Learn how to use passive participles degrees of comparison, 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 4 - Taking a Tour of a Greek Cruise Ship. Eric here. |
| Chrissi: Γεια σας. I'm Chrissi. |
| Eric: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to form the passive participle degrees of comparison. The conversation takes place in the cruise office of a cruise ship. |
| Chrissi: It's between Katerina and 37 year-old cruise director Nikos Makris. |
| Eric: The speakers are colleagues. Katerina will be using formal Greek, while Nikos will be using informal Greek due to their difference in status. Okay, let's listen to the conversation. |
Lesson conversation |
|---|
| Νίκος Μακρής: Γεια! Εσύ πρέπει να είσαι η Κατερίνα, σωστά; |
| Κατερίνα: Ναι, η κυρία Λάμπρη με έφερε εδώ και μου είπε να περιμένω. Είστε ο κύριος Μακρής, ο διευθυντής κρουαζιέρας; |
| Νίκος Μακρής: Ο ίδιος. Καλωσήρθες στο MV Nηρέας! Είσαι τυχερή, με την πρώτη σε βάλανε εδώ. Στο μεγαλύτερο και καλύτερο πλοίο της εταιρείας μας. |
| Κατερίνα: Σας ευχαριστώ! Είμαι πολύ χαρούμενη που βρίσκομαι εδώ! Είμαι... κατενθουσιασμένη! |
| Νίκος Μακρής: Σίγουρα φαίνεσαι το πιο χαρούμενο άτομο εδώ γύρω! |
| Κατερίνα: Γιατί; Οι υπόλοιποι που δουλεύουν εδώ δεν χαίρονται; |
| Νίκος Μακρής: Πολλοί μάλλον όχι! Βλέπεις οι περισσότεροι που δουλεύουν στο πλοίο μας δεν είναι Έλληνες. Έχουν τις οικογένειές τους και τα παιδιά τους μακριά. Οπότε θα κάνουν μήνες να τους ξαναδούν. |
| : Αλλά μην σε ψυχοπλακώνω τώρα! Πάντα οι πρώτες μέρες είναι δύσκολες για όλους. Πολλοί δείχνουν πιο θλιμμένοι τώρα απ' ότι δείχνουν στο τέλος της σεζόν. Θα το δεις. |
| Κατερίνα: Ώστε ίσως για αυτό ο Νεπαλέζος ο σεκιουριτάς στην είσοδο ήταν μουτρωμένος. |
| Νίκος Μακρής: Ποιος; Ο κοντούλης με τη χωρίστρα στο πλάι; Αυτός είναι ψυχούλα! Μην τον παρεξηγείς. Θα τα είχε πάρει μάλλον με κάποιον. |
| : Λοιπόν, εφόσον σε βλέπω ορεξάτη, τι θα έλεγες να ξεκινήσουμε με μια μικρή ξενάγηση στο πλοίο; Να μάθεις τα κατατόπια. |
| Κατερίνα: Νομίζω αυτό θα ήταν το καλύτερο! Μέχρι να με φέρουν εδώ, αποπροσανατολίστηκα εντελώς. Είμαι σαν χαμένη στο διάστημα! |
| Eric: Listen to the conversation with the English translation. |
| Nikos Makris: Hi! You must be Katerina, right? |
| Katerina: Yes, Mrs. Lambri brought me here and told me to wait. Are you Mr. Makris, the cruise director? |
| Nikos Makris: In person. Welcome aboard MV Nereus! You are lucky, it's your first time and you got in here. In the biggest and best ship of our company. |
| Katerina: Why, thank you! I'm very happy to be here! I'm... thrilled! |
| Nikos Makris: You definitely look like the happiest person around here! |
| Katerina: Why? Aren't the rest of the people working here happy? |
| Nikos Makris: Many probably not! You see, most people who work aboard our ship are not Greeks. They have their families and their children far away. So it will be months before they see them again. |
| : But I don't want to make you depressed! The first days are always hard for everyone. Many people seem sadder now than they do at the end of the season. You'll see it. |
| Katerina: So maybe that's why the Nepalese security guy at the gangway was sulky. |
| Nikos Makris: Who? The short guy with the part on the side of his head? He is a sweetheart! Don't take him wrong. He was probably upset with someone. |
| : So, since you seem to be in the mood, what do you say we start with a small tour around the ship? So you can learn all the whereabouts. |
| Katerina: I think that would be the best! I got totally disorientated getting here. I'm like lost in space! |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Eric: Chrissi, I noticed that in our dialog Katerina talked to her new and older supervisor in the plural, while he talked to her in the singular. Is that because of the difference in their positions? |
| Chrissi: Yes, but the reason he did so is not because he doesn't respect her or sees himself as superior; it's because as a supervisor he wants to seem approachable and friendly, and make her feel comfortable in her new working environment. |
| Eric: That makes sense. |
| Chrissi: I would personally recommend that you always use plural with older people, people you don't know, and people who are in a higher position than you, such as your boss. |
| Eric: And what is the best way to talk to people of a lower position than you? |
| Chrissi: Talking in the plural always demonstrates respect, but if you are addressing someone who is younger or of the same age as you who you will be seeing very often, feel free to speak and act casually so that you come off as friendly and win over their trust. |
| Eric: Those are some good tips. Okay, now onto the vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Eric: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is... |
| Chrissi: πρώτος [natural native speed] |
| Eric: first |
| Chrissi: πρώτος [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Chrissi: πρώτος [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have... |
| Chrissi: κατενθουσιασμένος [natural native speed] |
| Eric: thrilled |
| Chrissi: κατενθουσιασμένος [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Chrissi: κατενθουσιασμένος [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have... |
| Chrissi: ψυχοπλακώνω [natural native speed] |
| Eric: to depress, to make gloomy |
| Chrissi: ψυχοπλακώνω [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Chrissi: ψυχοπλακώνω [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have... |
| Chrissi: σεκιουριτάς [natural native speed] |
| Eric: security guard |
| Chrissi: σεκιουριτάς [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Chrissi: σεκιουριτάς [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have... |
| Chrissi: μουτρωμένος [natural native speed] |
| Eric: grumpy, sulky |
| Chrissi: μουτρωμένος [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Chrissi: μουτρωμένος [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have... |
| Chrissi: χωρίστρα [natural native speed] |
| Eric: hair part, parting |
| Chrissi: χωρίστρα [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Chrissi: χωρίστρα [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have... |
| Chrissi: κάποιος [natural native speed] |
| Eric: someone, somebody, some |
| Chrissi: κάποιος [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Chrissi: κάποιος [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have... |
| Chrissi: ορεξάτος [natural native speed] |
| Eric: somebody in the mood for something or ready for a fight |
| Chrissi: ορεξάτος [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Chrissi: ορεξάτος [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have... |
| Chrissi: κατατόπια [natural native speed] |
| Eric: whereabouts |
| Chrissi: κατατόπια [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Chrissi: κατατόπια [natural native speed] |
| Eric: And last... |
| Chrissi: αποπροσανατολίζομαι [natural native speed] |
| Eric: to get disoriented |
| Chrissi: αποπροσανατολίζομαι [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Chrissi: αποπροσανατολίζομαι [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Eric: Let's have a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first phrase is... |
| Chrissi: ...με την πρώτη. |
| Eric: Meaning “with the first time, with the first try.” |
| Chrissi: Πρώτη means “first” in the feminine gender. So with με την πρώτη we are literally saying “with the first”. |
| Eric: Here we didn't use the words “time” or “try” in Greek. |
| Chrissi: Right. So the words φορά or προσπάθεια are always implied. We use this expression to say that we’ve achieved something by trying only once. |
| Eric: For example? |
| Chrissi: Πέρασα τις εξετάσεις με την πρώτη. |
| Eric: Meaning “I passed the exams with the first try”. But this expression is not always used in a way that implies “time” or “try”. |
| Chrissi: Right. It can also be used more literally when followed by a noun. |
| Eric: For example, you can say: |
| Chrissi: Ερωτευτήκανε με την πρώτη ματιά. |
| Eric: “They fell in love at first sight.” Or... |
| Chrissi: ...Με τις πρώτες σταγόνες της βροχής μύρισε βρεγμένο χώμα. |
| Eric: “With the first drops of rain it smelled like wet soil.” Okay, what's the next phrase? |
| Chrissi: Τα παίρνω με κάποιον. |
| Eric: Which means “to be upset or angry at someone”. |
| Chrissi: This is a slang expression. It is a shorter version of τα παίρνω στο κρανίο με κάποιον. |
| Eric: Although this literally translates as “I get them in the skull with someone,” an equivalent English expression for this is “he, she or it gets on my nerves”. |
| Chrissi: For Greeks, anger is something that comes from inside our heads. In the case of τα παίρνω με κάποιον, the part στο κρανίο, which means “ in the skull,” is implied, but the meaning is still the same. |
| Eric: This common slang expression is very casual and should only be used among friends, family, or people you feel comfortable with. You should never use this expression in a formal situation or with people you need to show respect to. Can you give us a sentence using this phrase? |
| Chrissi: Yes. For example, you can say Τα έχω πάρει με την καθηγήτρια ιστορίας που μου μηδένισε το γραπτό. |
| Eric: “I'm angry at the history teacher for giving me an F on my paper.” Okay, what's the next word? |
| Chrissi: Κατενθουσιασμένος. |
| Eric: Meaning “thrilled.” |
| Chrissi: This is a compound word made up of the participle ενθουσιασμένος, meaning “excited”, and the preposition κατά which as a prefix here means “totally” or “extremely”. So all together κατενθουσιασμένος means “thrilled”. |
| Eric: You can use it in any situation. For example... |
| Chrissi: Είναι κατενθουσιασμένος με τα αποτελέσματα της δίαιτας που ακολουθεί. |
| Eric: “He is thrilled with the results of the new diet he follows.” Okay, now onto the lesson focus. |
Lesson focus |
| Eric: In this lesson you will learn how to form the passive participle degrees of comparison. |
| Chrissi: In our previous lessons we looked at Greek participles. We mentioned that in modern Greek there are two types of participles- the indeclinable active voice participles and the declinable passive voice participles. |
| Eric: The declinable passive voice participles behave like adjectives, and since adjectives form degrees of comparison, so do some of those declinable passive voice participles. |
| Chrissi: In Greek, there are three degrees of comparison- the positive, the comparative, and the superlative. |
| Eric: Listeners, please remember that not all passive participles form degrees of comparison. |
| Chrissi: Right. Only the ones that end in an accented -μένος, -μένη, -μένο and whose meaning allows that. |
| Eric: Ok, let's have a look at the formation of the comparative degree. |
| Chrissi: It’s pretty simple. You just add the word πιο, meaning “more”, before the participle in the positive degree. |
| Eric: For example? |
| Chrissi: Let's take ευτυχισμένος, meaning “happy.” That's in the positive degree. In the comparative degree it becomes πιο ευτυχισμένος, or “happier.” |
| Eric: Let’s have a sample sentence, please. |
| Chrissi: OK, how about this one? Είναι πιο ευτυχισμένος από ποτέ. |
| Eric: This means “He is happier than ever.” Great! Now let's move on to the formation of the superlative degree. |
| Chrissi: There are two types of superlative degrees in Greek; the relative superlative degree, called σχετικός υπερθετικός βαθμός, and the absolute superlative degree, called απόλυτος υπερθετικός βαθμός. Both are phrasal. |
| Eric: The relative superlative degree is formed by using the definite article plus the participle in the comparative degree. |
| Chrissi: In other words, adding ο, η or το before the word πιο and the participle in the positive degree that follows after it. The article of course needs to agree in gender, number and case with the participle. |
| Eric: For example? |
| Chrissi: Κουρασμένος, meaning “tired”, will become ο πιο κουρασμένος, meaning “the most tired”. |
| Eric: And a sample sentence? |
| Chrissi: Ο προπονητής κάλεσε στον πάγκο τον πιο κουρασμένο παίκτη της ομάδας. |
| Eric: “The coach called to the bench the most tired player of the team.” |
| Chrissi: Next we have the absolute superlative degree, which is formed by using the word πολύ, meaning “very”, or πολύ πολύ, “very, very”, plus the participle in the positive degree. |
| Eric: Chrissi, can you give us an example? |
| Chrissi: Sure. Let's take διψασμένος, meaning “thirsty”. This becomes πολύ διψασμένος, “very thirsty”, or πολύ πολύ διψασμένος , “very, very thirsty”. |
| Eric: Let's use it in a sample sentence. |
| Chrissi: Ο σκύλος ήταν πολύ διψασμένος λόγω ζέστης. |
| Eric: “The dog was very thirsty because of the heat.” Listeners, be sure to check out the lesson notes for more examples. |
Outro |
| Eric: Okay, that’s all for this lesson. Thank you for listening, everyone, and we’ll see you next time! Bye! |
| Chrissi: Γεια χαρά! |
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