Modern Greek

The Alphabet

The Modern Greek alphabet has the following twenty-four letters

Αα, Ββ, Γγ, Δδ, Εε, Ζζ, Ηη, Θθ, Ιι, Κκ, Λλ, Μμ, Νν, Ξξ, Οο, Ππ, Ρρ, Σσς, Ττ, Υυ, Φφ, Χχ, Ψψ, Ωω

Spelling

The pronunciation of Modern Greek (MG) is generally not as written. As in English, archaic spellings preserved . Like in English there are rules which can help pronounce MG spelling.

1. There are several different graphemes* which represent the same sound.]
   • The following are all pronounced as the ee in been: η, ι, υ, ει, οι, υι. However, if they are unaccented and come before another vowel then they are pronounced as y in English ‘yes’
   • The graphemes ο & ω both represent the sound o as in cord
   • Both ε and αι represent the sound e as in met
2. The vowels
3. The same graphemes may have different sounds

αυ, ευ + π, τ, κ, φ, χ, θ, ψ, ξ = af, ef

σ + β/δ/γ/ζ/μ/ν/ρ/υ/γ and sometimes λ is pronounced like z

A word ending in ν followed by a word beginning with π, τ or κ is pronounced like b, d or (n)g

The combinations μβ, νδ and γκ are pronounced differently depending on where they are in the word. If they begin a word or come after a consonant then they are pronounced as b, d or g, otherwise they are pronounced as mb, nd, (n)g

The following consonants are pronounced differently depending on the following vowel

Articles

The definite article

ο, η, τό

τό(ν) τή(ν) τό

τού τής τού

οι οι τά

τούς τίς τά

τών

The Indefinite Article

ένας μία/μι’α ένα

ένα(ν) μία(ν)/μιά(ν) ένα

ενός μιάς/μίας ενός

Declension

Feminine Nouns in –

Masculine Nouns in – and Neuter Nouns in –

Masculine Nouns in –

Neuter Nouns in –

Neuter Nouns in –

Adjectives

Adjectives in –

Adjectives in –

Pronouns

Personal Pronouns

Object Pronouns

Possessive Pronouns

Relative Pronouns

Demonstrative Pronouns and Adjectives

Other Pronouns

Prepositions

There are four basic prepositions in Modern Greek.

Simple Prepositions

Compound Prepositions

Compound prepositions are formed with an adverb + simple preposition

(adverb) + (preposition)

Conjunctions

Adverbs

πότε; when?

καπότε sometimes

πάντοτε always

τότε then

τώρα now

πάλι again

ακόμη (ακόμα) – still

αργά late

νωρίς early

κιόλα(ς) already

πού; where?

κάπου somewhere

αλλού elsewhere

παντού everywhere

εκεί there

εδώ here

πάνω above

κάτω below

κοντά near

πώς; how?

έτσι thus

Just as many adjectives in English can be formed by the suffix -ly to an adjective, so can adverbs in Greek be formed from adjectives.

Verbs

The Verbal System

Verbs in Greek are based on two stems: the present and the aorist.

From the present stem is produced the present, imperfect and indefinite future tenses as well as the conditional, present subjunctive and present imperative.

The aorist stem produces the aorist past, the definite future, aorist subjunctive and the aorist imperative.

A derivative of the aorist stem produces the aorist passive stem.

Present Tense

1. ‘The athlete runs’ or ‘the athlete is running’

Imperfect Past

1. ‘the athlete was running’

Aorist Past

Syntax

Number

Modern Greek only recognises two numbers: singular and plural.

Gender

All nouns in MG, like in Classical Greek, are either masculine, feminine or neuter.

Case

Nominative: The subject of a sentence is in the nominative case

Accusative:

1. The direct object is in the accusative case.
2. the vocative is in the accusative.

Gentitive: The genitive is used to show possession

Syntax

Word order

Word order in MG is generally the same as in English

(subject) + (predicate) + (object)

However, unlike English which has a more fixed word order, MG is more flexible

(predicate) + (subject)

Object pronouns usually precede the verb

(subject) (object) (predicate)

Whereby the subject can be dropped.

The adjectives generally precedes the noun it modifies and agree with it in case, gender and number, whether in an attributive or predicate construction.

For emphasis the noun can follow its noun. If the noun is definite, then the adjective repeats the noun. Noun phrases with the definite article may also show emphasis by keeping the general word order bu repeating the article

Unlike in English, possessives follow their noun

Adverbs in MG usually follow the verb they modify

Agreement

Articles and adjective agree with the nouns they modify.

Comparison of Adjectives: The Comparative

The Superlative

Negation

Negative sentences are formed by placing the negative particle δέν or μήν before the verb. The final -ν is dropped unless the following word begins with a vowel or κ, ξ, π, τ, τς, ψ

To negate an indicative sentence use δέν

To negate a question use δέν

To negate a command use μήν

To negate a subordinate clause use μήν after νά

To negate present participles either δέν or μήν

The words for ‘yes’ and ‘no’ are ναί, όχι

Syntax

article			άρθρο

άρθρο			article

article	άρθρο

άρθρο	article