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Essential Modern Greek Grammar
 9780486113432, 0486113434

Table of contents :
Cover
Title Page
Copyright Page
Contents
How to Study Essential Modern Greek Grammar
A Word About Katharevusa
Introduction
Suggestions for Vocabulary Building
The Alphabet, Spelling and Accents
The Alphabet
Spelling
Accents
Breathing Marks
Enclitics
Word Order
How to Form Questions
Interrogative Words
Negation
Cases
Direct Address
Genders
The Definite Article
The Indefinite Article
Noun Groups
Feminine Nouns in -<
U+00dc>
and -<
U+006a>

Masculine and Neuter Nouns Whose Final Vowel Is o
Masculine Nouns in -<
U+00dc>
<
U+0077>
and -<
U+006a>
<
U+0077>

Neuters Ending in -<
U+006c>

Neuter Nouns in -<
U+0072>
<
U+0077>
. Use of the SuperlativeThe Intensive
Use of the Intensive
Comparisons of Equality
Less
Adverbs
Adverbs Derived from Adjectives
Comparison of Adverbs
Other Adverbs
Personal Pronouns
Subject Pronouns
Nonsubject Pronouns
Use of Personal Pronouns
Possessive Pronouns
Relative Pronouns
Demonstrative Pronouns and Adjectives
Demonstratives as Pronouns
Demonstratives as Adjectives
Other Pronouns
Pronouns
Prepositions
Simple Prepositions: The Basic Four
Other Simple Prepositions
Compound Prepositions
Conjunctions
Verbs
Comparison of English and Modern Greek Verbs. The Second Person in Modern GreekThe Verb Stems
The Two Conjugations
The Present Tense
The Present Tense of Some Commonly Used Irregular Verbs
The Imperfect Past
"To Be" and "To Have"
The Aorist Past
Aorist and Imperfect Pasts Contrasted
The Passive Voice
The Present Passive
Deponent Verbs
The Imperfect Passive and Deponent
The Aorist Passive
The Aorist Deponent
The Future Tenses
The Indefinite Future
The Definite Future
Irregular Definite Futures
The Subjunctive
The Use of the Subjunctive
Commands
First Person Plural and Third Person Commands
Polite Commands. Negative CommandsWord Order After Imperatives
Participles
Present Participles
Aorist Participles
Compound Tenses
Active Compound Tenses
Passive Compound Tenses
The Conditional
Principal Parts of Some Irregular Modern Greek Verbs
Defective and Impersonal Verbs
Defective Verbs
Impersonal Verbs
Telling Time
The Parts of Speech
Words About Verbs
Words About Nouns
Miscellaneous Terms
The Parts of the Sentence
A Glossary of Grammatical Terms
Index.

Citation preview

Essential Modern Greek Grammar DOUGLAS Q. ADAMS College of Letters and Science, University of Idaho DOVER PUBLICATIONS, INC., NEW YORK

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Copyright © 1987 by Dover Publications, Inc. All rights reserved.

Essential Modern Greek Grammar is a new work, first published by Dover Publications, Inc., in 1987.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Adams, Douglas Q Essential modern Greek grammar. Includes index. 1. Greek language, Modern—Grammar—1950–. 1. Title. PA1058.A33 1986 498′.382421 85-29281 eISBN 13: 978-0-486-11343-2 3

Manufactured in the United States by Courier Corporation 25133013 www.doverpublications.com

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CONTENTS Introduction How to Study Essential Modern Greek Grammar A Word About Katharevusa Suggestions for Vocabulary Building The Alphabet, Spelling and Accents The Alphabet Spelling Accents Breathing Marks Enclitics Word Order How to Form Questions Interrogative Words Negation Nouns and Articles

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Cases Direct Address Genders The Definite Article The Indefinite Article Noun Groups Feminine Nouns in -α and -η Masculine and Neuter Nouns Whose Final Vowel Is ο Masculine Nouns in -ας and -ης Neuters Ending in -ι Neuter Nouns in -ος Nouns with One More Syllable in the Plural Than in the Singular Other Neuter Nouns Irregular Nouns Katharevusa Nouns Adjectives

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Agreement of Adjectives with Nouns Forms of Adjectives Adjectives in -ος Adjectives in -υς or -ης Other Varieties of Adjectives Adjectives Ending in Masculine / Feminine -ης Adjectives Ending in Masculine / Feminine -ων Adjectives Ending in Masculine -ων, Feminine -ο σα and Neuter -ον Πολύς Use of Adjectives Comparison of Adjectives: The Comparative Irregular Comparatives Use of the Comparative The Superlative of Adjectives Use of the Superlative The Intensive Use of the Intensive 7

Comparisons of Equality Less Adverbs Adverbs Derived from Adjectives Comparison of Adverbs Other Adverbs Pronouns Personal Pronouns Subject Pronouns Nonsubject Pronouns Use of Personal Pronouns Possessive Pronouns Relative Pronouns Demonstrative Pronouns and Adjectives Demonstratives as Pronouns Demonstratives as Adjectives Other Pronouns 8

Prepositions Simple Prepositions: The Basic Four Other Simple Prepositions Compound Prepositions Conjunctions Verbs Comparison of English and Modern Greek Verbs The Second Person in Modern Greek The Verb Stems The Two Conjugations The Present Tense The Present Tense of Some Commonly Used Irregular Verbs The Imperfect Past “To Be” and “To Have” The Aorist Past Aorist and Imperfect Pasts Contrasted The Passive Voice 9

The Present Passive Deponent Verbs The Imperfect Passive and Deponent The Aorist Passive The Aorist Deponent The Future Tenses The Indefinite Future The Definite Future Irregular Definite Futures The Subjunctive The Use of the Subjunctive Commands First Person Plural and Third Person Commands Polite Commands Negative Commands Word Order After Imperatives Participles 10

Present Participles Aorist Participles Compound Tenses Active Compound Tenses Passive Compound Tenses The Conditional Principal Parts of Some Irregular Modern Greek Verbs Defective and Impersonal Verbs Defective Verbs Impersonal Verbs Telling Time A Glossary of Grammatical Terms The Parts of Speech Words About Verbs Words About Nouns Miscellaneous Terms The Parts of the Sentence

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Index

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Essential Modern Greek Grammar assumes that you have a limited amount of time at your disposal to study Modern Greek and that your objective is simple everyday communication, both spoken and written. This book, therefore, does not attempt to offer a complete outline of all aspects of Modern Greek grammar, even in a highly condensed version. It does, however, offer a series of aids to help you use more effectively phrases and words that you have already learned. The book will introduce you to the most common structures and forms of Modern Greek and a selected number of the most useful rules.

How to Study Essential Modern Greek Grammar If you have already studied Modern Greek in a conventional manner, this book will serve as a review, and you can use it by glancing through all of it quickly and then selecting those areas on which you wish to concentrate. If, however, this is your first acquaintance with Modern Greek grammar, the following suggestions may be of help: 1. Before beginning to work your way through this book, master several hundred useful phrases and expressions such as you will find in any good phrase book or in the Listen & Learn Modern Greek course. The material in this book will be much more easily understood after you have achieved some simple working knowledge of the language. This book’s purpose is to enable you to gain greater fluency once you have learned phrases and expressions, not to teach you to construct sentences from rules and vocabulary.

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2. Read through Essential Modern Greek Grammar at least once in its entirety. Do not be concerned if some of the material is not immediately clear; what appears to be discouragingly complex on first reading will become much simpler as you progress in your study. The first reading is necessary to acquaint you with terms and concepts used from the beginning. Learning these will help you improve your comprehension of Modern Greek and use more freely the expressions and words you already know. As you use Modern Greek and hear it spoken, many of its grammatical patterns will become familiar to you. Essential Modern Greek Grammar helps you discover these patterns, and it will be helpful to you as you develop your vocabulary and improve your comprehension. 3. Go back to this book periodically. Sections that at first seem difficult or of doubtful benefit may prove extremely helpful as you progress further. 4. For the most part, Essential Modern Greek Grammar follows a logical order, taking up the major divisions of grammar in sequence. You will do best to follow this order. However, you may be one of those who learn best when they study to answer an immediate question or need (e.g., how to form the comparative of adjectives; how to conjugate “to be,” etc.). If you are such a student, turn to the section that interests you at the moment, but read through the entire section and not just an isolated part. Individual remarks, taken out of context, are easily misunderstood and may seriously mislead you. 5. Examples are given for every rule. It will be helpful if you memorize them. If you learn all of the examples in Essential 14

Modern Greek Grammar, you will have encountered the basic difficulties of Modern Greek and studied models for their solution. 6. You cannot study Modern Greek or any other language systematically without an understanding of grammar, and the use and understanding of grammatical terms is as essential as a knowledge of certain mechanical terms when you learn to drive a car. If your knowledge of grammatical terms is a little hazy, read the Glossary of Grammatical Terms (p. 78) and refer to it whenever necessary. In Modern Greek, as in any language, there are potentially many ways to express a single idea. Some involve simple constructions, others more difficult ones. Some of the more difficult constructions may well be more sophisticated ways of conveying the thought and ones that you will ultimately wish to master, but during your first experiments in communication in Modern Greek, you can achieve your aim by using a simple construction. Be satisfied at first with the simplest. You should not, however, be afraid of making mistakes. The purpose of this book is not to teach you to speak like a native but to allow you to communicate and be understood. If you pay attention to what you’re doing, you will find that eventually you make fewer and fewer errors. Sooner or later you’ll be able to review Essential Modern Greek Grammar or a more detailed book at a time that is appropriate for polishing your speech.

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As you begin to speak Modern Greek, you will be your own best judge of those areas where you need most help. If there is no one with you, you can practice by speaking mentally to yourself. In the course of the day see how many simple thoughts that you have expressed in English you are able to turn into Modern Greek. This kind of experimental self-testing will give direction to your study of Modern Greek. Remember that your purpose in studying this course in Modern Greek is not to pass an examination or receive a certificate, but to communicate with others on a simple but useful level. Essential Modern Greek Grammar should not be thought of as the equivalent of a formal course of study at a university. Although it could serve as a useful supplement to such a course, its primary aim is to help adults study on their own. Of course, no self-study or academic course, or even series of courses, will ever be ideally suited to all students. You must rely on and be guided by your own rate of learning and your own requirements and interests.

A Word About Katharevusa Finally a word must be said about the two different varieties of standard Modern Greek that you may run across. The more formal variety, used in official government publications, the editorial page of newspapers and in formal speeches, is called Katharevusa (καθαρεύουσα). The less formal variety is used in all literature, in such parts of the newspaper as the sports page and in the normal conversation of educated Greeks. This variety is called Dhimotiki (Δημοτική) and is the variety of Greek described in this book. There are, however, words and expressions in one variety that have no equivalent in the other, so there is occasionally the need to mention structures

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or forms normally found only in Katharevusa even in a book devoted to Dhimotiki. In Essential Modern Greek Grammar mention of such structures is kept to a minimum, but you should be aware that many things you will see in certain kinds of formal Greek will not be discussed in this book because they are restricted to Katharevusa. Fortunately, the knowledge you will gain of Dhimotiki should allow you to understand most of what you may read in Katharevusa even if the forms look somewhat strange to you.

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INTRODUCTION

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SUGGESTIONS VOCABULARYBUILDING

FOR

1. Study words and word lists that answer real and immediate personal needs. If you are planning to travel in the near future, your motivation and orientation are clear-cut, and Listen & Learn Modern Greek or another good travel phrase book will provide you with the material you need. Select material according to your personal interests and requirements. Even if you do not plan to travel to Greece in the near future, you will probably learn more quickly by imagining yourself in a travel situation. 2. Memorize by association. Phrase books usually give associated word lists. If you use a dictionary, don’t memorize words at random but words that are related in some fashion. 3. Study the specialized vocabulary of your profession, business or hobby. If you are interested in real estate, learn the many terms associated with property, buying, selling, leasing, etc. An interest in mathematics could lead you to learn a wide vocabulary in that discipline. You will quickly learn words in your own specialty and a surprising amount will be applicable or transferable to other areas. Although specialized vocabularies may not always be readily available, an active interest and a good dictionary will help you get started. 4. Note the similarities that exist between many Modern Greek words and their English equivalents. It will help you to expand your Modern Greek vocabulary if you remember that 20

many Modern Greek words are similar in appearance and meaning to English words with roots in Classical Greek. The following list will give you some idea of the kinds of similarities that exist: ENGLISH

MODERN GREEK

idea

ἰδέα

radio

ράδιο

problem

πρόβλημα

pause

παύση

period

περίοδος

hygiene

ὑγεία (health)

philosophy

ιλοσο ία

geography

γεωγρα ία

history

ἱστορία

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political

πολιτικός

theater

θέατρο

telephone

τηλέ ωνο

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THE ALPHABET, SPELLING AND ACCENTS The Alphabet The Modern Greek alphabet consists of the following twenty-four letters:

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Spelling As in the case of English, the correspondence between spelling and pronunciation in Greek is not exact and there are a number of rules to remember as you pronounce Modern Greek spelling: 1. There are several different symbols for one sound: a)

κ πος kίpos (garden), λίγο lígho (a little), μ γα mίgha (fly), θεîος thίos (uncle), μοîρα mίra (fate, lot), νἰὸς iόs (son). H and ει are often used interchangeably in Modern Greek spelling: ἢμουνα, εἲμοννα ímoona (I was). b) κόττα kόta (hen), ζώνη zόni (belt). c) μέρα méra (day), παίζω pέzο (I play). 2. The same symbol may have different sounds:

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a)

παύση páfsi (pause), παντρεύτηκα pandréftika (I was married); μα ρος máυrοs (black), γυρεύω yiréυο (I turn). b)

σβούρa zvόοra (a top), ὁ Φίλος μου o fíloz moo (my friend), τ ς λίγης ἂρμης tiz líghis ármis (a little salt water), but σλαυϊκóς slaνikόs (Slavic). Note that the symbol -ς is only used at the end of a Greek word. c) π, τ, κ= p, t, k but are pronounced b, d, g when these letters are at the beginning of a word and the preceding word ends in -ν (most often the definite article). The -ν of the definite article might change to m or ng. For example, τόπο tópο (place) but τóν τόπο ton dópo (the place); κάβο kávo (cape) but τὸν κάβο tong gávo (the cape). d) The consonantal combinations μπ, ντ and γκ have the following pronunciations:

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e) The vowels and vowel combinations η, ι, υ, ει and οι, which are all pronounced i, are pronounced as y in English “youth” when they are unaccented and immediately precede another vowel or vowel combination, e.g. μάτια mátya (eyes) or τέτοιος tétyos (such). 3. There are some sounds and spellings that have no equivalents in English (though equivalents exist in other languages), e.g. γ and χ. When they immediately precede a front vowel (i.e., η, ι, υ, ει, α, νι, ε, αι) γ is pronounced like y in English “youth” and χ is pronounced approximately like the h in English “huge” (we will represent this sound as hy). For examples we have γελάει yelái (he laughs), γιατρός yatrόs (doctor), χεîλι hyíli (lip), χιόνι hyόni (snow). In all other positions, that is, before any other vowel or before another consonant, the γ is pronounced like a Spanish -gbetween vowels, e.g. “la g o”; for example, γάλα ghála (milk), γλυκός ghlikόs (sweet). To produce this sound, pronounce like the English g in “get” but without complete contact between tongue and roof of the mouth. In similar environments the χ is pronounced like the Spanish j in “bajo” or German ch in “no ch.” Examples are χαρά khará (joy),

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χρήματα khrímata (money). To produce this sound, pronounce like the English k but without complete contact between tongue and roof of the mouth. 4. There are some special combinations of letters which have to be learned: ου = οο in hoot, e.g. κουδούνι koodhoόni (bell) τς = ts, e.g. τσάϊ tsái (tea) τζ = dz, e.g. τζίτζικας dzídzikas (cicada) γγ = ng, e.g. Φεγγάρι fengári (moon) Generally, double consonants are pronounced like single consonants; σσ, ττ, νν are pronounced s, t and n.

Accents With very few exceptions every Modern Greek word has an accent (either ‘or ) which indicates the stressed syllable, e.g., ἂντρας ándras (man) or μπορ borό (I can). The difference between the two accents is one of spelling only; it reflects no difference in sound. The accent is always written over the vowel of the stressed syllable. If the vowel of the stressed syllable is spelled with a combination of vowel letters (i.e., ει, οι, αι, νι, αν or εν), the accent is placed on the second of the two vowel letters, e.g., κλείσιμο klísimo (conclusion) or θα μα tháνma (wonder, miracle). You should note two special restrictions: (1) the circumflex accent ( ) can occur only on the last syllable or the 28

next-to-the-last syllable, while the acute accent (’) can occur on any of the last three syllables (no syllable preceding the last three can bear the stress), and (2) if a word normally has the acute accent on the last syllable and that word is followed by another word which bears stress on any syllable, the acute accent becomes a grave accent (’), e.g. τό (definite article) but τὸ δετρο (the tree). In some publications, however, the grave accent is not used and the acute remains. In a very few words another symbol (:), the diaeresis, may occur over a vowel. This occurs when two vowels come together, but are not pronounced as a single sound. When the second of the separately pronounced vowels bears the stress, it is on that letter that this symbol is placed: σαΐτα sa-í-ta (arrow). If the first vowel of such a two-vowel combination bears the stress, the placement of the accent on that first vowel can indicate by itself that the vowels are to be pronounced separately. Thus τσάϊ tsá-i (tea) can also be spelled τσάι with no change in pronunciation.

Breathing Marks Any word in Modern Greek beginning with a vowel or combination of vowels has a mark for “smooth” or “rough” breathing, (’) or (`), in addition to any accent that might appear on that vowel, e.g., ἀπαντ apandό (I answer) or ὣρα όra (hour). Neither is pronounced but they are necessary for correct Greek spelling.

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Enclitics Enclitics are words that never bear any stress marks, such as certain of the personal pronouns in Modern Greek. When they occur after words in which the accent falls on the third syllable from the end, an extra accent may be added to the last syllable of that word, e.g. τὸ παράθνρο to paráthiro (the window) but τὸ παράθυρό μον to paráthiό moo (my window).

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WORD ORDER Basic word order in Modern Greek is the same as in English—subject, verb, object: Ὁ Πέτρο ἦρθε.

Peter has come.

Ὁ καπετάνιος εἶδε τόν ΠέτροThe captain χτές. yesterday.

saw

Peter

However, there are some major differences between Modern Greek and English word order: 1. Word order is more flexible in Modern Greek than in English: Ἦρθε ὁ Πέτρος.

Peter has come.

2. Object pronouns usually precede the verb: Ὁ καπετάνιος τὸν εἶδε χτές. [the captain him saw yesterday] The captain saw him yesterday. Σάς τὸ ἒδωσα χτές. [(to) you it (I) gave yesterday]

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I gave it to you yesterday. See the discussions on word order of pronouns in the sections “Use of Personal Pronouns” (p. 39) and “Word Order After Imperatives (p. 68). 3. Possessives follow the noun: Ὁ

your friend

ίλος σας

(See the sections “Cases,” p. 15, and “Possessive Pronouns,” p. 40, for further examples of possessives.)

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HOW TO FORM QUESTIONS Questions show no special word order but are distinguished from statements by a rise in tone at the end of the sentence, just as may happen in English: Ὁ Πέτρος ἦρθε

Peter has come.

Ὁ Πέτρος ἦρθε;

Has Peter come?

Questions are punctuated in written Modern Greek with a semicolon.

Interrogative Words Many questions, in Modern Greek as in English, begin with a question word, which may be an adverb, adjective or pronoun. “When,” “who” and “how” are examples in English. In a Modern Greek question formed with such a word, the verb generally comes in second position. The most common question words in Modern Greek are the following:

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These interrogative pronouns and adjectives are declined for case, gender and number depending on their function in the sentence. The nature of declension in Modern Greek is explained in the chapters on nouns, adjectives and pronouns. As pronouns, ποιός and πόσος are declined for case, gender and number depending on their function in the sentence. As an adjective, ποιός agrees in case, number and gender with the noun it modifies. The declension for ποιός as a pronoun and adjective is given below. Note that the forms are identical 36

for both except in the possessive and in the masculine objective plural, where the pronoun has an extra syllable. (Pronoun forms are the second ones given in each instance.)

On the rule for dropping -ν in the masculine and feminine singular objective, see “The Definite Article” (p. 16). The pronoun πόσος is declined like the adjective καλός, καλή, καλό (see p. 25), except that the accent is on the first syllable.

37

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NEGATION Negative sentences are formed by putting δέ (ν) or μή (ν) immediately before the verb of the sentence. The -ν remains only when the following word begins with a vowel or with κ, ξ, π, τ, τς or ψ. The negative δέ (ν) is used in indicative sentences and in questions: Δὲ θέλω νὰ πάω. I don’t want to go. Δὲν ἦρθε;

He didn’t come?

The negative μή (ν) is used in the following situations: 1. In negative commands: afraid!). 2.

In

subordinate

clauses

(Don’t be after

the

word (He

νά: didn’t

come because he had no money). 3. Before present participles: μὴν ξέροντας (not knowing) or μὴθέλοντας (not willing). The words for “yes” and “no” are ναί and ὂχι. See p. 37 for adverbs used in negative sentences.

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Cases In an English sentence a noun takes special endings in two situations: to form a possessive (e.g. the child’s toy, the president’s message) or a plural (cars, churches, mountains). The general principle is similar in Modern Greek, though the number of situations demanding special endings is substantially greater. Modern Greek distinguishes between singular and plural, and, within each of those categories, between subject, object and possessive. The latter three categories are called cases. The subject of a sentence in Greek takes an ending to show that it is in the subjective (or nominative) case: Ὀ υέο ς ἂ ντρα ς ἒχασε τὸ πορτοϕόλι του. [the young man lost the wallet his] The young man lost his wallet. The subjective singular is the form under which a noun is always listed in dictionaries and grammar books. Adjectives and pronouns are listed under the masculine subjective singular. These forms are referred to as dictionary forms. The direct object in Greek takes the ending of the objective (or accusative) case. The objective case is required in Greek for objects of verbs and prepositions:

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The fisherman met the young man. ἀ πα τόν ἐ χθρό by the enemy The possessive (or genitive) case is used to show possession: τὸ βιβλίο το δασκάλου [the book the teacher’s] the teacher’s book Note that in Modern Greek the possrssor, (the teacher’s) in the above example, follows the thing possessed. Another important use of the possessive case is for indirect objects:

[Nicholas to the teacher it gave] Nicholas gave it to the teacher.

Direct Address In Modern Greek the objective case is usually used in direct address:

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Πατέρα! Father! Mητέρα! Mother! However, for those masculine nouns which belong to a noun class having -ο- as part of its subjective case ending, -ε- is used as the ending for direct address: Ἒμπορε! Merchant! Short personal names belonging to this class, on the other hand, usually take regular objective endings: Πέτρο! Peter! Nίκο! Nick!

Genders All nouns in Modern Greek are either masculine, feminine or neuter. In general, nouns denoting male persons or animals are masculine while nouns denoting female persons or animals are feminine, but there are exceptions to this rule and you must learn the gender of each Modern Greek noun as you learn the noun itself, particularly since nouns denoting inanimate objects may belong to any of the three genders.

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Articles and adjectives are said to agree with the noun they modify; that is, they change their form or take special endings to show that they are in the same gender, case and number (singular or plural) as the noun. The best way to remember the gender of a noun is to memorize the appropriate definite article with it.

The Definite Article Corresponding to the single English “the” we find the following forms of the Modern Greek definite article:

As with the final -ν of μήν and δέν (see p. 14), the v of the masculine and feminine objective singular usually remains only when the following word begins with a vowel (e.g. τὸν ἂντρα, the man) or with a κ, ξ, π, τ, τσ or ψ (e.g. τόν τόπο, the place). On a more formal level of Modern Greek, and especially in formal written styles, the ν may be present no matter what the following word begins with. 43

When the definite article is τό, or τά and the following word begins with a vowel, the definite article becomes τ’ and is written as part of the following word, e.g. τ’αὐτοκίνητο (the car). The definite article is used in Modern Greek much as it is in English, except that both abstract nouns and proper names are generally preceded by the appropriate definite article: ἠαλήθεια

truth

ὀ Xριστοϕόρος Mπουρμπούλη Christopher Bourbouli ό κύριος Mπουρμπούλη

Mr. Bourbouli

ή Ἀθήνα

Athens

The Indefinite Article Like the definite article, the indefinite article agrees in gender and case with the noun it precedes (but it occurs only in the singular). The indefinite article is also the word for “one.”

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The -ν of the masculine and feminine objective case behaves in the same fashion as that of the corresponding forms of the definite article, e.g. ἓναν ἂντρα (a man) but ἓνα διαιτητή (a referee). The indefinite article is used less frequently in Modern Greek than it is in English. It is not used with nouns that follow a predicate such as “to be” and is often not used with a noun that is the object of a verb: E μαι ψαρ ς. I’m a fisherman. Ἒχει σκυλί. He has a dog. To express an indefinite plural (i.e. “some”), use the adjective μερικός in the plural: μερικὰ παιδιά

some children

μερικὲς μπάλλες some balls See καλός, καλή, καλό for the declension of this adjective (p. 25).

Noun Groups Modern Greek is characterized by a noun system with many different patterns of case endings. These groupings (called

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declensions) may be described in terms of gender (masculine, feminine, neuter) as well as phonetic shape (the endings are in -oς, -ας, -ης, -η, -α, -o, -ι, etc.) . Feminine Nouns in -α and - η Most feminine nouns in Modern Greek are declined like μητέρα (mother) and κόρη (daughter):

In these feminine nouns the subjective and objective forms of the singular are the same. The subjective and objective plurals are also the same. Masculine and Neuter Nouns Whose Final Vowel Is o The largest group of masculine and neuter nouns is illustrated by the masculine ἒμτορος (merchant) and the neuter νερό (water):

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In masculine nouns whose stress in the subjective singular falls on the third syllable from the end, it is normal for the stress to move to the second syllable from the end in the possessive singular and plural and in the objective plural. Among neuter nouns such a stress shift is unusual. Masculine Nouns in -ας and - ης Masculine nouns in this group follow a different pattern from masculine nouns in -ος, such as ἒμπορος (merchant). This pattern may be illustrated by nouns such as ἂντρας (man) and ράϕτης (tailor):

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In this group of masculine nouns, the objective and possessive singular forms are identical (and the same as the subject form minus the -ς). The subjective and objective plural forms are also identical. Neuters Ending in -ι Very similar to neuter nouns such as νερό (water) are neuters like νησί (island) or χέρι (hand):

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You should note the end stress in both the singular and plural possessive. Some nouns of this group are spelled with -υ rather than -ι, e.g., δάκρυ (tear), βράδυ (evening). These nouns shift their stress to the -υ- in the possessive singular and plural: δακρύου, δακρύων, βραδύου, βραδύων. Neuter Nouns in -ος There is a small group of neuter nouns ending in -ος in the singular of the subjective and objective, e.g. ἒθνος (people, nation) and ἒδαϕος (ground):

Nouns with One More Syllable in the Plural Than in the Singular In this noun group the final vowel of the singular is retained in the plural and a -δ- (in the case of the neuters a -τ-) is inserted between it and the plural endings, forming an extra syllable.

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Masculine nouns of this type are illustrated by ψαρ ς (fisherman) and καϕές (coffee):

Some nouns that have unequal numbers of syllables in singular and plural do not preserve the final vowel of the singular but show another, usually -α- or, more rarely, -η-: μαθητής (student), for example, has a plural μαθητάδες in addition to a plural with the same number of syllables, μαθητές. Fortunately, such nouns are rare and will, in any case, cause you no difficulty in recognition when you run across them in speech or writing. Feminine nouns of this group are illustrated by μαϊμο (monkey):

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Neuter nouns that have one syllable more in the plural and in the singular possessive than in the singular subjective and objective end in -μα (more rarely in -μο) and have a plural in -ματα. As an example we can use the noun ὂνομα (name):

Other Neuter Nouns There are a few neuter nouns that do not fall into any of the groups we have so far discussed. They all have a subjective/ objective singular in either -ς or -ν:

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Though few in number, these neuter nouns occur fairly frequently. Irregular Nouns There are both commonly and infrequently used nouns in Modern Greek that do not conform to regular patterns and are formed according to somewhat eccentric rules. Therefore, the most effective, perhaps only, way to learn them is sheer memorization. 1. Some nouns show irregularity in a change of gender between the singular and plural. Some nouns have two plurals, one showing a change of gender and the other not. In some cases, the two plurals have slightly different meanings. Some examples are:

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2. Some nouns have two plurals of the same gender but of different declensional patterns:

3. A few nouns have two forms in the singular but only one kind of plural:

4. Finally, there are some nouns that cannot be inflected at all (articles and adjectives used with these words are inflected). This class includes a number of originally foreign words and

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first names as well as many last names that were originally possessive singular nouns: ὁ σοϕέρ (chauffeur) τὸτράμ (tram) τὸ Πάσχα (Easter) Ἀθανασίου (Athanasiou) (family name)

Katharevusa Nouns Some further irregularities arise because certain nouns appear in their Katharerusa guise even in writing or speech that is otherwise strictly Dhimotiki. Most such nouns are fairly rare or from a very learned vocabulary that you will probably not have much occasion to use or even run across, but there are a few patterns that occur frequently enough that you should be able to recognize them. There are, for instance, two types of Katharevusa feminine nouns that are noteworthy because they form large numbers of abstract nouns. 1. Feminine nouns in -ίς (Dhimotiki -ίδα), e.g., ἐϕημερίς (ἐϕημερίδα) (newspaper):

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2. Feminine nouns in -σις (Dhimotiki -ση or σι), e.g., κό πωσις (κόπωση) (fatigue):

For this latter group of nouns the expected Dhimotiki plural is very rare and thus not given. Similar in some ways to these feminine nouns are two nouns, one neuter and the other masculine, that have only a Katharevusa pattern: Neuter ὀξύ (acid)

Masculine πρέσβυς (ambassador)

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These patterns do not exhaust the number of types of Katharevusa declensions in Modern Greek. Nor have we listed all the uncommon declensions or irregularities of the nouns in this chapter. Hopefully, the reader has gotten some understanding of the overall system of noun declension and some idea about the kinds of irregularities that are present in Modern Greek.

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NOUNS AND ARTICLES

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ADJECTIVES Agreement of Adjectives with Nouns As in many languages (though not in English), adjectives in Modern Greek agree in gender, case and number with the nouns they modify. A masculine singular subjective noun requires a masculine singular subjective adjective, while a feminine plural objective noun requires a feminine plural objective adjective. Thus we have ὁ μεγάλος ἂντρας (the big man) (masc. sing. subj.) but Eἲδαμε τίς μεγάλες γυναίκες (We saw the big women). The adjective usually precedes the noun in Greek, as it does in English.

Forms of Adjectives Most Modern Greek adjectives fall into one of two classes: (1) those whose masculine singular subjective ends in -ός and (2) those whose masculine singular subjective ends in -υς (or –ης). In addition to these two classes, of which the first is by far the larger, there are other less common adjective classes, some of which are also given below. Adjectives in -ος

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The endings of these masculine and neuter adjectives are the same as those of the masculine nouns in - ος (ὁ ἒμπορος) and neuter nouns in –ο (τὸνερό). The endings of these feminine adjectives are the same as those of the feminine nouns in -η (ἡ κόρη). Unlike the corresponding nouns, however, the stress of any given adjective is always on the same syllable, no matter what the case or number. If the -ος of the masculine is preceded by an -ι-, the feminine will end in -ια. The adjective τίμιος (honest) illustrates this pattern:

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Adjectives in -uς or -ης The other major variety of adjective is distinguished by a masculine singular subjective in either -υς or -ης. This type may be illustrated by βαθύς (deep) and ψαρής (gray):

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SPECIAL NOTES:

1. Occasionally, and particularly in more formal styles, the masculine and feminine objective singular end in -ν for both of these adjective types (e.g. καλόν, τιμιον, καλήν, τίμιαν,

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βαθύν, etc.) if the following word begins with a vowel or the adjective itself is the last word in a sentence. 2. Like the corresponding masculine nouns, masculine adjectives in -ος show a special ending in -ε when addressing someone, e.g., καλέ or τίμιε: Kαλὲ ϕίλε μου ! My good friend! The masculine adjectives of other patterns and all feminines and neuters have no special ending when addressing people—rather, the objective case (without -v) is used.

Other Varieties of Adjectives While the vast majority of Greek adjectives follow one or the other of the preceding paradigms, there are a few rarer patterns to be aware of, only some of which are presented here. Adjectives Ending in Masculine/Feminine -ης

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Some common adjectives following the same pattern as εὐγενής are ἀγενής (impolite), ἀσθενής (ill, sick), διεθνής (international) and σαϕής (clear, explicit). Adjectives Ending in Masculine/Feminine -ων

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Similar adjectives are ἀγνώμων (ungrateful) and μεγαλόϕρων (generous, noble). Adjectives Ending in Masculine -ων, Feminine –ο οα and Neuter -ον

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Πολύς The irregular adjective πολύς (much, many, a lot of) has features of the two most common types of adjective inflection, i.e. of adjectives in -ος and -υς:

Both forms of the masculine neuter singular possessive are very rare, though the second form appears in the set phrase πρόπολλο (a long time ago).

Use of Adjectives Modern Greek adjectives normally precede the nouns they modify and agree with them in gender, case and number. Thus, the following are typical of noun phrases with adjectives:

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τὸ ὡρα ο κορίτσι

the pretty girl

τὸ κρύο νερό

the cold water

ἓνας σοϕὸς ἂντρας

a wise man

ἡ ἐμπορικὴ τράπεζα

the commercial bank

ἓμπορικές τράπεζες

commercial banks

ἓνα δωμάτιο στό ἀκριβὸ ξενοδοχε a room in an expensive ο hotel οἱ διδασκαλίες σοϕ ν ἀντρ ν

the teachings of wise men

The Modern Greek adjective also agrees with the noun it modifies when it is used as a predicate adjective, that is, when it follows a form of the verb “to be”: Tὰ παπούτσια ε ναι οὐρανιά. My shoes are sky blue. Tὸ κρέας έ ναι καλοψημένο. The meat is well done. When an adjective is used emphatically, it normally follows the noun it modifies. If the noun phrase contains a definite article, the article is repeated before the adjective:

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τὸ κορίτσι τὸ the pretty girl (not the other one) ὡρα ο τράπεζες ἐμπορικές

commercial banks (as opposed, say, to agricultural banks)

Noun phrases with the definite article may also show emphasis by keeping normal word order but repeating the article: τὸ ὡρα ο τὸ κορίτσι the pretty girl Some Greek adjectives may also be used as substantives, serving, for example, as the subject of a sentence or object of a verb or preposition. Examples are σοϕός (wise), which may mean “wise man” and πολλά (many) which may mean “many things”: Ὁ σοϕὸζ ξέρει πολλά. The wise man knows many things.

Comparison of Adjectives: The Comparative Most Modern Greek adjectives, that is, those whose masculine singular ending is either -ος, -υς or -ης, form the comparative in either of two ways: (:) by putting πιό before the adjective or (2) by adding the suffix -τερος, which is then declined like an adjective in -ος (see p. 25 for the declension of καλός, καλή, καλό). (Note the parallel with “more” in

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“more interesting” and “-er” in “bigger.” In Modern Greek, however, πιό may be used with any adjective, unlike “more” in English.) You will probably find it easier as a beginner to use the first method of forming the comparative rather than adding the suffix. If the adjective in the masculine ends in -ος, the comparative suffix will be -ότερος (or -ώτε ρος if the previous vowel is an -ε- or an -ο- followed by at most a single consonant).

If the adjective ends in -υς (in the masculine), the suffix will be -ύτερος (in the masculine):

Note that whether the added vowel is -ο-, -ω- or -υ-, it always bears the stress in the comparative, whatever the stress in the positive form of the adjective. Three very common adjectives in -ος form their comparatives with the ending -ύτερος (sometimes spelled -ήτερος) rather than with -ότερος:

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A few common adjectives in -ος have a comparative both in -ότερος and in -ύτερος:

As a general rule, the more common the adjective the more likely it is that the suffixed variant of the comparative will be used. Conversely, the form with πιό is more likely used with those adjectives that are rare, irregular, long or of foreign origin, and must be used for adjectives that have different endings:

Irregular Comparatives A few adjectives have irregular comparative suffixes (or may take πιό):

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Use of the Comparative The Modern Greek equivalent of English “than” is the preposition (ἀπό (ἀπ’). The noun or pronoun following ἀπό is always in the objective case. Less frequently, the conjunction παρά, followed by a noun or pronoun in the subjective case, is used. Some examples are: Ἡ’Aθήναε ναι μεγαλύτερη (OR πιὸ μεγάλη) ἀπ’ τὴν Πάτρα. Athens is bigger than Patras. Tὸ πρ το βουνὸ δεύτερο.

ταν ψηλότερο (OR πιὸ ψηλὸ) ἀπ’ τὸ

The first mountain was higher than the second. Ἡ βαλίτσα μου ε ναι βαρύτερη (OR πιὸ βαριὰ) ἀπ’ τὸ μπαο λο σας. My suitcase is heavier than your trunk. Ὁ πατέρας μου ε ναι νεώτερος (OR πιὸ νέος) παρὰ ὁ πατέρας σας. My father is younger than your father.

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For a small number of adjectives that use the -τερος comparative, when the second unit of comparison is a personal pronoun, that pronoun may be used in the unaccented possessive case without ἀπό or παρά: Ὁ ϕίλος μου ε ναι μεγαλύτερός μον. My friend is bigger than me. Like μεγαλύτερος (bigger) in being followed by a possessive pronoun is ἀνώτερος (higher), κατώτερος (lower), μικρότερος (smaller) and νεώτερος (younger).

The Superlative of Adjectives The superlative forms of the adjective are always identical to the corresponding comparative, except that they are preceded by the definite article:

Use of the Superlative Like the comparative, the a may be followed by the preposition ἀπό and a noun or pronoun in the objective case: E ναι ἡ ψηλότερη ἀπ’ τὰ κορίτσια.

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She is the tallest of the daughters. The superlative may also be followed by the preposition σὲ (in) and a noun or pronoun in the objective case: E στε ὁ καλύτερος γλύπτης στὴ Nέα `Yόρκη. You are the best sculptor in New York. The possessive case without a preposition may follow either form of the superlative: Aὐτὴ ᾑ γυναίκα ε ναι ᾑ σοϕώτερη (ᾑ πιὸ σοϕή)τ ς ‘Eλλάδας. This woman is the wisest in [LIT.: of] Greece. Note that the possessive case is used more widely after the superlative than after the comparative, where it is limited to use only in pronouns after a few comparative forms. After superlatives of any adjectives, possessive nouns and pronouns may be used.

The Intensive In addition to the comparative and superlative suffixes, Modern Greek also has an intensive suffix (sometimes called the “absolute superlative”). We may translate these intensives as “very” in English. The intensive form is made by substituting -τατος (masculine), - τατη (feminine), -τατο (neuter) for - τερος,-τερη, - τερο of the comparative:

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A few very common adjectives have irregular intensives ending in -ιστος, -ιστη, -ιστο rather than in -τατος, etc.:

Note that the stress in these irregular intensives moves to the syllable preceding the ending. Use of the Intensive The intensive form may be used anywhere a positive adjective may be used: Tὸ ἐλάχιτο ἀρνάκι ἔτρεξε ἀπ᾽ κουζίνα. The tiny little lamb ran out of the kitchen. ῾O γέρος τύραννος ταν κάκιστος. The old tyrant was very wicked.

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The beginner in Modern Greek may avoid the use of the intensive simply by placing πολύ (very) or πολύ, πολύ (very, very) in front of the positive form of the adjective: Tὸπολύ (πολύ) μικρὸἀρνάκι ἔτρεξε ἀπ᾿ τῂν κονζίνα. The very (very) little lamb ran out of the kitchen. Emphasis may also be expressed by repeating the adjective or placing it after the noun, as noted on p. 29.

Comparisons of Equality The “as . . . as” of comparisons of equality (They are as hospitable as their cousins) may be translated in Modern Greek in either of two ways. The positive form of the adjective may be followed by σά (ν) or σάν κ (αί): E ναι δυνατόζ σά ναύτηζ (OR σάν καί ναύτηζ). He is as strong as a sailor. The noun following σάν (καί) is in the subjective case, as above, unless it is a pronoun, or a noun preceded by an article, in which case it takes the objective case: E ναι δυνατόζ σάν ἐσένα. He is as strong as you. Alternatively, the phrase τόσο . . . ὅσο (καί) followed by the subjective case may be used:

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E μαι τόσο εύτνχὴζ ὅσο και ὁ καλύτεροζ ψαρ ζ στὴν Πάτρα. I am as happy as the best fisherman in Patras.

Less To express the concept “less” in Modern Greek, the comparatives of the adverb λίγο (a little) are used, i.e., λιγότερο or πιὸλίγο : E ναι λιγότερο (πιὸλίγο) τίμιοζ ἀπ᾿ ἐμένα. He is less honest than me. Demonstrative adjectives are discussed in the chapter on pronouns under the heading “Demonstrative Pronouns and Adjectives.”

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ADVERBS Adverbs Derived from Adjectives In English, many adverbs are formed by adding -ly to an adjective: quiet, quietly; sure, surely. In Modern Greek, many adverbs are formed from adjectives ending in -υς- or -ος by the addition of -α to the stem. Such adverbs are identical with the neuter subjective/objective plural of the adjective from which they are formed:

Adjectives of other types form adverbs in -ως:

Some adjectives which form adverbs in -α form an additional adverb in -ως: ὡραî ος (beautiful) ὡραî αOR ὡραίως (beautifully) Occasionally the two different adverb formations will differ in meaning:

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ἀκριβό ς (precisely)

(expensive)

ἀκριβά

(expensively)

ἀκριβ ς

Two very important adverbs are formed from the neuter singular of the adjective: πολύ (much) and λίγο ([a] little). One should note that the adverbs formed from adjectives denoting nationality, besides having their usual uses, refer to language:

To say that you speak Greek, you would say Mιλ (OR Mιλάω) ἑλληνικά. Such adverbs can be used with the definite article τά to mean “English,” “the English language”: τά ἀγγλικά.

Comparison of Adverbs In general, adverbs form comparatives in the same way as the adjectives on which they are based:

The intensive form usually uses πολύ or παραπολύ (very much):

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It is also quite common to repeat the adverb to express intensity: βαριὰ βαριά (very heavily).

Other Adverbs There are many common adverbs in Modern Greek that are not derived from adjectives and that do not form comparatives or intensives. Some of the more important ones are listed below:

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Adverbs in Modern Greek usually follow the verb they modify: Bνρώνης πέθανα ἐδ στὴν `Eλλάδα. Byron died here in Greece. Mπορ νὰ πάω ἐκε μὲ τὰ πόδια; Can I go there by foot? Θὰ ἢθελα νὰ πάω τώρα. I’d like to go now. E ναι νωρίς. It is early. Ὁ ἀδελϕός μον κοιμ ται πάντοτε. My brother is always sleeping. A few adverbs, when used with a verb in the negative, have the following meanings:

Δὲν πάντρεψε ποτέ. He never married.

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Personal Pronouns Modern Greek personal pronouns, like nouns, have different forms according to their use and position in a sentence: Subject Pronouns

Note that the (ἐ) is optional on both of the second person pronoun subject forms. Nonsubject Pronouns In the objective and possessive cases, there are two sets of forms for each pronoun: a long, emphatic form and a shorter, nonemphatic form. In addition, there is a nonstressed short form of the possessive pronoun.

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Use of Personal Pronouns The second person singular (ἐ) σύ, ἐσένα, σο is normally only used with relatives, close friends or children. In most instances you should use (ἐ) σε ς, ἐσ ς, σ ς. (See the discussion of second person verb forms, p. 50.) Subject pronouns are not used in ordinary sentences since verb endings indicate the person of the subject, but they are used when some special emphasis or contrast is involved:

The long forms of the personal pronouns in the objective and possessive cases are used in the same circumstances as are the subject pronouns—that is, for emphasis or contrast:

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Ποιανο τὸ ἔδωσα; ἐσ ς! To whom did I give it? To you! Ἐσένα ἀγαπ . It is you I love. The objective-case long forms are always required after simple prepositions (see p. 46): σ’ ἐμάς (with us). The short forms are usually the objects of verbs, the objective-case pronoun serving as the direct object and the possessive-case pronoun as the indirect object. In most circumstances they precede the verb. When two pronouns occur together as the direct and indirect objects of a verb, the indirect object comes first:

There are two short forms for the third person plural feminine objective, τίς and τές. Tίς is used when the pronoun precedes the verb as an object; τές is used when it follows the verb, as with an imperative verb form (see p. 68): Tὶς βλέπει. He sees them. BUT Δές τες! Look at them!

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Possessive Pronouns The unstressed possessive case is used to express possession (my, his, your, etc.): Tὸ καπέλλο μου ε ναι μα ρο. My hat is black. This pronoun usually follows the noun it modifies. Note that in Modern Greek the definite article is normally used with the noun signifying the thing possessed. When that noun is preceded by an adjective, the possessive pronoun is placed between the adjective and the noun: τό μα ρο σου καπέλλο your black hat Emphatic possession is expressed with a phrase containing (ὁ) δικός, (ἡ) δική (OR δικιά), (τὸ) δικό, which agrees in case, gender and number with the noun to which it refers:

Relative Pronouns The most common relative pronoun in Modern Greek is the indeclinable πού, which may be translated in English as “who,” “whom,” “that” or “which.” Πού may serve by itself as the subject of a dependent clause (Sentence 1) or as the direct object (Sentence 2): 86

1. Tò παιδὶ ποὺ κολυμπάει ε ναι πολὺ δυνατό. The child who is swimming is very strong. 2. ‘H γυναίκα ποὺ ἄκουσα χτὲς ἔχει μιὰ ὡρα α

ωνή.

The woman whom I heard yesterday has a beautiful voice. When ποὺ is used as an indirect object or with a possessive meaning within the relative clause, it is reinforced by the short form of the appropriate possessive pronoun (το , τ ς or τούς), written without the accent when possessive: 3. Tὸ παιδì ποὺ το ἔδωσα τὸ μ λο ἔτρεξε στὴ μητέρα του. The child to whom I gave the apple ran to his mother. 4. ‘O ξένος ποὺ ξόδεψα τὰ λε τά του μίλησε στὸ διευθυντή. The stranger whose money I spent spoke to the manager. In Sentence 3 πού and το , the neuter singular possessive pronoun (agreeing with τò παιδί), form the indirect object of the clause. In Sentence 4 πού and του, the masculine possessive pronoun (agreeing with ὁ ξένος), function as a possessive relative pronoun (English “whose”). There is another relative pronoun ὁ ὁπο ος, ἡ ὁποία, τὸ ὁπο ο (ν) which is often used instead of πού. This relative is often used as the object of a preposition. It is fully declined for case, gender and number according to the following pattern:

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In gender and number it agrees with the word in the main clause for which it stands in the relative clause; its case is determined by its function in the relative clause: Tὸ παιδὶ τὸ ὁπο ο κολυμπάει . . . The child who is swimming . . . ‘H γυναίκα τὴν ὁποίαν ἄκουσα χθές . . . The woman whom I heard yesterday . . . Tὸ παιδὶ το ὁποίου ἔδωσα τὸ μ λο . . . The child to whom I gave the apple . . . ‘H γυναίκα γιὰ τὴν ὁποίαν ἀγόρασα τὸ μ λο . . . The woman for whom I bought the apple . . .

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Similar to the relative pronoun ὁ ὁπο ος (who) is the pronoun ὁ ὅποιος, ἡ ὅποια, τὸ ὅποιο (whoever, whichever). This pronoun does not refer back to another noun in the same sentence: ‘O ὅποιος κολυμηάει ε ναι εὐτυχὴς. Whoever is swimming is happy. It is declined like the adjective καλός, καλή, καλό (see p. 25). Modern Greek also has the indeclinable ὁ τι (whatever): Ἔχει ὁ τι ἔχω. He has whatever I have.

Demonstrative Pronouns and Adjectives In English, the words “this” and “that” may be either demonstrative adjectives or demonstrative pronouns. The Modern Greek demonstratives το ιος, αὐτός, ἐκε νος may likewise be used as either adjectives or pronouns. These three demonstratives indicate a different degree of distance from the speaker. Tο τος refers to something very near the speaker (English “this,” plural “these”) and ἐκε νος to something at a distance from the speaker (English “that,” plural “those”) while αὐτός covers the middle ground. Aὐτό ς may be translated as either “this” or “that” (the plural as “these” or “those”) depending on the context. Because it is the least specific of the Modern Greek demonstratives, αὐτός is also the most common and is used when there is no reason to delimit the distance between the speaker and the object referred to. 89

Demonstratives as Pronouns As pronouns, Modern Greek demonstratives το τος, αὐτóς and ἐκε νος follow the regular adjectival declension for καλός, καλή, καλό but they have a second, special declension for the possessive of all genders and both numbers, and in the masculine plural objective (as does the interrogative pronoun/ adjective ποιός, see p. 13):

Tο το ε ναι τό καπέλλο αὐτο (OR αὐτουνο ). This is the hat of that one (i.e. man). Δέστε τὶς δύο τράπεζες. Tούτη ε ναι μεγαλύτερη ἀπ’ αὐτή. Look at the two tables. This one is bigger than that one. Aὐτὸ ε ναι τὸ αὐτοκίνητο. This is the car. Demonstratives as Adjectives When they are used as adjectives, the three Modern Greek demonstratives follow καλός, καλή, καλό in declension. In

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use, the demonstrative adjectives το τος, ἐκε νος and αὐτός precede the definite article: ’Eκε υος ὁ κύριος προτιμε αὐτὸ τὸ κρασί. That gentleman prefers this wine. Σ’ αὐτὴ τὴ ζωὴ ὐπάρχουν πολλὲς λύπες. In this life there are many sorrows. Tο τες οἱ μπάλλες ε ναι γιὰ γκόλ ο. These balls are for golf.

Other Pronouns There are other important pronouns in Modern Greek, some of which are presented here. Some of them are declined like the adjective καλός, καλή, καλό (or like τίμιος), some like the indefinite article ἕνας, μία, ἕνα (a, one) and some are not declined at all. 1. Pronouns declined like καλός (or τίμιος):

2. Pronouns declined like ἕνας (a, one):

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(ὁ) καθένας (OR καθείς), (ἡ) καθεμιά (OR καθεμία), (τò) καθένα (everyone, everything) κανένας (OR κανείς), καμιά (OR καμίά), κανένα (anyone, anything; no one, nothing) Kανένας means “anyone” or “anything” in a sentence or question, but “no one” or “nothing” in a negative sentence or question with δὲν, μήν or ὄχι:

3. Pronouns that are not declined:

Tίποτε means “none” or “nothing” when it stands by itself or in a negative question or sentence with δέν or μήν, and it means “anything” in non-negative sentences and questions:

SPECIAL NOTES:

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The pronoun μερικοί only occurs with plural endings. Kαθένας and κανένας only occur with singular endings. Kαθένας may have an extra syllable in the feminine objective and the feminine possessive:

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PRONOUNS

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PREPOSITIONS Modern Greek prepositions can be characterized as simple or compound. All are followed by nouns generally in the objective case.

Simple Prepositions: The Basic Four Modern Greek has four basic prepositions: σέ, μέ, ἀπό and γιά. Each of these has a great variety of uses. Modern Greek σέ corresponds generally to English “to” or “at,” μέ to “by” or “with,” ἀπό to “of” or “from” and γιά to “for.” When σέ is followed by the definite article it is reduced to σ- and the two are written as one word. Directly before words beginning with vowels, the ε is dropped and the σ- is followed by an apostrophe. In a similar way ἀπό is normally reduced to ἀπ’ both before the definite article and words beginning with a vowel. Some examples: σέ: Δ σε λίγο ϕαῒ στò σκυλί. Give some food to the dog. Δουλεύω σ’ ἐργοστάσιο, ὁ ἀδελϕός μου ὅμως δουλεύει στò σπίτι. I work in a factory but my brother works at home. μέ:

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Ἔκοψε τò ψωμί μὲ τό μαχαίρι. He cut the bread with a knife. Θὰ ἔρχομαι μὲ τò τρα νο. I’ll be coming by train. ἀπό: E μαι ἀπ’ τὴ Nέα Ὑόρκη. I’m from New York. Ἡ πόλη καταστράϕηκε ἀπ’ τòν ἐχθρό. The city was destroyed by the enemy. γιά: M’ἒχετε γιὰ ἰδιοϕυΐα; Do you take me for a genius? Tὸ ἔκανα yιά τήν οἰκογένειa μου. I did it for my family. When the object of a simple preposition is a pronoun, the long form of the pronoun (e.g., ἐμένα, etc.) must be used: Tὸ ἔκανε yιὰ ἐμένα He did it for me.

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Other Simple Prepositions The other simple prepositions are more specific in meaning: ἀντί

instead of, against

κατά

according to

μετά

after

πρός

toward

ὡς πρός with respect to δίχως

without

χωρίς

without

Mετά τὸν πόλεμο ταξίδευα στὴν Ἑλλάδα. After the war I traveled in Greece. Aὐτòς ὁ νέος ἄντρας ε ναι χωρὶς ἐντροπή. That young man is without shame.

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Compound Prepositions Modern Greek compound prepositions are formed with an adverbial word plus one of the simple prepositions, usually σέ or ἀπό: μαζὶ μέ

(together) with

μέσ’ ἀπό

(out) from

μέσα σέ

inside

ἔξω ἀπό

outside

μπροστά ἀπό in front of πάνω ἀπό

on top of

πάνω σέ

on

γύρω ἀπό

around

κάτω ἀπό

under

κάτω σέ

down by, down to

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Ἡ θυρίδα ε ναι μέσα στὸ σταθμό. The ticket office is inside the station. Tὸ σκυλὶ ε ναι κάτω ἀπ’ τὴν τ ράπεζα. The dog is under the table. In most cases, if the object of the compound preposition is a personal pronoun, it may be either the long form (with the μέ, σέ or ἀπό) or the short form (without the μέ, σέ or ἀπό): Tὰ παιδιά μου θὰ π νε μαζὶ μ’ ἐμ ς. OR Tὰ παιδιά μου θὰ π νε μαζί μ ς. (My kids will be going with us.)

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The most common coordinating conjunction in Modern Greek is καί (and). Kαί may also be used to emphasize a particular word within a sentence, in which case it means “even,” “also”: Kαὶ ἐγώ καταλαβαίνω. Even I understand. Other coordinating conjunctions include:

The most common subordinating conjunction is νά (used with the subjunctive, see p. 65). It occurs in Modern Greek very often where English would have an infinitive: Θέλω νὰ πάω μέ τρα νο. I want to go by train.

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Tòν ἄκονα νὰ ἔϕυγε.

I heard him leave.

Other subordinating conjunctions include ὅταν, σάν (when); ἐν , καθώς (while); ὅσο (as long as); ἀϕο (after, since); μόλις (as soon as); πρίν (νά) (before); and γιατί (because). Examples: “Οταν θὰ ἔρθει, θá ϕύγω. When he comes, I will leave. Δὲ θὰ ἔρθω γιατὶ θὰ ε μαι στὴν Πάτρα. I won’t come because I’ll be in Patras.

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CONJUNCTIONS

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VERBS Comparison of English and Modern Greek Verbs To English speakers, the verbs of Modern Greek appear much more complicated than those of their own tongue. While English may make nearly as many verbal distinctions (of tense, voice, mood, person, etc.) as does Modern Greek, English usually creates complex verbal notions phrasally (e.g., “I have been seeing”), whereas Modern Greek generally expresses such notions by means of special endings added to the verb (e.g., ἀγαπιóμαστε, “we were being loved”). Since the subject pronoun is usually omitted in Modern Greek, use of the proper ending is not a grammatical nicety, but a necessity in order to be understood: ἀγαπ (I love); ἀγαπ με (we love). Also, while English and Modern Greek may make about the same number of verbal distinctions, they do not always make the same kinds of distinctions, so that often there is no simple, one-to-one correspondence between English and Modern Greek verbal forms.

The Second Person in Modern Greek The second person singular is used in Modern Greek only with members of the family or close friends. In more formal situations, the second person plural is used even when addressing one person. All the second person forms are labeled in this chapter “familiar singular” (FAM. SING.) or “plural, formal singular” (PL., FORM. SING.) to show that one form is used to address one person in a familiar situation but

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the other may be used to address more than one person in a familiar or formal situation or one person formally.

The Verb Stems A major characteristic of the Modern Greek verbal system is that it is based on two stems: the present stem and the aorist stem. The present stem (that part of the present tense verb that comes before the endings) is used to produce the present, the imperfect, the conditional, the indefinite future, the present subjunctive and the present imperative. To obtain the present tense stem, drop the -ω (or -αω) of the first person singular active: the stem of πιάνω (I catch) is πιαν-; ἀγαπάω (or ἀγαπ ) (I love) has the stem ἀγαπ - and the stem of ἀδικ (I do wrong to) is ἀδικ-. The other essential stem form, the aorist (active), can be derived regularly from the present stem for most verbs by the addition of -σ- (see p. 55). From this stem is formed the aorist past, the definite future, the aorist subjunctive and the aorist imperative. A third stem, the aorist passive, is based on the aorist (active) stem and is characterized by -θ- or -τ- instead of -σ-. See the sections on “Aorist Passive” (p. 60) and “Principal Parts of Some Irregular Modern Greek Verbs” (p. 73).

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The Two Conjugations All verbs in Modern Greek (with the exception of a few irregular verbs) belong to one or the other of two conjugations. Once you know the conjugation to which a verb belongs, its particular endings are more or less predictable. The conjugation of a Modern Greek verb is determined by the place of the stress in the first person singular of the present active: the first conjugation includes verbs like πιάνω (I catch) where the stress is not on the ending (-ω), while the second conjugation contains those verbs like ἀγαπάω (or ἀγαπ ) (I love) and ἀδικ (I do wrong to) where the stress is on the ending. * The second conjugation is divided into two subclasses in the present active depending on whether the third person singular ends in -άει (which also appears as - ) or in -ε . All regular verbs belonging to a particular conjugation are conjugated like the model verb of that conjugation. Our model verbs are: πιάνω I catch

First Conjugation

ἀγαπάω I love

Second Conjugation (Subclass A)

ἀδικ

I do wrong to Second Conjugation (Subclass B)

The Present Tense English has three different ways of expressing an activity taking place in the present. We can say “I catch,” “I am catching” or “I do catch.” These three forms correspond to 107

slight differences in meaning. Modern Greek, on the other hand, includes all three varieties of meaning in its present tense: FIRST CONJUGATION

SECOND CONJUGATION (SUBCLASS A)

Some common verbs which belong to Subclass A are ρωτάω/ρωτ (I ask), διψ , (I am thirsty), μιλ (I speak, talk), πειν (I am hungry), κολυμπ (I swim), πουλ (I sell). SECOND CONJUGATION (SUBCLASS B)

Some common verbs which belong to Subclass B are ἐννο (I mean, understand), ε χαριστ (I thank), καλ (I call, invite), μπορ (I can, am able), ϕωτογραϕ (I photograph). 108

Modern Greek is not rigidly standardized and there are places, particularly in the second conjugation, where there is more than one ending in common use to express a particular person or number. The one given first in the paradigms is probably the most popular one in spoken Modern Greek and is the one you should probably memorize and use yourself. The alternate endings, given in parentheses, will appear often, however, in written Modern Greek (and often enough in spoken Modern Greek) so that you must learn to recognize them when you see or hear them, even if you do not use them yourself. The Present Tense of Some Commonly Used Irregular Verbs There are a few frequently used verbs that are not conjugated like the model verbs. The irregularity consists of the deletion of the vowel part of some of the personal endings. As a model we may use ἀkoύω (I hear):

The present tense of καίω (I burn), κλαίω (I weep), ϕταίω (I am to blame) and πάω (I go) is conjugated like ἀκούω. Certain similar verbs whose stems end in -γ- may lose that final -γ- and are then conjugated like ἀκούω. This group includes λέ (γ)ω (I say), τρώ(γ)ω (I eat) and ϕυλά(γ)ω (I guard). If they do not lose the final -γ- they are conjugated regularly, like πιάνω (see p. 52):

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The Imperfect Past There is more than one kind of past tense in Modern Greek. The imperfect is used to tell what “was happening” or “used to happen” in the past; that is, it represents an ongoing or habitual activity in the past. The first conjugation imperfect is normally marked by a special prefix, ἐ- (called “the augment”), which appears on verbs that begin with a consonant. This augment bears the stress if the augment is the third syllable from the end; however, the augment is generally dropped if the verb form without the augment is three or more syllables long. In the first conjugation the endings are added directly to the present tense stem, while in the second conjugation another element, -ουσ-, which is always stressed, comes between the stem and the endings. Since the augment is always unstressed in second conjugation verbs, it is rarely seen in the second conjugation. The imperfect of the first conjugation πιάνω is ἔπιανα (I caught, was catching, used to catch) and is given here: FIRST CONJUGATION

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One should note that in the imperfect of the first conjugation the stress always falls on the third syllable from the end. The imperfect of the second conjugation may be illustrated by ἀγαπο σα (I loved, was loving, used to love): SECOND CONJUGATION

In many, though not all, second conjugation verbs we may find alternative imperfects with -αγ- rather than -oυσ-, e.g., ἀγάπαγα (I loved, was loving, used to love), ἀγάπαγες (you loved), etc. Stress in such forms always falls on the third syllable from the end of the word, just as it does in the imperfect of the first conjugation. NOTE:

The augment of some verbs in the imperfect shows η or ει instead of ε:

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“Tο Be” and “Tο Have” For convenience, we present here the conjugations of the extremely common Modern Greek verbs ε μαι (I am) and ἔχω (I have) in their present and imperfect forms. TO BE PRESENT

IMPERFECT

TO HAVE PRESENT

IMPERFECT

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The Aorist Past Unlike the imperfect, which indicates some sort of ongoing or repeated action in the past, the aorist normally refers to a single action in the past or to an action that has been completed. (The contrast in verb forms between duration, or ongoing activity, and a single or completed action is known in grammatical terminology as “aspect.” Aspect will be seen to affect more parts of verbs than merely the past tenses.) The usual English equivalent of the Modern Greek aorist past would be the simple past, so that the aorist ἔπιασα equals “I caught.” Also, Modern Greek often uses the aorist past in cases where a past action impinges in some way on the present, that is to say, where English would use “I have caught.” The aorist past is characterized by the same augment (which again usually disappears in forms of more than three syllables) and personal endings as the imperfect. It is usually distinguished from the imperfect by the presence of -σbetween the verb stem and the personal endings. Most first conjugation verbs add -σ- directly to the stem, often causing alterations to it, whereas in the second conjugation, -σ- is preceded by a vowel, usually -η- but occasionally either -α- or -ε-.

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FIRST CONJUGATION AORIST PAST

For a model of the first conjugation let us take πιάνω (I catch):

Final stem consonants undergo changes when -σ- is added; these are summarized in the following rules. 1. Verbs with present stems ending in -τ-, -θ-, or -ν- (as πιάνω, above) and most of those with stems ending in -ζ-, lose this consonant before the -σ- in the aorist stem: θέτω (I put), aorist; ἔθεσα; έλπίζω (I hope), aorist ἔλπισα. 2. But there are a few common verbs whose stem ends in -ζthat show -ξ- in the aorist rather than the expected -σ-: ἀλλάζω (I change), aorist ἂλλαξα; παίζω (I play), aorist ἔπαιξα. 3. Verbs whose present stem ends in -π-, -πτ-, -β-, -ϕ-, -ϕτ-, -εν- or -αν- combine the stem with the -σ- to form -ψ- in the aorist stem: λείπω (I am absent), aorist ἔλειψα; τρέπω (I turn), aorist ἔτρεψα; παύω (I stop), aorist ἔπαψα. Instead of -αψ - and -εψ- in the aorist of first conjugation verbs ending in -αυ- and -ευ-, it is fairly common to find -αυσand -ευσ- instead: παύω (I stop) but either ἔπαψα or ἔπαυσα.

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4. Verbs whose present stem ends in -κ-,-γ-, -γγ-, -χ- or -χνcombine the stem with the -σ- to form -ξ- in the aorist stem: θίγω (I touch), aorist ἔθιξα; ϕέγγω (I light), aorist ἔϕεξα; προσέχω (I notice), aorist πρόσεξα. 5. Verbs whose present tense stems end in -σσ- or -ττ- end in -ξ- in the aorist stem: έξελίσσω (I develop), aorist έξέλιξα; ϕρίττω (I shudder), aorist ἔϕριξα. Some first conjugation verbs, however, form their aorist past without -σ-, adding only the appropriate personal endings: κάνω (I do, make), aorist ἔκανα; οἰκτίρω (I pity), aorist οἵκτιρa; πρέπει (it is necessary), aorist ἔπρεπε. SECOND CONJUGATION AORIST PAST

Second conjugation verbs usually have -σ- in the aorist preceded by -η-, but we also find -α- and -ε-: áγαπ (I love), aorist ἀγάπησα; γελ (I laugh, cheat), aorist γέλασα; μπορ (I can), aorist μπόρεσα. Sometimes we find -ξ- instead οf -σ-: τραβ (I pull), aorist τράβηξα; βαστ (I carry), aorist βάστηξα; πηδ (I jump), aorist πήδηξα. NOTE:

The augment of some verbs in the aorist shows η or ει instead of ε:

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A number of verbs with irregular aorists, such as the last ones just given, will be found in the section “Principal Parts of Some Irregular Modern Greek Verbs” (p. 73).

Aorist and Imperfect Pasts Contrasted We have already said a few words about the aspectual connotations of the aorist and the imperfect past. The distinction between them is important in all the tenses, voices and moods of the Modern Greek verbal system. Those verbal forms, such as the imperfect, that are based on the present stem imply that the action they describe either endures through time or is repeated. Verbal forms based on the aorist stem, by contrast, describe actions that are perceived as unitary and discrete, with emphasis on the completion or result of the action rather than on the process. The difference between the imperfect and aorist past tenses is perhaps best exemplified in sentences where the imperfect form describes an action that serves as a background for another event; the imperfect connotes ongoing activity during which another action may occur, an action that is viewed as a completed whole (described by the aorist). Ἐν

τραγονδο σε, ὁ ἄντραζ βγ κε.

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While she was singing (IMPERF.), the man went out (AOR.). The following sentences illustrate that the same action may be described by either aorist or imperfect verb forms, depending on perspective: Tὸ λεωϕορε ο πάντα ἔϕευγε σ᾿ τὶζ ἑπτὰ τὸ βράδυ ἀπ᾿ τὴν Ἀθήνα. The bus always left Athens at seven P.M. (IMPERF.). Tὸ λεωϕορε ο χτέζ ἔϕυγε σ᾿ τίζ ἑπτὰ τὸ βράδυ ἀπ᾿ τὴν Ἀθήνα. The bus left Athens yesterday at seven P.M. (AOR.). Ὃταν τὸ λεωϕορε ο χτὲζ ἔϕευγε σ᾿ τὶζ ἑπτά, ἔνα καλάθι ἀγγούρια ἔπεσε ἀπ᾿ τὴν όροϕή. While the bus was leaving (IMPERF.) yesterday at seven, a basket of cucumbers fell (AOR.) from the roof. The first sentence about the bus illustrates the use of the imperfect for describing habitual, repeated action, while the second sentence has the aorist describing a discrete, one-time occurrence. In the third sentence the same single event (the departure of the bus) serves as the temporally extended background (described by the imperfect) for another action (the falling of the basket), which is here viewed as a single, discrete event (described by the aorist). Though the distinctions between forms based on the present tense stem and those based on the aorist stem are sometimes subtle (and sometimes a matter of idiomatic usage that is not

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strictly logical), careful attention to the guidelines sketched out here should enable the beginner in Modern Greek to choose the right form most of the time. Generally speaking, the aorist-based form is used unless there is some particular reason to emphasize the repetition, duration or background nature of an event.

The Passive Voice Transitive verbs in Modern Greek may be either active (as in the paradigms given so far) or passive. That is to say, we may relate a given event by saying, “He is catching it” (Tὸ πιάνει) (active) or “It is being caught [by him]” (Πιάνεται) (passive). One should note that Modern Greek rarely expresses the equivalent of the English “by him” in a passive sentence. The passive voice in Modern Greek is often used to express a reflexive meaning. In English we often omit the reflexive pronoun in what is logically a reflexive sentence. For example, we say “I shave” meaning “I shave myself.” The active form of “I shave” in Modern Greek is ξυρίζω, but in this form the verb demands a direct object, as in Ξυρίζω τὸ σκυλί (I shave the dog). To express the meaning “I shave myself,” the passive form is used: Ξνρίζομαι. Nτύνω τὴν κούκλα. I dress the doll. Nτύνομαι.

I dress (myself).

The passive voice may also have an implication of reciprocal action (usually expressed in English by “each other”). One of 118

the more common examples of this usage is the verb παντρεύω (I marry). Παντρενόμαστε, the passive first person plural form of the verb, has the meaning “We get married” or “We marry each other.” The Present Passive FIRST CONJUGATION

SECOND CONJUGATION

Deponent Verbs A sizable number of verbs, including some very common ones, are inflected like passive verbs but are active in meaning. These verbs are called “deponent.” They may be either of the first conjugation, such as ἔρχομαι (I come), conjugated like πιάνομαι (I am caught), or of the second, such as ἀρνιέμαι (I refuse, deny), conjugated like ἀγαπιέμαι (I am loved). There are two further subgroups of the second conjugation that apply only to deponents. Though small, Subclass C 119

includes some extremely common verbs. The number of verbs in Subclass D is considerably greater but, by and large, the frequency of their occurrence is fairly low. Subclass C is illustrated by κοιμο μαι (I sleep) and Subclass D is illustrated by μιμο μαι (I copy): SECOND CONJUGATION DEPONENT (SUBCLASS C)

Also in this group are: θυμο μαι (I remember), λοπο μαι (I am sorry [for]), and ϕοβο μαι (I am afraid). SECOND CONJUGATION DEPONENT (SUBCLASS D)

Also in this subclass are such verbs as συνεννοο μαι (I reach an understanding), στερο μαι (I lack), εἰσηγο μαι (I propose, report on) and τροηγο μαι (I precede, come first). The Imperfect Passive and Deponent FIRST CONJUGATION

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The passive Imperfect may show the augment, e.g. ἐπιανόμουνα, but such forms are not common except in very formal written Modern Greek. SECOND CONJUGATION

Deponent verbs like κοιμο μαι (I sleep) (Subclass C) are conjugated in the deponent imperfect like verbs of the first conjugation passive imperfect, such as πιανόμουνα (I was caught): κοιμόμουνα (I was sleeping). Deponent verbs like μιμο μαι (I copy) (Subclass D) replace the -ιο- found in the other conjugation verbs like ἀγαπιόμουνα (I was loved) with -ου-, e.g., μιμούμουνα (I was copying). The Aorist Passive Unlike the present and imperfect, where the passive is distinguished

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from the active by a separate set of personal endings, the aorist passive is formed by the addition of -θηκ- or -τηκ- to the aorist active stem (with certain modifications), plus the regular active endings common to the imperfect and aorist; there is no augment. FIRST CONJUGATION

SECOND CONJUGATION

The most basic shape of the special aorist passive ending is -θηκ-; this is how it usually appears in verbs of the second conjugation, where it normally attaches to a preceding vowel. In the first conjugation aorist passive the distinctive element is usually -τηκ-, which often alters the preceding consonant. Rules for the formation of passive aorists are: FIRST CONJUGATION

1. Verbs with present stems ending in -π-, -πτ-, -β-, -ϕ- and -ϕτ-, and with the active aorist stem ending in -ψ-, have a passive aorist in -ϕτηκ-: κρύβω (I hide), ἔκρυψα (I hid), κρύϕτηκα (I was hidden). Likewise with the aorist passives of

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verbs whose present stem ends in -αυ- or -εv-: παύε (I stop), παύτηκα (I was stopped). 2. Verbs with present stems ending in -κ-, -γ-, -γγ-, -χ-, -ζ- and -χν-, and with the active stem ending in -ξ-, have a passive aorist in -χτηκ-: προσέχω (I notice), πρόσεξα (I noticed), προσέχτηκα (I was noticed). 3. Also ending in -χτηκ- in the aorist passive stem are verbs whose present stem ends in -σσ- or -ττ-, with an active aorist in -ξ-: πράττω (I do, make), ἔπραξα (I did, made), πράχτηκα (I was made). 4. Verbs with present tense stems ending in -τ-, -θ- or -ζ-, with an active aorist stem ending in -σ-, have a passive aorist in -στηκ-: λούζω (I wash), ἔλουσα (I washed), λούστηκα (I was washed). 5. Present stems ending in -v- that end in -σ- in the active aorist stem normally have only -θηκ- in the passive aorist, e.g. σκοτώνω (I kill), σκότωσα (I killed), σκοτώθηκα (I was killed). But some such verbs have -στηκ-, e.g. πιάvω (I catch), ἔπιασα (I caught), πιάστηκα (I was caught) . 6. First conjugation verbs which do not end in -σ- in the active aorist stem normally have -θηκ- in the passive aorist, e.g. ξέρω (I know), ἤξερα (I knew), ξέρθηκα (I was known). Monosyllabic verb stems ending in -v- lose that -v- in the aorist passive (as do polysyllabic verbs ending in -v- when an -α- precedes), e.g. the monosyllabic stem of κρίνω (I judge), ἔκρινα (I judged), κρίθηκα (I was judged); polysyllabic γλυκαίνω (I sweeten), γλύκανα (I sweetened), γλυκάθηκα (I 123

was sweetened), but μολύνω (I infect), μόλυνα (I infected), μολύνθηκα (I was infected). SECOND CONJUGATION

Verbs whose active aorist stems end in -ησ-, -εσ-, -ασ-, -ηξand -αξ-have -ηθηκ-, -εθηκ-, -αστηκ-, -ηχτηκ- and -αχτηκ-, respectively, for the second conjugation aorist passive stem, e.g. ἀγαπ (I love), ἀγάπησα (I loved), ἀγαπή θηκα (I was loved). The Aorist Deponent There is, of course, no active verb stem or active aorist form for deponents (a handful of exceptions take an active form in the aorist). The removal of the present tense deponent endings (-ομαι, -ο μαι, -ιέμαι) does give a present tense stem for these verbs, which will usually enable you to predict the form of the aorist by following the same rules given above for the conjugation of aorist passive verbs. For the first conjugation, we give examples with present stems ending in -ζ- and -ευ-: ἐργάζομαι (I work), ἐργάστηκα (I worked); ὀνειρεύομαι (I dream), ὀνειρεύτηκα (I dream). Most second conjugation deponent aorists take the stem -ηθηκ-: ἀρvιέμαι (I deny), ἀρνήθηκα (I denied).

The Future Tenses Modern Greek has two future tenses corresponding to the differences in aspect between the imperfect and the aorist in the past. They are the indefinite future (corresponding to the

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imperfect past) and the definite future (corresponding to the aorist past). The indefinite future connotes the repetition or duration of a future event or condition: Θὰτὴ βλέπω κάθε μέρα. (I will be seeing her every day.) The definite future is used to refer to a single specific event, or to something perceived as a whole: Θὰ τὴ δ

αὒριο. (I will see her tomorrow.)

Both types of future are marked by the presence of the particle θά, which signals the future tense. The Indefinite Future The indefinite future is formed with the particle θά and the present tense. These forms end in -ω, -ειζ, -ει, -ουμε (or -ομε), -ετε, -ουν(ε) in the active (see “The Present Tense,” p. 52, for all the various forms) and -ομαι, -εσαι, -εται, -ομαστε, -εστε, -ονται in the passive (see “The Present Passive,” p. 59, for the various passive forms). The indefinite future may also be formed from θά and the present subjunctive (to be discussed later, p. 65):

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These present subjunctive forms are identical to the present tense in pronunciation. The Definite Future The definite future (both active and passive) is formed with θά and a verb form based on the aorist stem (without the augment). To derive an active definite future the active present or, more commonly, subjunctive endings (the subjunctive will be discussed later) are added to the active aorist stem: θά πιάσω (I will catch) [cf. ἔπιασα (I caught)]; θὰ ἀγαπήσω (I will love) [cf. ἀγάπησα (I have loved)].

The passive definite future has a set of active endings, present or, more commonly, subjunctive, added to the stem of the 126

passive aorist minus the -ηκ-: θὰ. πιαστ (I will be caught) [cf. πιάστηκα (I was caught)]; θὰ ἀγαπηθ ) (I will be loved) [cf. ἀγαπήθηκα (I was loved)].

These endings do not correspond exactly to the active definite futures given above but to the set of endings used for active definite futures of irregular aorist stems (as listed in the next section). Note that the personal endings are accented in the passive definite future as they are in the irregular active definite futures. The endings are likewise accented in the present forms of the passive definite future: θά πιαστιίζ (you [FAM. SING.] will be caught). Irregular Definite Futures The stem of some definite futures is not formed regularly:

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The active endings for all these definite futures are: - , - ζ, , -ο με, - τε, - o (ε) (more rarely - , -ε ζ, -ε , -ο με,-ε τε, - ouv [ε]): θά δώ (I will see), θὰ δ (he, she, it will see), etc. The definite futures of βγαίνω, βρίσκω, ἔρχομ a ι, κατεβαίνω and μπαίνω may also have the stem shapes ἔβγ-, ἔβρ-, ἔρθ-, κατέβ-, and ἔμπ- with the regular, unstressed personal endings: either μπ or ἔμπω (I will enter), etc. The definite future stem of τρώ(γ)ω (I eat) is ϕα- while the definite future stem of πηγαίνω or πάω (I go) is πα-. The definite future conjugation of these two verbs is similar:

The Subjunctive There are two kinds ofsubjunctives in Modern Greek, both of which usually occur with the particle νά. To give them their traditional names, they are the “present subjunctive” and the “aorist subjunctive.” Despite these labels there is no difference in tense between the two. Rather, they have the same aspectual relationship to one another as the imperfect past has to the aorist past, or the indefinite future has to the definite future: ongoing as opposed to momentary action.

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Verbs in the subjunctive may refer to past, present or future time. The present subjunctive is based on the present stem and may have the regular present tense endings or special subjunctive endings as given below (also used in the indefinite future discussed above, p. 63):

The aorist subjunctive is based on the aorist stem (without the augment) and may have the present active endings or the special subjunctive endings:

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Note that the passive aorist subjunctive is based on the passive aorist stem but has active endings which bear the accent and correspond to the passive definite future. The passive aorist subjunctive may also have regular active endings, and like the special endings above, they too bear the accent. The set of aorist subjunctives with irregular stems corresponds to the set of irregular definite futures listed on p. 64 (simply substitute νά for θ (ά): νὰ δ (in order for me to see), νὰ ἐρθ τε (in order for you to come), νὰ πιο με (in order for us to drink). The third person forms of these irregular subjunctives are also listed in “Principal Parts of Some Irregular Modern Greek Verbs.”

The Use of the Subjunctive The Modern Greek subjunctive most often occurs in subordinate clauses, as does the present subjunctive in

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English, e.g. I demand that she be here by noon. The subjunctive in Modern Greek is far more common than its counterpart is in English. Its frequency arises from the fact that Modern Greek has no infinitive form of the verb, so that Modern Greek uses subordinate clauses with the subjunctive where English has infinitive phrases. Most of these clauses in Modern Greek are introduced with the conjunction νά, which may be translated into English as “to,” “in order to,” “so that”: I want to go. Θέλω νά πάω. I want to see him tomorrow. Θέλω νὰ τὸν δ

αὒριο (with aorist since the time is definite).

I want to see him (sometime). Θέλω νά τόν βλέπω (present since the time is indefinite). I want him to see me. Θέλω νὰ μὲ βλέπη (OR βλέπει) With verbs of saying, the subordinating conjunction is πώζ rather than νὰ: I told him to come tomorrow E πα πὼζ ἒρθη αὒριο.

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I told him to come (sometime). E πα πὼζ ἒρχεται. In these subordinate clauses, the aorist subjunctive is more than twice as frequent as the present subjunctive. As a rule of thumb, then, you should probably use the aorist subjunctive in such clauses unless there is a particular reason (e.g. a desire to emphasize the indefiniteness of time or the duration or repetition of the action described) to pick the present subjunctive.

Commands Like the past, future and subjunctive, in Modern Greek commands (or imperatives) are either “present” or “aorist,” which is to say indefinite or definite with regard to time. The distinction with regard to definiteness or indefiniteness is, however, not so thoroughgoing in command forms as it is elsewhere. There are, for instance, no separate present commands in the passive, where the aorist does double duty for both. The forms of the first and second conjugation commands are illustrated below:

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A number of common verbs with irregular commands will be found in the section “Principal Parts of Some Irregular Modern Greek Verbs” (p. 73). First Person Plural and Third Person Commands The first person plural and third person commands “Let’s go!,” “Let him (them) stay!”–are expressed in Modern Greek by the subjunctive (either “present” or “aorist” as the situation demands) preceded by either ἂζ or νά, e.g.: Ἄζ γράΨωμε ἒνα γράμμα! (Let’s write a letter!) Nὰ στέκεται!

(Let him stand up!)

In fact, a command can be made for any person and number in this way.

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Polite Commands Polite commands or requests are rendered in Modern Greek with the second person of the regular present tense and the word “please,” παρακαλ : Ὰνοίγετε τὸ παράθυρο, παθακαλ . Open the window, please!

Negative Commands Negative commands in Modern Greek are formed with the particle μή(ν) and the subjunctive: Mὴ μπέτε!

Don’t enter!

Mὴ μο πιάνετε! Don’t catch me!

Word Order After Imperatives When pronouns are used for direct and / or indirect objects, these pronouns follow the imperative: Πιάστε το! Catch it! Πέζ του το! Tell it to him!

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However, with negative imperatives using a subjunctive, pronouns precede the verb: Mὴ τὸ πίάσετε! Don’t catch it! Mὴ το τὸ π τε! Don’t tell it to him! Likewise, pronouns commands: Nὰ τὸ πιάση!

precede

non-negative

subjunctive

Let him catch it!

Nὰ το τὸ π τε! You tell it to him!

Participles Modern Greek has two kinds of participles, one variety derived from the present stem (present participle, corresponding in meaning to the English participle in “-ing”), the other from the aorist stem (aorist participle, corresponding to the English participle in “-ed” or “-en”). Present Participles The first variety, or present participle, is formed by adding -ονταζ to the present active stem of first conjugation verbs or - νταζ to second conjugation verbs:

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These participles are never inflected (i.e., the -ονταζ remains constant) and are used to complement, illustrate or explain some verbal action: Bλέπονταζ, δὲ βλέπει.

Seeing, he does not see.

Aὐτòέικούονταζ, βγ κα. Hearing this, I left.

Aorist Participles Aorist participles end in –μένοζ, -μένη, -μένο, can be used as adjectives and are inflected like regular adjectives. The stress always falls on the first syllable of the ending. When –μένοζ is added to the aorist stem, certain changes may appear in the preceding consonant, as outlined in the following summary. FIRST CONJUGATION

1. Verbs whose present stem ends in -π-, -πτ-, -β-, -ϕ-, -ϕτ-, -ευ- or -αν-, whose active aorist stem ends in -ψ- and whose passive aorist stem ends in -ϕτηκ- have an aorist participle ending in -μμένοζ: τρέπω (I turn), ἒτρεψα (I turned), τρέϕτηκα (I was turned), τρεμμένοζ (turned). 2. Verbs whose present stem ends in -κ-,-γ-, -γγ-, -χ-, -χν- or -ζ-, whose active aorist stem ends in -χ- and whose passive

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aorist stem ends in -χτηκ- have an aorist participle ending in γμένοζ: ἀνοίγω (I open), ἂνοιχα (I opened), ἀνοίχτηκα (I was opened), ἀνοιγμένοζ (opened). 3. Verbs whose present stems end in -τ-, -θ-, -ν- or -ζ-, whose active aorist stem ends in -σ- and whose passive aorist stem ends in –στηκ-have an aorist participle in -σμένοζ: πιάνω (I catch), ἒπιασα (I caught), πιάστηκα (I was caught), πιασμένοζ (caught). 4. Verbs whose present stems end in -ν-, which show a -σ- in the active aorist but - θηκ- in the passive aorist have -μένοζ (with no preceding consonant) in the aorist participle: σκοτώνω (I kill), σκότωσα (I killed), σκοτώθηκα (I was killed), σκοτωμένζ (killed). 5. Neither is there a -σ- in the aorist participle of those verbs whose present and active aorist stems ends in -ν- but whose passive aorist stem ends in -θηκ-: γλυκαίνω (I sweeten), γλύκανα (I sweetened), γλυκάθηκα (I was sweetened), γλυκαμένοζ (sweetened). 6. However, those passive aorists that retain the -υ- (i.e., have -νθηκ-) in the passive aorist have a corresponding participle in -σμένοζ: μολύνω (I infect), μόλυνα (I infected), μολύνθηκα (I was infected), μολυσμένοζ (infected). SECOND CONJUGATION

1. Second conjugation aorist participles normally add - μένοζ to the aorist stem (minus the -σ- of the active or the -θηκ- of the passive): ἀγαπ (I love), ἀγάπησα (I loved), ἀγαπήθηκα (I was loved), ἀγαπημένοζ (loved). 137

2. However, those second conjugation verbs which have a passive aorist in -στηκ- show -σμένοζ in the aorist participle: γελ (I laugh, deceive), γέλασα (I laughed, deceived), γελάστηκα (I was deceived), γελασμένοζ (deceived).

Compound Tenses Corresponding to the English perfect tense (“I have gone”), pluperfect tense (“I had gone”) and future perfect tense (“I will have gone”) are the Modern Greek compound (or perfect) tenses. These tenses may be used in Modern Greek when there is some ongoing relevance resulting from some previous action, much as in English: I went to Athens in 1965 (a simple statement of past activity). Π γα (AORIST) στὴνα Ἀθήνα στὰ 1965. BUT:

I have gone to Athens three times (and therefore know something about it). Ἒχω πάει (PRESENT PERFECT) στὴν Ἀθήνα τρε ζ ϕορέζ. Modern Greek does not often make the distinction between simple past action and past action with continuing relevance, preferring to use the aorist in both cases. The compound tenses in Modern Greek are, therefore, much rarer than the perfect tenses in English, and an ability to recognize them will be sufficient for the beginner.

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Active Compound Tenses The active perfect (or present perfect) in Modern Greek is formed by combining the present tense of ἒχω (“have”; see p. 55 for its conjugation) with either an invariant aorist (identical with the third person singular aorist subjunctive but wth the ending spelled -ει) or the aorist participle that ends in -μένοζ: ἒχω πιάσει (I have caught), ἒχει πιάσει (he has caught); ἒχω πιασμένοζ (I have caught), ἒχει πιάσμένοζ (he has caught), etc. The aorist participle in -μένοζ always agrees in gender and number with the direct object: Ἒχω γραμμένοτὸ γράμμα (I have written the letter) BUT:

Ἒχω ἰδωμένητήν Ἀθήνα (I have seen Athens) BUT:

Ἒχω γράψει τὸ γράμμα (invariant) Ἒχω δε τὴν Ἀθήνα

(invariant)

The active pluperfect (or past perfect) is formed by combining the imperfect of ἒχω with either the invariant aorist (third person singular subjunctive) or with the aorist 139

participle: ε χα πιάσει (I had caught), ε χε πιάσει (he had caught): ε χε πιασμένοζ (I had caught), ε χε πιασμένοζ (he had caught), etc. The active future perfect is formed with θά plus the present perfect: θά ἒχω πιάσει or θά ἒχω πιασμένοζ (I will have caught). Passive Compound Tenses The passive perfect in Modern Greek is formed either by combining ἒχω with an uninflected form of the aorist passive (identical with the third person singular of the passive definite future or passive aorist subjunctive) or by combining ἒ μαι with the aorist participle: ἒχω πιαστ (I have been caught), ἒχει πιαστ (he has been caught); ε μαι πιασμένοζ (I have been caught), ε ναι πιασμένοζ (he has been caught), etc. When combined with ε μαι the aorist participle agrees in number and gender with the subject (and not with the direct object as is the case when the active compounds are formed with ἒχω): Tὸ γράμμα ε ναι γραμμένοστὴν ἀδελϕή μου. The letter has been written to my sister. Tὰ γράμματα ε ναι γραμμένα στὴν ἀδελϕή μου. The letters have been written to my sister. BUT:

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Tὸ γράμμα έχἒι γραϕτ στὴν ἀδελϕ μου. (invariant) Tὰ γράμματα ἒχονυ (ε)γραϕτ στὴν ἀδελϕή μου. (invariant) The passive pluperfect is formed either by combining the imperfect of ἒχω with the invariant passive aorist form or by combining the imperfect of εέμαι with the aorist participle: ε χε πιαστ (I had been caught), ε χε πιαστ (he had been caught); ἤμονυα πιασμένοζ (I had been caught), ταν/ἢτανε πιασμένοζ (he had been caught), etc. The passive future perfect is formed by placing θά before the present passive perfect: θὰ ἒχω πιαστ or θὰ ε μαι πιασμένοζ (I will have been caught).

The Conditional The participle θά combines with the imperfect past to form the equivalent of the English conditional: θὰ ἒγραϕα

I would write

θὰ ἀγαπο σα I would love A second type of conditional is formed with θά plus a perfect tense (see “Compound Tenses,” p. 70): θὰ ἒχω γραμμένοζ I would write

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θὰ ε χα γραμμένοζ I would have written This form of the conditional is required in sentences including the word for “already,” πιά or κιόλα(ζ): I would have written already In conditional sentences with ἂν (if), the imperfect (used in both parts of the sentence) expresses both present and past unreal conditions (what “might happen” or “might have happened”): (IMPERF.), δὲ(ν) θὰ πηγαίνα (IMPERF.). If she came (OR had come) I wouldn’t go (OR have gone). To express real conditions (what definitely “is happening” or “will happen”), Modern Greek may use a present and a future: Ἄν θέλειζ (PRES.) θὰ πάω (FUT.). If you want, I will go. Ἄν δὲν ἔρθει (PRES.) θὰ πάω (FUT.). If he doesn’t come, I will go.

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The active conditional perfect is either

or

(I would have caught) that is, θά with the pluperfect (see “Compound Tenses”). The passive conditional perfect is either πιασμένοζ (I would have been caught).

or θὰ ἢμοννα

Principal Parts of Some Irregular Modern Greek Verbs You can produce any form of a Modern Greek verb if you know its principal parts. The imperfect past, present subjunctive and indefinite future are all derived from the present tense. The active aorist subjunctive and active definite future are derived from the (active) aorist (past), while the passive aorist subjunctive and passive definite future are derived from the passive aorist (past). Therefore, if you know the present active, the active aorist (past) and passive aorist of an irregular verb, you should be able to conjugate it completely. The following table provides such forms for the most common irregular verbs, as well as the aorist participle, which is not always predictable from the shape of the aorist itself. Also included are irregular imperatives and subjunctives (abbreviated as “subj.”). Parts not given here are regular.

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* Though a depond verb, (becomes) has an active aorist as well as the expected passive aorist. There is no difference in meaning.

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Defective and Impersonal Verbs Some Modern Greek verbs do not have the full array of forms that we expect. Those verbs which are conjugated only on the basis of the present stem or the aorist stem are called defective verbs, while those that occur only in the third person singular are impersonal verbs. The missing tenses of the defective verbs are supplied through the use of synonyms or paraphrase. Defective Verbs Some common verbs with only present stem forms are: (I’m on the way to) (I am) (I have) (I know) (I owe/ought to) (it is necessary) [this verb is also impe:

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(I’m in debt, owe, must) Considerably

fewer verbs have only (I was stuffed, satiated), served [as mayor, etcj).

aorist

forms: (I

Impersonal Verbs The following verbs are the most common ones that are found only in the third person singular: (it is convenient) (I [etc.] mind it, care about it) (it is necessary) [also defective] (it is to one’s advantage, it pays) Note that these verbs are often followed by vd and the subjunctive: It’s convenient for me to go.

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I care about going. It’s necessary for me to go. Also included in this class of impersonal verbs are the “nature” verbs (cf. English “it’s raining”): (it’s raining) (it’s snowing) (it’s hot)

* Note that the form used most often in this and other grammars when discussing a verb is that of the first person singular present. This is also the form used in dictionary entries, since the Modern Greek verb has no infinitive form (e.g., English to love”), which is used as the “dictionary form” in many languages. However, in the section “Principal Parts of Some Irregular Modern Greek Verbs” (p. 73) the third person singular is used (as well as the second person for imperative forms). * The spellings πιάσειζ, πιάσει, πιαστε ζ, πιαστε , πιαστε τε (respectively) also occur.

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* The spellings πιάσειζ, πιάσει, πιαστε ζ, πιαστε , πιαστε τε (respectively) also occur.

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To ask the time in Modern Greek, you say Tί ὣρα (ἶνα; (What time is it?). The answer may be couched in one of two ways: Eἶναι (ἡ ὣρα)μία It’s one (o’clock). Eἶναι (ἡ ὣρα)πέντε It’s five (o’clock). OR

(στὴ)μία

(at) one

(στìς)πέντε (at) five Half

hours

are

(οτὴ)

μία

ἣμισν

(half-past

one),

(half past three). Fractional hours after the hour are handled with καί, those before the hour with παρά: (στίς) δυό καὶ τέταρτο a quarter past two (στὶς) δνὸ παρὰ τέταρτο a quarter to two (στίς) πέντε καὶ εἲκοσι twenty past five (στίς) πέντε παρὰ εἲκοσι twenty to five

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TELLING TIME

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E. F. BLEILER This section is intended to refresh your memory of grammatical terms or to clear up difficulties you may have had in understanding them. Before you work through the grammar, you should have a reasonably clear idea what the parts of speech and parts of a sentence are. This is not for reasons of pedantry, but simply because it is easier to talk about grammar if we agree upon terms. Grammatical terminology is as necessary to the study of grammar as the names of automobile parts are to garagemen. This list is not exhaustive, and the definitions do not pretend to be complete, or to settle points of interpretation that grammarians have been disputing for the past several hundred years. It is a working analysis rather than a scholarly investigation. The definitions given, however, represent most typical American usage, and should serve for basic use.

The Parts of Speech English words can be divided into eight important groups: nouns, adjectives, articles, verbs, adverbs, pronouns, prepositions and conjunctions. The boundaries between one group of words and another are sometimes vague and ill-felt in English, but a good dictionary, like the Webster Collegiate, can help you make decisions in questionable cases. Always bear in mind, however, that the way a word is used in a sentence may be just as important as the nature of the word itself in deciding what part of speech the word is.

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Nouns.Nouns are the words for things of all sorts, whether these things are real objects that you can see, or ideas, or places, or qualities, or groups or more abstract things. Examples of words that are nouns are cat, vase, door, shrub, wheat, university, mercy, intelligence, ocean, plumber, pleasure, society, army. If you are in doubt whether a given word is a noun, try putting the word “my,” or “this,” or “large” (or some other adjective) in front of it. If it makes sense in the sentence the chances are that the word in question is a noun. [All the words in italics in this paragraph are nouns.] Adjectives. Adjectives are the words which delimit or give you specific information about the various nouns in a sentence. They tell you size, color, weight, pleasantness, and many other qualities. Such words as big, expensive, terrible, insipid, hot, delightful, ruddy, informative are all clear adjectives. If you are in any doubt whether a certain word is an adjective, add -er to it, or put the word “more” or “too” in front of it. If it makes good sense in the sentence, and does not end in -ly, the chances are that it is an adjective. (Pronoun-adjectives will be described under pronouns.) [The adjectives in the above sentences are in italics.] Articles. There are only two kinds of articles in English, and they are easy to remember. The definite article is “the” and the indefinite article is “a” or “an”. Verbs. Verbs are the words that tell what action, or condition, or relationship is going on. Such words as was, is, jumps, achieved, keeps, buys, sells, has finished, run, will have, may, should pay, indicates are all verb forms. Observe that a verb can be composed of more than one word, as will 152

have and should pay, above; these are called compound verbs. As a rough guide for verbs, try adding-ed to the word you are wondering about, or taking off an -ed that is already there. If it makes sense, the chances are that it is a verb. (This does not always work, since the so-called strong or irregular verbs make forms by changing their middle vowels, like spring, sprang, sprung.) [Verbs in this paragraph are in italics.] Adverbs. An adverb is a word that supplies additional information about a verb, an adjective, or another adverb. It usually indicates time, or manner, or place, or degree. It tells you how, or when, or where or to what degree things are happening. Such words as now, then, there, not, anywhere, never, somehow, always, very and most words ending in -ly are ordinarily adverbs. [Italicized words are adverbs.] Pronouns. Pronouns are related to nouns, and take their place. (Some grammars and dictionaries group pronouns and nouns together as substantives.) They mention persons, or objects of any sort without actually giving their names. There are several different kinds of pronouns. (1) Personal pronouns: by a grammatical convention I, we, me, mine, us, ours are called first person pronouns, since they refer to the speaker; you and yours are called second person pronouns, since they refer to the person addressed; and he, him, his, she, her, hers, they, them, theirs are called third person pronouns since they refer to the things or persons discussed. (2) Demonstrative pronouns: this, that, these, those. (3) Interrogative, or question, pronouns: who, whom, what, whose, which. (4) Relative pronouns, or pronouns which refer back to 153

something already mentioned: who, whom, that, which. (5) Others: some, any, anyone, no one, other, whicheoer, none, etc. Pronouns are difficult for us, since our categories are not as clear as in some other languages, and we use the same words for what foreign-language speakers see as different situations. First, our interrogative and relative pronouns overlap, and must be separated in translation. The easiest way is to observe whether a question is involved in the sentence. Examples: “Which [int.] doyou like?” “The inn, which [rel.] was not far from Athens, had a restaurant.” “Who [int.] is there?” “I don’t know who [int.] was there.” “The porter who [rel.] took our bags was Number 2132.” This may seem to be a trivial difference to an English speaker, but in some languages it is very important. Secondly, there is an overlap between pronouns and adjectives. In some cases the word “this,” for example, is a pronoun; in other cases it is an adjective. This also holds true for his, its, her, any, none, other, some, that, these, those, and many other words. Note whether the word in question stands alone or is associated with another word. Examples: “This [pronoun] is mine.” “This [adj.] taxi has no springs.” Watch out for the word “that,” which can be a pronoun or an adjective or a conjunction. And remember that “my,” “your,” “our,” and “their” are always adjectives. [All pronouns in this section are in italics.] Prepositions. Prepositions are the little words that introduce phrases that tell about condition, time, place, manner, association, degree and similar topics. Such words as with, in, beside, under, of, to, about, for and upon are prepositions. In 154

English prepositions and adverbs overlap, but, as you will see by checking in your dictionary, there are usually differences of meaning between the two uses. [Prepositions in this paragraph are designated by italics.] Conjunctions. Conjunctions are joining-words. They enable you to link words or groups of words into larger units, and to build compound or complex sentences out of simple sentence units. Such words as and, but, although, or, unless are typical conjunctions. Although most conjunctions are easy enough to identify, the word “that” should be watched closely to see that it is not a pronoun or an adjective.[Coniunctions italicized.]

Words about Verbs Verbs are responsible for most of the terminology in this short grammar. The basic terms are: Conjugation. In many languages verbs fall into natural groups, according to the way they make their forms. These groupings are called conjugations, and are an aid to learning grammatical structure. Though it may seem difficult at first to speak of First and Second Conjugations, these are simply short ways of saying that verbs belonging to these classes make their forms according to certain consistent rules, which you can memorize. Infinitive. This is the basic form which most dictionaries give for verbs in most languages, and in most languages it serves as the basis for classifying verbs. In English (with a very few exceptions) it has no special form. To find the infinitive for any English verb, just fill in this sentence: “I like to (walk, 155

run, jump, swim, carry, disappear, etc.).” The infinitive in English is usually preceded by the word “to.” Modern Greek does not possess a special form for the infinitive. Tense. This is simply a formal way of saying “time.” In English we think of time as being broken into three great segments: past, present and future. Our verbs are assigned forms to indicate this division, and are further subdivided for shades of meaning. We subdivide the present time into the present (I walk) and present progressive (I am walking); the past into the simple past (I walked), progressive past (I was walking), perfect or present perfect (I have walked), past perfect or pluperfect (I had walked); and future into simple future (I shall walk) and future progressive (I shall be walking). These are the most common English tenses. Present Participles, Progressive (Continuous) Tenses. In English the present participle always ends in -ing. It can be used as a noun or an adjective in some situations, but its chief use is informing the so-called progressive or continuous tenses. These are made by putting appropriate forms of the verb “to be” before a present participle. “To walk” [an infinitive], for example, has the present progressive: I am walking, you are walking, he is walking, etc.; past progressive, I was walking, you were walking, and so on. [Present participles are in italics.] Past Participles, Perfect Tenses. The past participle in English is not formed as regularly as in the present participle. Sometimes it is constructed by adding -ed or -d to the present tense, as walked, jumped, looked, received; but there are many verbs where it is formed less regularly: seen, been, swum, chosen, brought. To find it, simply fill out the sentence 156

“I have “putting in the verb form that your ear tells you is right for the particular verb. If you speak grammatically, you will have the past participle. Past participles are sometimes used as adjectives: “Don’t cry over spilt milk.” Their most important use, however, is to form the system of verb tenses that are called the perfect tenses: present perfect (or perfect), past perfect (or pluperfect), etc. In English the present perfect tense is formed with the present tense of “to have” and the past participle of a verb: I have walked, you have run, he has begun, etc. The past perfect informed, similarly, with the past tense of “to have” and the past participle: I had walked, you had run, he had begun. Most of the languages you are likely to study have similar systems of perfect tenses, though they may not be formed in exactly the same way as in English. [Past participles are in italics.] Auxiliary Verbs. Auxiliary verbs are special words that are used to help other verbs make their forms. In Engish, for example, we use forms of the verb “to have” to make our perfect tenses: I have seen, you had come, he has been, etc. We also use shall or will to make our future tenses: I shall pay, you will see, etc. French, German, Greek and Italian also make use of auxiliary verbs, but although the general concept is present, the use of auxiliaries differs very much from one language to another, and you must learn the practice for each language. [Auxiliary verbs are in italics.] Reflexive. This term, which sounds more difficult than it really is, simply means that the verb flexes back upon the noun or pronoun that is its subject. In modern English the reflexive pronoun always has -self on its end, and we do not 157

use the construction very frequently. In other languages, however, reflexive forms may be used more frequently, and in ways that do not seem very logical to an English speaker. Examples of English reflexive sentences: “He washes himself.” “He seated himself at the table.” In Greek, the passive verb form may have a reflexive meaning. Passive. In some languages, like Latin, there is a strong feeling that an action or thing that is taking place can be expressed in two different ways. One can say, A does-something-to B, which is “active”; or B is having-something-done-to-him by A, which is “passive.” We do not have a strong feeling for this classification of experience in English, but the following examples should indicate the difference between an active and a passive verb: Active: “John is building a house.” Passive: “A house is being built by John.” Active: “The steamer carried the cotton to England.” Passive: “The cotton was carried by the steamer to England.” Bear in mind that the formation of passive verbs and the situations where they can be used vary enormously from language to language. This is one situation where you usually cannot translate English word for word into another language and make sense. Impersonal Verbs. In English there are some verbs which do not have an ordinary subject, and do not refer to persons. They are always used with the pronoun it, which does not refer to anything specifically, but simply serves to fill out the verb forms. Examples: It is snowing. It hailed last night. It seems to me that you are wrong. It has been raining. It won’t do.

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Other languages, like Greek, have this same general concept, but in a Greek impersonal sentence there is no subject.

Words about Nouns Declensions. In some languages nouns fall into natural groups according to the way they make their forms. These groupings are called declensions, and making the various forms for any noun, pronoun or adjective is called declining it. Declensions are simply an aid to learning grammatical structure. Although it may seem difficult to speak of First Declension, Second, Third and Fourth, these are simply short ways of saying that nouns belonging to these classes make their forms according to certain consistent rules, which you can memorize. In English we do not have to worry about declensions, since almost all nouns make their possessive and plural in the same way. In other languages, however, declensions may be much more complex, as they are in Greek. Agreement. In some languages, where nouns or adjectives or articles are declined, or have gender endings, it is necessary that the adjective or article be in the same case or gender or number as the noun it goes with (modifies). This is called agreement. This may be illustrated from Spanish, where articles and adjectives have to agree with nouns in gender and number:

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Here una is feminine singular and has the ending -a because it agrees with the feminine singular noun casa; blanca has the ending -a because it agrees with the feminine singular noun casa. Blanco, on the other hand, and an are masculine singular because libro is masculine singular. Gender. Gender should not be confused with actual sex. In many languages nouns are arbitrarily assigned a gender (masculine or feminine, or masculine or feminine or neuter), and this need not correspond to sex. You simply have to learn the pattern of the language you are studying in order to become familiar with its use of gender. Case. The idea of case is often very difficult for an English-speaker to grasp, since we do not use case very much. Perhaps the best way to understand how case works is to step behind words themselves, into the ideas which words express. If you look at a sentence like “Mr. Brown is paying the waiter,” you can see that three basic ideas are involved: Mr. Brown, the waiter and the act of payment. The problem that every language has is to show how these ideas are to be related, or how words are to be interlocked to form sentences. Surprisingly enough, there are only three ways of putting pointers on words to make your meaning clear, so that your listener knows who is doing what to whom. These ways are

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(1) word order (2) additional words (3) alteration of the word (which for nouns, pronouns and adjectives is called case). Word order, or the place of individual words in a sentence, is very important in English. For us, “Mr. Brown is paying the waiter” is entirely different in meaning from “The waiter is paying Mr. Brown.” This may seem so obvious that it need not be mentioned, but in some languages, like Latin, you can shift the positions of the words and come out with the same meaning for the sentence, apart from shifts of emphasis. Adding other elements, to make meanings clear, is also commonly used in English. We have a whole range of words like to, from, with, in, out, of, and so on, which show relationships. Mr. Jones introduced Mr. Smith to the Captain is unambiguous because of the word to. Case is not as important in English as it is in some languages, but we do use case in a few limited forms. We add an -’s to nouns to form a possessive; we add a similar -s to form the plural for most nouns; and we add (in spelling, though there is no sound change involved) an -’ to indicate a possessive plural. In pronouns, sometimes we add endings, as in the words who, whose and whom. Sometimes we use different forms, as in I, mine, me; he, his, him; we, ours and us. When you use case, as you can see, you know much more about individual words than if you do not have case. When you see the word whom you automatically recognize that it cannot be the subject of a sentence, but must be the object of a verb or a preposition. When you see the word ship’s, you

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know that it means belonging to a ship or originating from a ship. Many languages have a more developed case system than English. Greek, for example, has the same number of cases as English (three), but almost every noun, pronoun, adjective and article is inflected to show case while English only shows case on nouns and a few pronouns. Subjective, Possessive and Objective. If you assume that endings can be added to nouns or pronouns or adjectives to form cases, it is not too far a logical leap to see that certain forms or endings are always used in the same circumstances. A preposition, for example, may always be followed by a noun or pronoun with the same ending; a direct object may always have a certain ending; or possession may always be indicated by the same ending. If you classify and tabulate endings and their uses, you will arrive at individual cases. Greek happens to have the same three cases as English, which are called subjective, possessive and objective. The subjective case is for the subject of a sentence, the possessive case shows possession and the objective case is used for objects of a verb or preposition. These cases have additional uses in various languages.

Miscellaneous Terms Comparative, Superlative. These two terms are used with adjectives and adverbs. They indicate the degree of strength within the meaning of the word. Faster, better, earlier, newer, more rapid, more detailed, more suitable are examples of the

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comparative in adjectives, while more rapidly, more recently, more suitably are comparatives for adverbs. In most cases, as you have seen, the comparative uses -er or “more” for an adjective, and “more” for an adverb. Superlatives are those forms which end in -est or have “most” prefixed before them for adjectives, and “most” prefixed for adverbs: most intelligent, earliest, most rapidly, most suitably.

The Parts of the Sentence Subject, Predicate. In grammar every complete sentence contains two basic parts, the subject and the predicate. The subject, if we state the terms most simply, is the thing, person, or activity talked about. It can be a noun, a pronoun, or something that serves as a noun. A subject would include, in a typical case, a noun, the articles or adjectives which are associated with it and perhaps phrases. Note that in complex sentences, each part may have its own subject. [The subjects of the sentences above have been italicized.] The predicate talks about the subject. In a formal sentence the predicate includes a verb, its adverbs, predicate adjectives, phrases and objects— whatever happens to be present. A predicate adjective is an adjective which happens to be in the predicate after a form of the verb to be. Example: “Apples are red.” [Predicates are in italics.] In the following simple sentences subjects are in italics, predicates in italics and underlined. “Green apples are bad for your digestion.” “When I go to Greece, I always stop in Rhodes.” “The man with the handbag is travelling to Saloniki.”

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Direct and Indirect Objects. Some verbs (called transitive verbs) take direct and / or indirect objects in their predicates; other verbs (called intransitive verbs) do not take objects of any sort. In English, except for pronouns, objects do not have any special forms, but in languages such as Greek, which have case forms or more pronoun forms than English, objects can be troublesome. The direct object is the person, thing, quality or matter that the verb directs its action upon. It can be a pronoun, or a noun, perhaps accompanied by an article and / or adjectives. The direct object always directly follows its verb, except when there is also an indirect object present, which comes between the verb and the object. Prepositions do not go before direct objects. Examples: “The cook threw green onions into the stew.” “The border guards will want to see your passport tomorrow.” “Give it to me.” “Please give me a glass of red wine.” [We have placed direct objects in this paragraph in italics.] The indirect object, as grammars will tell you, is the person or thing for or to whom the action is taking place. It can be a pronoun or a noun with or without article and adjectives. In most cases the words “to” or “for” can be inserted before it, if not already there. Examples: “Please tell me the time.” “I wrote her a letter from Santorini.” “We sent Mr. Spyros ten drachmas.” “We gave the most energetic guide a large tip.” [Indirect objects in this paragraph are in italics.] Clauses: Independent, Dependent, Relative. Clauses are the largest components / that go to make up sentences. / Each clause, in classical grammar, is a combination of subject and predicate./ If a sentence has one subject and one predicate,/ it 164

is a one-clause sentence./ If it has two or more subjects and predicates,/ it is a sentence of two or more clauses./ There are two kinds of clauses: independent (principal) and dependent (subordinate) clauses./ An independent clause can stand alone; / it can form a logical, complete sentence./ A dependent clause is a clause/that cannot stand alone ; / it must have another clause with it to complete it./ A sentence containing a single clause is called a simple sentence./ A sentence with two or more clauses may be either a complex or a compound sentence./ A compound sentence contains two or more independent clauses, / and / these independent clauses are joined together with and, or or but. / A complex sentence is a sentence / which contains both independent and dependent clauses./ A relative clause is a clause / which begins with a relative pronoun: who, whom, that, which. / It is by definition a dependent clause, / since it cannot stand by itself. [Each clause in this section has been isolated by slashes./ Dependent clauses have been placed in italics;/independent clauses have not been marked./]

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A GLOSSARY OF GRAMMATICAL TERMS

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Def. is used as an abbreviation of definition. absolute superlative 33 accents 9 accusative case 15 active verbs 58, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 71 acute accent 9 adjectives 25 ff. agreement 25 comparative 30 comparison 30 def. 79 demonstrative 42, 43 forms of 25 ff. intensive 33 interrogative 1 superlative 32 use 29 167

adverbs 35–37 comparative 36 comparison 36 def. 79 derived from adjectives 35 intensive 36 interrogative 12 agreement 25 def. 83 alphabet 6 aorist 55, 57 deponent 62 imperative 68 participle 69 passive 60 subjunctive 66 articles 16 ff.

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def. 79 definite 16 indefinite 17 “as ... as” construction 34 auxiliary verbs def. 82 “be, to” 54 breathing marks 9 cases 15 def. 84 circumflex accent 9 clauses def. 87 commands, 67 ff. first and third persons 68 negative 14, 68 polite 68

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comparative adjectives 30 adverbs 36 def. 8 compound tenses 70–72 active 71 passive 72 conditional 72 conjugations 51 def. 81 conjunctions 49 def. 80 continuous tenses def. 81 declensions 18 ff. def. 83 defective verbs 76

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demonstrative adjectives 42, 43 demonstrative pronouns 42, 43 dependent clause def. 87 deponent verbs 59, 60, 62 Dhimotiki 3, 23 diaeresis 9 dictionary forms 15 direct address 16 direct object def. 86 enclitics 10 equality, comparisons of 34 future perfect tense active 71 passive 72 future tense 62

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definite 63 indefinite 63 passive definite 64 genders 16 def. 84 genitive case 15 grave accent 9 “have, to” 54 if-sentences 72 imperatives 67 ff. imperfect 53, 57 passive 60 impersonal verbs 76 def. 83 independent clause def. 87 indirect object

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def. 86 infinitive def. 81 intensive 33, 36 interrogative words 12, 23 irregular comparatives 31 irregular definite future 64 irregular nouns 22 irregular present tense 53 irregular principal parts of verbs 73–75 Kathareuusa 3 nouns 23 “less” 34 negation 14 “no” 14 nominative case 15 nonsubject pronouns 38

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nouns 15 ff. declensions 18 ff. def. 78 irregular 22 Kaikarevusa 23 objective case 15 def. 85 objects def. 86 participles 69 aorist 69 past def. 82 present 14, 69 def. 81 parts of sentence 86, 87 parts of speech 78–81

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passive voice 58 aorist 60 compound tenses 72 def. 83 definite future 74 perfect 72 pluperfect 72 present 59 past participle def. 82 past perfect tense 71 perfect tense 71 def. 82 passive 72 pluperfect tense 71 passive 72 possessive case 15

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def. 85 possessive pronouns 11, 40 predicate def. 86 prepositions 46 compound 47 def. 80 simple 46 present perfect tense 71 present tense 52 imperative 67 participle 69 def 81 passive 59 subjunctive 65 progressive tenses def. 81

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pronouns 11, 38 ff. def. 79 demonstrative 42, 43 interrogative 12, 13 nonsubject 38 object 11, 38 personal 38 possessive 11, 40 relative 41 subject 38 pronunciation 7–9 questions 12 reflexive def. 82 relative clause def. 87 relative pronouns 41

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rough breathing 9 smooth breathing 9 spelling 7–9 subjective case 15 def. 85 subject of sentence def. 86 subject pronouns 38 subjunctive 65 aorist 66 present 65 superlative absolute 33 adjectives 32 def. 85 tense def. 81

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see also aorist, compound tenses, conditional, future perfect tense, future tense, imperfect, past perfect tense, perfect tense, pluperfect tense, present perfect tense, present tense “than,” how to express 31 time, telling 77 verbs 50 ff. aorist 55, 57, 60, 62, 66, 68, 69 commands 67 compound tenses 70 conditional 72 conjugations 51 def. 79 defective 76 future 62 imperfect 53, 57, 60 impersonal 76 participles 69 passive voice 58

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past perfect tense 71 perfect tense 71, 72 pluperfect tense 71, 72 present perfect tense 71 present tense 52, 59, 65, 67, 69 principal parts of irregular 73–75 second person 50 stems 50 subjunctive 65 vocabulary building 4 word order 11 after imperatives 68 “yes” 14 “you” how to express 150

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INDEX

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