Greek Basics: Lesson 2
Time to start a new lesson!
Do you remember how to say this?
And to make it negative:
Let’s learn another pronoun.
I in Greek is εγώ.
To say that I am doing something (I can, I want, etc.), just change the -ει or -εί to -ω or -ώ.
So let’s try it:
What about wants?
Shall we try something a little more difficult?
Remember that you get rid of the second εγώ so that it doesn’t sound repetitive. In fact, you don’t really need to use these pronouns in Greek at all because the ending of the verb shows who’s doing the action. You can, however, include them for emphasis.
Try writing this one without pronouns:
This sounds a bit awkward still so let’s learn the word for we.
We in Greek is εμείς.
To make the εμείς-form of the verb, change the -ει or -εί from the αυτός-form to -ουμε or -ούμε.
Did you get that last one wrong? Sorry about that; I tried to trick you. You see, the ου in the verb stem contracts with the ου in the ending, so you only need one. It just sounds and looks better that way. So try it again.
She in Greek is αυτή. Make sure not to confuse it with αυτός (he) and αυτό (it). Αυτή uses the same verb form as αυτός and αυτό.
Here you can keep the pronouns for emphasis, remember. In fact, for more emphasis, a Greek would probably even say Αυτή το θέλει, αλλά το έχω εγώ. Putting εγώ last makes it have more emphasis.
While we’re still thinking of pronouns, let’s learn a word for they.
They in Greek is αυτοί. This is pronounced the same way as αυτή, but has a different spelling. Make sure to keep them separate in your mind.
To form the αυτοί-form of the verb, change the -ει or -εί from the αυτός-form to -ουν or -ούν.
So now try saying this long, scary sentence:
Wow, that was long. (But easy, right?) Let’s do something shorter.
Once again, you might hear Αυτοί το θέλουν, αλλά το έχω εγώ.
Great job. You can already make some impressive sentences in Greek. That’s all for this lesson. In the next lesson, we’ll learn how to say you. See you later!
Next lesson >