Learn about categories of irregular verbs using an informal conversation between friends as an example
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Eric: Hi everyone, and welcome back to GreekPod101.com. This is Upper Intermediate Season 1 Lesson 15 - Talking About Your Day in Greek. Eric here. |
| Chrissi: Γεια σας. I'm Chrissi. |
| Eric: In this lesson, you’ll learn some categories of irregular verbs. The conversation takes place in the cruise office of a cruise ship. |
| Chrissi: It's between Katerina and Nikos. |
| Eric: The speakers are colleagues and friends, so they’ll be using informal Greek. Okay, let's listen to the conversation. |
Lesson conversation |
|---|
| Νίκος: Τι έγινε; Πώς πήγε η εκδρομή; |
| Κατερίνα: Ωραία ήταν τελικά, αν και κουράστηκα λίγο μέχρι να ανέβω επάνω στο κάστρο. Είχαμε και μια περιπέτεια με μια επιβάτισσα που χτύπησε... |
| Νίκος: Σώπα! Τι έγινε δηλαδή; |
| Κατερίνα: Όπως ανεβαίνανε οι τουρίστες στο στενό το μονοπάτι, είδα εγώ έναν παππού που κατέβαινε με το γαϊδούρι του. |
| : Αυτός πήγαινε γρήγορα και κάποια στιγμή, όπως πέρασε το γαϊδούρι δίπλα από την εν λόγω κυρία, αυτή μάλλον τρόμαξε, έκανε μια απότομη κίνηση να απομακρυνθεί, γλίστρησε και έπεσε. |
| Νίκος: Ναι, εκεί πάνω το μονοπάτι είναι πολύ ολισθηρό. Και τι έγινε μετά; |
| Κατερίνα: Ευτυχώς ήμασταν εκεί με την Εύα και τρέξαμε αμέσως προς το μέρος της. Είχε μόνο κάτι μικροεκδορές στον αγκώνα. |
| : Εγώ της έπλυνα την πληγή, ενώ η Εύα έτρεξε να βρει φαρμακείο να αγοράσει λίγο αντισηπτικό και γάζες. Αφού τη βοηθήσαμε, αυτή συνέχισε την εκδρομή της κανονικά. |
| Νίκος: Άρα ευτυχώς που δεν ήταν κάτι σοβαρό. |
| Κατερίνα: Ναι, μια χαρά πρέπει να είναι. |
| Νίκος: Όπως και να 'χει, εφόσον ξέρεις ποια είναι, προσπάθησε να βρεις την καμπίνα της μέσω της ρεσεψιόν. Νομίζω θα ήταν ωραίο να της στέλναμε ένα καλάθι με φρούτα και μια κάρτα με ευχές για γρήγορη ανάρρωση. |
| Κατερίνα: Α, ωραία ιδέα! |
| Eric: Listen to the conversation with the English translation. |
| Nikos: What's up? How was the excursion? |
| Katerina: It was nice actually, although I did get a bit tired until I got up to the castle. We also had a little adventure with a lady passenger that got hurt... |
| Nikos: Really? So, what happened? |
| Katerina: As tourists were walking up the narrow path, I saw an old man coming down with his donkey. |
| : He was going fast and at some point, as the donkey passed by that lady I mentioned, probably she got scared, made a quick move to get away, then she slipped over and fell. |
| Nikos: Yeah, the walking path up there is very slippery. And what happened next? |
| Katerina: Luckily, Eva and I were there and we immediately ran to her. She only had some minor scratches on her elbow. |
| : I washed her wound, while Eva ran to find a pharmacy to buy some antiseptic and bandages. After we helped her, she continued her excursion normally. |
| Nikos: So, good thing that it wasn't something serious. |
| Katerina: Yeah, she should be fine. |
| Nikos: Anyhow, since you know who she is, try to locate her cabin through the reception. I think it would be nice if we sent her a fruit basket and a card with wishes for a quick recovery. |
| Katerina: Ah, great idea! |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Eric: Chrissi, what should we do if we need medical aid while on a Greek island? |
| Chrissi: Well, first of all, try to find a medical center or a public hospital or clinic. To find one, just ask the locals or at the nearest pharmacy. |
| Eric: Do they have a special mark? |
| Chrissi: Yes, you can spot them by the green cross and green letters they have. |
| Eric: However, listeners, please keep in mind that on small islands and in general in remote locations in Greece, the healthcare may be of a lower standard than you’re used to. |
| Chrissi: Right. If you require more sophisticated care than what island hospitals can provide, you’ll be transported to a hospital in Athens or Thessaloniki. In extreme cases, like in emergencies, helicopters are used to transfer patients fast. |
| Eric: Okay, now onto the vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Eric: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is... |
| Chrissi: περιπέτεια [natural native speed] |
| Eric: adventure |
| Chrissi: περιπέτεια [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Chrissi: περιπέτεια [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have... |
| Chrissi: σωπαίνω [natural native speed] |
| Eric: to become quiet, to hush |
| Chrissi: σωπαίνω [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Chrissi: σωπαίνω [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have... |
| Chrissi: εν [natural native speed] |
| Eric: in (archaic word) |
| Chrissi: εν [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Chrissi: εν [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have... |
| Chrissi: απότομος [natural native speed] |
| Eric: abrupt, steep, rough, sharp |
| Chrissi: απότομος [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Chrissi: απότομος [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have... |
| Chrissi: απομακρύνομαι [natural native speed] |
| Eric: to move away, to distance oneself |
| Chrissi: απομακρύνομαι [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Chrissi: απομακρύνομαι [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have... |
| Chrissi: γλιστράω [natural native speed] |
| Eric: to slip, to slide, to glide, to creep |
| Chrissi: γλιστράω [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Chrissi: γλιστράω [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have... |
| Chrissi: ολισθηρός [natural native speed] |
| Eric: slippery |
| Chrissi: ολισθηρός [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Chrissi: ολισθηρός [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have... |
| Chrissi: μικροεκδορά [natural native speed] |
| Eric: small abrasion, minor scratch |
| Chrissi: μικροεκδορά [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Chrissi: μικροεκδορά [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have... |
| Chrissi: πληγή [natural native speed] |
| Eric: wound, plague |
| Chrissi: πληγή [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Chrissi: πληγή [natural native speed] |
| Eric: And last... |
| Chrissi: ανάρρωση [natural native speed] |
| Eric: recovery, recuperation |
| Chrissi: ανάρρωση [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Chrissi: ανάρρωση [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Eric: Let's have a closer look at some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first word is... |
| Chrissi: Σώπα! This is the aorist tense imperative form in singular of the verb σωπαίνω, meaning “to hush” or “to be quiet.” So, "Σώπα!" means "be quiet!" |
| Eric: You can also use this expression figuratively with different meanings. For example, when used as an interjection, like in our dialogue, it expresses great doubt or surprise, similar to the English expression “No way!” or “Really?” |
| Chrissi: The other use of Σώπα! is sarcastic. For example, when someone tells us something we already know, we can answer Σώπα!, usually extending the “o” sound. Σώωωωπα! |
| Eric: Chrissi, when can you use it? |
| Chrissi: My advice is to use this with people you know well and feel comfortable with. It’s not appropriate in formal conversations unless used in the plural to express the meaning “be quiet.” However, to me it sounds a bit old-fashioned. |
| Eric: Is there anything else we should know about this word? |
| Chrissi: One thing I should mention is that when Σώπα! is used literally, it might not always mean exactly “Be quiet!” For example, when someone is saying “thank you” to us with a lot of gratitude we can answer Σώπα! Δεν ήταν τίποτα! |
| Eric: This means something like “Say no more! It was nothing!” |
| Chrissi: Exactly! So it's not really “be quiet,” it's more like “don't say anything.” |
| Eric: Can you give us an example using this word? |
| Chrissi: Sure. For example, one person might say: Της μαμάς σου δεν της αρέσει ο καφές. |
| And the other person might answer: Σώπα! Λες και δεν το ήξερα! |
| Eric: The first statements means “Your mom doesn't like coffee” and the answer means “You don't say! As if I didn't know that!” Okay, what's next? |
| Chrissi: It’s the archaic expression, ο εν λόγω or η εν λόγω or το εν λόγω. |
| Eric: Meaning “the aforementioned, the one in question, the one under consideration or discussion.” So we use this when we are referring to someone or something that we mentioned before. |
| Chrissi: This expression consists of a definite article, the ancient preposition εν meaning “in”, and the noun λόγος... |
| Eric: ...which is the word for “speech.” |
| Chrissi: The noun λόγος is in dative case which no longer exists in modern Greek. This expression is appropriate in any situation, formal or informal. |
| Eric: However, due to the archaic nature of this expression it’s mostly used in formal conversations. Chrissi, can you give us an example using this word? |
| Chrissi: Sure. Ο εν λόγω υπάλληλος είναι σε άδεια. |
| Eric: “The aforementioned employee is on leave.” Okay, now onto the lesson focus. |
Lesson focus |
| Eric: In this lesson you’ll learn categories of irregular verbs. |
| Chrissi: Listeners, here we have two bits of good news for you. First, there are ten categories of irregular verbs and each category includes verbs that present the same irregularity. |
| Eric: So irregular verbs can be grouped. |
| Chrissi: The other good thing is that those irregularities appear mostly in two of the verb's formation elements, the stem and the character, and in the passive voice perfect tense participle. |
| Eric: In this lesson we’ll study the first four categories of irregular verbs. For each category, we’ll provide only the present tense, the active and passive voice aorist tense, and the passive voice perfect tense participle. |
| Chrissi: From these forms it's easy to create the rest of the verb forms. |
| Eric: Ok, let's start. |
| Chrissi: The 1st category includes verbs that form their aorist stem from a different root. |
| Eric: Those verbs form an asigmatic aorist. |
| Chrissi: Here we have verbs such as βλέπω... |
| Eric: ...“to see”... |
| Chrissi: ...έρχομαι... |
| Eric: ...“to come”... |
| Chrissi: ...λέω or less commonly λέγω... |
| Eric: ...“to say”... |
| Chrissi: ...and τρώω or less commonly τρώγω... |
| Eric: “to eat.” Chrissi, can you choose one verb and give us all the forms that we need to know? |
| Chrissi: Of course. Let's take the verb λέω, “to say.” In the active voice aorist tense it will become είπα, with the different root ειπ-. In the passive voice aorist it becomes ειπώθηκα or λέχθηκα and the passive voice perfect tense participle becomes ειπωμένος. |
| Eric: Ok. The second category includes verbs that change the character of the present tense in their aorist stem. |
| Chrissi: Right. Here we find verbs such as βάζω... |
| Eric: ...“to put”... |
| Chrissy: ...βγάζω... |
| Eric: ...“to remove, to take out or off”... |
| Chrissy: ...and κάνω... |
| Eric: ...“to do.” |
| Chrissi: For example, let's take the verb βγάζω. The active voice aorist tense is έβγαλα. So the character ζ from the initial stem βγάζ- became λ in the aorist resulting in the stem βγαλ-. |
| Eric: So the passive voice aorist is... |
| Chrissi: ...βγάλθηκα. |
| Eric: And the passive voice perfect tense participle... |
| Chrissi: ...βγαλμένος. |
| Eric: Next we have the 3rd category. |
| Chrissi: This one includes verbs whose stem character is a nasal consonant, so μ or ν (N) and some other verbs that form their aorist stem by changing the stem vowel of the present tense. |
| Eric: Here are some verbs that we find in this category. |
| Chrissi: απονέμω... |
| Eric: ...“to award”... |
| Chrissy: ...δίνω... |
| Eric: ...“to give”... |
| Chrissy: ...μακραίνω... |
| Eric: ...“to elongate”... |
| Chrissy: ...and τρέφω... |
| Eric: “to feed.” |
| Chrissi: From those verbs, some form an asigmatic aorist and some form a sigmatic aorist. As an example, let's take the verb πλένω, meaning “to wash.” |
| Eric: The active voice aorist tense is... |
| Chrissi: ...έπλυνα. |
| Eric: The passive voice aorist tense is... |
| Chrissi: ...πλύθηκα... |
| Eric: ...and the passive voice perfect tense participle is... |
| Chrissi: ...πλυμένος. Here we see that the stem vowel ε was changed to υ (Υ). |
| Eric: And now finally, the 4th category! |
| Chrissi: This one includes many verbs that end in -αίνω with α-ι or -άνω and that form their aorist stem by losing the ν (N) and by changing the stem vowel of the present tense. |
| Eric: Those verbs form a sigmatic aorist. Listeners, you can find a complete list of verbs from the 4th category in the lesson notes, but Chrissi, can you give us one example? |
| Chrissi: Let's take εγκατασταίνω, “to establish.” The active voice aorist tense is εγκατάστησα, the passive voice aorist is εγκαταστάθηκα and the passive voice perfect tense participle is εγκαταστημένος. |
Outro |
| Eric: Okay, that’s all for this lesson. Thank you for listening, everyone, and we’ll see you next time! |
| Chrissi: Γεια χαρά! |
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