Writing in Modern Greek
What you must understand
Writing tasks require you to produce a text of a specified type, purpose, audience and length: an email, a letter, a blog post, an article, a review, a short story. You must control text structure (greeting, opening, body paragraphs, closing, sign-off), register (consistent εσείς for formal; εσύ for informal; appropriate formulas such as Αγαπητέ κύριε, Με εκτίμηση versus Γεια σου, Φιλιά), tense and aspect, and cohesion through connectors. Accuracy in spelling, accents, agreement and verb endings matters, as does range: varied vocabulary, subordinate clauses, and appropriate idiom.
Traps
- Register drift: starting formally and slipping into εσύ, or mixing Με εκτίμηση with Φιλιά.
- Off-task content: writing about your opinion when the task asks you to invite, complain, or describe.
- Missing task points: each bullet in the prompt must be covered; plan before writing.
- Aspect errors: αόριστος for a completed event versus παρατατικός for background or habit (πήγα once versus πήγαινα repeatedly).
- Accent and spelling slips that change meaning (πότε when? versus ποτέ never; ή or versus η the).
- Over-long sentences that lose grammatical control.
Rule of thumb
Spend two minutes on a plan: list the required points, choose the text type and register, and note the key verbs and tenses. Write short, controlled sentences; link them with connectors. Reserve time to check verb endings, article-noun agreement, accents and the sign-off. A clear, accurate, on-task text scores better than an ambitious, error-strewn one.
Worked example
Prompt: write a formal email to a hotel asking about a room and complaining about noise. Opening: Αξιότιμοι κύριοι, … closing: Με εκτίμηση, plus your name. Keep εσείς throughout (Θα ήθελα να μάθω…, Θα σας παρακαλούσα…). A reply ending Φιλάκια would break register and lose marks.