SACE Stage 2 Modern Greek (beginners) flashcards

31 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

Greek alphabet size

Modern Greek is written with 24 letters running from άλφα to ωμέγα. Letter names are fixed nouns used when spelling aloud, citing acronyms and giving abbreviations.

Vowel letters versus sounds

Greek has seven vowel letters but only five vowel sounds. The letters η, ι and υ and the digraphs ει, οι and υι all represent the single sound /i/, so spelling must be learned word by word.

Final sigma rule

The letter sigma is written as ς only in word-final position, as in σπίτι, σας and φίλος. Elsewhere the form σ is used. The capital form Σ never changes shape.

Digraphs μπ, ντ, γκ

At the start of a word these digraphs are voiced stops /b, d, g/, as in μπαμπάς. Inside a word they are pronounced as nasal plus stop [mb, nd, ŋg], as in αμπέλι.

Digraphs αυ and ευ

These are pronounced /av/ and /ev/ before vowels and voiced consonants, as in αυλή and Ευρώπη. Before voiceless consonants they become /af/ and /ef/, as in αυτός and ευκαιρία.

Present-tense verb endings

First conjugation verbs take -ω, -εις, -ει, -ουμε, -ετε, -ουν. Second conjugation verbs take -ώ, -άς, -ά, -άμε, -άτε, -ούν or middle endings such as -μαι and -εται.

Definite article cases

The definite article inflects for gender, number and case: nominative ο, η, το; accusative τον, την, το; genitive του, της, του. Plural forms are οι, τα and τους, τις, τα.

Pro-drop subject pronouns

Greek verb endings already show person and number, so subject pronouns are normally omitted. Εγώ, εσύ and αυτός appear only for emphasis or to contrast two subjects.

Formal versus informal address

Εσύ with singular verb forms addresses friends, peers and children. Εσείς with plural verb forms addresses strangers, elders and formal situations, and also addresses more than one person.

Three grammatical genders

Every Greek noun belongs to one of three genders: masculine, feminine or neuter. Gender is a property of the individual noun and must be memorised together with its article.

Four Greek cases

Nouns and adjectives inflect for nominative, genitive, accusative and vocative. The nominative marks the subject, the accusative the direct object, and the genitive possession or indirect object.

Adjective agreement

An adjective copies the gender, number and case of the noun it modifies. This is why the ending of an adjective changes between το νέο σπίτι and η νέα πόλη.

Genitive of possession

The genitive expresses possession without a verb: το βιβλίο του Γιώργου means George's book. Weak possessive pronouns such as μου, σου and του follow the noun they modify.

Aorist stem and augment

The aorist expresses a completed past action and uses a different stem from the present, as γράφω becomes έγραψα. An augment ε- is added at the front when there is no prefix.

Future with θα

The particle θα plus a subjunctive form builds the future: θα γράψω means I will write once. Θα with the present stem, as in θα γράφω, describes habitual or ongoing future action.

Negation δεν and μην

The indicative is negated with δεν placed before the verb, as in δεν θέλω. Subjunctive and imperative forms are negated with μη or μην, as in μη μιλάς.

Clitic object pronouns

Weak object pronouns such as με, σε, το, τον, την and τους stand immediately before the verb: το βλέπω means I see it. In the imperative they follow the verb.

Subjunctive particles

The particles να, θα and ας introduce subjunctive verb forms. These forms carry the meaning of purpose, future or wish and are negated with μη rather than δεν.

Word order flexibility

Because case endings identify the subject and object, Greek word order is fairly free. The neutral order places the verb before its object, as in ο Γιώργος διαβάζει το βιβλίο.

Accent mark function

The τόνος is obligatory on words of more than one syllable and marks the stressed vowel. Only one accent is written per word, and it never falls on a consonant.

Accent shift in paradigms

Stress position can change across a noun's forms: άνθρωπος in the nominative singular but ανθρώπου in the genitive singular. The accent position is part of the word's correct form.

Diaeresis διαλυτικά

Two dots over ι or υ show that it is pronounced separately from the preceding vowel rather than as a diphthong. Examples are προϊόν and καΐκι, where the vowels belong to different syllables.

Accents in capitals

Words written entirely in capital letters normally omit the accent mark. An exception is made for disyllabic words where the accent distinguishes meaning, as between ΠΟΥ and ΠΟΰ.

Greek question mark

The Greek question mark is the semicolon symbol (;), as in Πού πηγαίνεις;. The Greek semicolon is instead the raised dot (·), and quotation marks appear as «».

Prepositions with accusative

Prepositions such as σε, με, για, από, προς and κατά take the accusative case. Σε contracts with the article to give στο, στη, στον, στην and στα.

Verb είμαι present forms

The irregular verb είμαι means I am and runs είμαι, είσαι, είναι, είμαστε, είστε, είναι. It links a subject to a predicate noun or adjective in the nominative case.

Verb έχω as auxiliary

Εχω means I have for possession and also forms the perfect tenses: έχω γράψει means I have written. The perfect participle is invariable and uses the neuter form.

Numbers one to four

The numbers one to four inflect for gender: ένας, μία, ένα; δύο; τρεις, τρία; τέσσερις, τέσσερα. Numbers from five upwards are invariable in form.

Voiced and voiceless consonants

Greek consonants pair as voiced and voiceless: β/π, δ/τ, γ/κ, ζ/σ. This pairing explains why the digraphs αυ and ευ change pronunciation before voiceless consonants.

Stress and meaning contrast

Stress placement can distinguish words otherwise spelled alike, as with πότε meaning when and ποτέ meaning ever. Correct accentuation therefore matters for comprehension, not only for spelling.

Article contraction with σε

The preposition σε merges with the accusative article to form στον, στη, στο in the singular and στους, στις, στα in the plural. The separate forms σε τον and σε την are not standard.