Aims:
- Learn one more set of letters (vowels) combinations
- Declension: definite article, nouns (Part 1)
- Auxiliary verb έχω (to have)
1. Vowel combinations
In Lesson 2, we learnt how to pronounce two-letter vowels, i.e. a combination of two vowels that sound as another vowel, completely different from what we see on the page.
In Greek language there are also combinations of two vowels that produce a vowel + consonant sound. This happens as follows:
Vowel combinations:
Greek | Pronounced | When followed by |
αυ | af | κ, χ, π, φ, τ, θ, ξ, ψ, σ, τσ |
ευ | ef | κ, χ, π, φ, τ, θ, ξ, ψ, σ, τσ |
αυ | av | vowel γ, β, δ, λ, ρ, μ, ν, ζ, τζ |
ευ | ev | vowel γ, β, δ, λ, ρ, μ, ν, ζ, τζ |
According to the above table, we will pronounce:
ο ευγενικός (adj.) | ο evyenikòs | gentle, civil |
η αυλή | i avlì | yard |
αύριο (adverb) | ávrio | tomorrow |
o ευνοϊκός (adj.) | o evnoïkòs | favorable |
το πεύκο | to péfko | pine |
το αυτί | to aftì | ear |
αυθαδιάζω (verb) | afθaδiázo | to show impertinence |
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2. Declension: Definitive Article
Greek is a highly inflected language. Greek articles and nouns (as well as adjectives and pronouns) are inflected for gender, number and case.
Singular Number
Case | Masculine | Feminine | Neutral |
Nominative | ο | η | το |
Genitive | του | της | του |
Accusative | το(ν)* | τη(ν)* | το |
Vocative | — | — | — |
*Note: The final consonant -ν is added when the next word (noun, article, etc) begins with:
(i) a vowel or any kind of vowel combination,
(ii) κ, τ, π,
(iii) a double consonant (μπ, ντ, γκ).
Plural Number
Case | Masculine | Feminine | Neutral |
Nominative | οι | οι | τα |
Genitive | των | των | των |
Accusative | τους | τις | τα |
Vocative | — | — | — |
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3. Declension: Nouns (Part 1)
The next step is to inflect some nouns.
Greek nouns consist of a word root and an ending denoting the word’s gender, number and case. Thus, we can have:
Masculine
Singular | Plural | |
Nom. | o ήλι-ος | οι ήλι-οι |
Gen. | του ήλι-ου | των ήλι-ων |
Acc. | τον ήλι-ο | τους ήλι-ους |
Voc. | – ήλι-ε | – ήλι-οι |
Feminine
Singular | Plural | |
Nom. | η γυναίκ-α | οι γυναίκ-ες |
Gen. | της γυναίκ-ας | των γυναικ-ών* |
Acc. | τη γυναίκ-α | τις γυναίκ-ες |
Voc. | – γυναίκ-α | – γυναίκ-ες |
*Note: We see that, in the genitive of plural, the stress moves to the ultimate syllable of the noun. This phenomenon pertains to the general rules governing Word Stress, which we will explore in one of our next lessons.
Neutral
Singular | Plural | |
Nom. | το μωρ-ό | τα μωρ-ά |
Gen. | του μωρ-ού | των μωρ-ών |
Acc. | το μωρ-ό | τα μωρ-ά |
Voc. | – μωρ-ό | – μωρ-ά |
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4. Auxiliary verb “έχω” (to have)
εγώ έχω (eyo eho) | εμείς έχουμε (emis ehoome) |
εσύ έχεις (esi ehis) | εσείς έχετε (esis ehete) |
αυτός έχει (aftos ehi) | αυτοί έχουν (afti ehoon) |
αυτή έχει (afti ehi) | αυτές έχουν (aftes ehoon) |
αυτό έχει (afto ehi) | αυτά έχουν (afta ehoon) |
- the Greek alphabet and its pronunciation (Lesson 1)
- how to pronounce double letters (Lesson 2) and other letters combinations (this lesson)
- the numbers 1-10 (Lesson 1)
- the 3 genders of Greek language (Lesson 2)
- the definitive article (Lesson 2) and its declension (this lesson)
- declension of nouns (Part 1, this lesson)
- auxiliary verbs “to be” (Lesson 2) and “to have” (this lesson).