Dialogue

Vocabulary

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Lesson Notes

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Lesson Transcript

Introduction
Eric: Welcome to 3-Minute Greek Season 1, Lesson 12 - Asking What Someone is Doing. In this lesson, you’ll learn how to ask and answer the question What are you doing? in Greek.
Body
Eric: Here's the informal way to ask 'What are you doing?' in Greek.
Chrissi: [Normal] Τι κάνεις; (Ti kánis?)
Eric: First is an interrogative pronoun meaning 'what'
Chrissi: [Normal] τι [Slow] τι (ti)
Eric: Last is the verb meaning 'you do'
Chrissi: [Normal] κάνεις [Slow] κάνεις (kánis)
Eric: Note the rising intonation. Listen again to the informal question meaning 'What are you doing?'
Chrissi: [Slow] Τι κάνεις; [Normal] Τι κάνεις;
Eric: Now, imagine you're speaking to someone you’ve just met. Here's the formal way to ask, 'What are you doing?'
Chrissi: [Normal] Τι κάνετε; (Ti kánete?)
Eric: First is an interrogative pronoun meaning 'what'
Chrissi: [Normal] τι [Slow] τι (ti)
Eric: Last is the verb meaning 'you do'
Chrissi: [Normal] κάνετε [Slow] κάνετε (kánete)
Eric: Note again the rising intonation. Listen again to the formal question meaning 'What are you doing?'
Chrissi: [Slow] Τι κάνετε; [Normal] Τι κάνετε;
Eric: Here's a response meaning 'I am studying.'
Chrissi: [Normal] Μελετώ. (Meletó.)
Eric: This sentence has only one verb meaning “I am studying.”
Chrissi: [Normal] μελετώ [Slow] μελετώ (meletó)
Eric: Listen again to the response, 'I am studying.'
Chrissi: [Slow] Μελετώ [Normal] Μελετώ
Eric: Here's a response meaning, 'I’m not doing anything special.'
Chrissi: [Normal] Δεν κάνω τίποτα το ιδιαίτερο. (Den káno típota to idiétero.)
Eric: First is the particle meaning 'not'
Chrissi: [Normal] δεν [Slow] δεν (den)
Eric: Next is the verb meaning 'I do'
Chrissi: [Normal] κάνω [Slow] κάνω (káno)
Eric: Next is the indefinite pronoun meaning 'anything'
Chrissi: [Normal] τίποτα [Slow] τίποτα (típota)
Eric: Next is the neuter article meaning 'the'
Chrissi: [Normal] το [Slow] το (to)
Eric: Last is the neuter adjective meaning 'special'
Chrissi: [Normal] ιδιαίτερο [Slow] ιδιαίτερο (idiétero)
Eric: Listen again to the response, 'I’m not doing anything special.'
Chrissi: [Slow] Δεν κάνω τίποτα το ιδιαίτερο. [Normal] Δεν κάνω τίποτα το ιδιαίτερο.
Cultural Insight
Eric: Now it's time for a quick cultural insight.
Chrissi: In Greek, we often say "Τι κάνουμε απόψε;" (Ti kánume apópse?) which means "What are we going to do tonight?" or "Κάνουμε κάτι απόψε;" (Kánume káti apópse?) which means "Are we doing anything tonight?" This is a very casual and natural question. Try it the next time you are with Greek friends!

Outro

Eric: And that’s all for this lesson. Don’t forget to check out the lesson notes, and we’ll see you in the next lesson!
Chrissi: Γεια χαρά!

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