Archive for 'Vocabulary'
How to be polite in Greek Posted by Ourania on Jan 31, 2018
Καλησπέρα σας! This post is about the politeness form. According to the stereotype, the Greeks are direct and are easily on first name terms with people they don’t know. The truth is that the way to address people depends on the circumstances. #1. If we want to address someone in a formal way we use…
Derogatory Greek words Posted by Ourania on Jan 10, 2018
The adjective παλιός, παλιά, παλιό means old. When used in compound nouns, it gives the second noun a pejorative meaning. It cannot be used with every noun. In this post, there is a list with the most common words compound by παλιός- and a noun. Note: this post contains bad language in English. #1…
Talking about the Future in Greek Posted by Ourania on Jan 1, 2018
Γεια σας! Καλή χρονιά! Happy New Year! The first post of the New Year is about expressions that we use when we want to refer to the future. Σε μία ώρα: in an hour Το τρένο θα έρθει σε μία ώρα. The train will come in an hour. Σε δύο / τρεις κ.λ.π. ώρες: in…
New Year wishes in Greek Posted by Ourania on Dec 27, 2017
Χρόνια πολλά! In this post there are common expressions that we use when we send a “Happy New Year” message. If you like to write your Greek family and friends or teacher a few words in Greek, you can get some ideas! Καλή Χρονιά!: Happy New Year! ευτυχισμένο το 2018: happy 2018 εύχομαι: to…
11 Greek words from the past Posted by Ourania on Dec 15, 2017
Γεια σας! This post is about the old words that have been replaced by others. If you have a Greek grand parent who left Greece in the 50’s, you are very likely to hear one of these words sometime! 1.η γομολάστιχα: eraser. Now: γόμα. In some places, they use the word σβήστρα from the verb…
Greek quiz: verbs to speak and to say Posted by Ourania on Nov 15, 2017
Γεια σας! English-speaking students make use sometimes the verbs μιλάω (to speak) and λέω (to say, to tell) in a wrong way. If you are not sure that you use these verbs right, do the following quiz. There is only one right answer and the correct sentence is translated in English. The quiz is suitable…
How to express assumptions in Greek Posted by Ourania on Nov 8, 2017
Γεια σας! In this post there are verbs and phrases we use in order to make assumptions. I got the idea from my student Gus. K., after we saw the verb “υποθέτω» (to assume) in a crossword puzzle. Below, there are the most common phrases with examples of their use. If you have any…