Learn how to render the English modal verbs "shall," "should," "will," and "would" in Greek, from a conversation with mixed levels of formality
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Eric: Hi everyone, and welcome back to GreekPod101.com. This is Upper Intermediate Season 1 Lesson 22 - A Dangerous Wind is Blowing in Greece! Eric Here. |
| Chrissi: Γεια σας. I'm Chrissi. |
| Eric: In this lesson, you’ll learn more about modality in Greek, using the modal verbs “shall,” “should,” “will,” and “would.” The conversation takes place on the bridge of a cruise ship. |
| Chrissi: It's between Katerina and Staff Captain Alexis. |
| Eric: The speakers are colleagues. Katerina will be using formal Greek, while Alexis will be using informal Greek. Okay, let's listen to the conversation. |
Lesson conversation |
|---|
| Κατερίνα: Είπαν ότι θα υπάρχουν δυνατοί άνεμοι το Σαββατοκύριακο. Τι νομίζετε; Θα είναι άσχημα τα πράγματα; |
| Αλέξης: Θα έχει πολύ αέρα. Περίπου 7 μποφόρ. Αλλά αυτό είναι φυσιολογικό. Είναι Αύγουστος, οπότε το μελτέμι φυσάει δυνατά στο Αιγαίο πέλαγος. |
| Κατερίνα: Φαντάζομαι το δέσιμο στη Μύκονο ίσως να είναι δύσκολο. |
| Αλέξης: Θα είμαστε προσεκτικοί. Με τέτοιο καιρό οι κάβοι μπορούν εύκολα να σπάσουν και οι καβοδέτες θα μπορούσαν να τραυματιστούν σοβαρά. |
| Κατερίνα: Δεν θα έπρεπε να υπάρχουν μέτρα ασφαλείας για αυτούς τους ανθρώπους; |
| Αλέξης: Το καλύτερο μέτρο ασφαλείας που μπορούμε να πάρουμε είναι να πάρουμε τις σωστές αποφάσεις εδώ, στη γέφυρα. |
| : Αν οι άνεμοι είναι πολύ δυνατοί και επικίνδυνοι, μπορεί να μην είναι δυνατόν να δέσουμε. |
| Κατερίνα: Ας ελπίσουμε ότι αυτό δεν θα συμβεί. |
| (Ήχος ασύρματου) |
| Αλέξης: Με ενημερώνουν από τον ασύρματο ότι είμαστε έτοιμοι για το γυμνάσιο των επιβατών. Μπορείς να ξεκινήσεις την ανακοίνωση. |
| Κατερίνα: Μάλιστα κύριε ύπαρχε. |
| Eric: Listen to the conversation with the English translation. |
| Katerina: They said it would be windy this weekend. What do you think? Is it going to be bad? |
| Alexis: It will be very windy. About a Beaufort force of 7. But that's normal. It's August so the meltemi winds are blowing strongly in the Aegean Sea. |
| Katerina: I guess docking in Mykonos might be difficult. |
| Alexis: We shall be cautious. With such weather the mooring lines can easily snap and dockworkers could be severely injured. |
| Katerina: Shouldn't there be safety measures for these men? |
| Alexis: The best safety measure we can take is to make the right decisions here, at the bridge. |
| : If the winds are too strong and dangerous, we might not be able to dock. |
| Katerina: Let's hope that won't happen. |
| (Radio noise) |
| Alexis: They're letting me know from the radio that we are ready for the passenger drill. You may start the announcement. |
| Katerina: Aye, aye Sir. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Eric: Katerina and Alexis were talking about how the winds might affect their docking. |
| Chrissi: That’s right. The Μελτέμι, or μελτέμια in plural, are strong seasonal winds that occur over the Aegean Sea. |
| Eric: Seasonal? When do they usually occur? |
| Chrissi: They peak in July and August. Imagine a swirl of air moving anti-clockwise over Turkey, and another one moving clockwise over the Balkans. |
| Eric: So they meet somewhere over the Aegean Sea? |
| Chrissi: That’s right. It’s called the “etesian” wind in English. The ancient Greeks used to call them ἐτησίαι, a word that derives from the noun ἔτος. |
| Eric: What does that mean? |
| Chrissi: It means “year.” Μελτέμια are at their strongest in the afternoon. |
| Eric: What effect do these winds have on the weather? |
| Chrissi: The weather becomes nice and clear, with no humidity. |
| Eric: Sounds nice and cooling! |
| Chrissi: It is, but not if you’re at sea! These winds can reach speeds of up to 7-8 Beaufort knots. Some yachts and ferries are actually prohibited from sailing in these winds, which in Greek is απογορευτικό απόπλου. |
| 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: αέρας [natural native speed] |
| Eric: air, wind |
| Chrissi: αέρας[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Chrissi: αέρας [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Chrissi: φυσιολογικός [natural native speed] |
| Eric: normal, natural, physiological |
| Chrissi: φυσιολογικός[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Chrissi: φυσιολογικός [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Chrissi: μελτέμι [natural native speed] |
| Eric: strong, dry north winds of the Aegean Sea blowing during the summer months |
| Chrissi: μελτέμι[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Chrissi: μελτέμι [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Chrissi: πέλαγος [natural native speed] |
| Eric: sea, open sea |
| Chrissi: πέλαγος[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Chrissi: πέλαγος [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Chrissi: δέσιμο [natural native speed] |
| Eric: binding, tying, connection, bonding, docking |
| Chrissi: δέσιμο[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Chrissi: δέσιμο [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Chrissi: κάβος [natural native speed] |
| Eric: mooring line (nautical,) cape (geography) |
| Chrissi: κάβος[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Chrissi: κάβος [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Chrissi: καβοδέτης [natural native speed] |
| Eric: dockworker |
| Chrissi: καβοδέτης[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Chrissi: καβοδέτης [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Chrissi: προσεκτικός [natural native speed] |
| Eric: careful, attentive, cautious |
| Chrissi: προσεκτικός[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Chrissi: προσεκτικός [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Chrissi: μέτρο [natural native speed] |
| Eric: meter, measure, measurement, measuring tape, bar or time signature (music), metrical foot (poetry), moderation |
| Chrissi: μέτρο[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Chrissi: μέτρο [natural native speed] |
| Eric: And last.. |
| Chrissi: ασύρματος [natural native speed] |
| Eric: radio, walkie talkie |
| Chrissi: ασύρματος[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Chrissi: ασύρματος [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: έχει αέρα |
| Eric: meaning "it’s windy." |
| Eric: What can you tell us about this phrase? |
| Chrissi: It consists of the verb έχω, meaning "to have," and of the masculine noun αέρας which means "air." |
| Eric: So it literally means “it has wind.” |
| Chrissi: Yes. In this case, “it” means the weather, so “it’s windy.” |
| Eric: We can use it to describe the weather, but can it be used for anything else? |
| Chrissi: If you use the adjective ανεμώδης we can also use “wind” as a metaphor for someone with an unstable temperament, such as in ανεμώδης ιδιοσυγκρασία. |
| Eric: Can you give us an example using this word? |
| Chrissi: Sure. For example, you can say.. Όταν έχει πολύ αέρα η στέγη μας κάνει περίεργους θορύβους. |
| Eric: ..which means "When it's very windy, our roof makes weird noises." Okay, what's the next word? |
| Chrissi: Αιγαίο πέλαγος |
| Eric: meaning "Aegean Sea." |
| Eric: What can you tell us about this? |
| Chrissi: The actual word for “sea” is θάλασσα, but Αιγαίο πέλαγος uses πέλαγος, which also means “sea.” |
| Eric: Are those two words for “sea” interchangeable? |
| Chrissi: No, they aren’t. Πέλαγος specifically means a body of water away from the coast that is smaller than an ocean, but also smaller than a sea. |
| Eric: Like the Aegean Sea. |
| Chrissi: Yes. There’s also the Ionian Sea or Ιόνιο πέλαγος and the Libyan Sea or Λιβυκό πέλαγος, for example. |
| Eric:What’s an example using this word? |
| Chrissi: You can say.. Οι Κυκλάδες βρίσκονται στο Αιγαίο πέλαγος. |
| Eric: .. which means "The Cyclades are located in the Aegean Sea." What's the next word? |
| Chrissi: μέτρο |
| Eric: meaning "meter, measure, measurement, measuring tape, bar or time signature, metrical foot in poetry,” or “moderation." Wow, that’s a long list of words! |
| Chrissi: Yes, μέτρο is a very versatile noun. |
| Eric: It sounds like it! There’s a long list of uses for this noun in the lesson notes, so be sure to check it out. For now though, let’s look at just a couple. |
| Chrissi: It can be used for distance, such as Η απόσταση είναι δύο μέτρα. |
| Eric: “The distance is two meters.” It can also be used for poetic time, such as “Iambic pentameter was widely used by many poets.” |
| Chrissi: Which is Το ιαμβικό μέτρο χρησιμοποιήθηκε ευρύτατα από πολλούς ποιητές. |
| Eric: Can you give us an example using this word? |
| Chrissi: Sure. For example, you can say.. Όταν βγαίνεις έξω, να πίνεις με μέτρο. |
| Eric: .. which means "When you go out, drink in moderation." Okay, now onto the lesson focus. |
Lesson focus |
| Eric: In this lesson you’ll learn how to render the English modal verbs “shall,” “should,” “will” and “would” in Greek. |
| Eric: In the last lesson we spoke about modal verbs. |
| Chrissi: That’s right. We said that in these cases there isn’t a direct translation between English and Greek, so we can’t do word-for-word examples. |
| Eric: But we’ll do our best to give equivalent examples. Let’s start with “shall.” This suggests inevitability and I think it’s used more commonly in British English. |
| Chrissi: I think so too. In Greek, we commonly use the future tense of the verb that is used with shall. |
| Eric: Can you give us an example? |
| Chrissi: Look at the verb “to visit” - θα με επισκεφθεί. We can say Αύριο θα με επισκεφθεί κάποιος τον οποίο δεν γνωρίζω ακόμα. |
| Eric: Which means “Tomorrow, I shall be visited by someone whom I don’t know.” That sentence used the future tense of “to visit.” |
| Chrissi: Yes. And as this was a momentary action, it needs the simple future tense. If it were a continuous action, we would use the continuous future tense. There are other ways to express “shall” too. |
| Eric: We have a lot of ground to cover in this lesson, so listeners, please check the lesson notes for the other ways! Let’s move on to “should,” which we use for recommendations, advice, and obligations. |
| Chrissi: We use the impersonal verb πρέπει meaning "must," or "have to" in various forms + a verb in subjunctive mood (with να) in order to express "should." |
| Eric: How can I say “You should drink two liters of water every day”? |
| Chrissi: Θα πρέπει να πίνεις δύο λίτρα νερό την ημέρα. You have to look at the context and ask yourself, “Is this friendly advice, a command, or an expectation?” when thinking of how to say it in Greek. |
| Eric: How about “will” next? We use this for future actions. |
| Chrissi: You’ll be glad to hear that this one is quite simple in comparison! |
| Eric: I’m glad to hear that! |
| Chrissi: You always use the future tense, and change to either simple or continuous depending on the context. |
| Eric: How do we say “I will always love you”? |
| Chrissi: Aw, that’s sweet. Θα σε αγαπώ για πάντα. |
| Eric: And our last modal verb for this lesson is “would.” This can be the past tense of “will” or mean repetition in the past. |
| Chrissi: In most cases, we render “would” with θα + a verb in the past continuous tense. |
| Eric: Can you give us an example? |
| Chrissi: Στο είπα ότι δεν θα την ένοιαζε. |
| Eric: “I told you she wouldn’t care.” Let’s finish with one more example of “would.” |
| Chrissi: Όταν ζούσα στο νησί, περνούσα τα καλοκαιρινά μου απογεύματα στην παραλία. |
| Eric: “When I was living on the island, I would spend my summer afternoons at the beach.” |
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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