Modern Greek

The Greek language is one of the oldest written languages in the world, and Greek literary culture extends back in time even past the invention of writing, to the time of Homer. Greek is a language distinguished by an extraordinarily rich vocabulary. The vast majority of Modern Greek vocabulary is directly inherited from ancient Greek, like (anthropos - man) or (thalassa - sea). Words of foreign origin have entered the language mainly from Latin, Italian and Ottoman Turkish. During older periods of the Greek language, loan words into Greek acquired Greek inflections, leaving thus only a foreign root word. Modern borrowings (from the 20th century on), especially from French and English, are typically not inflected. Up until the twentieth century, the archaic (, "katharevousa," "purist") form of the language was the only one with cultural prestige, and was the formal language of government. Over the course of the twentieth century, however, the written language was changed to resemble the modern spoken language, becoming the modern demotic language (, "of the people"), which is now the official language of the Greek and Cypriot state. The last change became effective as late as 1981, with the abolition of the polytonic system. This book is about the modern language, not classical or biblical Greek.

Introduction to the writing system

Fortunately, Greek is spelled mostly phonetically and the Greek alphabet is very easy to learn. You have probably already seen quite a few of the letters before, since they're used in maths, physics and chemistry. Others, particularly the capital letters, are often identical or very similar to Latin letters (the letters most of the western European languages, including English, use). Here are some letters that you can immediately recognise, in their upper and lowercase forms:

These are called alpha, iota, kappa, omikron and tau. The capital letters are all exactly the same as in the Latin alphabet. The small letters show some subtle differences:

The small alpha looks similar to how most people write their small As, not like a computer a though. The i-dot is missing on the small iota. Small kappa and small tau look exactly like a miniature version of the capital letter, when at least some people would write them a little differently in the Latin alphabet. The small tau is also a miniature version of the capital one, whereas the Latin lowercase "t" is written as a cross.

Knowing these few letters, you can already understand when a cartoon shows people shouting "!" or "!". also happens to be the masculine article. is the one for neuter. Here's how to pronounce the letters you just learned:

is pronounced as the a in father, the IPA symbol is [a] is pronounced as the ee in meet, the IPA symbol is [i] is pronounced as a regular English k is pronounced as in obey, the IPA symbol is [o] is pronounced as a plain t (without the extra air at the end that native English speakers like to add), [t]

Let's practice reading some more. For example, do you know the American band whose greatest hit was "Africa"? It's . (All solutions can be found at the bottom of this page) Wait!!! Why is there an accent on the omikron? This accent indicates that the word stress should be on the . It's pronounced TOto, not toTO. Every Greek word of at least two syllables gets one accent indicating which syllable is stressed. This is a great feature for learners, since - unlike in English or German for example - you don't have to memorise the stress. Here's another word for practise: . This is what the Greeks call cocoa. And means "hen" in Greek.

I'd like to introduce you to one more letter in this lesson:

This is the letter Rho. It looks like P, but it's actually the Greek equivalent of R. Be careful not to confuse it. Its pronunciation is closer to a Spanish R than an English one. Knowing this letter and the ones introduced above, you can read quite a few new words. For example, do you recognise the following country names: , , ? The city ? And , which means "card" in Greek?

The next letter you should learn is Nu:

Again the capital letter looks the same as in the Latin alphabet. The small letter looks similar to a lowercase V. It's still pronounced like a regular N (IPA [n]) though. This letter appears in the prefix - for example. It also appears in the following names that you should be able to read now:

 (very difficult ;-) ) (a girl's name) (a country in the Middle East) (a country in the Far East) (capital city of Albania) (capital city of Vietnam)

Next letter is Mu:

While the capital letter is identical again, the lower letter is decidedly different from the Latin one this time. It's very commonly used as a special symbol in various academic fields though. The pronunciation is just like a regular M (IPA [m]). Here are words with Mu: (every child's call) (African country south of Spain) (Arabic country) (capital of Jordan)

I'd also like you to meet the letter Epsilon:

Capital letter as in the Latin alphabet, small letter a variation on the capital letter. You have probably seen it before. Epsilon is pronounced approximately as in bet (IPA []). German "Bett" and French "mre" are exactly the same as this Greek sound. Practise reading some more words:

Finally, here's the letter Lambda:

This is the equivalent of the letter L. It looks quite different, but you will probably be able to memorise it quickly anyway (anyone familiar with the Cyrillic alphabet will immediately notice its similarity with the letter ). Be careful not to confuse a capital alpha with a capital lambda! Here are a few more words to practise, and of course this letter and all the others will frequently appear in the following lessons, too. The next letter you should learn is Pi:

Both the capital and the small letter look different from the Latin alphabet, but they should be familiar to anybody with a high school education in maths. Pi is pronounced as a regular P (IPA [p]). Here are some sample words that you should be able to read now: (old European name for Beijing) (French name)

Now you're probably wondering how to write B. The answer is not Beta, because Beta is pronounced in Modern Greek as an English V. In order to represent the sound of a regular B, Greeks need two letters: Mu and Pi (). Sometimes at the middle of a word may sound like [mb], but this detail is not very strict for the pronunciation. Here are some examples:

Now you're going to learn an extremely important letter, which is very common in Greek: Sigma.

Sigma has three forms, rather than just two like the other letters. There's one capital sigma (), which is also used in science, e.g. as the mathematical symbol for sums, and there are two versions of small sigma. The first one (), which looks like a circle 5

with an added line is used at the start or the middle of a word. The second small sigma (), looking similar to an ill-proportioned small S is only used at the end of a word. Sigma is pronounced as an English S (IPA [s]). Knowing this letter (and the ones taught before), you can read lots of new words: (not "dad" but the Greek word for "priest") (this is the correct word for "dad") (common Greek name) (important country in Europe) (capital of France) ... (common start for city names) (city in Australia)

Now it's time for another letter combination, similar to . When they mean the sound of D, Greeks don't write Delta but Nu and Tau combined: . Sometimes at the middle of a word may sound like [nd], but this is not very strict for right pronunciation. Generally, it's used to mean [d] especially in foreign words. Example words:

Delta, the letter you might expect to sound like D, actually sounds like th in "this" (IPA: []). The capital form closely resembles the Cyrillic letter . Here's the letter, the last one for this lesson:

Delta appears in lots of words, so take this opportunity for a major revision: (country north of Germany)

 (capital of the UK) Let's start with Eta:

Even though the capital letter looks like an H and the small letter looks somewhat like a small N, this is actually a vowel. In Hellenistic, Medieval, and Modern Greek, it is pronounced like the Spanish "i" (IPA [i]), same as the letter Iota. In Ancient Greek, it used to be pronounced like a long "e", as in the word "pain". That's why words which got derived in the past from Greek and are spelled with an Eta are actually spelled with an E in English, which is also a different sound from the original eta. An example: became "democracy" and not "dimocracy" in English. In Attic Greek it must have sounded different from both. Fortunately, this reference to those English words is a way to know whether a Modern Greek word is spelled with Eta or Iota. In standard transliteration this letter is rendered as (the dash is used in order to distinguish it from Iota), while in names and toponyms it is transcribed simply as i(with the disadvantage of being unable to distinguish it from Iota). Sometimes h is used just because of the similarity of the respective capital letters, providing though a weird and wrong spelling. Practice your reading now:

There is yet another letter that sounds like i: upsilon.

The shape of this Greek letter seems to refer us to both Y and U, and that's correct: when English words derive from Greek ones, most of times this letter is rendered as Y in English and vice versa. Also, in very ancient Greek this letter was pronounced like 7

the u in "rule" (IPA [u]) but later it transformed to the French U sound (German , IPA [y], sound which doesn't exist in English). In medieval Greek the letter started sounding just like Iota and Eta. Example words:

Now you're probably wondering how to write the u sound as in "rule" in Modern Greek. Greeks need two letters for this: Omikron and Upsilon (). This probably sounds familiar to those who have studied French, because French also spells [u] as "ou". Here are a lot of sample words with this letter combination, for practise:

Now you're going to learn another very important Greek letter: Omega.

This is the second variety of O in Greek. The O that you already learned is called Omikron, which translates to "small O". This one is called Omega, which translates to "big O". They are both pronounced the same, as o in obey. In standard transliteration, this letter is rendered as because in ancient Greek it had the sound of a long [o], which made it essentially a different vowel. Transcription in names and toponyms is usually just o. Sometimes unofficially it is rendered as w(inspired by the shape of the small letter), but this leads to weird and incorrect spelling, as in some pretty weirdlooking transliterations, like "egw agapw". Knowing this letter (and the ones taught before), you can read some new words:

--

The last letter I'd like to introduce to you in this lesson is Beta.

As I mentioned earlier, this letter sounds like an English V (IPA [v]), not like a B. That's why it is often used for English words that contain V or W. In older times it was used also for B though, cause of the common origin of the two letters, but it was again pronounced as a V. Compare the sound of Beta to the sound of the Spanish 'B', which has a V sound unless it's found in the beginning of a word. Beta is generally very often used and there are lots of example words that you can use for practice: The first new letter you'll learn is Phi:

Both letters have no resemblance to English letters. The pronunciation is familiar though: it's just like an English F (IPA [f]). If English derived a word containing Phi 9

from Greek, it is typically spelled with ph instead of simply f - just like in the letter name "Phi" itself. Practise using the following Greek words: The next letter is easier again. This is Zeta:

The capital Zeta looks like a Z and the small Zeta looks like a more curvy version of it. It's pronounced as an English Z (IPA [z]), too. Easy, isn't it? Example words: An interesting combination in Greek is Tau-Zeta:

This is pronounced as a combination of the sounds of Tau and Zeta (IPA [dz]). Although "j" is a letter in the English alphabet, there is is not a letter in the Greek alphabet. It is what the previous statement says, just a sound coming from a combination of letters. In words derived from English, this combination is sometimes used to replace the j sound as in "journalist" or the g sound as in "general", because there is no sound [d] in Greek. Practise reading the following words: Now you're going to learn another very important Greek letter: Gamma.

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This is equivalent of G in Greek, except that it isn't pronounced as a regular English G. When Gamma is followed by a 'light' vowel sound such as E or I, it is pronounced like the English Y in "year" (IPA []). When it is followed by a 'dark' vowel sound such as A, O or U, it is pronounced in a way that doesn't exist in English, kind of like the ch in "Bach" or the lake "Loch Ness" in Scotland, with the difference that vocal chords should be vibrated when pronouncing it. (Listen to a sound sample.) This letter comes up very often in Greek, so you'll have lots of opportunities to practise. A variation occurs when there are two Gammas in a row:

This combination is pronounced like the ng in the English word "ring" (IPA: [g]). Examples: Finally, how to spell the actual [g] sound as in "garden"? For that, you need two letters again: Gamma and Kappa.

Sometimes when this combination is at the middle of words then it represents the sound ng in the English word "ring" (like ), but when the word is a foreign

11

loanword and the intention is to have a [g] sound, then it is pronounced as [g]. Though, this detail is not very significant for the pronunciation and it is not wrong to always pronounce as a [g] sound. Greek words you already know that include this combination are: The next letter you should learn is Theta:

Both the capital and the small letter look different from the Latin alphabet. This letter is pronounced as the th in thumb and coincidentally the IPA symbol for this sound is a small Theta: []. Here are some sample words that you should be able to read now: (a musical instrument) o

Now for a letter that looks somewhat familiar again:

This is the letter Chi. The capital letter looks exactly like an X and the small letter looks maybe like an x drawn by a first-grader. The pronunciation is not like X though. It's either of two sounds that don't exist in English. When Chi is followed by a 'light' vowel sound such as e or i, it sounds like the ch in the German word ich (IPA []). When it is followed by any other vowel sound or by a consonant, it is pronounced like the ch in the Scottish word loch or the German word Bach (IPA [x]). Some words for practise: 12

 (Spanish name) (another Spanish name)

Now you're probably wondering how to write the x (ks) sound that is rather common in Greek. The answer is the letter Xi:

This letter looks unfamiliar, but it sounds exactly like the English x as in axe (IPA [ks]). Here are some examples:

The very last Greek letter to learn is Psi.

Psi is pronounced like ps as in apse (IPA [ps]). There are not that many English words with this letter combination, but in Greek it is more common. Practise reading:

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Greek phrases
Translation Greek hello please thank you that one how much? English yes no sorry I dont understand where's the bathroom? generic toast Do you speak English? Phrase ; () ; ; IPA /lini'ka/ /ja sas/ /ja su/ /paraka'l/ /fxari'st/ /e'kin/ /'ps 'kani/ /agli'ka/ /n/ /'i/ /sig'nmi/ /' katala'vn/ /'pu 'in i tua'lts/ /'ja mas/ /mi'lat agli'ka/ Pronunciation eh-lee-nee-KAH YA suss (formal/plural) YA soo (informal/singular) pah-rah-kah-LOH ef-khah-ree-SSTOH eh-KEE-noh POH-soh KAH-nee ung-glee-KAH neh (this is a faux ami for many speakers of other European languages) OH-hee sigg-NOH-mee dheng kah-tah-lah-VEH-noh

poo EE-neh ee too-ah-LEH-tess YAH muss mee-LAH-teh ung-glee-KAH

; Goal
In this lesson, you will learn to greet people and ask how they are. The verb 'to be' is discussed and the formation of yes/no questions is introduced. You do not need any prior knowledge of Greek. But you do need to be able to read it.

Dialogue
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: ! : ! : ; : ! ; . : ! !

Hello!
Hi! ! Hello! ! Hello! (formal) ! Good morning! ! Good evening! ! Good night! ! Goodbye Notes

Remember that can be used to say hello and goodbye. The most formal way to greet is !

Examples

! ;

How are you?

; ; How are you? ; ; Very well! ! Well! ! . So so. . Fairly well. . And you? ..., ; Thank you! Notes

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The answer to ; could be or it could simply be . ; can be used instead of ; and in this case, the longer form of the answer would be again . The most formal way to greet is !

Examples Example 1 (informal)

: ! ; : , ; : !

Example 2 (informal)

: ! E ; Hello! Are you well?

: , , ; Yes, I'm well and you?

: ! I'm very well!

Example 3 (formal)

: ! ; : , ; : , !

Explanations

You have probably already noticed, that the words , and . These are three forms of 'to be', corresponding to I am; you are (singular) ; and you are (plural). The needs to be changed into different forms to reflect different meanings. The verb is an irregular verb so the way it changes to mean something slightly different, is conjugate, does not follow any pattern. So it needs to be learn off by heart. But for the moment, all we need are these three forms. If we look at the second mini dialog in the above examples, we notice the ; question. This illustrates how yes-no question are formed in Greek. They are formed simply by intonation with no word order change. When we talk about yes-no question, we talk about questions of the form 'Are you' or 'Do you ' e.g. Are you hungry? or Do you like apples?. Further yes-no questions can be formed like this. For example: ' ;'

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In this lesson, you might have noticed that other questions are formed with the words and . These two words are used to form questions. They correspond to what and how in English. In Greek, simple questions involving these two words are formed by placing the question word at the beginning of the sentence. For example, ' ;' and ' ;'. You definitely must have noticed that in Greek the question mark is replaced by a semicolon.

Summary

We have learnt the ways to say hello. ( ! !) We now know how to ask how someone is. ( ; ;) We are able to answer how we are and ask in return. (! .) We have introduced how to form yes-no questions. (E ;) We can form simply questions with and . ( ; ;)

! Dialog
: ! : ! : ; : , ; : . : (or " " (not used)); : (answers the first question) (or " " (answers the second question)). : () (or " "). ! : . : ! : !

What is your name?

; What is your name? ; ... My name is ... ... Notes

Note '' ' might also be said. Where syllables are dropped.

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Examples

. . (Note that in this case in Greek male names we drop the final -)

I'm Greek.
English American French German Chinese Spanish Greek Turkish Notes

, o , , , , , ,

Note that every one of these words has or in front of it this tells us that these are nouns. The or also tells us the gender, is for masculine and is for feminine. This table also illustrates a pattern if the masculine ends in the feminine is most often formed by adding after dropping the . But this is not always the case if we look at the words for Chinese.

Examples

. ; .

I'm a teacher
teacher o dentist / lawyer o engineer o doctor , actor o musician , Notes

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The each of the words introduced in the above table have two forms. One for males and another for females. This roughly corresponds to the actor and actress that is present in English. But in Greek, this is case for every noun. It is wrong to use the masculine form to describe yourself if you are female.

Examples : ; : . ; : .

He's handsome
Big , -, - Small , , Pretty or Handsome , , Clever , , Good , , Bad , , Examples

. . . O . O .

Explanations

Notice how there is agreement with the definite articles and the noun that is present before. In summary, '', '' and '' are the definite articles for feminine, masculine and neuter nouns. They all correspond to 'the' in English. In Greek, definite articles are always placed before Peoples names. This means that means Maria in English. You'll find definite articles listed after nouns in Dictionaries. This tells us the gender of the word. You have probably noticed that there are three forms of each of the adjectives listed in the table above. If the adjective ends with it is masculine. Feminine if it ends with . Finally if it ends with it is neuter. This is important because adjectives have to agree with the nouns that they describe. So if the noun is masculine then the adjective must also be masculine. This is called agreement. We can see this illustrated in the examples above, numbers 2, 4 and 5. 'O ' is masculine so '' must also be masculine. The same applies for feminine nouns look at the first example. is feminine so the form must be to agree with it. The same is true of neuter nouns look at the third example.

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If we look at the I'm Greek section, the second example is a question simply because of its semicolon. Recall that in speak what makes it a question is the rising intonation towards the end of the sentence. In the same way, we can form questions asking whether someone is a doctor ( /.)

Summary

We are able to ask someone's name and give our own name. ( ? .) We have learnt the ways to what nationality you are. ( .) We can inquire if someone is a certain nationality. ( ;) We now know how to ask what profession someone has. ( ;) We can tell people what we do. ( )

professions and nationalities.

accountant baker beginner businessman carpenter cook garbage man general hairdresser housewife journalist explorer farmer fireman florist

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librarian manager mailman mechanic musician nurse painter pilot philosopher photographer physicist plumber politician policeman salesman secretary scientist soldier student surgeon thief tourist volunteer waiter writer American Argentinian Belgian Brazilian Canadian Chinese Cypriot Czech Dutchman Englishman French Finnish German Indian

21

Italian Japanese Mexican Moroccan Norwegian Portuguese Russian Slovenian South African Spaniard Swede Swiss Turk

reading and pronunciation, subject pronouns, and verbs

Vowels
Greek has five vowel sounds, all vowels are pronounced nearer the English long rather than short: approximately as in ball (closer to father in a Boston accent) approximately as in bet as in beet approximately as in boat as in boot Throughout this book, tables highlighted in this color have (or will eventually have) audio recordings to go with them. As you can see from these examples, many letters in the Greek alphabet look like their counterparts in English. There are multiple spellings for some of these sounds:

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, , , , , and all sound alike. and sound like EH as in "kettle". and sound like OH as in "over".

Consonants
The following letters sound like the English letters they resemble: , Note: If you're a native English speaker, try to pronounce a plain , that is without the "h" sound in the end. Reading practice: , , , , , , , , , Most Greek words have a stressed syllable which in words of more than one syllable is shown with an accent over the stressed vowel. Vocabulary: bad against, according to, toward The following Greek consonants sound like familiar sounds from English, but look different from their English counterparts:

vee elle pee the emm , ess zee enn fee theh

23

eks eeps

Vocabulary and reading practice:

yes good where with from in but The following Greek consonants have sounds not found in English: a soft, gargling g sound, except before the sounds and , where it sounds like y like Spanish r like the ch in Scottish loch Vocabulary and reading practice: I write for why?, because to, toward no please The following combinations of letters have sounds that have to be learned: oo av before vowel or voiced consonant, else af ev before vowel or voiced consonant, else ef iv before vowel or voiced consonant, else if b at the beginning of a word, mb elsewhere d at the beginning of a word, nd elsewhere , heh , keh Vocabulary and reading practice: and

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 or he tomorrow I give thanks, thank you (~"Eucharist") I look for I can Rejoice! (a greeting and leave-taking) summer One of the big obstacles for an English speaker trying to learn Greek is that so few common usage words are related to English ones (although an estimated 10% to 20% of the total English vocabulary has Greek roots, most of it though of scientific/technical nature). However, sometimes there is a relationship that would help you to remember the Greek word, but the relationship isn't obvious, as with and Eucharist. When this happens, we'll note it as in the example above, with ~. This may mean that the English word is derived from the Greek one, or merely that both the English word and the Greek one come from a common root. Names of the letters: (or ) (or ) (or ) (or )

Personal subject pronouns

Greek has three genders: masculine, feminine, and neuter. Here are the personal subject pronouns: I we you, singular you, plural he they (masculine) she they (feminine) it they (neuter) The second-person plural is also used as the formal form of address, even when speaking to a single person.

Verbs

25

First conjugation
The subject pronouns are usually omitted, because the form of the verb indicates the subject. For example: I write you (singular) write he/she/it writes we write you (plural) write they write There is no infinitive in modern Greek. For naming a verb, the first-person singular of the present tense is used as a generic term. For example, we refer to the verb , to write. To summarize the conjugation of a verb, we write it in a table like this: Audio recording: This recording was made by a non-native speaker of Greek. We would be grateful to any native speaker who could redo it. is an example of a verb belonging to the first conjugation. Verbs in this conjugation can be recognized because their accent falls before the final . The following verbs belong to the first conjugation: give (~"donate") change read look at see hear arrive leave take buy know think put drink

26

Conjugations of some of these verbs: Audio recording: listen (helpinfo) This recording was made by a non-native speaker of Greek. We would be grateful to any native speaker who could redo it.

The verbs , to have, and , to be

Two important verbs are , to have, and , to be. The first-conjugation verb is regular in the present tense, so it has the same endings as . To be in English is expressed in the active voice, but the Greek is passive, and doesn't have an active form. The ending - is a typical, regular ending for passive verbs. Although we won't be concerned with passive constructions until later, is so important that you need to get it under your belt right away.

Capital letters
Now that we're ready to handle complete sentences, we need capital letters. Most of the capital letters of the Greek alphabet are similar in form either to the lowercase letters, or to their counterparts in the Latin alphabet:

Sentences
The order of words in a Greek sentence is much more free than in English, but you can correctly construct a sentence using the familiar English syntax of subject+verb, or subject+verb+object. The subject is usually omitted when it is a pronoun. Sentences: . It is good.

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 . It is bad. In Greek, adjectives change their endings to agree with the gender and number of the nouns they describe (declension). The following vocabulary list introduces some nouns that happen to be neuter, and some adjectives, which are given in neuter form. The word is the definite article, like English "the," used with singular neuter nouns. Vocabulary: water wine tea hot cold white red to want Sentences: . The water is cold . The wine is cold. . The tea is hot. . The white wine is cold. Negatives are formed by placing before the verb. The question mark in Greek is the semicolon. Sentences: . The red wine is not cold . The water is not hot. Dialog: . Hello. . Hello. ; Do you have tea? , . ; No, we don't have tea. Do you want water? , . Yes, thank you.

Dialogue 1
Greeting others

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Mark: Anna: Mark: Anna: Mark:

. K. ; ; .

Vocabulary
Hello! K Good morning How are you? Very well And you?

Dialogue 2
Introducing yourself
Mark: v; Anna: M v vv.

Vocabulary
How they call you they call me

Summary of the alphabet and pronunciation

Alphabet /
The Greek Language was one of the first written languages in all world. The script used had some peculiarities not observed today: for instance, the vowels were not written, and one needed to guess or to know their specific place inside the word. This alphabet has been evolving, through contact with other cultures and through the simple action of the time, until it became what it is today. Amongst the Greek alphabet, we can spot some (or even many) similarities with the Latin (or Roman) one. The alphabet used nowadays has 24 letters: 7 vowels and 17 consonants. 29

Letter English Name Greek Name Aa alpha beta gamma delta epsilon zeta eta theta iota kappa lambda mu nu ksi omicron pi rho * sigma tau ypsilon phi chi psi omega * The sigma has a special lowercase form, used only at the end of words. Both lowercase sigmas have the same value.

Pronunciation of the Alphabet

Greek sounds are, in general, soft. As a major rule, each letter carries a single sound (this is not universal, but almost, as we'll see later in this page). As in the previous chapter, we see here a table with the various letters. This time, the columns represent not the name, but the approximate sound of the letters. Letter A otherwise like Spanish agua this bed zoo see How to say it arc vacuum yes before certain vowels, IPA [a] [v] [] before [] or [i]; [] otherwise [] [] [z] [i] XSAMPA a v G D E z i

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thin see

[] [i]

T i c, k l m n k_s O p 4 s t i f C, x p_s O

cute before certain vowels, else knock [c] before [] or [i]; [k] otherwise clock [l] mine nine excellent oh ape like Spanish pero soup hate see photo [m] [n] [ks] [] [p] [] [s] [t] [i] [f]

like German ich before certain vowels, [] before [] or [i]; else like German Loch [x] otherwise maps [ps] oh []

Note: The letter is the most difficult to pronounce for an English speaker: it is like a stronger h, simultaneous with the vibration of the vocal cords; in other words, it is the voiced counterpart of the . Before e and i vowels, it is pronounced as a y like in Diphthongs
Diphthongs are combinations of two vowels that function as a unique sound. Note that in Modern Greek, the word Diphthong () is also used for combination of vowels that sound like a simple vowel. There are eight diphthongs in Modern Greek. There are also some similar combinations of consonants: Tabela II - Diphthongs How to say it bed

Diphthong

IPA []

XSAMPA E av, af i Ev, Ef iv, if i u

have before certain letters, after before others [av], [af] see [i] ever before certain letters, effect before others [v], [f] evening before certain letters, beef before others [iv], [if] see soon [i] [u]

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see

[i]

i Ng g, Ng b, mb d, nd

finger [g] good at the beginning of words, finger anywhere [g], [g] else banana at the beginning of words, thumb [b], [mb] anywhere else day at the beginning of words, sand anywhere [d], [nd] else

Accent and Diaeresis

Most Greek words have a stressed syllable which is the syllable said with more strength: for instance, in the English words comfort and peculiarity, the stressed syllables are com and ar, respectively. Greek marks the stressed syllable with an accent mark ( ) over the vowel. In onesyllable words, the accent is usually omitted. When the stress falls on a syllable that has a diphthong, the accent is used above the last letter of this diphthong. Thus, words like (Paul) ou (woman), are correctly accented. If the accent is put on the first vowel of a diphthong, it is not read as a diphthong but read as two independent vowels, as in the word (watch or clock), which has three syllables, not two. On the other hand, if one wishes to separate the diphthong, but the accent falls on other syllable, the diaeresis ( ) is used, as in the word (Hebrew). There are, however, some words that aren't stressed (usually monosyllabic grammatical words), and these don't have an accent. Words like these are read as affixes added to the main word. Examples:

(the masc.) " " (The father) is read as a single word - aw-pah-TEras; (my), " " (My father) is also read as a single word - aw-paTE-raz-mu.

Every stressed word with more than one syllable carries an accent. However, there are monosyllabic words that also have accent, like (or) and (where). This accent has a double function:

It distinguishes words that, otherwise, would be equal - (the fem.) and (that, which); It marks words as strong, unlike their weak comparing counterparts.

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Irregular verbs, the genitive, family, the body, prepositions

Irregular verbs
The following three verbs have simplified forms that are used in the present tense, but the other tenses are actually formed from their longer forms. /, to say: /, to eat: /, to go: , to hear (regular form are also used occasionally): ()

The body
33

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 Vocabulary: the body (~"somatic") the head (~"decapitate") the brain (~"encephalitis", literally "in-the-head") the eye the eyebrow the hair the mouth (cognate with "stomach," but means mouth!)

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 (colloquial)/ (formal) Example:

the teeth (~"dentist") the ear (~"audio") the nose the lips the cheeks the jaw the neck the chest (~"stethoscope") the belly the arm AND the hand (the whole upper limb) the palm (cognate with the English word) the foot AND the leg (the whole lower limb) (~"podiatry") the sole of the foot the knee (~"genuflect") naked (~"gymnasium") to comb (~"ctenophore," comb jelly) to take a bath death life (~"zoo") to give birth, give birth to (~"genesis") the health (~"hygiene") the pain (cognate with the English word) to hurt the heart (~"cardiac")

. The mother combs the child's hair. . My feet hurt. ! You're tickling my belly!

Clothing/
the clothing to wear to put, put on (clothes) to take out, take off (clothes) the shirt (singular!) the pants/trousers

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 Examples:

the skirt the jacket the coat the shoes the socks or stockings the hat the belt (~ "zone") the tie (~"cravat")

. I put on my clothes. . I take off my coat. . We aren't wearing shoes.

The genitive
What English expresses using possessives or the presposition "of," Greek expresses using the genitive case. The following example shows the noun in all the subject, genitive, and object cases. the dog (subject form) the dogs (subject form) of the dog (genitive form) of the dogs (genitive form) the dog (object form) the dogs (object form) Example: the dog's foot (literally, the foot of the dog) The genitive plural is easy, because it's always formed with -, and the article is always . the dogs' feet The genitive singular is formed according to a greater variety of patterns, of which three of the most important are shown here:

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Accentuation
In some nouns, when the antepenult is accented, the genitive is accented at the penult and when the penult is accented the genitive is accented at the ultimate. There is a set of rules to distinguish in which cases this happens. Most of the rules derive from Ancient Greek and have to do with either long and short vowels or Ancient Greek declensions. This is an issue with Modern Greek itself, since most of the nuances of Ancient Greek are lost in Modern Greek. People in most cases put the accent intuitively and at some instances even native speakers have great difficulty in accentuating correctly. This is why it is often said that in order to properly speak Modern Greek, one has to have at least a basic level of Ancient Greek. (/) the men's feet (genitive plural) (/) the man's feet (genitive singular) (/) the men's feet (genitive plural) but (/) the fathers' feet (/) the man's feet (genitive singular) The accent can also advance two positions, from antepenult to ultimate between nominative plural and genitive plural. The noun (the caress) presents the following declensions:

Genitive indefinite article

The following list shows the indefinite article in all three of the cases covered so far: one, masculine subject of one, masculine genitive one, masculine object or one, feminine subject or of one, feminine genitive or one, feminine object one, neuter subject of one, neuter genitive one, neuter object

Genitive pronouns
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 , , When indicating possession, the genitive pronoun follows the noun it modifies. ! To your health (Cheers!) my book . His head is big. When greeting a person you either say (the polite plural) or (friendly address, more often than not the is omitted). is a short form for (health "hygiene"). For a group of people except the abovementioned , the salutation (rejoice) is also utilized. When a noun followed by a possessive pronoun has the accent on the third syllable from the end, it gets a second accent on the final syllable: my knee In Greek, rather than saying that you like something, you say that it is pleasing to you, using the verb : . I like the car (lit. "The car is pleasing to me.") This form is a remnant of the ancient dative case ( ). Something similar happens with certain prepositions (see below).

Prepositions
The following are some common prepositions: with, by means of together with without for from (moving away from) , in, at, on, moving to into on above, over below, under after before (~"pre-")

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 , Examples:

before, in front of (~"proactive") against against from, out of (~"ex-wife")

. Anna's key is under the table. . I'm from America. If the preposition is followed by a definite article, the joint form ()/()/ ( plus ()/()/) is used: . Anna's key is on the table. . Paul is at the theater. As a remnant of ancient Greek's more complex case system, certain prepositions (, , /) are supposed to take the genitive case rather than the object (accusative) case. In these constructions, the genitive is really being used as the dative (indirect object) case, as in the use of the genitive with the verb . This is a usage that is dying out, and a beginner doesn't need to worry about it too much. There are, however, certain fixed phrases that will seem inexplicable otherwise: , .. before Christ OK

Prepositions used as prefixes

It is extremely common for Greek verbs to be formed by adding a preposition as a prefix to a simpler verb. However, the preposition may be in a different form than the ones given above, e.g., rather than . A common prefix is -/-, from the ancient Greek preposition , with, together. Two other suffixes based on ancient Greek prepositions are , for, because of, relating to, and , under (~"hypodermic"). to shoot; in ancient Greek, to throw to invade: (modern )+, 'throw in' to contribute to: + , 'throw together' to debouch to expel to pay, put down money, buckle to to slander someone, put someone down to submit something, subject to, suggest to blow (~"pneumatic") 40

to inhale something to exhale, die, expire, terminate something to run through

to be away, to be lacking to leave something behind to vanish, be in eclipse (~"eclipse") to be intermittent (also = lapse of memory) (passive) to fall short of (also = the rest, residual)

Family
Vocabulary: the father the mother the man, the husband the woman, the wife the son the girl, daughter the brother (~"Philadelphia") the sister the grandfather the grandmother the uncle the aunt the nephew (~"nepotism") the niece Examples: my father your son . Helen is my daughter. . She's Anna's mother. . It's the brothers' house. Note that in Greek, a definite article is used with a person's name.

Grimm's law
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The words and are actually closely related to the English words mother and father. When English and Greek words are derived from the same root in their common ancestral language, Indo-European, the consonants are related as follows: f th h p t k b d g This is known as Grimm's law (after a linguist from the same family that collected the Grimm's fairy tales). Sometimes it can help you to learn words in Greek. Examples: two three foot In some cases, the Greek word that's cognate to the English one is ancient rather than modern. For example, brother corresponds to the ancient (e.g. "fraternity"), not the modern , and door to the ancient rather than modern (which is a loan from italian).

Nouns in - and -

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Other than -, the most common endings for masculine nouns are - and -. , the father: subject genitive object , the student, pupil: subject genitive object These endings are particularly common in nouns referring to professions, e.g., , the astronaut.

People
Vocabulary:

the worker the doctor (~"psychiatrist") (formal) and in plural and not as the priest is noted by the picture, (coll.) (~"hieroglyph") the soldier the tailor

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 o (coll.), (formal) (also , but rarely) Examples:

the sailor the sailor (military) the thief, guerrilla the farmer the driver the teacher the student (university) the student (technical school) the student (elementary school) the clerk, the employee the police officer the friend the neighbor the baby the young person (~"new") the old man (~"geriatrics") strong rich poor the king the queen

. My friend's son is a priest. . The king is rich. The teacher has 30 students.

The letter at the end of a word

You might have noticed above that while both and are masculine nouns, the definite article at the accusative (object) case is different: There is a general rule that applies to not only the definite article but most words ending with a . According to this rule if the next word does not start with a vowel or any of the voiceless plosives (, , , , ) then the is often omitted.

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Thus, the avoidance of complex consonant combinations helps in keeping the smooth flow of the speech.

Reading
Vocabulary: lit. "around ten," used loosely the same way "a dozen" is used in English . I'm ordering a suit. Fortunately, there's a store that sells , very good material, and it has a large -- , variety of fabrics -- wool, cotton, , . nylon, etc. ' The Greeks don't like to buy ready. made suits. . They usually go to the tailor. The tailor takes your measurements, , and uses all his skill to make your suit . perfect. ' At the same store, I'm also buying a a bunch of white shirts. They also have very good silk ties in all . colors.

Object pronouns, the vocative, more numbers, food, past tenses in first conjugation
Object pronouns
We've already seen the personal subject pronouns in lesson 1, and the genitives in lesson 3. Here are the object forms: me us you, singular you, plural him them (masculine) her them (feminine) 45

 it

them (neuter)

The object pronouns come before the verb: . They see me.

The vocative
The vocative case is used when the noun is a person (or, conceivably, a thing) being addressed. The following are some examples of nouns in all four cases.

Masculine nouns
, dog, is a masculine noun. Note the different forms of the definite article. the dog (subject, singular) the dogs (subject, plural) of the dog (genitive singular) of the dogs (genitive plural) () the dog (object, singular) the dogs (object, plural) ! dog! (vocative singular) ! dogs! (vocative plural) The ending - is the most common one for masculine nouns, and demonstrates their regular pattern. Another noun in -o is , human/man Examples: . The dog bites the man. . The man bites the dog.

Feminine nouns
The noun (the hour, the time) is shown below: the hour (subject, singular) the hours (subject, plural) of the hour (genitive singular) of the hours (genitive plural) the hour (object, singular) the hours (object, plural) ! hour! (vocative singular) ! hours! (vocative plural)

Neuter nouns
(the child) is an example of a neuter noun. the child (subject, singular) of the child (genitive singular) the children (subject, plural) of the children (genitive plural)

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the child (object, singular) child! (vocative singular)

the children (object, plural) children! (vocative plural)

More numbers
Multiples of 10: 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 Most numbers from 1 to 100 are formed by giving a multiple of 10 following by the second digit of the number. (The numbers from 13 to 19 are written as single words, and the ones above 20 as two words.) 13 68 The numbers 11 and 12 are exceptions: (or ) 11 12

Past tenses
Imperfect tense in first conjugation
The imperfect tense is used to describe an action in the past that was continuous or repeated. For verbs in the first conjugation, it is formed from the progressive stem by moving the accent to the third syllable from the end, and adding endings that differ from those used in the present. The following example illustrates this with the verb : Present:

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 Imperfect: Example: . My grandmother used to read. If the stem of the verb is too short to allow an accent on the third syllable from the end, the prefix - is added:

Past tense in first conjugation

The past tense is used to indicate an action that occurred at one time in the past, or that has been completed. It is formed in the same was as the imperfect, but from the aorist stem. Past: Example: , . Yesterday, he read the newspaper.

Past tenses of and

The verbs and have only a single past tense, rather than separate imperfect and past tenses.

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 Past tense of : Past tense of : Example: , , .[1] Achilles was the son of Peleus, king of the Myrmidons, and the nymph Thetis.

Formation of the aorist stem in the first conjugation

We have already seen that aorist stems are often formed by adding an "s" sound. The following list shows more of the common patterns:

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 loosen put, place hear feel read change exist open aim push teach write lack lean, bend over Examples: . . , . .[2] They loosened their belts. We can hear the dogs. Euclid was a greek mathematician who taught in Alexandria, Egypt. Today (lit. "in our days") he is known as the father of geometry.

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The colors/

black white red yellow green / azure, light blue (transliteration from french: bleu) blue (from the fruit) orange (from coffee) brown / (transliteration) mauve (transliteration from french: gris) grey Examples: . The flower is red. . The flowers are white. Since (the color) is a neuter noun, we use the neuter gender to refer to itself, although we use the masculine or feminine gender to refer to it as a characteristic of a masculine or feminine noun: Foreign words like do not change to show case or number: (french: cache-col) the blue scarf

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 (french: cache-col) the blue scarfs

Food and restaurants

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 / / (colloquial)/ (formal) (colloquial)/ (formal) (colloquial)/ (formal) (when not from paper, ) Example: .

the food the traditional restaurant (~"tavern") the modern restaurant the coffee the traditional coffee-house the modern coffee-house the menu the waiter the bill (lit. the account) the bread the bakery the salad the beer the milk the yoghurt the fish the meat (~"pancreas") the tomato the olive the fruit the honey (~"mellifluous") the sugar the salt the dish, plate the breakfast sweet the sweet, the dessert the spoon the knife the fork the napkin the drinking glass the grapes the hemlock

A long time ago, women weren't supposed to sit in traditional coffee houses.

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The verbs , to eat, and , to drink, are irregular.

The verb (), to eat

. Present tense: Imperfect:

Past (The aorist stem is -): Notice the - prefix on the past tense of all persons except first and second person plural. Example:

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 . Adam and Eve ate the fruit.

The verb , to drink

. Present tense: Imperfect: Past: Example: . Socrates drank the hemlock.

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(The scientific name for hemlock is conium maculatum, which is Latin for "poison hemlock." A very popular rock band in Greece during the sixties and seventies bore the name "Socrates drank the conium.")

Dialog
-. ; - . . -, . - , . ; - , . - ; ; -, , . - . . -I'm hungry. Where can I eat? -That tavern has very good food. Let's go there. -Waiter, the menu, please. -I know they have fresh fish here, and good chicken and very tasty meat. But what can we drink? -Everybody in Greece drinks ouzo, but we can drink beer or retsina. -In other words, you're trying to tell me that ouzo is the national drink? And isn't lamb their national food? -Of course, as well as souvlaki, moussaka, etc. -Then we'll taste their famous food right away. Bon apetit!

Song:
is a very well known folk song. Review of old vocabulary: (aorist -) to carry (aorist -) to fall to throw (aorist -) to take out to take to grab, here to hitch New vocabulary: to move bracelet to rumble, thunder voice sorrow 56

 lit. "sorrowful," used in expressions meaning poor me, poor you, etc. golden cord, rope

--- ... ... . ... ... ... Translation: Yerakina moved to fetch cold water...her bracelets thunder (present). She fell into the well, and she shouted with a big voice (lit. brought a big voice out of her mouth). And everyone came running, and I came running, too, poor me. Threw down a golden rope, and hitched it to her belt. Yerakina, I'll pull you out, and take you for my wife.

The countryside, more about secondconjugation verbs

Vocabulary
57

the countryside ("open air", ~"ether") the village the nature (~"physics") the farm (~"agriculture") the farmer the animal (~"zoo") the plant the tree (~"dendrite") the forest the donkey the horse the cow the bull (~"taurus") the goat the bird the chicken

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 to fly the fly the bee (~"mellifluous", honeyed) the ant the path, trail narrow (~"stenographer") the mountain pass / to go for a walk (~"peripatetic") the mountain the hill the valley / the river (~"hippopotamus") the stream, creek the rock the soil ; the north; northern (~"aurora borealis") ; the south; southern ; the east; eastern (~"Anatolia") ; the west; west the sun (~"helium," which was first detected in the sun) the moon the sky (~"Uranus," the sky god) the shadow / the star (~"astronaut") the Earth Examples: ; Where is the path? . The trail is narrow. the farmer's horse the valley of the shadow of death

The verb , to exist

The verb , to exist, is used where we would say there is or there are in English. . ; There are cows in the countryside. Is there any bird n the tree? (lit. Is there no bird on the tree?)

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, .

I think, therefore I am.

The verb , to go
The common verb has the aorist forms and . . We're going to the country. . We went to the country. ; Do you want to go to the country?

More about second-second-conjugation verbs

Imperfect tense
The Imperfect is the Past Continuous in English. Both first order verbs like (to love) and second order verbs like (to call), use the suffix --: Examples: . The mother was calling her child. . The child loved his mother.

Aorist
The aorist is the simple past in English. Verbs use one of the suffixes --, -, --. The accent also goes to the previous syllable: The verb (to love) becomes The verb (to go thirsty) becomes 60

 The verb (to call, to invite) becomes Examples: . The mother called her child. . The children went thirsty.

Subjunctive
The subjunctive has two forms according to the aspect being perfective or imperfective: Perfective Aspect: The perfective aspect uses the aorist stem, which can be one of --,--,-. Imperfective Aspect: The imperfective subjunctive is conjugated exactly like the present tense (with the addition of ) Examples: , I want to invite you to my birthday (party) this year. (perfective) You should invite me every year, not only this year. (imperfective)

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The seasons
the summer the fall; the autumn the winter the spring

The weather
Vocabulary: the weather the sunshine the cloud the rain the (rain) shower the storm the thunder the lightning (from cloud to cloud) the lightning (if reaching the ground) to moisten it rains the snow it snows the sleet the fog the mist the dew the hail the frost

Examples: ; . , . . . , . Do you want to go for a walk on the path to the village? It isn't raining. It was summer, but it was raining. It's hot today. It's cold on the mountain. We don't want to go on foot, because it's raining.

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 . Zeus is the son of Kronos and Rhea. He .[1] is the god of the sky and the thunder.

Future tenses
The future tense is formed by adding the word before the verb: . It will be hot tomorrow. Combining with the present tense gives the future continuous ( , exakolouthitikos melondas, "future imperfect"), which implies that the action will continue, perhaps indefinitely: . I will be cleaning the house. If we instead use the aorist stem, we have the future simple ( , stigmieos melondas, "future instantaneous"), which implies that the action will only happen once: . I will clean the house (at a certain time).

Dialog
-, . -, . - , ; -. ; - . . ; -, . -Hello, ma'am. -Hello, sir. -This farm, is it yours? -Yes. Where are you going on your walk? -To the village. The country is very beautiful. How many cows do you have? -Twelve, and a bull.

Song:

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A scene from the Greek War of Independence. This song dates to the Greek War of Independence, 1821-1827. thief, guerrilla, resistance fighter young resistance fighter , long gun (rifle, musket, or shot gun) , , , , , , ' ' , ' ' : ! , , , ' , . (Note: The words above are transcribed from the recording. In the second-to-last verse, the traditional words are actually "' ' .") Translation: Mother, mother, the warriors, they eat and sing, they drink and make merry. 64

But one young warrior, he doesn't eat, he doesn't sing, doesn't drink or make merry. He only looks at his weapons, and says to his musket, "Hello Kitso, my brave man!" My musket, my proud musket, my sword unsheathed, a joy you are, my dear. Many times, many times you saved me from the hands of my enemies who chased me day and night. And now, and now you forget me like a reed in the field. You don't tell me what to do.

Passive voice, perfect tenses, the verbs and , numbers to 1000

Passive voice
Certain verbs have both active and passive forms: I marry (i.e. perform a wedding in the capacity of a priest, mayor and/or best man/woman). . I am getting married. . Just as the first-person singular present-tense form, , is used to refer to the active verb in general, so the first-person singular present tense of the passive voice, , refers to the passive form in general. Example: . The wine makes me dizzy. . I get dizzy.

Sometimes the passive voice is used to express the idea of doing something to oneself, or to describe someone's own physical or mental state: . I hide the money. . I hide (myself) . The mother combs the child's hair. . The mother combs her (own) hair. to comb one's own hair (a lyrical construction) ; Where do you get your hair done?

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In many cases, the passive form has a meaning that can't be guessed simply by taking the same concept and making the subject of the verb the recipient of the action. The following are some passive verbs: be, sit, stand drill, train (sports) break apart get ready be born Some verbs only exist in the passive voice, for example: arrive, come appear (~"phenomenon") need, require remember (~"thymus") be afraid (~"phobia") feel (~"aesthetics") sleep fall asleep to reflect, to ponder something (~"skeptic") to think (~"syllogism") sit become receive, accept The present tense of the passive is conjugated like this: Example: . The mother puts the baby to sleep. . The baby falls asleep. . The baby and the mother fall asleep.

Perfect and Pluperfect

As in English, the perfect tenses are formed using the helping verb to have.

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The Perfect tense (same as Present Perfect in English) is called (parakeimenos, "being close") is formed by the verb in present tense followed by the third person singular of the past subjunctive of the verb. The past subjunctive is formed by the aorist stem plus the suffix -. . I have written. . We have written. The Pluperfect tense (same as Past Perfect in English) is called (hypersyndelikos, "hyper-perfect") is formed by the verb in past tense followed by the third person singular of the past subjunctive of the verb . I had written. . We had written. . He had said goodbye to his wife.

Future Perfect
Future Perfect is another future tense, which is formed with the word preceding the Perfect tense and signifies that in a moment in the future, an action will be a thing of the past. Its Greek name is (syndelesmenos melondas) and it is equivalent to the Future Perfect in English.

. I will have written.

Note that in Greek there is no equivalent to the Future Perfect Continuous tense. Both meanings are expressed with Future Perfect and usually the actual nuance is derived from the neighboring words. . I will have written. . I will have been writing.

Due to the lack of Future Perfect Continuous, very often the phrase is changed to Future Continuous.

No Greek equivalent. The phrase changes to .

I will have been waiting for two hours when the plane arrives. I will be waiting for two hours until the plane arrives.

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The irregular verb , to see

The present tense is regular: The aorist uses a stem that is related to the English word "kaleidoscope:"

The irregular verb , to say

Present: Aorist past:

Numbers to 1000
100 200 300 400 500 600 (coll. ) 700 (coll. ) 800 900 1000 2000

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The battle of Thermopylae/

Vocabulary
, .. the battle the war (~"polemic") to fight the peace (~"Irene," "irenic") before Christ to shoot (in ancient Greek, 'to throw') to invade (from + , 'throw in') Persia the Persian Sparta the Spartan

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 the army (~"strategy") the arrow the bow the sword hide (+genitive) against (+accusative) stand fast (lit. "hold strong") to slow down (+)

Reading
Much of the following reading was adapted from the Wikipedia article (Battle of Thermopylae). 484 .., . 200.000 , 4.000 . , . . . In 484 B.C., King Darius of Persia invaded Greece. Against 200,000 Persians, there were 4,000 Greeks under King Leonidas of Sparta. Leonidas was saying farewell to his wife, Gorgo. Gorgo asked him what she should do now that he was leaving. He replied that she should find a good man and continue her life. At the Pass of Thermopylae, the Greeks were waiting for the Persians. The . Persians saw them: They couldn't : understand why they were combing their . hair and taking exercise. It was because . they were expecting death. There was no fear. They were doing the . only thing they knew. To fight. It had . . become their life. When someone said he . had seen the Persian army and their arrows were hiding the sun, a Spartan , said: Nice, then we will fight in the : , . shade. . The Greeks held out for five days. When , their swords broke, they fought with . their hands and teeth. The battle of , Thermopylae slowed down the Persians, and Greece was able to get ready to . 479 .., fight. In 479 B.C., the Persians retreated . from Greece.

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Passive imperfect, comparisons, expressions of time

Passive imperfect tense
Review of the present passive; , to trust: The passive imperfect, like the active imperfect, indicates an action in the past that was ongoing:

Comparisons
Comparisons of adjectives like -er and -est in English are expressed using the endings - and -: rich richer the richest a rich politician a richer politician the richest politician the richest queen Note the shift in the accent toward the end of the word. The common word , big, has the irregular form . The word can be used instead: . That politician is richer. . That politician is the richest. Vocabulary: much 71

 many how much how many more least a little a few ... ... as ... as ... almost (used with numbers and amounts) enough very much

Expressions of time Reading

' , . , , . , . ' . , . -- ! - . . . ' . .... ' . . . (1897)

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An old man is sitting, bent over the table in the back of the noisy coffeehouse, a newspaper in front of him, companionless. And in the despair of miserable old age, he thinks how little he enjoyed the years when he was strong and beautiful, and had a say in things. He knows he's very old; he can feel it and see it. Still the time when he was young seems like yesterday. What a short time, what a short time. And he thinks what a trick Prudence has played on him; how he trusted her -- what folly! -- and how she lied when she said, "Tomorrow. There's always tomorrow." He remembers the passions he controlled, and the joys he passed by. Now those lost opportunities mock his foolish wisdom. But all that thinking and remembering makes him dizzy, and he falls asleep in the coffeehouse, bent over the table.

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