LESSON 5

In a previous lesson we dealt with the category of verbs which have their accent on the last but one syllable and conjugate like έχω. In this lesson we shall deal with those belonging to the second category, with the accent on the last syllable, which conjugate like αγαπώ (I love).

Remember that in Greek the present tense is used to describe both actions taking place now as well as those which are repeated, e.g. I am drinking coffee now (continuous), I drink coffee every day (simple). The same tense expresses both actions in Greek, i.e. πίνω καφέ τώρα, πίνω καφέ κάθε πρωί.

Singular

Εγώ αγαπώ I love

Εσύ αγαπάς You love

Αυτός/αυτή/αυτό αγαπά He/she/it loves

Plural

Εμείς αγαπούμε We love

Εσείς αγαπάτε You love

Αυτοί/αυτές/αυτά αγαπούν They love

The verb ζητώ (I ask for, I seek) conjugates like αγαπώ.

Some of the verbs ending in -ώ like αγαπώ conjugate with different endings. One example is μπορώ (I can).

Singular

Εγώ μπορώ I can

Εσύ μπορείς You can

Αυτός/αυτή/αυτό μπορεί He/she/it can

Plural

Εμείς μπορούμε We can

Εσείς μπορείτε You can

Αυτοί/αυτές/αυτά μπορούν They can

Παρακαλώ (I ask, I beg), is another verb that conjugates like μπορώ. It can also be used as the Greek equivalent of "please", or "it's a pleasure" in response to "thank you".

Unfortunately there is no easy way of distinguishing which of the verbs belonging to this category, ending in -ώ, conjugate like αγαπώ and which like μπορώ. You will gradually learn to remember them.

The polite plural

When we speak to people whom we don't know very well or who are much older than us we use the plural out of respect and politeness. For example, when you want to ask someone you don't know well for something "Do you have...?" you will say "Έχετε...;" instead of saying "Έχεις...;". As I said this is used when talking to people you barely know or meet for the first time or to people much older than you. It would be extreme to address an aunt or an uncle (and generally relatives, unless you don't know them well) in the polite plural but it would be natural to address like that the parents of a friend for example.

You may even be addressed in the third person, which is a stage more polite. For example, when you ring the bell of a house, you may be asked from inside:

Ποιός είναι; (Who is it?, instead of Ποιός είσαι;, Who are you?)

Look at this dialogue for an example of the polite plural:

-Πώς είστε σήμερα; (How are you today?)

-Πολύ καλά, ευχαριστώ. Κι εσείς; (Very well, thank you. And you?)

-Έτσι κι έτσι. (So and so.)

This last phrase is worth remembering. It is widely used in a variety of situations which call for a lukewarm response, like when you are bored... (lol).

Past tenses

When describing events which took place in the past, one of the two past tenses is usually appropriate: these are the imperfect and the past tenses. In this lesson we shall deal with the imperfect tense.

Imperfect tense (Παρατατικός)

This is used to describe a continuous action in the past or one that occured repeatedly.

Imperfect of έχω (I have)

Present Imperfect

έχω είχα

έχεις είχες

έχει είχε

έχουμε είχαμε

έχετε είχατε

έχουν είχαν

Verbs like γράφω, which have the accent in the penultimate syllable, change in three ways: endings, prefix and accent.

Imperfect

έ-γραφ-α

έ-γραφ-ες

έ-γραφ-ε

(ε)-γράφ-αμε

(ε)-γράφ-ατε

έ-γραφ-αν

It is advisable to learn the new endings. Note the tendency, as in γράφω-έγραφα, for verbs with less than three syllables to acquire an extra syllable by adding the letter ε. In both the past tenses this is necessary in order to enable the accent to move to the third sylable from the end. Compare the following two-syllable verbs:

Present Imperfect

σπρώχν-ω (I push) έ-σπρωχν-α

φεύγ-ω (I go away, I leave) έ-φευγ-α

κόβ-ω (I cut) έ-κοβ-α

With the following 3-syllable ones:

διαβάζ-ω (I read) διάβαζ-α

φροντίζ-ω (I take care of, I look after) φρόντιζ-α

αλλάζ-ω (I change) άλλαζ-α

κοιτάζ-ω (I look) κοίταζ-α

θυμών-ω (I get angry) θύμων-α

Verbs which have the accent on the last syllable like αγαπώ form the imperfect somewhat differently.

αγαπ-ούσα

αγαπ-ούσες

αγαπ-ούσε

αγαπ-ούσαμε

αγαπ-ούσατε

αγαπ-ούσαν

There is no lengthening of the verb through addition of a prefix and no movement of the accent. The following are some more examples:

προχωρ-ώ (I proceed, I walk) προχωρ-ούσα

προτιμ-ώ (I prefer) προτιμ-ούσα

ζητ-ώ (I seek, I ask) ζητούσ-α

πουλ-ώ (I sell) πουλ-ούσα

Not all verbs conform with these rules. Some are irregular and must be learnt. Some of the most commonly used verbs will be given in later chapters.

The irregular verb είμαι

The most important irregular verb is είμαι. Strictly speaking it does not belong in this section of the lessons because it has the passive voice ending, which will be dealt with later. However, because of the frequency with which it is used, it is necessary to deal with it at this point. Like έχω it has only one past tense, the imperfect, which is used as imperfect and past and is as follows:

Present Imperfect

είμαι ήμουν

είσαι ήσουν

είναι ήταν

είμαστε ήμαστε

είσαστε/είστε ήσαστε

είναι ήταν

Example:

Ήμουν στο σπίτι. I was at home.

Punctuation

Punctuation marks are the same in Greek as in English, with a few exceptions.

The most important exception is the question mark, which is exactly the same as the English semicolon (;). Example:

Πώς είσαι; How are you?

The Greek semicolon is the same as the full stop, but placed higher up beside the end of a phrase. Unfortunately the Greek keyboard layout doesn't have a symbol for the greek semicolon... It looks like ; without the down part or like a : without the down dot.

The quotation marks in Greek look like this <<blah blah blah>>. Again there is no symbol for them in the keyboard so I used the <> symbols... in reality the quotation marks are smaller.

Questions

There are two kinds of questions: those that begin with a question word and those that do not. The following are some question words:

Πού; Where?

Πόσο; How much?

Πώς; How?

Ποιός, ποιά, ποιό; Who (masculine), who (feminine), which?

Τι; What?

No alteration in the word order is required in a question, although there is a difference in intonation similar to that in English.

Θέλεις ένα παγωτό. You want an ice-cream. (It's a statement)

Θέλεις ένα παγωτό; Do you want an ice-cream? (It's a question)

Τι θέλεις; What do you want?

Πώς είσαι; How are you?

Πού πας; Where are you going?

Ποιόν/Ποιά θέλεις; Who do you want?

Of the question words, πώς and πού are accented (remember that usually one-syllable words are not accented) if used in a question, to distinguish them from their use as relative pronouns. (The latter will be dealt with later.) The following two examples will illustrate briefly their different uses:

Πού είναι το δωμάτιο; Where is the room?

Το αγόρι που είναι στο δωμάτιο. The boy who is in the room.

Here are a few more useful questions:

Πόσο κάνει; How much is it? (For asking about a price)

Πόσα θέλεις; How many do you want?

Πόσο θέλεις; How much do you want?

Πού είναι; Where is he/she/it?