Learn how to use the phrase "Do you speak English?"
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| Γεια, λέγομαι Χρυσή. Hi everybody! I’m Chrissi. |
| Welcome to GreekPod101.com’s “ελληνικά σε 3 λεπτά”. The fastest, easiest, and most fun way to learn Greek. |
| In the last lesson, we learned the most common forms of greetings in Greek. Do you remember them? |
| In this lesson we’re going to learn a very useful phrase: “Do you speak English?” |
| If you find yourself in a situation where you need assistance in English, this phrase can be a lifesaver. And because you’re asking it in Greek, you can be sure that everyone will understand what you’re saying, even if their answer is no. |
| Here's the informal way to say it. |
| Μιλάς αγγλικά; |
| [slowly] Μιλάς αγγλικά; |
| Μιλάς is “to speak” and αγγλικά is “English. |
| In Greek, verbs change depending on who the subject is. The word “μιλάς” is conjugated from the verb, μιλάω, which means “to speak”. By the ending “ς”, we understand this is the second person singular. This is the informal way to say “you speak”. You will notice that the personal pronoun itself -- the word “you” -- is missing; this happens very often in Greek. Because the verb ending changes depending on the subject, you don’t need to actually say the subject in order to be understood! |
| To learn how to properly conjugate -ω verbs, like μιλάω, please look at our Absolute Beginner series on GreekPod101.com. You can find very detailed grammar lessons and resources there! |
| We’re now going to make this sentence formal. This is done by using the formal version of “you,” which is “εσείς”. If we change the word for “you,” we will conjugate μιλάω differently. It becomes μιλάτε. Everything else stays the same: |
| Μιλάτε αγγλικά; |
| [slowly] Μιλάτε αγγλικά; |
| Adding Συγγνώμη, "excuse-me", the sentence becomes even more polite: |
| Συγγνώμη, μιλάτε αγγλικά; |
| [slowly] Συγγνώμη, μιλάτε αγγλικά; |
| The responses you will receive could be one of these three: |
| Ναι. "Yes." |
| [slowly] Ναι. |
| Λίγο. "A little." |
| [slowly] Λίγο. |
| Όχι, δε μιλάω αγγλικά "No, I don’t speak English." |
| [slowly] Όχι, δε μιλάω αγγλικά |
| Since this last one is a negative statement, we need to say δεν or δε before the verb, μιλάω. Here you can also notice what we mentioned before: the personal pronoun εγώ that, is, “I” is not used since the ending of the verb shows that it is in the first person. |
| Now it’s time for Chrissi’s Insights. |
| For those of you who are not only English speakers, you can obviously use this question with any language you need. Greek people study other European languages, so maybe you will get lucky! Just substitute αγγλικά with… |
| ιταλικά for Italian. |
| ρώσικα for Russian. |
| ισπανικά for Spanish. |
| γερμανικά for German. |
| In this lesson we mentioned the expression συγγνώμη. But did you know that this could also be used as an apology? In the next lesson we will learn this and other ways to apologize in Greek. It’s never too late to show your good manners with Greek people! |
| I'll see you in our next ελληνικά σε 3 λεπτά lesson. Γειά! |
11 Comments
HideHi Andrea,
In Greek, there are some verbs that end in an accented -ώ in the active voice that have an alternative -άω ending. These verbs belong to the second conjugation group and specifically to the first class. (There are two conjugations in Greek and the second conjugation has 2 classes).
So both μιλώ/μιλάω ελληνικά are correct. The first one is more standard while the second one is more casual.
Let me know if you have any more questions.
Stefania
Team GreekPod101.com
Hello dear GreekPod101 people,
I'm a bit confused: sometimes I read that "I speak Greek" is
Μιλάω Ελληνικά,
but sometimes it's
Μιλώ Ελληνικά.
What happened to the poor α? Or are they different verbs? Thanks for helping me out!
Andrea
Hi Anna,
Thank you for contacting us.
The main grammar series are audio series. If your library is in classic mode, they are the audio series that have the same name as your level. For example, Absolute Beginner, Beginner, Upper Beginner, Lower Intermediate, Intermediate, and Upper Intermediate.
Here's the Absolute Beginner series:
https://www.greekpod101.com/lesson-library/conversational-greek-for-absolute-beginners/
You can also check out the grammar bank for more info on specific grammar points. We are planning to add more material there as well.
If you still have any questions, let me know!
KInd regards,
Stefania
Team GreekPod101.com
I am a grammar person and can't find grammar series in the library. Could you, please, point me to them? I would like to take them in parallel to these series?
Hi Elias,
I like to see you motivated like that! Whenever you need assistance, don't hesitate to contact us again!
Kind regards,
Stefania
Team GreekPod101.com
Thank you for your kind response. I have plans to check out all the lessons and make my Greek as perfect as possible. By the way i fell in love with Greece when i watched the movie Troy and my favorite warrior Achilles
Wish you the best moments.
Hi Elias,
Thank you for contacting us.
I understand your confusion. I'm a grammar person as well! This series does not focus on grammar, it's mainly all about learning a few basic sentences and expressions. For grammar, please check out our main audio series on each level. For example, if you are an absolute beginner, check out this audio series:
https://www.greekpod101.com/index.php?cat=24
Let me know if you need more help!
Kind regards,
Stefania
Team GreekPod101.com
Oh my God. :sob::sob::sob::sob::sob: So confusing. :flushed::flushed::flushed::flushed::flushed: Please teach us some grammar for this. :innocent::innocent::innocent::innocent:
Hi bobby,
That's a lot of emoticons there! What's wrong? You don't look very happy:disappointed:.
Was the lesson too difficult for you?
Stefania
Team GreekPod101.com
:sob::sob::sob::sob::sob::sob::sob::sob::sob::sob::sob::sob::sob::sob::sob::sob::sob:sob::sob::sob::sob::sob::sob::sob::sob::sob::sob::sob::sob::sob::sob::sob::sob::sob::sob::disappointed::disappointed::disappointed::disappointed::disappointed::disappointed::disappointed::disappointed::disappointed::disappointed::disappointed::disappointed::disappointed::unamused::unamused::unamused::unamused::unamused::unamused::unamused::unamused::unamused::unamused::unamused::unamused::unamused::unamused::unamused::unamused::unamused::unamused::angry::angry::angry::angry::angry::angry::angry::angry::angry::angry::angry::angry::angry::angry::angry::angry::angry::angry::angry::sleeping::sleeping::sleeping::sleeping::sleeping::sleeping::sleeping::sleeping::sleeping::sleeping::sleeping::sleeping: