In English we say it’s rainingcats and dogs; in Greek we say it drops chair legs, ρίχνεικαρεκλοπόδαρα.

DIALOGUE

This is a common dialogue about the rain, between Maria (M) and Petros (P).

Greek phrase            Pronunciation          Meaning

Π: Μαρία, τικαιρόκάνει         maREEA, Tee keRO KAni             Maria, what’s the weather like?

σήμερα στη Νέα Υόρκη;      SEEmeraSTEENEaiOrki?  Today in New York?

Μ: Κάνεικρύο            KAni KREEo It is cold

καιβρέχει.       KE VRehi.     and it is raining.

Π: Βρέχει πολύ;        VREhipoLEE?          Is it raining heavily?

Μ: Ρίχνεικαρεκλοπόδαρα.   REEhni karekloPOdara.     It is raining cats and dogs.

Π: ΚιεδώστηνΑθήνα            KI eDO STEEN aTHEEna  Here in Athens too

ρίχνειβροχή.  REEhni vroHEE.      it is raining.

BASIC VOCABULARY

Greek phrase            Pronunciation          Meaning

Τι         TEE    what

Οκαιρός         keROS           weather

Κάνει  KAni   does, is

Σήμερα           SEEmera       today

Αύριο  Avrio   tomorrow

Ηβροχή          EE vroHEE    rain

Ρίχνειβροχή.  REEhni vroHEE       it is raining

Θα ρίξει βροχή.         THA REExi vroHEE it will rain

Δεν ρίχνει βροχή.      DEN REEhni vroHEE         it is not raining

Δεν θα ρίξει βροχή.  DEN THA REExi vroHEE   it will not rain

Βρέχει.            VREhi            it is raining

Θα βρέχει.      THA VREhi   it will be raining

Θα βρέξει.      THA VRExi    it will rain

Δεν θα βρέχει            DEN THA VREhi     it will not be raining

Δεν θα βρέξει.           DEN THA VRExi      it will not rain

Βρέχει λίγο.   VREhi LEEyo it is raining a little

Βρέχει πολύ. VREhi poLEE           it is raining a lot

Βρέχει πολύ δυνατά.            VREhipoLEEdinaTA.          It is raining heavily.

Ρίχνει καρεκλοπόδαρα.       PEEhni karekloPOdara.     It is raining cats and dogs.

Ψιχαλίζει. PsihaLEEzi. It is drizzling

Και      KE       and

Εδώ    eDO HERE

Στην    STEEN           at

BASIC GRAMMAR

In order to form a question about the weather, we keep the word order and we just add the question mark at the end of the sentence.

Βρέχει σήμερα στη Νέα Υόρκη. Βρέχει σήμερα στη Νέα Υόρκη ; -Ναι, βρέχει.- Όχι, δενβρέχει.

In order to form the negative form of the verb, we just put the word δεν in front of it. Δεν βρέχει. Δενρίχνειβροχή.

In order to form the Future Tense we add the word θα in front of the verb. Θα κάνει κρύο.

Like in English in Greek we also have Continuous Future Tense and Simple Future Tense. In order to form the Continuous Future Tense, we just add a θα, will, in front of the verb: αύριο θα βρέχει, θαψιχαλίζει, θαρίχνειβροχή όλη μέρα (= tomorrow it will rain all day). We use the Continuous Future Tense if we want to say that it will snow for a long period of time. For a short period of time we use the Simple Future Tense. In order to form the Simple Future Tense, we add the θα, will, in front of the verb and we change the ending in -σει, -ξει: αύριο το πρωί θα βρέξει, θαρίξειβροχή, θαψιχαλίσει (= tomorrow morning it will rain).

EXERCISES

Match the Greek phrases with their translation in English.

Τι καιρό κάνει σήμερα; What is the weather today?

1.Βρέχειπολύ. 1. It is rainingcats and dogs.

Ρίχνεικαρεκλοπόδαρα. 2. It is raining heavily.
Δεβρέχειπολύ. 3. It is not raining a lot.

Τι καιρό θα κάνει αύριο; What will the weather be like tomorrow?

1.Θαβρέχειόλημέρα. 1. It will drizzle in the morning.

2.Θαψιχαλίσειτοπρωί.         2. It will rain all day.

Θαβρέξειλίγο. 3. It will rain a little.

PRONUNCIATION KEY

i (ill), ee (beer), e (ever), o (organ), oo (boot), y (yes), h (helium), th (theory), d (the). The capitalized syllables are accented.