Learn how to use the sentence pattern "What...?"
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| INTRODUCTION |
| John: Hi everyone, I'm John. |
| Chrissi: And I'm Chrissi. |
| John: And welcome to Must-Know Greek Sentence Structures, Season 1, Lesson 10. Asking for Information About Something. |
| John: In this lesson, you'll learn how to use a sentence pattern for asking for information about something. |
| PATTERN |
| John: For example, |
| John: "What does that mean?" |
| Chrissi: Τι σημαίνει αυτό; (Ti siméni aftó?) |
| Chrissi: [slow] Τι σημαίνει αυτό; (Ti siméni aftó?) |
| John: The pattern for asking for information about something has three elements. First, the interrogative pronoun meaning "what". |
| Chrissi: Τι (Ti). |
| John: Second, the verb "to mean" in the 3rd person singular meaning "means". |
| Chrissi: σημαίνει (siméni). |
| John: Third, the neuter demonstrative pronoun in the nominative meaning "that". |
| Chrissi: αυτό (aftó). |
| John: Altogether, we have... "What does that mean?" |
| Chrissi: Τι σημαίνει αυτό; (Ti siméni aftó?) [slow] Τι σημαίνει αυτό; (Ti siméni aftó?) [normal] Τι σημαίνει αυτό; (Ti siméni aftó?) |
| John: To ask information about something, start with the interrogative pronoun… |
| Chrissi: τι (ti)... |
| John: meaning "what." Next you can use a verb in the form that demonstrates to whom or what you are referring, for example, your subject. In the end, you can add more details about the information you want. For example, it can be another verb, a noun phrase, an adverbial or prepositional phrase, a subordinate clause, etc. |
| Chrissi: Τι σημαίνει αυτό; (Ti siméni aftó?) |
| John: So remember, to ask for information about something, start with the interrogative pronoun… |
| Chrissi: τι (ti)... |
| John: meaning "what," continue with a conjugated verb, and finish with a complement for more details. |
| John: Here is another example meaning, "What do you want for your birthday?" First, we have the interrogative pronoun meaning "what". |
| Chrissi: Τι (Ti). |
| John: Second, we have the verb "to want" in the 2nd person singular meaning "you want". |
| Chrissi: θέλεις (thélis). |
| John: Third, we have the prepositional phrase consisting of a preposition + a neuter noun phrase in the accusative meaning "for your birthday". |
| Chrissi: για τα γενέθλιά σου (ya ta yenéthliá su). |
| John: Altogether we have... |
| Chrissi: Τι θέλεις για τα γενέθλιά σου; (Ti thélis ya ta genéthliá su?) [slow] Τι θέλεις για τα γενέθλιά σου; (Ti thélis ya ta genéthliá su?) [normal] Τι θέλεις για τα γενέθλιά σου; (Ti thélis ya ta genéthliá su?) |
| John: "What do you want for your birthday?" |
| [pause] |
| Chrissi: Τι θέλεις για τα γενέθλιά σου; (Ti thélis ya ta genéthliá su?) |
| John: How do you say - "What do you know about this?" To give you a hint, "about this" is... |
| Chrissi: για αυτό (ya aftó). [slow] για αυτό (ya aftó). [normal] για αυτό (ya aftó). |
| John: "What do you know about this?" |
| [pause] |
| Chrissi: Τι ξέρεις για αυτό; (Ti xéris ya aftó?) [slow] Τι ξέρεις για αυτό; (Ti xéris ya aftó?) [normal] Τι ξέρεις για αυτό; (Ti xéris ya aftó?) |
| [pause] |
| Chrissi: Τι ξέρεις για αυτό; (Ti xéris ya aftó?) |
| REVIEW |
| John: Let's review the sentences from this lesson. I will tell you the English equivalent of the phrase and you are responsible for shouting it out loud in Greek. Here we go. |
| John: "What does that mean?" |
| [pause] |
| Chrissi: Τι σημαίνει αυτό; (Ti siméni aftó?) |
| [pause] |
| Chrissi: Τι σημαίνει αυτό; (Ti siméni aftó?) |
| John: "What do you want for your birthday?" |
| [pause] |
| Chrissi: Τι θέλεις για τα γενέθλιά σου; (Ti thélis ya ta genéthliá su?) |
| [pause] |
| Chrissi: Τι θέλεις για τα γενέθλιά σου; (Ti thélis ya ta genéthliá su?) |
| John: "What do you know about this?" |
| [pause] |
| Chrissi: Τι ξέρεις για αυτό; (Ti xéris ya aftó?) |
| [pause] |
| Chrissi: Τι ξέρεις για αυτό; (Ti xéris ya aftó?) |
Outro |
|---|
| John: Okay. That's all for this lesson. You learned a pattern for asking for information about something, as in... |
| Chrissi: Τι σημαίνει αυτό; (Ti siméni aftó?) |
| John: meaning "What does that mean?" |
| John: You can find more vocab or phrases that go with this sentence pattern in the lesson notes. So please be sure to check them out on GreekPod101.com. Thanks everyone, see you next time! |
| Chrissi: Γεια χαρά! |
4 Comments
HideTry translating this question, "What is that?"
Hi Dana,
The articles and the word endings show you the case. For example Η γάτα τρώει τον ποντικό. Τον is an article in the accusative, so it is understood that the noun ποντικό after it (normally ο ποντικός in the nominative) will be in the accusative as well. So when you are not sure, just try to see if there are any articles that can help you spot which case a word is. And of course, if you are familiar with the declension patterns, the endings will help as well.
Let me know if you have any more questions!
Stefania
Team GreekPod101.com
Accusative and nominative i meant.
Είμαι μπερδεμένη για το .........
I'm confused about the nominative and accusitive cases in the section about word order. When I read the two sentences about the cat and mouse I see two meanings. How do I identify accusative and noninvasive?