EssentialModern GreekGrammarDOUGLAS 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, firstpublished 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 85-29281eISBN 13: 978-0-486-11343-2

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Manufactured in the United States by Courier Corporation25133013www.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 theSingular

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 andNeuter -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

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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

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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 IrregularVerbs

The Imperfect Past

“To Be” and “To Have”

The Aorist Past

Aorist and Imperfect Pasts Contrasted

The Passive Voice

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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

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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 alimited amount of time at your disposal to study ModernGreek and that your objective is simple everydaycommunication, both spoken and written. This book,therefore, does not attempt to offer a complete outline of allaspects of Modern Greek grammar, even in a highlycondensed version. It does, however, offer a series of aids tohelp you use more effectively phrases and words that youhave already learned. The book will introduce you to the mostcommon structures and forms of Modern Greek and aselected number of the most useful rules.

How to Study Essential Modern Greek Grammar

If you have already studied Modern Greek in a conventionalmanner, this book will serve as a review, and you can use itby glancing through all of it quickly and then selecting thoseareas on which you wish to concentrate.

If, however, this is your first acquaintance with ModernGreek 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 suchas you will find in any good phrase book or in the Listen &Learn Modern Greek course. The material in this book will bemuch more easily understood after you have achieved somesimple working knowledge of the language. This book’spurpose is to enable you to gain greater fluency once youhave learned phrases and expressions, not to teach you toconstruct sentences from rules and vocabulary.

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2. Read through Essential Modern Greek Grammar at leastonce in its entirety. Do not be concerned if some of thematerial is not immediately clear; what appears to bediscouragingly complex on first reading will become muchsimpler as you progress in your study. The first reading isnecessary to acquaint you with terms and concepts used fromthe beginning. Learning these will help you improve yourcomprehension of Modern Greek and use more freely theexpressions and words you already know. As you use ModernGreek and hear it spoken, many of its grammatical patternswill become familiar to you. Essential Modern GreekGrammar helps you discover these patterns, and it will behelpful to you as you develop your vocabulary and improveyour comprehension.

3. Go back to this book periodically. Sections that at firstseem difficult or of doubtful benefit may prove extremelyhelpful as you progress further.

4. For the most part, Essential Modern Greek Grammarfollows a logical order, taking up the major divisions ofgrammar in sequence. You will do best to follow this order.However, you may be one of those who learn best when theystudy to answer an immediate question or need (e.g., how toform the comparative of adjectives; how to conjugate “to be,”etc.). If you are such a student, turn to the section thatinterests you at the moment, but read through the entiresection and not just an isolated part. Individual remarks, takenout of context, are easily misunderstood and may seriouslymislead you.

5. Examples are given for every rule. It will be helpful if youmemorize them. If you learn all of the examples in Essential

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Modern Greek Grammar, you will have encountered the basicdifficulties of Modern Greek and studied models for theirsolution.

6. You cannot study Modern Greek or any other languagesystematically without an understanding of grammar, and theuse and understanding of grammatical terms is as essential asa knowledge of certain mechanical terms when you learn todrive a car. If your knowledge of grammatical terms is a littlehazy, read the Glossary of Grammatical Terms (p. 78) andrefer to it whenever necessary.

In Modern Greek, as in any language, there are potentiallymany ways to express a single idea. Some involve simpleconstructions, others more difficult ones. Some of the moredifficult constructions may well be more sophisticated waysof conveying the thought and ones that you will ultimatelywish to master, but during your first experiments incommunication in Modern Greek, you can achieve your aimby using a simple construction. Be satisfied at first with thesimplest.

You should not, however, be afraid of making mistakes. Thepurpose of this book is not to teach you to speak like a nativebut toallow you to communicate and be understood. If you payattention to what you’re doing, you will find that eventuallyyou make fewer and fewer errors. Sooner or later you’ll beable to review Essential Modern Greek Grammar or a moredetailed book at a time that is appropriate for polishing yourspeech.

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As you begin to speak Modern Greek, you will be your ownbest judge of those areas where you need most help. If there isno one with you, you can practice by speaking mentally toyourself. In the course of the day see how many simplethoughts that you have expressed in English you are able toturn into Modern Greek. This kind of experimentalself-testing will give direction to your study of ModernGreek. Remember that your purpose in studying this course inModern Greek is not to pass an examination or receive acertificate, but to communicate with others on a simple butuseful level. Essential Modern Greek Grammar should not bethought of as the equivalent of a formal course of study at auniversity. Although it could serve as a useful supplement tosuch a course, its primary aim is to help adults study on theirown. Of course, no self-study or academic course, or evenseries of courses, will ever be ideally suited to all students.You must rely on and be guided by your own rate of learningand your own requirements and interests.

A Word About Katharevusa

Finally a word must be said about the two different varietiesof standard Modern Greek that you may run across. The moreformal variety, used in official government publications, theeditorial page of newspapers and in formal speeches, is calledKatharevusa (καθαρεύουσα). The less formal variety is usedin all literature, in such parts of the newspaper as the sportspage and in the normal conversation of educated Greeks. Thisvariety is called Dhimotiki (Δημοτική) and is the variety ofGreek described in this book. There are, however, words andexpressions in one variety that have no equivalent in theother, so there is occasionally the need to mention structures

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or forms normally found only in Katharevusa even in a bookdevoted to Dhimotiki. In Essential Modern Greek Grammarmention of such structures is kept to a minimum, but youshould be aware that many things you will see in certain kindsof formal Greek will not be discussed in this book becausethey are restricted to Katharevusa. Fortunately, theknowledge you will gain of Dhimotiki should allow you tounderstand most of what you may read in Katharevusa even ifthe forms look somewhat strange to you.

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INTRODUCTION

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SUGGESTIONS FORVOCABULARYBUILDING

1. Study words and word lists that answer real and immediatepersonal needs. If you are planning to travel in the nearfuture, your motivation and orientation are clear-cut, andListen & Learn Modern Greek or another good travel phrasebook will provide you with the material you need. Selectmaterial according to your personal interests andrequirements. Even if you do not plan to travel to Greece inthe near future, you will probably learn more quickly byimagining yourself in a travel situation.

2. Memorize by association. Phrase books usually giveassociated word lists. If you use a dictionary, don’t memorizewords 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, learnthe many terms associated with property, buying, selling,leasing, etc. An interest in mathematics could lead you tolearn a wide vocabulary in that discipline. You will quicklylearn words in your own specialty and a surprising amountwill be applicable or transferable to other areas. Althoughspecialized vocabularies may not always be readily available,an active interest and a good dictionary will help you getstarted.

4. Note the similarities that exist between many ModernGreek words and their English equivalents. It will help you toexpand your Modern Greek vocabulary if you remember that

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many Modern Greek words are similar in appearance andmeaning to English words with roots in Classical Greek.

The following list will give you some idea of the kinds ofsimilarities 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 ANDACCENTS

The Alphabet

The Modern Greek alphabet consists of the followingtwenty-four letters:

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Spelling

As in the case of English, the correspondence betweenspelling and pronunciation in Greek is not exact and there area number of rules to remember as you pronounce ModernGreek 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). Hand ει are often used interchangeably in Modern Greekspelling: 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), τς λίγης ἂρμης tiz líghis ármis (a little salt water), but

σλαυϊκóς slaνikόs (Slavic). Note that the symbol -ς is onlyused at the end of a Greek word.

c) π, τ, κ= p, t, k but are pronounced b, d, g when theseletters are at the beginning of a word and the preceding wordends in -ν (most often the definite article). The -ν of thedefinite article might change to m or ng. For example, τόποtópο (place) but τóντόπο ton dópo (the place); κάβο kávo (cape) but τὸν κάβο tonggávo (the cape).

d) The consonantal combinations μπ, ντ and γκ have thefollowing 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 precedeanother vowel or vowel combination, e.g. μάτια mátya (eyes)or τέτοιος tétyos (such).

3. There are some sounds and spellings that have noequivalents in English (though equivalents exist in otherlanguages), e.g. γ and χ. When they immediately precede afront vowel (i.e., η, ι, υ, ει, α, νι, ε, αι) γ is pronounced like yin English “youth” and χ is pronounced approximately likethe 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 beforeanother consonant, the γ is pronounced like a Spanish -g-between 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 completecontact between tongue and roof of the mouth. In similarenvironments 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, pronouncelike the English k but without complete contact betweentongue and roof of the mouth.

4. There are some special combinations of letters which haveto 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 singleconsonants; σσ, ττ, νν are pronounced s, t and n.

Accents

With very few exceptions every Modern Greek word has anaccent (either ‘or ) which indicates the stressed syllable, e.g.,ἂντρας ándras (man) or μπορ borό (I can). The differencebetween the two accents is one of spelling only; it reflects nodifference in sound. The accent is always written over thevowel of the stressed syllable. If the vowel of the stressedsyllable 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 thetwo vowel letters, e.g., κλείσιμο klísimo (conclusion) or θαμα tháνma (wonder, miracle).

You should note two special restrictions: (1) the circumflexaccent ( ) can occur only on the last syllable or the

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next-to-the-last syllable, while the acute accent (’) can occuron any of the last three syllables (no syllable preceding thelast three can bear the stress), and (2) if a word normally hasthe acute accent on the last syllable and that word is followedby another word which bears stress on any syllable, the acuteaccent becomes a grave accent (’), e.g. τό (definite article) butτὸ δετρο (the tree). In some publications, however, the graveaccent is not used and the acute remains.

In a very few words another symbol (:), the diaeresis, mayoccur over a vowel. This occurs when two vowels cometogether, but are not pronounced as a single sound. When thesecond 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 combinationbears the stress, the placement of the accent on that firstvowel can indicate by itself that the vowels are to bepronounced separately. Thus τσάϊ tsá-i (tea) can also bespelled τσάι with no change in pronunciation.

Breathing Marks

Any word in Modern Greek beginning with a vowel orcombination of vowels has a mark for “smooth” or “rough”breathing, (’) or (`), in addition to any accent that mightappear on that vowel, e.g., ἀπαντapandό (I answer) or ὣρα όra (hour). Neither is pronouncedbut they are necessary for correct Greek spelling.

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Enclitics

Enclitics are words that never bear any stress marks, such ascertain of the personal pronouns in Modern Greek. When theyoccur after words in which the accent falls on the thirdsyllable from the end, an extra accent may be added to the lastsyllable of that word, e.g. τὸ παράθνρο to paráthiro (thewindow) 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 inEnglish—subject, verb, object:

Ὁ Πέτρο ἦρθε. Peter has come.

Ὁ καπετάνιος εἶδε τόν Πέτροχτές.

The captain saw Peteryesterday.

However, there are some major differences between ModernGreek and English word order:

1. Word order is more flexible in Modern Greek than inEnglish:

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 AfterImperatives (p. 68).

3. Possessives follow the noun:

Ὁ ίλος σας your friend

(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 distinguishedfrom 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 asemicolon.

Interrogative Words

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

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These interrogative pronouns and adjectives are declined forcase, gender and number depending on their function in thesentence. The nature of declension in Modern Greek isexplained in the chapters on nouns, adjectives and pronouns.As pronouns, ποιός and πόσος are declined for case, genderand number depending on their function in the sentence. Asan adjective, ποιός agrees in case, number and gender withthe noun it modifies. The declension for ποιός as a pronounand adjective is given below. Note that the forms are identical

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for both except in the possessive and in the masculineobjective 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 femininesingular 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.

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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 remainsonly 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 inquestions:

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: (Don’t beafraid!).

2. In subordinate clauses after the word νά:(He didn’t

come because he had no money).

3. Before present participles: μὴν ξέροντας (not knowing) orμὴθέλοντας (not willing).

The words for “yes” and “no” are ναί and ὂχι. See p. 37 foradverbs used in negative sentences.

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Cases

In an English sentence a noun takes special endings in twosituations: to form a possessive (e.g. the child’s toy, thepresident’s message) or a plural (cars, churches, mountains).The general principle is similar in Modern Greek, though thenumber of situations demanding special endings issubstantially greater. Modern Greek distinguishes betweensingular and plural, and, within each of those categories,between subject, object and possessive. The latter threecategories are called cases.

The subject of a sentence in Greek takes an ending to showthat 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 isalways listed in dictionaries and grammar books. Adjectivesand pronouns are listed under the masculine subjectivesingular. 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 Greekfor 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 thingpossessed.

Another important use of the possessive case is for indirectobjects:

[Nicholas to the teacher it gave]

Nicholas gave it to the teacher.

Direct Address

In Modern Greek the objective case is usually used in directaddress:

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Πατέρα! Father!

Mητέρα!Mother!

However, for those masculine nouns which belong to a nounclass having -ο- as part of its subjective case ending, -ε- isused as the ending for direct address:

Ἒμπορε! Merchant!

Short personal names belonging to this class, on the otherhand, usually take regular objective endings:

Πέτρο! Peter!

Nίκο! Nick!

Genders

All nouns in Modern Greek are either masculine, feminine orneuter. In general, nouns denoting male persons or animalsare masculine while nouns denoting female persons oranimals are feminine, but there are exceptions to this rule andyou must learn the gender of each Modern Greek noun as youlearn the noun itself, particularly since nouns denotinginanimate objects may belong to any of the three genders.

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

The Definite Article

Corresponding to the single English “the” we find thefollowing forms of the Modern Greek definite article:

As with the final -ν of μήν and δέν (see p. 14), the v of themasculine and feminine objective singular usually remainsonly when the following word begins with a vowel (e.g. τὸνἂντρα, the man) or with a κ, ξ, π, τ, τσ or ψ (e.g. τόν τόπο, theplace). On a more formal level of Modern Greek, andespecially in formal written styles, the ν may be present nomatter what the following word begins with.

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When the definite article is τό, or τά and the followingword begins with a vowel, the definite article becomes τ’ andis written as part of the following word, e.g. τ’αὐτοκίνητο (thecar).

The definite article is used in Modern Greek much as it is inEnglish, except that both abstract nouns and proper names aregenerally 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 genderand case with the noun it precedes (but it occurs only in thesingular). The indefinite article is also the word for “one.”

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The -ν of the masculine and feminine objective case behavesin thesame fashion as that of the corresponding forms of thedefinite article, e.g. ἓναν ἂντρα (a man) but ἓνα διαιτητή (areferee).

The indefinite article is used less frequently in Modern Greekthan it is in English. It is not used with nouns that follow apredicate such as “to be” and is often not used with a nounthat 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 adjectiveμερικός 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 manydifferent 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 likeμητέρα (mother) and κόρη (daughter):

In these feminine nouns the subjective and objective forms ofthe singular are the same. The subjective and objective pluralsare also the same.

Masculine and Neuter Nouns Whose Final Vowel Is o

The largest group of masculine and neuter nouns is illustratedby the masculine ἒμτορος (merchant) and the neuter νερό(water):

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In masculine nouns whose stress in the subjective singularfalls on the third syllable from the end, it is normal for thestress to move to the second syllable from the end in thepossessive 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 frommasculine nouns in -ος, such as ἒμπορος (merchant). Thispattern may be illustrated by nouns such as ἂντρας (man) andράϕτης (tailor):

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In this group of masculine nouns, the objective and possessivesingular forms are identical (and the same as the subject formminus the -ς). The subjective and objective plural forms arealso identical.

Neuters Ending in -ι

Very similar to neuter nouns such as νερό (water) are neuterslike νησί (island) or χέρι (hand):

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You should note the end stress in both the singular and pluralpossessive. Some nouns of this group are spelled with -υrather than -ι, e.g., δάκρυ (tear), βράδυ (evening). These nounsshift their stress to the -υ- in the possessive singular andplural: δακρύου, δακρύων, βραδύου, βραδύων.

Neuter Nouns in -ος

There is a small group of neuter nouns ending in -ος in thesingular of the subjective and objective, e.g. ἒθνος (people,nation) and ἒδαϕος (ground):

Nouns with One More Syllable in the Plural Than in theSingular

In this noun group the final vowel of the singular is retainedin the plural and a -δ- (in the case of the neuters a -τ-) isinserted between it and the plural endings, forming an extrasyllable.

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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 insingular and plural do not preserve the final vowel of thesingular but show another, usually -α- or, more rarely, -η-:μαθητής (student), for example, has a plural μαθητάδες inaddition to a plural with the same number of syllables,μαθητές. Fortunately, such nouns are rare and will, in anycase, cause you no difficulty in recognition when you runacross 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 inthe singular possessive than in the singular subjective andobjective 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 thegroups 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 fairlyfrequently.

Irregular Nouns

There are both commonly and infrequently used nouns inModern Greek that do not conform to regular patterns and areformed according to somewhat eccentric rules. Therefore, themost effective, perhaps only, way to learn them is sheermemorization.

1. Some nouns show irregularity in a change of genderbetween the singular and plural. Some nouns have twoplurals, one showing a change of gender and the other not. Insome 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 ofdifferent declensional patterns:

3. A few nouns have two forms in the singular but only onekind 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 originallypossessive singular nouns:

ὁ σοϕέρ (chauffeur)

τὸτράμ (tram)

τὸ Πάσχα (Easter)

Ἀθανασίου (Athanasiou) (family name)

Katharevusa Nouns

Some further irregularities arise because certain nouns appearin their Katharerusa guise even in writing or speech that isotherwise strictly Dhimotiki. Most such nouns are fairly rareor from a very learned vocabulary that you will probably nothave much occasion to use or even run across, but there are afew patterns that occur frequently enough that you should beable to recognize them. There are, for instance, two types ofKatharevusa feminine nouns that are noteworthy becausethey 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 isvery 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 aKatharevusa pattern:

Neuter ὀξύ (acid)

Masculine πρέσβυς (ambassador)

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These patterns do not exhaust the number of types ofKatharevusa declensions in Modern Greek. Nor have welisted all the uncommon declensions or irregularities of thenouns in this chapter. Hopefully, the reader has gotten someunderstanding of the overall system of noun declension andsome idea about the kinds of irregularities that are present inModern 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 inModern Greek agree in gender, case and number with thenouns they modify. A masculine singular subjective nounrequires a masculine singular subjective adjective, while afeminine plural objective noun requires a feminine pluralobjective adjective. Thus we have ὁ μεγάλος ἂντρας (the bigman) (masc. sing. subj.) but Eἲδαμε τίς μεγάλες γυναίκες (Wesaw the big women). The adjective usually precedes the nounin 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 byfar 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 thesame as those of the masculine nouns in - ος (ὁ ἒμπορος) andneuter nouns in –ο(τὸνερό). The endings of these feminine adjectives are thesame as those of the feminine nouns in -η (ἡ κόρη). Unlike thecorresponding nouns, however, the stress of any givenadjective is always on the same syllable, no matter what thecase or number.

If the -ος of the masculine is preceded by an -ι-, the femininewill end in -ια. The adjective τίμιος (honest) illustrates thispattern:

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Adjectives in -uς or -ης

The other major variety of adjective is distinguished by amasculine singular subjective in either -υς or -ης. This typemay be illustrated by βαθύς (deep) and ψαρής (gray):

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SPECIAL NOTES:

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

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βαθύν, etc.) if the following word begins with a vowel or theadjective itself is the last word in a sentence.

2. Like the corresponding masculine nouns, masculineadjectives in -ος show a special ending in -ε when addressingsomeone, e.g., καλέ or τίμιε:

Kαλὲ ϕίλε μου ! My good friend!

The masculine adjectives of other patterns and all femininesand neuters have no special ending when addressingpeople—rather, the objective case (without -v) is used.

Other Varieties of Adjectives

While the vast majority of Greek adjectives follow one or theother of the preceding paradigms, there are a few rarerpatterns to be aware of, only some of which are presentedhere.

Adjectives Ending in Masculine/Feminine -ης

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Some common adjectives following the same pattern asεὐγενής 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 andNeuter -ον

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Πολύς

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

Both forms of the masculine neuter singular possessive arevery rare, though the second form appears in the set phraseπρόπολλο (a long time ago).

Use of Adjectives

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

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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 ξενοδοχεο

a room in an expensivehotel

οἱ διδασκαλίες σοϕ ν ἀντρ ν the teachings of wise men

The Modern Greek adjective also agrees with the noun itmodifies when it is used as a predicate adjective, that is, whenit 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 followsthe noun it modifies. If the noun phrase contains a definitearticle, the article is repeated before the adjective:

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τὸ κορίτσι τὸὡρα ο

the pretty girl (not the other one)

τράπεζεςἐμπορικές

commercial banks (as opposed, say, toagricultural banks)

Noun phrases with the definite article may also showemphasis by keeping normal word order but repeating thearticle:

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 ofa verb or preposition. Examples are σοϕός (wise), which maymean “wise man” and πολλά (many) which may mean “manythings”:

Ὁ σοϕὸζ ξέρει πολλά.The wise man knows many things.

Comparison of Adjectives: The Comparative

Most Modern Greek adjectives, that is, those whosemasculine singular ending is either -ος, -υς or -ης, form thecomparative in either of two ways: (:) by putting πιό beforethe adjective or (2) by adding the suffix -τερος, which is thendeclined like an adjective in -ος (see p. 25 for the declensionof 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 touse the first method of forming the comparative rather thanadding the suffix.

If the adjective in the masculine ends in -ος, the comparativesuffix 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 willbe -ύτερος (in the masculine):

Note that whether the added vowel is -ο-, -ω- or -υ-, it alwaysbears the stress in the comparative, whatever the stress in thepositive form of the adjective.

Three very common adjectives in -ος form their comparativeswith the ending -ύτερος (sometimes spelled -ήτερος) ratherthan 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 morelikely it is that the suffixed variant of the comparative will beused. Conversely, the form with πιό is more likely used withthose adjectives that are rare, irregular, long or of foreignorigin, and must be used for adjectives that have differentendings:

Irregular Comparatives

A few adjectives have irregular comparative suffixes (or maytake πιό):

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Use of the Comparative

The Modern Greek equivalent of English “than” is thepreposition (ἀπό (ἀπ’). The noun or pronoun following ἀπό isalways in the objective case. Less frequently, the conjunctionπαρά, followed by a noun or pronoun in the subjective case, isused. Some examples are:

Ἡ’Aθήναε ναι μεγαλύτερη (OR πιὸ μεγάλη) ἀπ’ τὴν Πάτρα.

Athens is bigger than Patras.

Tὸ πρ το βουνὸ ταν ψηλότερο (OR πιὸ ψηλὸ) ἀπ’ τὸδεύτερο.

The first mountain was higher than the second.

Ἡ βαλίτσα μου ε ναι βαρύτερη (OR πιὸ βαριὰ) ἀπ’ τὸ μπαολο σας.

My suitcase is heavier than your trunk.

Ὁ πατέρας μου ε ναι νεώτερος (OR πιὸ νέος) παρὰ ὁ πατέραςσας.

My father is younger than your father.

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For a small number of adjectives that use the -τεροςcomparative, when the second unit of comparison is apersonal pronoun, that pronoun may be used in theunaccented 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 possessivepronoun is ἀνώτερος (higher), κατώτερος (lower), μικρότερος(smaller) and νεώτερος (younger).

The Superlative of Adjectives

The superlative forms of the adjective are always identical tothe corresponding comparative, except that they are precededby the definite article:

Use of the Superlative

Like the comparative, the a may be followed by thepreposition 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 eitherform 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 thesuperlative than after the comparative, where it is limited touse only in pronouns after a few comparative forms. Aftersuperlatives of any adjectives, possessive nouns and pronounsmay be used.

The Intensive

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

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

Note that the stress in these irregular intensives moves to thesyllable preceding the ending.

Use of the Intensive

The intensive form may be used anywhere a positiveadjective 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 theintensive 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 orplacing it after the noun, as noted on p. 29.

Comparisons of Equality

The “as . . . as” of comparisons of equality (They are ashospitable as their cousins) may be translated in ModernGreek in either of two ways. The positive form of theadjective 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, asabove, unless it is a pronoun, or a noun preceded by anarticle, 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 thesubjective 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, thecomparatives 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 onpronouns under the heading “Demonstrative Pronouns andAdjectives.”

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ADVERBS

Adverbs Derived from Adjectives

In English, many adverbs are formed by adding -ly to anadjective: quiet, quietly; sure, surely. In Modern Greek, manyadverbs are formed from adjectives ending in -υς- or -ος bythe addition of -α to the stem. Such adverbs are identical withthe neuter subjective/objective plural of the adjective fromwhich they are formed:

Adjectives of other types form adverbs in -ως:

Some adjectives which form adverbs in -α form an additionaladverb in -ως:

ὡραî ος (beautiful) ὡραî αOR ὡραίως (beautifully)

Occasionally the two different adverb formations will differin meaning:

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ἀκριβό ς (expensive) ἀκριβά (expensively) ἀκριβ ς(precisely)

Two very important adverbs are formed from the neutersingular of the adjective: πολύ (much) and λίγο ([a] little).

One should note that the adverbs formed from adjectivesdenoting nationality, besides having their usual uses, refer tolanguage:

To say that you speak Greek, you would say Mιλ (ORMιλάω) ἑλληνικά. Such adverbs can be used with the definitearticle τά to mean “English,” “the English language”: τάἀγγλικά.

Comparison of Adverbs

In general, adverbs form comparatives in the same way as theadjectives on which they are based:

The intensive form usually uses πολύ or παραπολύ (verymuch):

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

Other Adverbs

There are many common adverbs in Modern Greek that arenot derived from adjectives and that do not formcomparatives or intensives. Some of the more important onesare listed below:

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Adverbs in Modern Greek usually follow the verb theymodify:

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, havethe following meanings:

Δὲν πάντρεψε ποτέ.

He never married.

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Personal Pronouns

Modern Greek personal pronouns, like nouns, have differentforms according to their use and position in a sentence:

Subject Pronouns

Note that the (ἐ) is optional on both of the second personpronoun subject forms.

Nonsubject Pronouns

In the objective and possessive cases, there are two sets offorms for each pronoun: a long, emphatic form and a shorter,nonemphatic form. In addition, there is a nonstressed shortform of the possessive pronoun.

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Use of Personal Pronouns

The second person singular (ἐ) σύ, ἐσένα, σο is normallyonly used with relatives, close friends or children. In mostinstances you should use (ἐ) σε ς, ἐσ ς, σ ς. (See thediscussion of second person verb forms, p. 50.)

Subject pronouns are not used in ordinary sentences sinceverb endings indicate the person of the subject, but they areused when some special emphasis or contrast is involved:

The long forms of the personal pronouns in the objective andpossessive cases are used in the same circumstances as are thesubject 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 aftersimple prepositions (see p. 46): σ’ ἐμάς (with us).

The short forms are usually the objects of verbs, theobjective-case pronoun serving as the direct object and thepossessive-case pronoun as the indirect object. In mostcircumstances they precede the verb. When two pronounsoccur together as the direct and indirect objects of a verb, theindirect object comes first:

There are two short forms for the third person plural feminineobjective, τίς and τές. Tίς is used when the pronoun precedesthe verb as an object; τές is used when it follows the verb, aswith 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 thatin Modern Greek the definite article is normally used with thenoun signifying the thing possessed.

When that noun is preceded by an adjective, the possessivepronoun is placed between the adjective and the noun:

τό μα ρο σου καπέλλοyour 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 theindeclinable πού, which may be translated in English as“who,” “whom,” “that” or “which.” Πού may serve by itselfas the subject of a dependent clause (Sentence 1) or as thedirect object (Sentence 2):

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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 possessivemeaning within the relative clause, it is reinforced by theshort form of the appropriate possessive pronoun (το , τ ς orτούς), 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 possessivepronoun (agreeing with τò παιδί), form the indirect object ofthe clause. In Sentence 4 πού and του, the masculinepossessive pronoun (agreeing with ὁ ξένος), function as apossessive 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 oftenused as the object of a preposition. It is fully declined forcase, gender and number according to the following pattern:

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In gender and number it agrees with the word in the mainclause for which it stands in the relative clause; its case isdetermined 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 pronounὁ ὅποιος, ἡ ὅποια, τὸ ὅποιο (whoever, whichever). Thispronoun does not refer back to another noun in the samesentence:

‘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 eitherdemonstrative adjectives or demonstrative pronouns. TheModern Greek demonstratives το ιος, αὐτός, ἐκε νος maylikewise be used as either adjectives or pronouns. These threedemonstratives indicate a different degree of distance fromthe speaker. Tο τος refers to something very near the speaker(English “this,” plural “these”) and ἐκε νος to something at adistance from the speaker (English “that,” plural “those”)while αὐτός covers the middle ground. Aὐτό ς may betranslated as either “this” or “that” (the plural as “these” or“those”)depending on the context. Because it is the least specific ofthe Modern Greek demonstratives, αὐτός is also the mostcommon and is used when there is no reason to delimit thedistance between the speaker and the object referred to.

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Demonstratives as Pronouns

As pronouns, Modern Greek demonstratives το τος, αὐτóςand ἐκε νος follow the regular adjectival declension forκαλός, καλή, καλό but they have a second, special declensionfor the possessive of all genders and both numbers, and in themasculine 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 Greekdemonstratives follow καλός, καλή, καλό in declension. In

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use, the demonstrative adjectives το τος, ἐκε νος and αὐτόςprecede 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, someof which are presented here. Some of them are declined likethe adjectiveκαλός, καλή, καλό (or like τίμιος), some like the indefinitearticle 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 orquestion, but “no one” or “nothing” in a negative sentence orquestion with δὲν, μήν or ὄχι:

3. Pronouns that are not declined:

Tίποτε means “none” or “nothing” when it stands by itself orin a negative question or sentence with δέν or μήν, and itmeans “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 objectiveand the feminine possessive:

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PRONOUNS

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PREPOSITIONS

Modern Greek prepositions can be characterized as simple orcompound. All are followed by nouns generally in theobjective case.

Simple Prepositions: The Basic Four

Modern Greek has four basic prepositions: σέ, μέ, ἀπό andγιά. Each of these has a great variety of uses. Modern Greekσέ corresponds generally to English “to” or “at,” μέ to “by” or“with,” ἀπό to “of” or “from” and γιά to “for.” When σέ isfollowed by the definite article it is reduced to σ- and the twoare written as one word. Directly before words beginning withvowels, the ε is dropped and the σ- is followed by anapostrophe. In a similar way ἀπό is normally reduced to ἀπ’both before the definite article and words beginning with avowel. Some examples:

σέ:

Δ σε λίγο ϕαῒ στò σκυλί.

Give some food to the dog.

Δουλεύω σ’ ἐργοστάσιο, ὁ ἀδελϕός μου ὅμως δουλεύει στòσπίτι.

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 longform 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 anadverbial word plus one of the simple prepositions, usually σέor 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 apersonal 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 πνε μαζί μ ς.

(My kids will be going with us.)

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The most common coordinating conjunction in Modern Greekis καί (and). Kαί may also be used to emphasize a particularword 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 withthe subjunctive, see p. 65). It occurs in Modern Greek veryoften 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 muchmore complicated than those of their own tongue. WhileEnglish may make nearly as many verbal distinctions (oftense, voice, mood, person, etc.) as does Modern Greek,English usually creates complex verbal notions phrasally(e.g., “I have been seeing”), whereas Modern Greek generallyexpresses such notions by means of special endings added tothe verb (e.g., ἀγαπιóμαστε, “we were being loved”). Sincethe subject pronoun is usually omitted in Modern Greek, useof the proper ending is not a grammatical nicety, but anecessity in order to be understood: ἀγαπ (I love); ἀγαπ με(we love). Also, while English and Modern Greek may makeabout the same number of verbal distinctions, they do notalways make the same kinds of distinctions, so that oftenthere is no simple, one-to-one correspondence betweenEnglish and Modern Greek verbal forms.

The Second Person in Modern Greek

The second person singular is used in Modern Greek onlywith members of the family or close friends. In more formalsituations, the second person plural is used even whenaddressing one person. All the second person forms arelabeled in this chapter “familiar singular” (FAM. SING.) or“plural, formal singular” (PL., FORM. SING.) to show that oneform 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 afamiliar or formal situation or one person formally.

The Verb Stems

A major characteristic of the Modern Greek verbal system isthat it is based on two stems: the present stem and the aoriststem.

The present stem (that part of the present tense verb thatcomes before the endings) is used to produce the present, theimperfect, theconditional, the indefinite future, the present subjunctive andthe present imperative. To obtain the present tense stem, dropthe -ω (or -αω) of the first person singular active: the stem ofπιάνω (I catch) is πιαν-; ἀγαπάω (or ἀγαπ ) (I love) has thestem ἀγαπ - and the stem of ἀδικ (I do wrong to) is ἀδικ-.

The other essential stem form, the aorist (active), can bederived regularly from the present stem for most verbs by theaddition of -σ- (see p. 55). From this stem is formed the aoristpast, the definite future, the aorist subjunctive and the aoristimperative.

A third stem, the aorist passive, is based on the aorist (active)stem and is characterized by -θ- or -τ- instead of -σ-. See thesections on “Aorist Passive” (p. 60) and “Principal Parts ofSome Irregular Modern Greek Verbs” (p. 73).

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The Two Conjugations

All verbs in Modern Greek (with the exception of a fewirregular verbs) belong to one or the other of twoconjugations. Once you know the conjugation to which a verbbelongs, its particular endings are more or less predictable.The conjugation of a Modern Greek verb is determined by theplace of the stress in the first person singular of the presentactive: the first conjugation includes verbs like πιάνω (Icatch) where the stress is not on the ending (-ω), while thesecond conjugation contains those verbs like ἀγαπάω (or ἀγαπ

) (I love) and ἀδικ (I do wrong to) where the stress is onthe ending.* The second conjugation is divided into two subclasses in thepresent active depending on whether the third person singularends in -άει (which also appears as - ) or in -ε . All regularverbs belonging to a particular conjugation are conjugatedlike 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 activitytaking place in the present. We can say “I catch,” “I amcatching” or “I do catch.” These three forms correspond to

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slight differences in meaning. Modern Greek, on the otherhand, includes all three varieties of meaning in its presenttense:

FIRST CONJUGATION

SECOND CONJUGATION (SUBCLASS A)

Some common verbs which belong to Subclass A areρωτάω/ρωτ (I ask), διψ , (I am thirsty), μιλ (I speak,talk), πειν (I am hungry), κολυμπ (I swim), πουλ (Isell).

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).

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Modern Greek is not rigidly standardized and there are places,particularly in the second conjugation, where there is morethan one ending in common use to express a particular personor number. The one given first in the paradigms is probablythe most popular one in spoken Modern Greek and is the oneyou should probably memorize and use yourself. Thealternate endings, given in parentheses, will appear often,however, in written Modern Greek (and often enough inspoken Modern Greek) so that you must learn to recognizethem when you see or hear them, even if you do not use themyourself.

The Present Tense of Some Commonly Used IrregularVerbs

There are a few frequently used verbs that are not conjugatedlike the model verbs. The irregularity consists of the deletionof the vowel part of some of the personal endings. As a modelwe may use ἀkoύω (I hear):

The present tense of καίω (I burn), κλαίω (I weep), ϕταίω (Iam to blame) and πάω (I go) is conjugated like ἀκούω.Certain similar verbs whose stems end in -γ- may lose thatfinal -γ- and are then conjugated like ἀκούω. This groupincludes λέ (γ)ω (I say), τρώ(γ)ω (I eat) and ϕυλά(γ)ω (Iguard). If they do not lose the final -γ- they are conjugatedregularly, 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 “usedto happen” in the past; that is, it represents an ongoing orhabitual activity in the past. The first conjugation imperfect isnormally marked by a special prefix, ἐ- (called “theaugment”), which appears on verbs that begin with aconsonant. This augment bears the stress if the augment is thethird syllable from the end; however, the augment is generallydropped if the verb form without the augment is three or moresyllables long. In the first conjugation the endings are addeddirectly to the present tense stem, while in the secondconjugation another element, -ουσ-, which is always stressed,comes between the stem and the endings. Since the augmentis always unstressed in second conjugation verbs, it is rarelyseen in the second conjugation.

The imperfect of the first conjugation πιάνω is ἔπιανα (Icaught, 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 conjugationthe stress always falls on the third syllable from the end.

The imperfect of the second conjugation may be illustrated byἀγαπο σα (I loved, was loving, used to love):

SECOND CONJUGATION

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

NOTE: The augment of some verbs in the imperfect shows ηor ει instead of ε:

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“Tο Be” and “Tο Have”

For convenience, we present here the conjugations of theextremely 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 orrepeated action in the past, the aorist normally refers to asingle action in the past or to an action that has beencompleted. (The contrast in verb forms between duration, orongoing activity, and a single or completed action is known ingrammatical terminology as “aspect.” Aspect will be seen toaffect more parts of verbs than merely the past tenses.)

The usual English equivalent of the Modern Greek aorist pastwould be the simple past, so that the aorist ἔπιασα equals “Icaught.” Also, Modern Greek often uses the aorist past incases where a past action impinges in some way on thepresent, that is to say, where English would use “I havecaught.”

The aorist past is characterized by the same augment (whichagain usually disappears in forms of more than threesyllables) and personal endings as the imperfect. It is usuallydistinguished from the imperfect by the presence of -σ-between the verb stem and the personal endings. Most firstconjugation verbs add -σ- directly to the stem, often causingalterations to it, whereas in the second conjugation, -σ- ispreceded 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 (Icatch):

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- (asπιάνω, above) and most of those with stems ending in -ζ-,lose this consonant before the -σ- in the aorist stem: θέτω (Iput), aorist; ἔθεσα; έλπίζω (I hope), aorist ἔλπισα.

2. But there are a few common verbs whose stem ends in -ζ-that show -ξ- in the aorist rather than the expected -σ-:ἀλλάζω (I change), aorist ἂλλαξα; παίζω (I play), aoristἔπαιξα.

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 theaorist 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 conjugationverbs ending in -αυ- and -ευ-, it is fairly common to find -αυσ-and -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 -χν-combine 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 pastwithout -σ-, adding only the appropriate personal endings:κάνω (I do, make), aorist ἔκανα; οἰκτίρω (I pity), aoristοἵκτιρa; πρέπει (it is necessary), aorist ἔπρεπε.

SECOND CONJUGATION AORIST PAST

Second conjugation verbs usually have -σ- in the aoristpreceded by-η-, but we also find -α- and -ε-: áγαπ (I love), aoristἀγάπησα; γελ (I laugh, cheat), aorist γέλασα; μπορ (I can),aorist μπόρεσα.

Sometimes we find -ξ- instead οf -σ-: τραβ (I pull), aoristτράβηξα; βαστ (I carry), aorist βάστηξα; πηδ (I jump),aorist πήδηξα.

NOTE: The augment of some verbs in the aorist shows η or ειinstead of ε:

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

Aorist and Imperfect Pasts Contrasted

We have already said a few words about the aspectualconnotations of the aorist and the imperfect past. Thedistinction between them is important in all the tenses, voicesand moods of the Modern Greek verbal system. Those verbalforms, such as the imperfect, that are based on the presentstem imply that the action they describe either enduresthrough time or is repeated. Verbal forms based on the aoriststem, by contrast, describe actions that are perceived asunitary and discrete, with emphasis on the completion orresult of the action rather than on the process. The differencebetween the imperfect and aorist past tenses is perhaps bestexemplified in sentences where the imperfect form describesan action that serves as a background for another event; theimperfect connotes ongoing activity during which anotheraction may occur, an action that is viewed as a completedwhole (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 bedescribed by either aorist or imperfect verb forms, dependingon perspective:

Tὸ λεωϕορε ο πάντα ἔϕευγε σ᾿ τὶζ ἑπτὰ τὸ βράδυ ἀπ᾿ τὴνἈθήνα.

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 καλάθιἀγγούρια ἔπεσε ἀπ᾿ τὴν όροϕή.

While the bus was leaving (IMPERF.) yesterday at seven, abasket of cucumbers fell (AOR.) from the roof.

The first sentence about the bus illustrates the use of theimperfect for describing habitual, repeated action, while thesecond sentence has the aorist describing a discrete, one-timeoccurrence. In the third sentence the same single event (thedeparture of the bus) serves as the temporally extendedbackground (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 presenttense stem and those based on the aorist stem are sometimessubtle (and sometimes a matter of idiomatic usage that is not

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strictly logical), careful attention to the guidelines sketchedout here should enable the beginner in Modern Greek tochoose the right form most of the time. Generally speaking,the aorist-based form is used unless there is some particularreason to emphasize the repetition, duration or backgroundnature of an event.

The Passive Voice

Transitive verbs in Modern Greek may be either active (as inthe paradigms given so far) or passive. That is to say, we mayrelate 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 theequivalent of the English “by him” in a passive sentence.

The passive voice in Modern Greek is often used to express areflexive meaning. In English we often omit the reflexivepronoun in what is logically a reflexive sentence. Forexample, we say “I shave” meaning “I shave myself.” Theactive form of “I shave” in Modern Greek is ξυρίζω, but inthis form the verb demands a direct object, as in Ξυρίζω τὸσκυλί (I shave the dog). To express the meaning “I shavemyself,” 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 reciprocalaction (usually expressed in English by “each other”). One of

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the more common examples of this usage is the verbπαντρεύω (I marry). Παντρενόμαστε, the passive first personplural 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 commonones, are inflected like passive verbs but are active inmeaning. These verbs are called “deponent.” They may beeither of the first conjugation, such as ἔρχομαι (I come),conjugated like πιάνομαι (I am caught), or of the second, suchas ἀρνιέμαι (I refuse, deny), conjugated like ἀγαπιέμαι (I amloved).

There are two further subgroups of the second conjugationthat apply only to deponents. Though small, Subclass C

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

SECOND CONJUGATION DEPONENT (SUBCLASS C)

Also in this group are: θυμο μαι (I remember), λοπο μαι (Iam sorry [for]), and ϕοβο μαι (I am afraid).

SECOND CONJUGATION DEPONENT (SUBCLASS D)

Also in this subclass are such verbs as συνεννοο μαι (I reachan 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 veryformal written Modern Greek.

SECOND CONJUGATION

Deponent verbs like κοιμο μαι (I sleep) (Subclass C) areconjugated in the deponent imperfect like verbs of the firstconjugation passive imperfect, such as πιανόμουνα (I wascaught): κοιμόμουνα (I was sleeping).

Deponent verbs like μιμο μαι (I copy) (Subclass D) replacethe -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 isdistinguished

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from the active by a separate set of personal endings, theaorist passive is formed by the addition of -θηκ- or -τηκ- tothe aorist active stem (with certain modifications), plus theregular 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 secondconjugation, where it normally attaches to a preceding vowel.In the first conjugation aorist passive the distinctive elementis 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 apassive 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 passiveaorist in -χτηκ-: προσέχω (I notice), πρόσεξα (I noticed),προσέχτηκα (I was noticed).

3. Also ending in -χτηκ- in the aorist passive stem are verbswhose present stem ends in -σσ- or -ττ-, with an active aoristin -ξ-: πράττω (I do, make), ἔπραξα (I did, made), πράχτηκα (Iwas made).

4. Verbs with present tense stems ending in -τ-, -θ- or -ζ-,with an active aorist stem ending in -σ-, have a passive aoristin -στηκ-: λούζω (I wash), ἔλουσα (I washed), λούστηκα (I waswashed).

5. Present stems ending in -v- that end in -σ- in the activeaorist stem normally have only -θηκ- in the passive aorist, e.g.σκοτώνω (I kill),σκότωσα (I killed), σκοτώθηκα (I was killed). But some suchverbs 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 activeaorist 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 theaorist 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); polysyllabicγλυκαίνω (I sweeten), γλύκανα (I sweetened), γλυκάθηκα (I

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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-, -ηξ-and -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 wasloved).

The Aorist Deponent

There is, of course, no active verb stem or active aorist formfor deponents (a handful of exceptions take an active form inthe aorist). The removal of the present tense deponent endings(-ομαι, -ο μαι, -ιέμαι) does give a present tense stem for theseverbs, which will usually enable you to predict the form of theaorist by following the same rules given above for theconjugation 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 (Idream), 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 thedifferences in aspect between the imperfect and the aorist inthe past. They are the indefinite future (corresponding to the

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imperfect past) and the definite future (corresponding to theaorist past). The indefinite future connotes the repetition orduration 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 theparticle θά, which signals the future tense.

The Indefinite Future

The indefinite future is formed with the particle θά and thepresent tense. These forms end in -ω, -ειζ, -ει, -ουμε (or -ομε),-ετε, -ουν(ε) in the active (see “The Present Tense,�