This was originally posted by panagiotis_ts
Hello everyone! This is the 13th lesson of my series of Greek lessons. Here you'll learn how to form negative and interrogative sentences in Greek, as well as some prepositions followed by the accusative case and some places of a city. Remember that I don't write how words are pronounced, because you' ve already learned it in the first lesson.
Forming negative sentences in Greek is really simple. You just have to put the word δε(ν)before the verb of the sentence. Δε(ν) is the equivalent of "not" in English. For example:
Ζωγραφίζω ένα δέντρο. = I draw a tree. --> Δε ζωγραφίζω ένα δέντρο. = I don't draw a tree.
Μαθαίνω γαλλικά. = I learn French. --> Δε μαθαίνω γαλλικά. = I don't learn French.
Είμαι ο Γιάννης. = I'm Yanis. --> Δεν είμαι ο Γιάννης. = I'm not Yanis.
Είμαι από την Αγγλία. = I come from England. --> Δεν είμαι από την Αγγλία. = I don't come from England.
Πίνω νερό. = I drink water. --> Δεν πίνω νερό. = I don't drink water.
So, when do you have to use δε and when δεν? You must remember the "final "ν" rule", which you can find in this lesson.
Now, let's see how we can form interrogative sentences in Greek. Well, as in all the languages of the world, in Greek, questions are divided in two categories. Those who have an interrogative word (like what, how, etc) and those who don't.
To form those who don't have one is really simple. You just have to take the affirmative sentence and put a question mark in the end of it. But be careful!!! The question mark in Greek isn't "?", as in most languages, but ";". For example:
Είσαι από τη Γαλλία. = You come from France. --> Είσαι από τη Γαλλία; = Do you come from France?
Πίνετε χυμό. = You drink juice. --> Πίνετε χυμό; = Do you drink juice?
However, in colloquial Greek, in this kind of questions, you may hear the verb in the end of the question. For example:
Από τη Γαλλία είσαι; = Do you come from France?
Χυμό πίνετε; = Do you drink juice? And now let's see the interrogative questions in which an interrogative word can be found. Interrogative words in Greek are the following:
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Ποιος; = Who? Note that this is an adjective and changes endings in cases and the plural number. It is "ποιος" (for masculine nouns), "ποια" (for feminine nouns) and "ποιο" (for neuter nouns) in singular nominative. In singular accusative it's "ποιον", "ποια" and "ποιοι". In the plural number it's "ποιοι", "ποιες" and "ποια" in the nominative case and "ποιους", "ποιες" and "ποια" in the accusative case. I know that it's a little confusing, but exercise makes perfect!!! For example:Ποιος είναι αυτός; = Who is he?
Ποια είναι αυτή; = Who is she?
Ποιο είναι το αγόρι; = Who is the boy?
Ποιον άντρα βλέπεις; = Which man do you see? (here I guess that it must be translated with the word "which" in English)
Ποια γυναίκα βλέπεις; = Which woman do you see?
Ποιο παιδί βλέπεις; = Which kid do you see?
Ποιοι είναι αυτοί; = Who are they? (masculine)
Ποιες είναι αυτές; = Who are they? (feminine)
Ποια είναι τα παιδιά στο πάρκο; = Who are the kids in the park?
Πόσος; = How much?/How many? Note that it is also an adjective (like ποιος) and the endings that it can take are the following: Sing. Nominative: "πόσος", "πόση" and "πόσο", sing. accusative: "πόσο", "πόση" and "πόσο", pl. nominative: "πόσοι", "πόσες" and "πόσα", pl. accusative: "πόσους", "πόσες", "πόσα".
Τίνος; = Whose?
Πώς; = How?
Πού; = Where?
Πότε; = When?
Τι; = What?
Γιατί; = Why?
Now, let's learn some vocabulary about the places of a city.
η πόλη = the city, the town
η οδός = the street
η πλατεία = the square
η εκκλησία = the church
το σχολείο = the school
το σούπερ μάρκετ = the supermarket (the Greek word for supermarket is "η υπεραγορά", but noone uses it)
η τράπεζα = the bank
το βιβλιοπωλείο = the bookshop
το κοσμηματοπωλείο = the jewellery shop
ο φούρνος = the bakery
η παραλία = the beach
το ξενοδοχείο = the hotel
το νοσοκομείο = the hospital
το πάρκο = the park
η καφετέρια = the café (you can also use the word "το καφέ")
η ταβέρνα = the restaurant (although the "official" word is "το εστιατόριο")
το αεροδρόμιο = the airport
το λιμάνι = the harbour
And now, let's see some prepositions which are followed by the accusative case.
σε = in, to από = from Note that the preposition "σε" can be mixed with a definite article. The definite articles for the accusative case are "το(ν)", "τη(ν)" and "το" for the singular number and "τους", "τις" and "τα" for the plural number.
σε + το(ν) = στο(ν) σε + τη(ν) = στη(ν) σε + το = στο σε + τους = στους σε + τις = στις σε + τα = στα
Please note that it is compulsory to use a mixed type of the preposition "σε" when it is followed by a definite article. For example, you can't say "Πηγαίνω σε την πόλη", but "Πηγαίνω στην πόλη" (= I am going to the city.). But you can also say "Πηγαίνω σε μία πόλη" (= I am going to a city.). Also, these prepositions can be accompanied with some adverbs to show a location or a direction. For example, "δίπλα σε" means "next to" and "απέναντι από" means "opposite". For example:
Η τράπεζα είναι δίπλα στο φούρνο. = The bank is next to the bakery.
Το πάρκο είναι απέναντι από το ξενοδοχείο. = The park is opposite the hotel.
I hope that you have liked this lesson,
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