Knowledge and Application of Language Elements
What you must understand
This domain tests grammar, vocabulary and register in context. Core areas: the article and noun system (three genders, singular/plural, accusative and genitive forms, e.g. ο άνθρωπος → του ανθρώπου → τους ανθρώπους); adjective agreement; pronouns, including weak object forms (με, σε, τον, την, το, μας, σας, τους) and their position before the verb; verb morphology - present, αόριστος, παρατατικός, μέλλοντας, υποτακτική (να γράψω), προστακτική, and the mediopassive endings (-ομαι, -θηκα). You also need prepositions with correct case, word formation (compounds, suffixes), synonyms and collocations, and register-appropriate choices (formal versus colloquial vocabulary).
Traps
- Case after prepositions: με + accusative, από + accusative, σε + accusative; but χωρίς + accusative and μετά + accusative, while κατά τη διάρκεια + genitive.
- Weak pronoun placement: το βλέπω, δεν το βλέπω, θέλω να το δω - before the verb, and the accent shifts in imperatives (πες το → πες μού το).
- Aspect in the subjunctive: θέλω να πάω (single event) versus συνήθιζα να πηγαίνω (habit).
- Irregular aorists (είδα, ήρθα, έφαγα, πήρα) and irregular nouns (η γυναίκα → της γυναίκας, το νερό → του νερού).
- False friends and calques from English that are not idiomatic Greek.
- Register mismatch in a synonym gap-fill.
Rule of thumb
When choosing a form, ask three questions: what case does the preposition or verb require, what aspect does the meaning need, and what register does the text demand? For pronouns, check whether the verb is negated, subjunctive or imperative, since position and accent change.
Worked example
Θέλω να ___ (λέω/πω) την αλήθεια. The subjunctive after θέλω να refers to one completed act, so use the aorist subjunctive πω: Θέλω να πω την αλήθεια. Using λέω would suggest an ongoing or habitual telling and is not idiomatic here.