wordpower
The more Greek you learn, the more you will realise how many English words have their origins in Greek. The Greek pronunciation can be completely different but the meaning can become clear when you begin to understand how Greek letters are transcribed into English. For…
5 gifts Ancient Greece gave to the world.
It was home to the first recognized historian. The mission of Herodotus, also known as the “father of history,” was to make sure that “human achievement may be spared the ravages of time, and that everything great and astounding, and all the glory of those…
All about Greek nouns
Nouns (are the words for living beings, things, places and concepts) Every single Greek noun belongs to one of the three groups called genders: masculine(m), feminine(f) or neuter(n). The nouns for male and female people are usually masculine or feminine: ο πατέρας (father), η μητέρα…
Top 10 essentials
Describing and commenting Eίναι ωραίο! It’s nice/lovely! Είναι πολύ γλυκό! It’s very/too sweet! Δεν είναι καλό! It isn’t good! Talking about what’s available Υπάρχει νοσοκομείο; Is there a hospital? Έχει πρόβλημα. There’s a problem. Δεν έχει ζεστό νερό. There’s no hot water. Talking…
Greek possessives
To express possession or belonging in Greek, you use the following: μου: my (lit. “of me”) μας: our σου: your (singular/informal) σας: your (plural/ formal) του: his …
Using two verbs together
Because there is no infinitive in Greek, if you want to say I want to go; can we do?; they want to know etc., you link the two verbs together using the word να, e .g. Θέλω να πάω I want to go (lit. I…
Tips for great learning activities
A learning activity is the unit into which the teaching of a class is broken down. Learning activities work best when there are guides for planning for the class, the class itself and for assessing how effective the class is. These can be broken down…
Talking about what you like and dislike in Greek
The Greek for I like …(Μου αρέσει) literally means To me is pleasing. To say what you like and don’t like, you use the same group of words as for expressing possession, since μου, σου, etc. can mean to me, you, etc. To say you…
5 funny Greek idiomatic expressions
In every language, there are certain expressions and phrases that can’t be directly translated from one language to another because the meaning is different than what it appears. For example, an idiomatic expression in English is, “What’s up?” We aren’t actually asking about what is…
contracted verbs: πάω, λέω, ακούω, τρώω
Contracted words There are a few μένω-type verbs whose stem ends with a vowel. These verbs are contracted, i.e. shortened in certain forms, so that the vowel in the ending merges with the one in the stem. The most common of these verbs are: πάω…
10 smart Greek words to sound more professional
Today you’ll learn 10 smart Greek words, you’ll sound professional and positive. just a few small changes can have a big impact. Who wouldn’t want that? Ασφαλώς= certainly Ασφαλώς is a great alternative to ναι or εντάξει, which are used way too much in Greek….
The secrets behind the myth of Prometheus
Arnold Toynbee professes that there is always a basic myth which dominates the birth of a civilization. For the Greek civilisation, it is not hard to discover it; it was the Myth of Prometheus. Prometheus was a hero who revolted against Zeus, stealing fire to rescue…