Choosing Register in a Written Message
Students must write a short message in Modern Greek of about 80 words. The prompt offers two situations: (A) invite a close friend, Kostas, to a name-day barbecue at your home; (B) write to the parish priest, Father Andreas, to ask whether the church hall is free for a school fundraiser. A student, Sofia, writes one draft and plans to use it for both, opening with 'Γεια σου' and closing with 'Φιλιά.' She uses the same greeting and closing for the priest. She also writes the time as '7' without a word for o'clock.
1. Explain why Sofia's single draft is unsuitable for situation B, referring to register, greeting, and closing.
Read the worked answer
The two situations require different registers. Situation A is informal: a close friend of the same age can be addressed with 'Γεια σου' and closed with 'Φιλιά' (kisses), and the second-person singular is appropriate.
Situation B is formal. A priest is addressed with a title and the polite plural. An appropriate opening would use a respectful greeting such as 'Αξιότιμε πάτερ' or 'Σεβαστέ πάτερ,' and the request should use 'θα μπορούσατε' rather than an imperative. Closing with 'Φιλιά' to a priest is inappropriate - it is far too familiar. A neutral formal closing such as 'Με εκτίμηση' (with respect) fits.
Using one draft for both would signal that Sofia does not understand that Greek marks social distance through grammar and vocabulary, not just through content. The information may be the same, but the relationship being constructed is entirely different.
2. Write a corrected opening and closing for situation B, and explain the fix for the time expression.
Read the worked answer
Corrected opening: 'Αξιότιμε πάτερ Ανδρέα, σας γράφω εκ μέρους του σχολείου μας.' This uses a title, the vocative name, and the polite plural 'σας.'
Corrected closing: 'Σας ευχαριστώ θερμά για τον χρόνο σας. Με εκτίμηση, Σοφία.' This thanks him, acknowledges his time, and closes formally.
Time fix: writing '7' alone is ambiguous and informal in a message. Sofia should write 'στις επτά το απόγευμα' (at seven in the evening) so the hour and the part of day are both clear. In Greek, 'στις' plus the number is the normal way to give a clock time, and adding 'το απόγευμα' prevents confusion between morning and evening. The fix is small but it shows control of everyday written Greek, which the writing task rewards.