Dialogue

Vocabulary

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Lesson Notes

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Lesson Transcript

Introduction
Eric: Welcome to 3-Minute Greek Season 1, Lesson 17 - Why? In this lesson, you’ll learn how to ask and answer the question ‘why?’ in Greek.
Body
Eric: Here's the informal way to ask 'Why were you late?' in Greek.
Chrissi: [Normal] Γιατί άργησες; (Yatí áryises?)
Eric: First is the interrogative particle meaning 'why'
Chrissi: [Normal] Γιατί [Slow] Γιατί (yatí)
Eric: Last is the verb meaning 'you were late'
Chrissi: [Normal] άργησες [Slow] άργησες (áryises)
Eric: Note the rising intonation. Listen again to the informal question meaning 'Why were you late?'
Chrissi: [Slow] Γιατί άργησες; [Normal] Γιατί άργησες;
Eric: Here's a response meaning 'I missed the train.'
Chrissi: [Normal] Έχασα το τρένο. (Éhasa to tréno.)
Eric: First is the verb meaning 'I missed'
Chrissi: [Normal] έχασα [Slow] έχασα (éhasa)
Eric: Next is the neuter article meaning 'the'
Chrissi: [Normal] το [Slow] το (to)
Eric: Last is the neuter noun meaning 'train'
Chrissi: [Normal] τρένο [Slow] τρένο (tréno)
Eric: Listen again to the response meaning 'I missed the train.'
Chrissi: [Slow] Έχασα το τραίνο. [Normal] Έχασα το τραίνο.
Eric: Now, imagine you're speaking to a friend. Here's the way to ask, 'Why are you leaving so early?'
Chrissi: [Normal] Γιατί φεύγεις τόσο νωρίς; (Yatí févyis tóso norís?)
Eric: First is the interrogative particle meaning 'why'
Chrissi: [Normal] γιατί [Slow] γιατί (yatí)
Eric: Next is the verb meaning 'you are leaving'
Chrissi: [Normal] φεύγεις [Slow] φεύγεις (févyis)
Eric: Next is the adverb meaning 'so'
Chrissi: [Normal] τόσο [Slow] τόσο (tóso)
Eric: Last is the adverb meaning 'early'
Chrissi: [Normal] νωρίς [Slow] νωρίς (norís)
Eric: Listen again to the question, 'Why are you leaving so early?'
Chrissi: [Slow] Γιατί φεύγεις τόσο νωρίς; [Normal] Γιατί φεύγεις τόσο νωρίς;
Eric: Here's a response meaning, 'In order not to miss the train.'
Chrissi: [Normal] Για να μη χάσω το τρένο. (Ya na mi háso to tréno.)
Eric: First is a preposition meaning 'in order'
Chrissi: [Normal] για [Slow] για (ya)
Eric: Next is the conjunction meaning 'to'
Chrissi: [Normal] να [Slow] να (na)
Eric: Next is a particle meaning 'not'
Chrissi: [Normal] μη [Slow] μη (mi)
Eric: Next is the verb meaning 'I miss'
Chrissi: [Normal] χάσω [Slow] χάσω (háso)
Eric: Next is the neuter definite article meaning 'the'
Chrissi: [Normal] το [Slow] το (to)
Eric: Last is the neuter noun meaning 'train'
Chrissi: [Normal] τρένο [Slow] τρένο (tréno)
Eric: Listen again to the response, 'In order not to miss the train.''
Chrissi: [Slow] Για να μη χάσω το τρένο. [Normal] Για να μη χάσω το τρένο.
Cultural Insight
Eric: Now it's time for a quick cultural insight.
Chrissi: A commonly used expression in Greece is Γιατί όχι; (Yatí óhi?) which means “Why not?” You can use it to accept a proposition if you agree but aren’t really keen to do it, or you don’t mind either way.
For example, if a friend asks you suddenly Τι λες να πηγαίναμε σινεμά απόψε; (Ti les na piyéname sinemá apópse?), which means "How about going to the movies tonight?" You can answer Γιατί όχι;.

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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