
| John: Okay. That's all for this lesson. You learned a pattern for asking for information about something, as in... |
| Chrissi: Τι σημαίνει αυτό; (Ti siméni aftó?) |
| John: meaning "What does that mean?" |
| John: You can find more vocab or phrases that go with this sentence pattern in the lesson notes. So please be sure to check them out on GreekPod101.com. Thanks everyone, see you next time! |
| Chrissi: Γεια χαρά! |
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