Learn the key pattern to ask for something at a store
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| Let’s take a closer look at how Ben asks for an item without knowing its name. |
| Do you remember how Ben Lee says, |
| "This, please." |
| Αυτό, παρακαλώ. (Aftó, parakaló.) |
| First is αυτό (aftó), "this." Αυτό. Αυτό. |
| Αυτό (aftó) is the neuter singular form of the word for "this." If you don’t know the name of an item and consequently its gender, you can use αυτό (aftó). |
| It refers to something which is near the speaker. Ben uses it because he’s pointing at something which is near to him. |
| Last is παρακαλώ (parakaló), "please," in this context. Παρακαλώ. Παρακαλώ. |
| All together, it's Αυτό, παρακαλώ. (Aftó, parakaló.) |
| "This, please." |
| Αυτό, παρακαλώ. (Aftó, parakaló.) |
| Let's take a closer look at the response. |
| Do you remember the waiter’s response, |
| "Here you are." |
| Ορίστε. (Oríste.) |
| Ορίστε (oríste), "here you are." Ορίστε. Ορίστε. |
| Ορίστε (Oríste) is from the verb ορίζω (orízo), "to define." |
| Note: ορίστε (oríste) is a shortened form of εσείς ορίστε (esís oríste), "you define," plural, as in "you all define." It's also the formal way to address a single person, as is the case here, where a clerk is addressing a customer. |
| In Greek, εσείς (esís), "you," is usually omitted, as it’s understood from context. |
| Ορίστε (oríste) literally means "[you all] define," but it translates as "here you are" in this context. |
| Note: ορίστε (oríste) has multiple meanings depending on the situation. |
| For example, ορίστε; (oríste?), as a question, means "Pardon?" or "Excuse me?" if you didn't catch what someone said. |
| It can also mean "Go ahead." or "How can I help you?" in a shop or business. |
| Ορίστε. (Oríste.) |
| The pattern is |
| ITEM, παρακαλώ. ( parakaló.) |
| "ITEM, please." |
| ITEM, παρακαλώ. |
| To use this pattern, simply replace the ITEM placeholder with the thing you want. |
| Note: This pattern requires a demonstrative pronoun, which is determined by the location, gender and the number of the desired item. |
| Imagine you’d like something from across the room. The pronoun to indicate something far from the speaker is εκείνο (ekíno), "that." Εκείνο. Εκείνο. |
| Say |
| "That, please." |
| Ready? |
| Εκείνο, παρακαλώ. (Ekíno, parakaló.) |
| "That, please." |
| Εκείνο, παρακαλώ. (Ekíno, parakaló.) |
| The phrases |
| Αυτό, παρακαλώ. (Aftó, parakaló.), and Εκείνο, παρακαλώ. (Ekíno, parakaló.) can be used to refer to an item without knowing its name in Greek. |
| If you don’t know the name of an item and consequently its gender, you can use these neuter pronouns. |
| For items that are plural, use αυτά (aftá), or "these," as the default. Αυτά. |
| Use εκείνα (ekína), or "those," for things that are far from you. Εκείνα. |
| To recap: |
| Close to speaker |
| Far from speaker |
| singular |
| αυτό (aftó) |
| εκείνο (ekíno) |
| plural |
| αυτά (aftá) |
| εκείνα (ekína) |
| Remember, these can be used to refer to an item without knowing its name and gender in Greek. |
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