Greek Language and Comprehension (Ελληνική Γλώσσα και Κατανόηση Κειμένου)
What is tested
This domain checks whether you can read a Modern Greek text and answer precisely - main idea, supporting detail, inference, vocabulary in context - and whether you can produce grammatically correct Greek under exam pressure. Expect comprehension passages, sentence-completion items, synonym/antonym tasks and orthography.
Core rules
- Case and agreement. Articles, nouns and adjectives agree in gender, number and case (ονομαστική, γενική, αιτιατική, κλητική). Prepositions take fixed cases: σε, από, με, για, κατά + accusative; μέσα σε, ύστερα από, χάρη σε.
- Verb aspect. Εξακολουθητική (γράφω), στιγμιαία (γράψω), συντελεσμένη (έχω γράψει). After να, θα and μη the subjunctive uses non-past forms: θα σου γράψω (one completed act) versus θα σου γράφω (repeated or continuous).
- Negation. δεν with the indicative, μη/μην with subjunctive and imperative (μην το κάνεις).
- Spelling. The sound /i/ can be ι, η, υ, ει, οι, υι; check the word family and etymology rather than the sound. Watch paronyms such as επίσης (also) and επί τούτοις (moreover).
- Punctuation. Greek uses the ano teleia (·) where English uses a semicolon, and the Greek question mark is «;» - identical in shape to the semicolon.
Worked example
Sentence: «Η επιτροπή απένειμε το πρώτο βραβείο ___ καλύτερο μαθητή.» Options: ο / του / στον / το. Reasoning: απενέμω takes the thing awarded in the accusative and the recipient with σε + accusative. The recipient is masculine singular, so σε + τον contracts to στον. «Του» is the genitive and is the trap, because English says 'awarded the student'. Answer: στον.
Traps that cost marks
- Picking the article that matches how the phrase sounds in fast speech instead of the case the verb governs.
- Misreading the question word: «Ποιος είναι ο κύριος σκοπός του κειμένου;» asks for purpose, not for a detail.
- Offering a stated fact where the question asks for an inference; an inference is supported by the text but not quoted from it.
- Dropping accents on capitalised words or leaving a double accent on a word followed by an enclitic.