x

Culture

Our Everyday Greek: This February We Speak in Greek about Persons We Love

February 19, 2018
Dimitra Pontoporou

Η μαμά μου με αγαπάει means My mom loves me. Αγαπάει is loves, μου is my and με is me.

WHO ELSE LOVES YOU?

Greek phrase            Pronunciation          Meaning

Ο μπαμπάς μου με αγαπάει.           O baBAS moo ME ayaPAi. My dad loves me.

Ο αδελφός με αγαπάει.           EE maMA moo ME ayaPAi.           My brother loves me.

Η αδελφή μου με αγαπάει.      EE adelFEE moo ME ayaPAi.       My sister loves me.

Ο άντρας μου με αγαπάει.       O Antras moo ME ayaPAi.  My husband loves me.

Η γυναίκα μου με αγαπάει. EE yiNEka moo ME ayaPAi.          My wife loves me.

Ο φίλος μου με αγαπάει.     O FEElos moo ME ayaPAi.            My friend loves me.

Η φίλη μου με αγαπάει. EE FEEli moo ME ayaPAi.           My friend loves me.

Η γιαγιά μου με αγαπάει. EE yiayiA moo ME ayaPAi.       My grandma loves me.

Ο παππούς μου με αγαπάει. O paPOOS moo ME ayaPAi.                      My grandpa loves me.

WHOM DO WE LOVE?

Εμείς αγαπάμε τη γιαγιά.        EMEES ayaPAme TEE yiayiA.      We love grandma.

Εσείς αγαπάτε τη γιαγιά;        eSEESayaPAte TEE yiayiA?         Do you love grandma?

Τα παιδιά αγαπάνε τον παππού.   TA pediAayaPAne TON paPOO.  Kids love grandpa.

Τα παιδιά αγαπάνε τη γιαγιά.          TA pediAayaPAne TEE yiayiA.     Kids love grandma.

Keep in mind that the object (whom?) where the verb’s action goes is in the accusative case. The articles τον and την refer to the accusative case of the person’s name. Τον is for men and την for women. Note that the masculine names in the accusative case omit the final -ς. Therefore, we don’t say τονπαππούς, but τονπαππού.

BASIC GRAMMAR: ΑΓΑΠΑΩ

This is how the verb αγαπάω, I love, is conjugated

Greek word    Pronunciation          Meaning

Εγώ αγαπάω/αγαπώ            eYO ayaPAo, ayaPO           I love

Εσύ αγαπάς   eSEE ayaPAS          you love

Η Μαρία αγαπάει/ αγαπά      EE maREEaagaPAi, ayaPA          Maria loves

Εμείς αγαπάμε                       eMEESayaPAme     we love

Εσείς αγαπάτε           eSEESayaPAte        you love

Τα παιδιά αγαπάνε/αγαπούν            TA pediAayaPAne/ayaPOON        The kids love

VOCABULARY

Greek word    Pronunciation          Meaning

Μαμά  maMA             mom

Μπαμπάς       baBAS           dad

Παππούς       paPOOS        grandpa

Γιαγιά yiayiA grandma

Αδελφός         adelFOS        brother

Αδελφή                       adelFEE                    sister

Φίλος  FEElos           friend (male)

Φίλη    FEEli  friend (female)

Άνδρας           Andras           husband

Γυναίκα                      yiNEka           wife

Ταπαιδιά        TA pediA        kids

Ποιον              piyON?           Whom?

Με       ME      me

Μου    MOO   my

Τον      TON    the (acc. masculine)

Την      TEEN the (acc. feminine)

GREEK WORDS IN ENGLISH

The Greek word άντρας or άνδρας means both man and husband and occurs in English words like androgen, androgyny. The Greek word γυναίκα or γυνή in ancient Greek occurs in words like gynecology, androgyny.

EXERCISES

Answer the question Who loves you? Ποιοςσεαγαπάει; Match the Greek phrases with their translation in English.

1.Ο μπαμπάς μου με αγαπάει.                   1. My friend Helen loves me.

  1. Η αδελφή μου με αγαπάει. 2. My grandma loves me.
  2. Ο άντρας μου με αγαπάει. 3. My husband loves me.
  3. Η γυναίκα μου με αγαπάει. 4. My grandpa loves me.
  4. Η φίλη μου η Ελένη με αγαπάει. 5. My dad loves me.
  5. Η γιαγιά μου με αγαπάει. 6. My sister loves me.
  6. Ο παππούς μου μ εαγαπάει. 7. My wife loves me.

Put the article in the correct case. Example: Ο Πέτρος αγαπάει την Ελένη.

  1. Η Ελένη αγαπάει … Πέτρο.
  2. Εγώ αγαπώ … Ειρήνη.
  3. Εσύ αγαπάς .. μαμά σου;
  4. Εμείς αγαπάμε … γιαγιά.
  5. Εσείς αγαπάτε … παππού;
  6. Τα παιδιά αγαπούν … μπαμπά.

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.

RELATED

NEW YORK – Ambassador Dionyssios Kalamvrezos, PhD, will present his new novel ‘Εικονικός Εφιάλτης’ (‘Virtual Nightmare’) along with the basic elements of Artificial Intelligence in three events April 18, 19, and 21.

Top Stories

Columnists

A pregnant woman was driving in the HOV lane near Dallas.

General News

NEW YORK – Meropi Kyriacou, the new Principal of The Cathedral School in Manhattan, was honored as The National Herald’s Educator of the Year.

Video

Over 100 Pilot Whales Beached on Western Australian Coast Have Been Rescued, Officials Say

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — More than 100 long-finned pilot whales that beached on the western Australian coast Thursday have returned to sea, while 29 died on the shore, officials said.

"How did you find Greece?" a friend asked me, after my recent return to New York from a trip there.

On Monday, April 22, 2024, history was being written in a Manhattan courtroom.

PARIS - With heavy security set for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games during a time of terrorism, France has asked to use a Greek air defense system as well although talks are said to have been going on for months.

Enter your email address to subscribe

Provide your email address to subscribe. For e.g. [email protected]

You may unsubscribe at any time using the link in our newsletter.