Dialogue

Vocabulary

Learn New Words FAST with this Lesson’s Vocab Review List

Get this lesson’s key vocab, their translations and pronunciations. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.

Or sign up using Facebook
Already a Member?

Lesson Notes

Unlock In-Depth Explanations & Exclusive Takeaways with Printable Lesson Notes

Unlock Lesson Notes and Transcripts for every single lesson. Sign Up for a Free Lifetime Account and Get 7 Days of Premium Access.

Or sign up using Facebook
Already a Member?

Lesson Transcript

INTRODUCTION
Fay: Hello, and welcome back to GreekPod101.com. Beginner Season 1, Lesson 20 - The Greek Kids Are All Right. I’m Fay, and I’m joined by…
Chrissi: Chrissi.
Fay: What are we learning in this lesson?
Chrissi: We are looking at the definite article.
Fay: The conversation takes place at the Acropolis archaeological site.
Chrissi: It’s between Petra Gordon and her Greek host, Kostantina and Danai who are sisters.
Fay: The characters are friends so the conversation is informal.
Chrissi: Let’s listen.

Lesson conversation

Πέτρα Γκόρντον: Κρίμα που τα παιδιά σας δεν μπόρεσαν να έρθουν.
Κωσταντίνα Παπαδοπούλου: Ε, ο μικρός γιος της Δανάης και η κόρη της μελετάνε για τις εξετάσεις τους και ο μεγάλος της γιος είχε να κάνει κάτι δουλειές.
Δανάη Παπαδοπούλου: «Δουλειές»! Απλώς ήθελε να μείνει στο σπίτι!
Πέτρα Γκόρντον: Είναι καλό πάντως που όλα τα παιδιά είναι στο σπίτι, δεν είναι;
Κωσταντίνα Παπαδοπούλου: Από τη μία, είναι καλό για τα παιδιά και για μας. Από την άλλη, δεν είναι καλό για το σπίτι και τους γείτονες...
Fay: Now let’s listen to the conversation one time slowly.
Πέτρα Γκόρντον: Κρίμα που τα παιδιά σας δεν μπόρεσαν να έρθουν.
Κωσταντίνα Παπαδοπούλου: Ε, ο μικρός γιος της Δανάης και η κόρη της μελετάνε για τις εξετάσεις τους και ο μεγάλος της γιος είχε να κάνει κάτι δουλειές.
Δανάη Παπαδοπούλου: «Δουλειές»! Απλώς ήθελε να μείνει στο σπίτι!
Πέτρα Γκόρντον: Είναι καλό πάντως που όλα τα παιδιά είναι στο σπίτι, δεν είναι;
Κωσταντίνα Παπαδοπούλου: Από τη μία, είναι καλό για τα παιδιά και για μας. Από την άλλη, δεν είναι καλό για το σπίτι και τους γείτονες...
Fay: Now let’s listen to the conversation with English translation.
Πέτρα Γκόρντον: Κρίμα που τα παιδιά σας δεν μπόρεσαν να έρθουν.
Fay: It's a shame that your kids couldn't come.
Κωσταντίνα Παπαδοπούλου: Ε, ο μικρός γιος της Δανάης και η κόρη της μελετάνε για τις εξετάσεις τους και ο μεγάλος της γιος είχε να κάνει κάτι δουλειές.
Fay: Well, Danai's young son and daughter had to study for their exams, and her older son had some errands to run.
Δανάη Παπαδοπούλου: «Δουλειές»! Απλώς ήθελε να μείνει στο σπίτι!
Fay: "Errands to run!" He just wanted to stay at home!
Πέτρα Γκόρντον: Είναι καλό πάντως που όλα τα παιδιά είναι στο σπίτι, δεν είναι;
Fay: It's good, though, that all the kids are at home, isn't it?
Κωσταντίνα Παπαδοπούλου: Από τη μία, είναι καλό για τα παιδιά και για μας. Από την άλλη, δεν είναι καλό για το σπίτι και τους γείτονες...
Fay: On the one hand, it's good for the kids and for us. On the other hand, it's not good for the house and the neighbors...
POST CONVERSATION BANTER
Fay: So neighborhoods in Greece are small, tight-knit communities, right?
Chrissi: You’re probably thinking of the communities you see on islands or in villages. This doesn’t happen in the cities anymore.
Fay: Why is that?
Chrissi: Probably because cities have become too big. The best example is Athens. It has six million people.
Fay: Well, that is big!
Chrissi: Yes. So there’s not much interaction between neighbors.
Fay: How about people living in the same building?
Chrissi: Well, people speak to each other occasionally but there’s no real sense of a neighborhood. Maybe in some areas of Athens.
Fay: Like?
Chrissi: I don’t know. Plaka, near the Acropoli, or downtown Eksarcheia or Kolonaki.
Fay: So those picturesque little neighborhoods with people sitting on porches and talking until late night are gone?
Chrissi: Yes, I’m afraid. But like I said, if you go the islands, you might still find some. But shouldn’t we move on to our vocabulary?
Fay: Sure! Let’s take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. First…
VOCAB LIST
Chrissi: κρίμα [natural native speed].
Fay: Pity, shame.
Chrissi: κρίμα [slowly - broken down by syllable]. κρίμα [natural native speed].
Chrissi: δεν μπόρεσα [natural native speed].
Fay: I couldn't.
Chrissi: δεν μπόρεσα [slowly - broken down by syllable]. δεν μπόρεσα [natural native speed].
Fay: Next…
Chrissi: έρχομαι [natural native speed].
Fay: To come.
Chrissi: έρχομαι [slowly - broken down by syllable]. έρχομαι [natural native speed].
Fay: Next…
Chrissi: μελετάω [natural native speed].
Fay: To study.
Chrissi: μελετάω [slowly - broken down by syllable]. μελετάω [natural native speed].
Fay: Next…
Chrissi: εξετάσεις [natural native speed].
Fay: Examinations.
Chrissi: εξετάσεις [slowly - broken down by syllable]. εξετάσεις [natural native speed].
Fay: Next…
Chrissi: κάνω [natural native speed].
Fay: To do.
Chrissi: κάνω [slowly - broken down by syllable]. κάνω [natural native speed].
Fay: Next…
Chrissi: μένω [natural native speed].
Fay: To stay; live.
Chrissi: μένω [slowly - broken down by syllable]. μένω [natural native speed].
Fay: Next…
Chrissi: καλό [natural native speed].
Fay: Good.
Chrissi: καλό [slowly - broken down by syllable]. καλό [natural native speed].
Fay: Next…
Chrissi: γείτονας [natural native speed].
Fay: Neighbor.
Chrissi: γείτονας [slowly - broken down by syllable]. γείτονας [natural native speed].
KEY VOCABULARY AND PHRASES
Fay: Let's take a closer look at some of the words and phrases in this lesson. Let’s see. Δουλειές (Douleies) means “jobs,” right?
Chrissi: Yes. It’s the plural of douleia, which means “job” or “work.” Δεν υπάρχουν αρκετές δουλειές για όλους (Den yparchoun arketes douleies gia olous) "There are not enough jobs for everybody”.
Fay: A big problem, to be sure. But in our dialogue it is translated as “errands.”
Chrissi: Yes, the same word is used to mean “errands.” For example, Σήμερα έχω πολλές δουλειές (Simera echo polles douleies) "I have many things to do/many errands to run.” Listeners, repeat this—it’s a useful sentence!
Fay: Okay. What does pantos mean?
Chrissi: It’s an adverb meaning something like “though.” We use it to express a different opinion.
Fay: An example?
Chrissi: Εγώ πάντως θα πάω (Ego pantos tha pao) means “I’ll go, though.”
Fay: “Even if you say you won’t go.”
Chrissi: Exactly!
Fay: Another example?
Chrissi: Νομίζω πάντως ότι δεν έχεις δίκιο (Nomizo pantos oti den echeis dikio) means “I think you aren’t right, though.”
Fay: Got it. Finally, is there a word that’s just “e”?
Chrissi: Not exactly a word, more of a filler. We use it to end the overall feel of sentences what can you do?
Fay: An example?
Chrissi: Ε, τα πράγματα δεν πάνε καλά (E, ta pragmata den pane kala). Things aren’t going well.
Fay: And another?
Chrissi: Ε, όπως καταλαβαίνεις, τελικά κάτσαμε στο σπίτι (E, opos katalabaineis, telika katsame sto spiti). Well, as you understand, we finally stayed at home.
Fay: So it can be used the same way as well in English?
Chrissi: In its pessimistic sense, yes.
Fay: Okay. On to our grammar.

Lesson focus

Fay: What’s our main Grammar Point for today?
Chrissi: It’s the definite article.
Fay: Very basic stuff, huh?
Chrissi: Yes. But in Greek it’s a little more complicated than in English.
Fay: Because it’s…
Chrissi: Gendered.
Fay: So we actually have to learn three articles.
Chrissi: Five—it also has a plural!
Fay: Yeesh. Well, let’s get into them!
Chrissi: Okay. The singular definite article is ο (o) for masculine, η (i) for feminine, and το (to) for neuter.
Fay: O, i, and to—got it!
Chrissi: The plural is οι (oi) for masculine and feminine and τα (ta) for neuter.
Fay: That’s not bad. Οι, οι, τα (Oi, oi, ta).
Chrissi: Of course, all these are in the nominative case. You can find the rest of the cases in the PDF.
Fay: Got that, listeners? One more reason to download the PDF immediately!
Chrissi: In the meantime, let’s take a few nouns through the full set of cases, numbers, and genders.
Fay: We’re all ears.
Chrissi: “The computer” is ο υπολογιστής (o ypologistis). Let’s walk our computer through its cases. Ο υπολογιστής (O ypologistis), του υπολογιστή (tou ypologisti), τον υπολογιστή (ton ypologisti), and υπολογιστή (ypologisti)—there’s no article for the vocative case.
Fay: Good. And the plural?
Chrissi: Οι υπολογιστές (Oi ypologistes), των υπολογιστών (ton ypologiston), τους υπολογιστές (tous ypologistes), υπολογιστές (ypologistes).
Fay: Still with us? We just took a masculine noun and its indefinite article through both numbers and all four cases. Now we’ll do the same for a feminine noun. Listeners, repeat after Chrissi, okay?
Chrissi: “The sea” is η θάλασσα (i thalassa). The cases are η θάλασσα (i thalassa), της θάλασσας (tis thalassas), τη θάλασσα (ti thalassa), θάλασσα (thalassa).
Fay: That was one sea. How about more than one sea?
Chrissi: Οι θάλασσες (Oi thalasses), των θαλασσών (ton thalasson), τις θάλασσες (tis thalasses), θάλασσες (thalasses).
Fay: That was a feminine noun, singular and plural, in all four cases with the definite article. Last we’ll do the same thing for a neuter noun. The article will also be neuter, won’t it?
Chrissi: Yes, that’s a nice thing about definite articles—they tell you what gender their nouns are going to be!
Fay: That is nice. Can we decline our neuter noun now?
Chrissi: “The letter” is το γράμμα (to gramma). Its cases in the singular are το γράμμα (to gramma), του γράμματος (tou grammatos), το γράμμα (to gramma), and γράμμα(gramma).
Fay: And in the plural?
Chrissi: Τα γράμματα (Ta grammata), των γραμμάτων (ton grammaton), τα γράμματα (ta grammata), and γράμματα (grammata).
Fay: There you have it, folks—all the Greek definite articles in one compact package.
Chrissi: Be sure to learn them as soon as possible. They will help you enormously—mostly with nouns, but also in getting a general feel for the language.
Listeners, do you know the reason flash cards are so popular?
Fay: It’s because they work!
Chrissi: We’ve taken this time-tested studying tool and modernized with My Wordbank flashcards.
Fay: Learn vocabulary using your eyes and ears.
Chrissi: It’s simple and powerful. Save difficult and interesting words to your personal vocabulary list called My Word Bank.
Fay: Master words in your My Word Bank by practicing with flashcards.
Chrissi: Words in My Word Bank come with audio so you learn proper pronunciation.
Fay: …while you learn to recognize words by sight.
Chrissi: Go to GreekPod101.com now and try My Word Bank and flash cards today.
Fay: Bye for now.
Chrissi: Γεια χαρά! (Geia chara!)

Comments

Hide