Dialogue

Vocabulary (Review)

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Lesson Transcript

INTRODUCTION
Fay: Hello. Beginner Season 1, Lesson 6 - Greek Millions and Billions. I’m Faye.
Chrissi: Chrissi here.
Fay: What are we learning in this lesson
Chrissi: We are looking at the numbers – singular or plural – of Greek nouns.
Fay: The conversation takes place in front of a kiosk in Athens.
Chrissi: It’s between Petra Gordon and a Greek stranger.
Fay: Although the characters don’t know each other, the conversation is informal.
Chrissi: Let’s listen.

Lesson conversation

Πέτρα: Τι είναι αυτό; Καινούριο δάνειο 100 δισεκατομμύρια ευρώ;
Γυναίκα: Ναι. Σχεδόν 80 εκατομμύρια κάθε μήνα για τους επόμενους δώδεκα μήνες.
Πέτρα Γκόρντον: Δηλαδή, είναι 1000 ευρώ κάθε μήνα για κάθε Έλληνα πολίτη;
Γυναίκα: Μακάρι!
Fay: Now with the slow version.
Πέτρα: Τι είναι αυτό; Καινούριο δάνειο 100 δισεκατομμύρια ευρώ;
Γυναίκα: Ναι. Σχεδόν 80 εκατομμύρια κάθε μήνα για τους επόμενους δώδεκα μήνες.
Πέτρα Γκόρντον: Δηλαδή, είναι 1000 ευρώ κάθε μήνα για κάθε Έλληνα πολίτη;
Γυναίκα: Μακάρι!
Fay: Now with the English translation.
Πέτρα: Τι είναι αυτό; Καινούριο δάνειο 100 δισεκατομμύρια ευρώ;
Fay: What is this? A new hundred-billion-euro loan?
Γυναίκα: Ναι. Σχεδόν 80 εκατομμύρια κάθε μήνα για τους επόμενους δώδεκα μήνες.
Fay: Yes. About eighty million every month for the next twelve months.
Πέτρα Γκόρντον: Δηλαδή, είναι 1000 ευρώ κάθε μήνα για κάθε Έλληνα πολίτη;
Fay: So it is one thousand euro every month for every Greek citizen?
Γυναίκα: Μακάρι!
Fay: We wish!
POST CONVERSATION BANTER
Fay: So περίπτερο (periptero) means “kiosk.”
Chrissi: Yes.
Fay: And it’s like a newsstand?
Chrissi: Not exactly—it’s a cross between a newsstand and a convenience store.
Fay: And what’s so unique about it? Such stores are everywhere in the world.
Chrissi: A "periptero" covers an area of just one square meter. This is, what? Less than 11 square feet?
Fay: Really?! And how does everything fit in there?
Chrissi: This is one of the great Greek mysteries. Only περιπτεράδες (peripterades), the people who own and work at them, know that.
Fay: And these are all over Greece?
Chrissi: Yes. Most Greeks will stop at least once a day at a "periptero" to buy cigarettes, a newspaper, bus tickets, a soda, a pen, or anything else that comes to mind; the "periptero" probably has it.
Fay: Interesting. I’ll have to check them out the next time I’m in Greece.
Chrissi: Sure. But for now, let’s go to our vocabulary, shall we?
Fay: Of course!
VOCAB LIST
Fay: First, we have…
Chrissi: τι [natural native speed].
Fay: What.
Chrissi: τι [slowly - broken down by syllable]. τι [natural native speed].
Fay: Next…
Chrissi: καινούριο [natural native speed].
Fay: New.
Chrissi: καινούριο [slowly - broken down by syllable]. καινούριο [natural native speed].
Fay: Next…
Chrissi: κάθε [natural native speed].
Fay: Each, every.
Chrissi: κάθε [slowly - broken down by syllable]. κάθε [natural native speed].
Fay: Next…
Chrissi: μήνας [natural native speed].
Fay: Month.
Chrissi: μήνας [slowly - broken down by syllable]. μήνας [natural native speed].
Fay: Next…
Chrissi: επόμενους [natural native speed].
Fay: Next.
Chrissi: επόμενους [slowly - broken down by syllable]. επόμενους [natural native speed].
Fay: Next…
Chrissi: Έλληνας [natural native speed].
Fay: Greek.
Chrissi: Έλληνας [slowly - broken down by syllable]. Έλληνας [natural native speed].
Fay: Next…
Chrissi: πολίτης [natural native speed].
Fay: Citizen.
Chrissi: πολίτης [slowly - broken down by syllable]. πολίτης [natural native speed].
Fay: Next…
Chrissi: εκατομμύριο [natural native speed].
Fay: Million.
Chrissi: εκατομμύριο [slowly - broken down by syllable]. εκατομμύριο [natural native speed].
Fay: Next…
Chrissi: δισεκατομμύριο [natural native speed].
Fay: Billion.
Chrissi: δισεκατομμύριο [slowly - broken down by syllable]. δισεκατομμύριο [natural native speed].
Fay: Next…
Chrissi: μακάρι [natural native speed].
Fay: To wish, hope.
Chrissi: μακάρι [slowly - broken down by syllable]. μακάρι [natural native speed].
KEY VOCABULARY AND PHRASES
Fay: Let's have a closer look at some of the words and phrases from this lesson.
Fay: Isn’t there a real “I wish” in Greek?
Chrissi: Yes, there is. But we use it when we are wishing something to someone.
Fay: Like a happy birthday?
Chrissi: Yes. If someone has a birthday, we can say Σου εύχομαι χρόνια πολλά (Sou euchomai chronia polla) “I wish you many years” or simply χρόνια πολλά (chronia polla) “many years”.
Fay: But in cases when we hope for something to happen or not to happen...
Chrissi: …we use μακάρι (makari). For example, Μακάρι να έρθει (Makari na erthei) is “I hope that he (or she) will come.” Try repeating that. Μακάρι να έρθει (Makari na erthei).
Fay: Μακάρι να έρθει (Makari na erthei). How about “I hope the weather will be good tomorrow”?
Chrissi: Μακάρι να έχει καλό καιρό αύριο (Makari na echei kalo kairo avrio). Try repeating that, too. Μακάρι να έχει καλό καιρό αύριο (Makari na echei kalo kairo avrio).
Fay: It’s not that hard. By the way, the word “Greek” is a noun, right?
Chrissi: A noun and an adjective, like all nationalities.
Fay: So if we say “This is an American”…
Chrissi: Αυτός είναι Αμερικανός (Autos einai Amerikanos). We have a noun.
Fay: But if we say “Barack Obama is the American president”...
Chrissi: Ο Μπαράκ Ομπάμα είναι ο Αμερικανός πρόεδρος (O Mparak Ompama einai o Amerikanos proedros). We have an adjective.
Fay: Like in English!
Chrissi: Yes. There are many points in common between the two languages, and in these lessons we try to point them out so people can learn Greek more easily!
Fay: Great! Shall we go on to our main Grammar Point?
Chrissi: Sure. Let’s go!

Lesson focus

Fay: What do we have for this lesson?
Chrissi: Numbers.
Fay: Like “one,” “two,” “three”? Do we learn how to count?
Chrissi: No. Like “singular” and “plural”; the number of nouns, articles, adjectives, et cetera.
Fay: In Greek we have two numbers, right?
Chrissi: Yes. Like most languages, modern Greek distinguishes between one and many, so the singular number refers to one person, object, or situation, and the plural number refers to more than one.
Fay: Let’s start with an example from our dialogue. “A month” is...?
Chrissi: Ένας μήνας (Enas minas). Repeat after me: [slow] Ένας μήνας (Enas minas).
Fay: And “two months”? In English we just add a final “-s.” In Greek?
Chrissi: Well, in Greek it’s more complicated. Basically, the ending of the word changes, so two months would be δύο (dyo), that’s the word for “two”, μήνες (mines), that’s the word for “months”. [slow] Δύο μήνες (Dyo mines). The final "-as" becomes "-es".
Fay: Right. Ένας μήνας (Enas minas). Δύο μήνες (Dyo mines). And it’s the same for all nouns?
Chrissi: Unfortunately, no—and this is where things might get a little complicated.
Fay: Why?
Chrissi: Because depending on the gender of the noun, the ending might change in other ways.
Fay: Hmm. Let’s take another example from our dialogue, this time in the neuter gender.
Chrissi: OK. We have ένα εκατομμύριο (ena ekatommyrio)) "one million”).
Fay: Right. And the plural of that—“two million”—would be?
Chrissi: Δύο εκατομμύρια (Dyo ekatommyria). Repeat after me. [slow] Δύο εκατομμύρια (Dyo ekatommyria). The final "-o" becomes "-a".
Fay: I see. How can we know how the ending will change.
Chrissi: Basically through memorization—and experience!
Fay: Luckily, in our PDF we have codified all these changes, right?
Chrissi: Yes! So please download the PDF and see how the endings change according to each gender.
Fay: For now, can we give some more examples? For example, how do the various means of transportation change to the plural?
Chrissi: Sure. Let’s see. Το τρένο (To treno)) "the train”) becomes τα τρένα (ta trena)) "the trains”).
Fay: “The airplane”?
Chrissi: Το αεροπλάνο (To aeroplano) becomes τα αεροπλάνα (ta aeroplana).
Fay: “A ship”?
Chrissi: Το πλοίο (To ploio), τα πλοία (ta ploia).
Fay: “A car”?
Chrissi: Το αυτοκίνητο (To autokinito), τα αυτοκίνητα (ta autokinita).
Fay: These all sound similar. Is it because they are all in the neuter gender?
Chrissi: Yes. Practice them and you will begin to understand how nouns form the plural.
Fay: Let’s leave it at that for this lesson. Download the PDF and do some studying, and we’ll revisit them in a future lesson. Bye-bye for now!
Chrissi: Γεια χαρά! (Geia chara!)

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