Tag Archives: Greek vocabulary
Greek Christmas vocabulary Posted by Ourania on Dec 19, 2014
Χρόνια πολλά! It will be Christmas soon so this post is about Christmas vocabulary. If you want to send wishes to your friends and family in Greek, below there are some common phrases that we use: Καλά Χριστούγεννα (kala hristougena): Merry Christmas Σου εύχομαι καλά Χριστούγεννα (sou efhomai kala hristougena): I wish you Merry Christmas…
Decoding Greek: What Greek people say and what they really mean Posted by Ourania on Dec 4, 2014
Sometimes there is a big difference between what people say and what they actually mean. If one wants to communicate efficiently in a foreign language it is very important to be able to tell the difference between the literal and the actual meaning of a sentence in the target language. Although, we have the reputation…
Thanksgiving vocabulary in Greek Posted by Ourania on Nov 28, 2014
Γεια σας! Ελπίζω ότι όσοι από σας γιορτάζατε την Ημέρα των Ευχαριστιών να περάσατε καλά! (Hello! I hope those of you who celebrated Thanksgivings Day had a nice time!) In Greece, it is celebrated only by expats. However, it’s a good opportunity for everyone, in spite of their nationality and religion, to think of all…
Time for Time Words in Greek! Posted by Ourania on Nov 20, 2014
The prepositions that come before time words are tricky and learners often use them incorrectly because they translate them directly from their language. The words that we use in Greek are some forms of the accusative case of the definite article or the preposition σε (se) contracted with the accusative case of…
Funny place names in Greek Posted by Ourania on Nov 13, 2014
Words like εστιατόριο (estiatorio, restaurant), or καφενείο (kafeneio, café) are taught to Greek learners at a very early stage.Besides the place names used in formal language, there are other terms used in oral speech. Some of those terms are generation specific and in some cases they are not even understood outside the generation. Those of…
Pas kala? Exrpess anger in Greek! Posted by Ourania on Nov 4, 2014
One of the stereotypes about Greeks is that they get angry very often and that they use bad language. Although it’s true that the Greek language is rich in slang and idioms that we use when we get angry, cursing is socially acceptable only in football fields or in places where teenagers hang out…
“Black” vocabulary in Greek Posted by Ourania on Oct 31, 2014
Καλό Χάλοουην! (Kalo Halloween, Have a nice Halloween). In Greece we don’t celebrate the Halloween but we are familiar with it through movies and series. In Greek mytholody, the God of the Underword was Hades (Άδης). His kigdom was dark and never reached by the sun and no one was allowed to go back to…