Learn how to use the sentence pattern "That_ is... "
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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 3. Using Adjectives to Describe. |
| John: In this lesson, you'll learn how to use a sentence pattern for describing something using an adjective or a declinable participle. |
| PATTERN |
| John: For example, |
| John: "That island is uninhabited." |
| Chrissi: Αυτό το νησί είναι ακατοίκητο. (Aftó to nisí íne akatíkito.) |
| Chrissi: [slow] Αυτό το νησί είναι ακατοίκητο. (Aftó to nisí íne akatíkito.) |
| John: The pattern for describing something using an adjective or a declinable participle has four elements. First, the neuter demonstrative pronoun in the nominative, meaning "that". |
| Chrissi: Αυτό (Aftó). |
| John: Second, a neuter noun phrase in the nominative, meaning "island". |
| Chrissi: το νησί (to nisí). |
| John: Third, the verb "to be" in the third person singular, meaning "is". |
| Chrissi: είναι ( íne). |
| John: And last, a neuter adjective in the nominative, meaning "uninhabited". |
| Chrissi: ακατοίκητο (akatíkito). |
| John: Altogether, we have... "That island is uninhabited." |
| Chrissi: Αυτό το νησί είναι ακατοίκητο. (Aftó to nisí íne akatíkito.) [slow] Αυτό το νησί είναι ακατοίκητο. (Aftó to nisí íne akatíkito.) [normal] Αυτό το νησί είναι ακατοίκητο. (Aftó to nisí íne akatíkito.) |
| John: This pattern starts with a demonstrative pronoun in a form that "agrees" with the subject's gender, number, and case. The subject follows immediately after and it can be a noun phrase as simple as an article and a noun. |
| Then comes the verb "to be," conjugated according to the subject's person and number. Then last comes an adjective or a declinable participle. |
| Since this adjective or declinable participle gives a certain attribute to the subject through the linking verb "to be," it is the subject's predicate. As such, it needs to be in the form that "agrees" with the subject's gender, number and case. |
| As we've mentioned in the previous lesson, subjects are always in the nominative case and as a rule, subject predicates too. You can also use this pattern without the demonstrative pronoun whenever you need to describe something without pointing at it. Or, you can even swap it around with the noun phrase and use the noun phrase first and then the demonstrative pronoun. |
| Word order in Greek is quite flexible! For example, "That island is uninhabited" can be... |
| Chrissi: Αυτό το νησί είναι ακατοίκητο. (Aftó to nisí íne akatíkito.) |
| John: Or.... |
| Chrissi: Το νησί αυτό είναι ακατοίκητο. (To nisí aftó íne akatíkito.) |
| John: So remember, to describe something using an adjective or a declinable participle, start with the demonstrative noun if necessary, continue with a noun phrase, plus the verb "to be," plus the adjective or the declinable participle. Be aware of the noun's gender, number, and case. |
| John: Here is another example meaning, "That movie is boring." First, the feminine demonstrative pronoun in the nominative, meaning "that". |
| Chrissi: Αυτή (Aftí). |
| John: Second, a feminine noun phrase in the nominative, meaning "movie". |
| Chrissi: η ταινία (i tenía). |
| John: Third, the verb "to be" in the third person singular, meaning "is". |
| Chrissi: είναι (íne). |
| John: And last, a feminine adjective in the nominative, meaning "boring". |
| Chrissi: βαρετή (varetí). |
| John: Altogether we have... |
| Chrissi: Αυτή η ταινία είναι βαρετή. (Aftí i tenía íne varetí.) [slow] Αυτή η ταινία είναι βαρετή. (Aftí i tenía íne varetí.) [normal] Αυτή η ταινία είναι βαρετή. (Aftí i tenía íne varetí.) |
| John: "That movie is boring." |
| [pause] |
| Chrissi: Αυτή η ταινία είναι βαρετή. (Aftí i tenía íne varetí.) |
| John: How do you say - "This party is successful." To give you a hint, "successful" here is... |
| Chrissi: επιτυχημένο (epitihiméno). [slow] επιτυχημένο (epitihiméno). [normal] επιτυχημένο (epitihiméno). |
| John: "This party is successful." |
| [pause] |
| Chrissi: Αυτό το πάρτι είναι επιτυχημένο. (Aftó to párti íne epitihiméno.) [slow] Αυτό το πάρτι είναι επιτυχημένο. (Aftó to párti íne epitihiméno.) [normal] Αυτό το πάρτι είναι επιτυχημένο. (Aftó to párti íne epitihiméno.) |
| [pause] |
| Chrissi: Αυτό το πάρτι είναι επιτυχημένο. (Aftó to párti íne epitihiméno.) |
| 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: "That island is uninhabited." |
| [pause] |
| Chrissi: Αυτό το νησί είναι ακατοίκητο. (Aftó to nisí íne akatíkito.) |
| [pause] |
| Chrissi: Αυτό το νησί είναι ακατοίκητο. (Aftó to nisí íne akatíkito.) |
| John: "That movie is boring." |
| [pause] |
| Chrissi: Αυτή η ταινία είναι βαρετή. (Aftí i tenía íne varetí.) |
| [pause] |
| Chrissi: Αυτή η ταινία είναι βαρετή. (Aftí i tenía íne varetí.) |
| John: "This party is successful." |
| [pause] |
| Chrissi: Αυτό το πάρτι είναι επιτυχημένο. (Aftó to párti íne epitihiméno.) |
| [pause] |
| Chrissi: Αυτό το πάρτι είναι επιτυχημένο. (Aftó to párti íne epitihiméno.) |
Outro |
|---|
| John: Okay. That's all for this lesson. You learned a pattern for describing something using an adjective or a declinable participle, as in... |
| Chrissi: Αυτό το νησί είναι ακατοίκητο. (Aftó to nisí íne akatíkito.) |
| John: meaning "That island is uninhabited." |
| 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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