Learn how to use the sentence pattern "I went..."
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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 17. Talking About the Past. |
| John: In this lesson, you'll learn how to use a sentence pattern for talking about something in the past. |
| PATTERN |
| John: For example, |
| John: "Michael fixed the broken window today." |
| Chrissi: Ο Μιχάλης έφτιαξε το σπασμένο παράθυρο σήμερα. (O Mihális éftiaxe to spazméno parathiro símera.) |
| Chrissi: [slow] Ο Μιχάλης έφτιαξε το σπασμένο παράθυρο σήμερα. (O Mihális éftiaxe to spazméno parathiro símera.) |
| John: The pattern for talking about something in the past has three elements. First, the masculine noun phrase in the nominative meaning "Michael". |
| Chrissi: Ο Μιχάλης (O Mihális). |
| John: Second, the verb "to fix" in the 3rd person singular of the aorist tense meaning "fixed". |
| Chrissi: έφτιαξε. |
| John: Third, a complement that consists of a neuter noun phrase in the accusative as the object meaning "the broken window" + an adverb meaning "today". |
| Chrissi: το σπασμένο παράθυρο σήμερα (to spazméno parathiro símera). |
| John: Altogether, we have... "Michael fixed the broken window today." |
| Chrissi: Ο Μιχάλης έφτιαξε το σπασμένο παράθυρο σήμερα. (O Mihális éftiaxe to spazméno parathiro símera.) [slow] Ο Μιχάλης έφτιαξε το σπασμένο παράθυρο σήμερα. (O Mihális éftiaxe to spazméno parathiro símera.) [normal] Ο Μιχάλης έφτιαξε το σπασμένο παράθυρο σήμερα. (O Mihális éftiaxe to spazméno parathiro símera.) |
| John: This pattern starts with the subject which can be our usual noun phrase in the nominative case, or it can even be omitted if it's understood by the context. This is followed by a verb in a past tense, such as the past progressive tense we've seen already or the aorist tense which is the focus of this lesson. |
| What comes after the verb is a complement that gives us more information about the action that happened in the past. This complement can include many things, for example it can include the verb's object in the form of a noun phrase, an adverb or a prepositional phrase denoting location or time among other things, another clause, etc. |
| The complement is optional, however, as the subject and verb are often enough to talk about something in the past if no more information is required. |
| John: As you know, the word order is relatively flexible in Greek, so you could swap around some elements. |
| Chrissi: For example, instead of saying "Michael fixed the broken window today." Ο Μιχάλης έφτιαξε το σπασμένο παράθυρο σήμερα. (O Mihális éftiaxe to spazméno parathiro símera.) you can say in Greek "Today, Michael fixed the broken window." Σήμερα ο Μιχάλης έφτιαξε το σπασμένο παράθυρο. (Símera o Mihális éftiaxe to spazméno parathiro.) |
| John: So remember, to talk about something in the past, start with a noun phrase in the nominative case to indicate the subject, then use a verb in the past tense and finish with a complement that provides more information about the action. |
| John: Here is another example meaning, "The islanders used to paint their houses with whitewash." First, we have the masculine noun phrase in the nominative meaning "the islanders". |
| Chrissi: Οι νησιώτες (I nisiótes). |
| John: Second, we have the verb "to paint/to dye" in the 3rd person plural of the past progressive tense meaning "used to paint" here. |
| Chrissi: έβαφαν (évafan). |
| John: Third, we have a complement that consists of a neuter noun phrase in the accusative as the object, and a weak possessive pronoun meaning "their houses" + a prepositional phrase meaning "with whitewash". |
| Chrissi: τα σπίτια τους με ασβέστη (ta spítia tus me azvésti). |
| John: Altogether we have... |
| Chrissi: Οι νησιώτες έβαφαν τα σπίτια τους με ασβέστη. (I nisiótes évafan ta spítia tus me azvésti.) [slow] Οι νησιώτες έβαφαν τα σπίτια τους με ασβέστη. (I nisiótes évafan ta spítia tus me azvésti.) [normal] Οι νησιώτες έβαφαν τα σπίτια τους με ασβέστη. (I nisiótes évafan ta spítia tus me azvésti.) |
| John: "The islanders used to paint their houses with whitewash." |
| [pause] |
| Chrissi: Οι νησιώτες έβαφαν τα σπίτια τους με ασβέστη. (I nisiótes évafan ta spítia tus me azvésti.) |
| John: How do you say — "The boy pulled her hair."? To give you a hint, "pulled" is... |
| Chrissi: τράβηξε (trávixe). [slow] τράβηξε (trávixe). [normal] τράβηξε (trávixe). |
| John: "The boy pulled her hair." |
| [pause] |
| Chrissi: Το αγόρι τράβηξε τα μαλλιά της. (To agóri trávixe ta maliá tis.) |
| [slow] Το αγόρι τράβηξε τα μαλλιά της. (To agóri trávixe ta maliá tis.) |
| [normal] Το αγόρι τράβηξε τα μαλλιά της. (To agóri trávixe ta maliá tis.) |
| [pause] |
| Chrissi: Το αγόρι τράβηξε τα μαλλιά της. (To agóri trávixe ta maliá tis.) |
| 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: "Michael fixed the broken window today." |
| [pause] |
| Chrissi: Ο Μιχάλης έφτιαξε το σπασμένο παράθυρο σήμερα. (O Mihális éftiaxe to spazméno parathiro símera.) |
| [pause] |
| Chrissi: Ο Μιχάλης έφτιαξε το σπασμένο παράθυρο σήμερα. (O Mihális éftiaxe to spazméno parathiro símera.) |
| John: "The islanders used to paint their houses with whitewash." |
| [pause] |
| Chrissi: Οι νησιώτες έβαφαν τα σπίτια τους με ασβέστη. (I nisiótes évafan ta spítia tus me azvésti.) |
| [pause] |
| Chrissi: Οι νησιώτες έβαφαν τα σπίτια τους με ασβέστη. (I nisiótes évafan ta spítia tus me azvésti.) |
| John: "The boy pulled her hair." |
| [pause] |
| Chrissi: Το αγόρι τράβηξε τα μαλλιά της. (To agóri trávixe ta maliá tis.) |
| [pause] |
| Chrissi: Το αγόρι τράβηξε τα μαλλιά της. (To agóri trávixe ta maliá tis.) |
Outro |
|---|
| John: Okay. That's all for this lesson. You learned a pattern for talking about something in the past, as in... |
| Chrissi: Ο Μιχάλης έφτιαξε το σπασμένο παράθυρο σήμερα. (O Mihális éftiaxe to spazméno parathiro símera.) |
| John: meaning "Michael fixed the broken window today." |
| 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! |
Comments
HideWhat did you do last weekend?
Hi An,
That is a very valid question.
The first three sentences that use "went" can be expressed with the aorist/simple past. The last one uses a different tense, the present perfect, therefore in Greek it would sound more correct using the present tense since the point of reference is from the past until today:
1. Last year I went to Crete. Πέρυσι πήγα στην Κρήτη.
2. Last year I went to Crete for 3 weeks. Πέρυσι πήγα στην Κρήτη για 3 εβδομάδες.
Does 3 weeks implicate duration - past continuous? Not necessarily, but that depends on the verb used originally or other phrases.
For example, in the second example above, you use "went" so I used the aorist + 3 weeks.
However, if you were to say.
They were talking for 3 hours. That would be Μιλούσαν για 3 ώρες. Since the verb in the first sentence is in a continuous form, it translates in the past continuous as well. So the time reference plays a small role here.
3. I already went to Crete for 5 times. Πήγα ήδη στην Κρήτη 5 φορές.
4. The last 5 years I have been going to Crete. Τα τελευταία 5 χρόνια πηγαίνω στην Κρήτη.
Again, here what matters is the verb you use originally, not the reference of frequency.
I hope it's clearer now.
All the best,
Stefania
Team GreekPod101.com
Is there a difference in use of the past (simple / continuous) by saying
- Last year I went to Crete or last year I went to Crete for 3 weeks (does 3 weeks implicate duration - past continuous) ?
- I already went to Crete for 5 times. The last 5 years I have been going to Crete...
For me it is difficult to understand the real impact of some interpretation > duration / repitition ...
Γεια σου Μάριον,
το σωστό είναι: Έπαιζα γκολφ με τον σύζυγό μου. 😉
Γεια χαρά,
Στεφανία
Team GreekPod101.com
Έπαιζα το γkολφ με τον σύσηγος μου