Learn the key pattern to ask the price of something
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.
Unlock Lesson Notes and Transcripts for every single lesson. Sign Up for a Free Lifetime Account and Get 7 Days of Premium Access.
| Let's take a closer look at the conversation. |
| Do you remember how Ben asks, |
| "How much does this cost?" |
| Πόσο κοστίζει αυτό; (Póso kostízi aftó?) |
| Let's start with the word, αυτό (aftó), "this." Αυτό. Αυτό. |
| You can use this word while pointing at something near you. It's useful when you want to refer to something you don't know the word for in Greek. |
| In Greek, all nouns have grammatical gender and case, and are either singular or plural. Αυτό is neuter, singular and in the nominative case — a fact which will determine the form of other words in the sentence. |
| Before αυτό (aftó) is κοστίζει (kostízi). "Costs" as in "this costs." Κοστίζει. Κοστίζει. |
| Κοστίζει is from the verb κοστίζω (kostízo), the dictionary form of the verb meaning "to cost." Κοστίζω. |
| Moving to the start of the sentence, πόσο (póso), "how much," in this context. Πόσο. Πόσο. |
| All together, it's Πόσο κοστίζει αυτό; (Póso kostízi aftó?) This literally translates as, "How much costs this?" but translates as "How much does this cost?" |
| Πόσο κοστίζει αυτό; (Póso kostízi aftó?) |
| Let's take a closer look at the response. |
| Do you remember how the shop clerk says, |
| "Two euros." |
| Δύο ευρώ. (Dío evró.) |
| First is δύο (dío), "two." Δύο. Δύο. |
| Next is ευρώ (evró), "euro." Ευρώ. Ευρώ. |
| Note the singular and plural form of ευρώ (evró) are the same. |
| Together Δύο ευρώ. (Dío evró.) means "Two euros." |
| Δύο ευρώ. (Dío evró.) |
| The pattern is |
| Πόσο κοστίζει ITEM? (Póso kostízi ITEM?) |
| "How much does ITEM cost?" |
| Πόσο κοστίζει ITEM? |
| To use this pattern, simply replace the {ITEM} placeholder with the thing for which you would like to know the price. |
| Note: this pattern requires a noun, preceded by the corresponding indefinite article. |
| For example, imagine you'd like to know the price of "a coffee," ένας καφές (énas kafés). |
| Καφές (kafés), "coffee." Καφές. Καφές. |
| Note that καφές (kafés) is masculine and singular. |
| Ένας (énas) is also masculine and singular to agree with καφές (kafés). |
| Ένας. Think of this like "a," in English. Ένας. Ένας. |
| Say, |
| "How much does a coffee cost?" |
| Ready? |
| Πόσο κοστίζει ένας καφές; (Póso kostízi énas kafés?) |
| "How much does a coffee cost?" |
| Πόσο κοστίζει ένας καφές; (Póso kostízi énas kafés?) |
| The word, αυτό (aftó), can be used to discuss an item without knowing its name in Greek. |
| Αυτό (Aftó) can be used for things close to you, and εκείνο (ekíno), "that," for things farther from you. Εκείνο. |
| If you don't know the name of an item and consequently its gender, you can use these neuter pronouns. |
| When you want to ask for an item by name, rather than by pointing it out, you need to include an article. In this lesson, we'll focus on the indefinite article. |
| The indefinite article is like the English "a," as in "a cake." |
| The neuter indefinite article is ένα (éna), as in ένα κέικ (éna kéik), "a cake." |
| The masculine indefinite article is ένας (énas), as in ένας καφές (énas kafés), "a coffee." |
| The feminine indefinite article is μια (mia), as in μια σαλάτα (mia saláta), "a salad." |
Comments
Hide