Pronunciation

• β = English v (victory, voice). λ = l (lemon). μ = m (mother).

Ο τόνος (the accent)

Every Greek word of two or more syllables carries an acute accent (´) marking the stressed syllable — e.g. έχω, κότα. On a capital letter, the accent sits beside/above it.

Έχω — "I have" (singular, present)

Grammatical gender

• Masculine (ο): males, and — distinctively — rivers, winds, and months (ο άντρας, ο Νείλος, ο Ζέφυρος, ο Ιανουάριος).
• Feminine (η): females, and countries, towns, trees, islands, and abstract qualities/conditions (η γυναίκα, η Ελλάδα, η Αθήνα, η μηλιά, η Κρήτη, η καλωσύνη, η ευτυχία).
• Neuter (το): everything else can be any gender — objects don't follow a rule (ο ουρανός is masc., η θάλασσα is fem., το βιβλίο and το κορίτσι are neuter).
• Proper names always take the article matching their gender: ο Νίκος, η Άννα.

Pronunciation

• ρ = rolled r (run, river).
• ου (a "double vowel"/diphthong) = oo as in hood, mood.

Είμαι — "I am" (singular, present)

The demonstrative pronoun αυτός, αυτή, αυτό

Used as "this," followed by the matching definite article + noun: αυτό το παιδί (this child), αυτός ο δάσκαλος (this teacher), αυτή η μαμά (this mother).

The same three words also serve as the 3rd-person personal pronoun "he / she / it": αυτός είναι (he is), αυτή έχει (she has), αυτό είναι (it is).

Personal pronoun + verb (singular)

A word's gender is shown by its article; endings are a useful (not perfect) guide:

Mostly vocabulary this lesson (see the Vocabulary page, Lesson 5) — plus two useful double meanings:

• ο άντρας = both "man" and "husband" (Ο Γιάννης είναι ο άντρας της Ελένης — John is Helen's husband).
• η γυναίκα = both "woman" and "wife".
• άλλος, άλλη, άλλο (no article) = "other, another" (indefinite); ο άλλος, η άλλη, το άλλο = "the other" (definite).

Plural of masculine nouns

Possessive (singular) of masculine nouns

-ος nouns change to -ου (ο αδελφός → του αδελφού). The other four groups simply drop the final -ς (ο πατέρας → του πατέρα, ο Γιάννης → του Γιάννη, ο παππούς → του παππού, ο καναπές → του καναπέ). The article changes from ο to του.

Numbers 0–30

μηδέν, ένας/μία/ένα, δύο, τρεις/τρεις/τρία, τέσσερις/τέσσερις/τέσσερα, πέντε, έξι, εφτά, οχτώ, εννιά, δέκα … δεκατρία … είκοσι … τριάντα. We count using the neuter form: ένα, δύο, τρία, τέσσερα, πέντε…

Plural of feminine nouns

-α and -η nouns change to -ες (η μητέρα → οι μητέρες, η αδελφή → οι αδελφές). -ος nouns change to -οι (η οδός → οι οδοί). -ού nouns take -δες (η αλεπού → οι αλεπούδες). Proper names ending in -ω (η Φρόσω) have no plural.

Possessive (singular) of feminine nouns

-α, -η, -ού, -ω nouns take an -ς ending (η μητέρα → της μητέρας). -ος nouns change to -ου (η οδός → της οδού). The article changes from η to της.

Group 1 verb conjugation — διδάσκω ("I teach")

Neuter singular/plural recap: -ι → -ια (το χέρι → τα χέρια, το πόδι → τα πόδια, το αυτί → τα αυτιά), -ο → -α (το δάχτυλο → τα δάχτυλα, το πρόσωπο → τα πρόσωπα).

Irregular verbs

Compare with a regular Group 2 verb, μιλώ ("I talk"): μιλώ, μιλάς, μιλά(ει), μιλούμε/μιλάμε, μιλάτε, μιλούν(ε).

Two more neuter patterns

-μα nouns add -τα in the plural (το μάθημα → τα μαθήματα, το όνομα → τα ονόματα). -ος nouns change to -η (το δάσος → τα δάση, το όρος → τα όρη). Two irregulars, φως and κρέας, drop the final -ς and add -τα (το φως → τα φώτα, το κρέας → τα κρέατα).

Plural of adjectives

All adjectives pluralize the same way as nouns with matching endings: ο καλός/οι καλοί, η καλή/οι καλές, το καλό/τα καλά.

Colors

Colors are adjectives, so most have three gender forms: άσπρος, άσπρη, άσπρο (white), κόκκινος, -η, -ο (red), πράσινος, -η, -ο (green), κίτρινος, -η, -ο (yellow), μαύρος, -η, -ο (black), γαλάζιος, -α, -ο / γαλανός, -ή, -ό (blue). A few are indeclinable — one form for every gender: μπλε (blue), καφέ (brown), ροζ (pink), μωβ (mauve/violet).

The four verb conjugation groups (recap)

• Group 1 — ends in unaccented -ω (έχω, τρώω, βλέπω, πίνω)
• Group 2 — ends in accented -ώ, conjugated one way (αγαπώ, πεινώ, χτυπώ)
• Group 3 — also ends in accented -ώ, conjugated slightly differently (ευχαριστώ, μπορώ, φορώ, οδηγώ)
• Group 4 — ends in -ομαι, -μαι, -ιέμαι; includes deponent verbs and all passive voice (έρχομαι, κάθομαι, χρειάζομαι)

ξέρω — "I know" (Group 1)

Πώς; vs. πως

Πώς; (accented, with a question mark) is an adverb of manner meaning how? — Πώς είσαι; (How are you?). πως (no accent, no question mark) is a conjunction meaning that — Ξέρω πως έχεις το βιβλίο μου (I know that you have my book).

Possessive pronouns always come after the noun, which keeps its article: το βιβλίο μου (my book), τα ρούχα του (his clothes) — often reinforced with δικός μου / δική μου / δικό μου ("my own"): το δικό μου βιβλίο.

Τι; — the interrogative pronoun ("what")

Neuter in form, but used regardless of the expected answer's gender: Τι είναι αυτός; — Αυτός είναι ένας άνθρωπος.

The accusative (αιτιατική πτώση)

The case of the object — in English the object noun doesn't change form, but in Greek it does.

Στον, στη(ν), στο — "on/in/at/to the"

A fusion of the preposition εις + the accusative article: εις+τον→στον, εις+τη(ν)→στη(ν), εις+το→στο. Plural: στους (masc.), στις (fem.), στα (neut.). Always paired with the accusative form of the noun: στον άνθρωπο, στη μητέρα, στο βιβλίο.

Days of the week

Η Δευτέρα, η Τρίτη, η Τετάρτη, η Πέμπτη, η Παρασκευή, η Κυριακή are feminine; το Σάββατο is the exception — neuter. Days are capitalized. The accusative of the day expresses time: την Κυριακή (on Sunday), τη Δευτέρα (on Monday).

Group 1 verbs

Formed by adding the suffix -α to the present-tense stem. If the verb begins with a consonant, it also takes a syllabic augment ε- (which adds a syllable); verbs beginning with a vowel take no augment.

παίζω → stem παίζ → + augment ε → επαιζ → + suffix -α → έπαιζα ("I was playing")

Group 2 & 3 verbs

Same augment rule, but they take the suffix -ουσα instead of -α: αγαπώ → αγαπούσα (I was loving), ζω → ζούσα (I was living), οδηγώ → οδηγούσα, μπορώ → μπορούσα.

Useful adverbs & pronouns

• τίποτα (nothing/anything) pairs with δεν — Greek uses double negatives: Δεν έχω τίποτα = "I don't have anything," not "I have nothing-nothing."
• κάτι (something) is the positive counterpart.
• πότε; (when?), ποτέ (never), κάποτε (sometimes), πάντοτε (always).
• κάθε (each/every) — short for καθένας/καθεμιά/καθένα — is used with singular nouns of any gender: κάθε άντρας, κάθε γυναίκα, κάθε παιδί.