Dialogue

Vocabulary

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Lesson Transcript

Maria: Welcome back to Basic Boot Camp. This five-part series will help you ease your way into Greek. We'll go over all the basics that will really help you understand Greek more quickly, and less painfully!
Iro: Yeah, it's fun!
Maria: We promise!
Iro: In this lesson, you will learn one of the essentials in Greek…numbers.
Maria: So, everybody…pull out your abacuses…
Iro: Haha.
Maria: Kidding!
Iro: At least, we'll try to make learning numbers as easy for you as using an abacus.
Maria: Yes, we'll start with the basics. In this lesson, we will count from one to one hundred.
Iro: And beyond…a little.
Maria: Okay, now what is something in Greek that we would count in tens, Iro?
Iro: Well, okay, I have one. How about cell phones!
Maria: Perfect. However, with that one, I think we are going to get a lot higher than ten, but it works.
Iro: So, maybe let's count how many cell phones there are in one shop.
Maria: Okay. Let's hear our little number sequence.
Phrases with English
Iro: ένα (1), δύο (2), τρία (3), ), τέσσερα (4), πέντε (5), έξι (6), εφτά (7), οκτώ (8), εννιά (9), δέκα (10), έντεκα (11), δώδεκα (12), δεκατρία (13), δεκατέσσερα (14), δεκαπέντε (15), δεκαέξι (16), δεκαεφτά (17), δεκαοκτώ (18), δεκαεννιά (19), είκοσι (20), τριάντα(30), σαράντα (40), πενήντα (50), εξήντα (60), εβδομήντα (70), ογδόντα (80), ενενήντα (90), εκατό (100).
Slow
Maria: Let’s hear it slowly now.
Iro: Ας το ακούσουμε τώρα αργά.
Iro:
Έ-να (1), δύ-ο (2), τρί-α (3), τέσ-σε-ρα (4), πέ-ντε (5), έ-ξι (6), εφ-τά (7), οκ-τώ (8), εν-νι-ά (9), δέ-κα (10), έ-ντε-κα (11), δώ-δε-κα (12), δε-κα-τρί-α (13), δε-κα-τέσ-σε-ρα (14), δε-κα-πέ-ντε (15), δε-κα-έ-ξι (16), δε-κα-εφ-τά (17), δε-κα-οκ-τώ (18), δε-κα-εν-νι-ά (19), εί-κο-σι (20), τρι-ά-ντα(30), σα-ρά-ντα (40), πε-νή-ντα (50), ε-ξή-ντα (60), εβ-δο-μή-ντα (70), ογ-δό-ντα (80), ε-νε-νή-ντα (90), ε-κα-τό (100).
11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19,
Translation
Maria: And now with the translation.
Iro: Και τώρα η μετάφραση!
Iro: ένα (1), δύο (2), τρία (3) (Maria: one, two, three)
Iro: ), τέσσερα (4), πέντε (5), έξι (6), (Maria: four, five, six)
Iro: εφτά (7), οκτώ (8), εννιά (9), δέκα (10), (Maria: seven, eight, nine, ten
Iro: έντεκα (11), δώδεκα (12), δεκατρί-α (13) (Maria: eleven, twelve, thirteen)
Iro: δεκατέσσερα (14), δεκαπέντε (15), δεκαέξι (16) (Maria: fourteen, fifteen, sixteen)
Iro: δεκαεφτά (17), δεκαοκτώ (18), δεκαεννιά (19) (Maria: seventeen, eighteen, nineteen)
Iro: είκοσι (20), τριάντα(30), σαράντα (40), πενήντα (50), εξήντα (60), εβδομή-ντα (70), ογδόντα (80), ενενήντα (90), εκατό (100) (Maria: twenty, thirty, forty, fifty, sixty, seventy, eighty, ninety, one hundred)
Post banter
Maria: The words themselves sound so long, especially those after ten!
Iro: Maybe, but you'll see later that they all have a very logical structure, and once you've learned the numbers from one to ten, you'll be able to build larger numbers by putting together different parts of the words, just like bricks in building a house!
Maria: Comparing a number to building a house doesn't sound easy to me!
Iro: Don't worry, I know a trick to make it much easier than it sounds.
Maria: Great, share it with us!
Vocabulary
Maria: So here is what we're going to have you all do. No matter where you are, no matter if you're at home, or on the subway, in your car, we want you to talk to yourself.
Iro: Yes, don't worry if people think you're crazy.
Maria: It's for a good cause. Basically, Iro is going to read out each number, and you have to repeat after her.
Iro: Okay, here we go. I will say it and give you time to repeat aloud after me.
ένα, δύο, τρία, τέσσερα, πέντε, έξι, εφτά, οκτώ, εννιά, δέκα.
Maria: Okay, those aren't too hard.
Iro: I'm glad it wasn't too painful for you. Now, I'm going to read numbers from eleven to twenty.
Maria: Listen carefully!
Iro: έντεκα, δώδεκα, δεκατρία, δεκατέσσερα, δεκαπέντε, δεκαέξι, δεκαεφτά, δεκαοκτώ, δεκαεννιά, είκοσι.
Maria: Now, please read in multiples of ten, up to one hundred.
Iro: δέκα, είκοσι, τριάντα, σαράντα, πενήντα, εξήντα, εβδομήντα, ογδόντα, ενενήντα, εκατό.
Grammar
Maria: Okay, now let's take a look at how to construct or use these numbers, put them together.
Iro: So one to ten are pretty easy. But there are things that need special attention here - numbers "one," "three," and "four."
Maria: These three numbers change according to the gender of the noun following them. Number two also sounds different when used in plural. So here we go…
Iro: Μία
Maria: "one" (feminine singular nominative).
Iro: Ένας
Maria: "one" (masculine singular nominative).
Iro: Ένα
Maria: "one" (neuter singular nominative).
Maria: Let's try with the examples.
Iro: Μία κοπέλα.
Maria: "one girl"
Iro: Ένας άντρας
Maria: "one man"
Iro: Ένα εισιτήριο
Maria: "one ticket"
Maria: Κοπέλα ("girl") is obviously feminine in gender and άντρας ("man") is masculine, and εισιτήριο εισιτήριο, ("ticket") in Greek belongs to neuter gender. Here's one hint to help you remember Greek genders. Feminine words usually end with vowels, mostly "-a" or "-i." Most of the masculine words end with consonants, and neuter words with "-s" or "-o." The endings in numbers end correspondingly. "Μία", one ends with "-a," "ένας", one with a consonant.
Iro: So here, we have μια κοπέλα, ένας άντρας, and ένα εισιτήριο.
Maria: Now, number three. It also changes according to gender, and according to the number.
Iro: τρεις
Maria: "three" (feminine plural nominative)
Iro: τρεις
Maria: "three" (masculine plural nominative)
Iro: τρία
Maria: "three" (neuter plural nominative) Feminine and masculine sound the same. Now, let's say them with the examples.
Iro: Τρεις κοπέλες
Maria: "three girls"
Iro: Τρεις άντρες
Maria: "three men"
Iro: Τρία εισιτήρια.
Maria: "three tickets"
Maria: Now, the final, special number, "four." It also changes according to gender. But just like the number three, feminine and masculine sounds the same.
Iro: Τέσσερις
Maria: "four" (feminine plural nominative)
Iro: Τέσσερις
Maria: "four" (masculine plural nominative)
Iro: Τέσσερα
Maria: "four" (neutral plural nominative) Now, let's say them with the examples.
Iro: Τέσσερις κοπέλες.
Maria: "four girls"
Iro: Τέσσερις άντρες.
Maria: "four men"
Iro: Τέσσερα εισιτήρια.
Maria: "four tickets"
Maria: As we get past ten, you might have noticed a pattern developing. We form the numbers thirteen through nineteen simply by adding δέκα to the numbers three through nine. There are two exceptions, though, but the main thing to remember is δέκα.
Iro: έντεκα, δώδεκα, δεκατρία, δεκατέσσερα, δεκαπέντε, δεκαέξι, δεκαεπτά, δεκαοκτώ, δεκαεννέα. So, what "small exceptions" have you noticed, Maria?
Maria: Well, eleven and twelve don't use δέκα!
Iro: That’s right. Eleven and twelve are two numbers you need to learn separately as they don't have a logical structure like numbers thirteen to nineteen.
Maria: I always got confused and used to say "δέκα ένα," which definitely doesn't mean eleven!
Iro: Έντεκα. Δώδεκα.
Maria: There is a logical pattern to these two numbers though if you think about it.
Iro: Yeah, "eleven," or Έντεκα, actually means "one-ten." We have just changed the order of where δέκα comes in.
Maria: Yeah, so once you get used to it, you'll have no problems!
Iro: Έντεκα. Δώδεκα.
Maria: Great, we covered the most difficult part. Now let's take a look at the multiples of ten, which, once you know one to ten, are really easy!
Iro: Twenty, forty, and one-hundred are the only ones that stand out this time. Είκοσι,σαράντα, εκατό.
Maria: Other than these two, you add "-ντα" as an ending to your number.
Iro: So fifty would be πενήντα.
Maria: So as you might have noticed, "πεν-" is from "πέντε" ("number five"), and "--ήντα" indicates that it is a multiple of ten.
Iro: Here are the rest. τριάντα, εξήντα, εβδομήντα, ογδόντα, ενενήντα.
Maria: Okay, we're done with the multiples of ten. Now I'm going to venture into some other important number territory. But still, not higher than one hundred to start.
Iro: Yes. No number overloading. This may be boot camp, but there is no torture employed here.
Maria: Okay, so how old are you, Iro?
Iro: I see where you're going with this. Actually, you may have to employ torture to get this information. Okay, yes, yes, I am in the double digits. Twenty five.
Maria: So, to make a number that isn't in a denomination of ten, here's all you do. Twenty, we remember, is είκοσι. Well, now all you do is add on the rest.
Iro: Είκοσι πέντε.
Maria: Great, because πέντε is the number for "five." So all you have to do is say twenty plus a five on the end.
Iro: Yes, so let's try it with more numbers. How old are you, Maria? It's okay; they'll believe whatever we say. They can't see us!
Maria: So what is thirty-one in Greek?
Iro: Τριάντα ένα.
Mara: Yes, because it's thirty plus ένα, which is the number for "one." Okay, okay, Iro, let's tell them our real ages. We're actually sixty-eight. How do we say that?
Iro: Well the number for "sixty," remember, is εξήντα. So we just add the eight at the end. Εξήντα-οκτώ.
Maria: Okay, enough, enough. We got the idea, right? All you have to do is practice now!
Iro: Thank you for listening!
Maria: Bye!
Iro: Γεια σας!

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