General News
Meropi Kyriacou Honored as TNH Educator of the Year
NEW YORK – Meropi Kyriacou, the new Principal of The Cathedral School in Manhattan, was honored as The National Herald’s Educator of the Year.
Souvlakia are so delicious that we seldom order only one. Το σουβλάκι is a noun of neuter gender. These are the numbers 1-5 of neuter gender declension.
Greek word Pronunciation Meaning
Ένα Ena one
Δύο DIo two
Τρία TREEa three
Τέσσερα TEsera four
Πέντε PEnte five
Note that numbers 3 and 4 of neuter grammatical gender are different than the same numbers of feminine gender, which are τρεις (3) and τέσσερες (4).
All other numbers are exactly the same in all genders.
This is how the neuter gender nouns form the plural. Neuter gender words ending in –ι form the plural by keeping the whole word as it is and adding an –α in the end:
το σουβλάκ-ι / τα σουβλάκι-α
το τζατζίκ-ι / τα τζατζίκι-α
το κρεμμύδ-ι / τα κρεμμύδι-α
το μπιφτέκ-ι / τα μπιφτέκι-α
το ψωμ-ί / τα ψωμι-ά
In order to form the plural of words ending in –o we first need to separate the ending –o from the stem. In the word το κοτόπουλο the stem is κοτόπουλ- and the ending is -ο. In the plural we keep the stem and we put an –α instead of the –ο in the ending:
το κοτόπουλ-ο / τα κοτόπουλ-α
το λουκάνικ-ο / τα λουκάνικ-α
το χοιριν-ό / τα χοιριν-ά
FOOD VOCABULARY OF NEUTER GENDER. PLURAL
Greek word Pronunciation Meaning
Τα σουβλάκι-α TA souVLAkia souvlakia
Τα τζατζίκι-α TA tzaTZIkia yogurt sauces
Τα κρεμμύδι-α TA kreMEEdia onions
Τα μπιφτέκι-α TA bifTEkia burgers
Τα κοτόπουλ-α TA koTOpoola chicken
Τα χοιριν-ά TA hiriNA pork
Τα λουκάνικ-α TA looKAnika sausages
Τα σάντουιτς TA SAntooits sandwiches
Τα χάμπουργκερ TA HAmboorger hamburgers
English words transliterated in Greek don’t change their form in the plural, by adding an –s in the ending.
Besides tzatziki, the delicious yogurt and garlic sauce, the most common sauces are of feminine gender and are not originally Greek words.
Greek word Pronunciation Meaning
Η σάλτσα ντομάτα ΕΕ SAltsa domata tomato sauce
Η κέτσαπ EE KEtsup ketchup
Η μουστάρδα EE mooSTArda mustard
Η μαγιονέζα EE mayioNEza mayonnaise
DIALOGUE
This is a common dialogue at a street food truck. Can you understand it without reading the translation?
Greeks use the verb θέλω meaning both I want and I’d like.
-Καλημέρα. (=Good morning.)
-Καλημέρα. (=Good morning.)
-Τι θέλετε; (=What would you like?)
-Θέλω δύο σάντουιτς με δύο χοιρινά σουβλάκια. (=I want two sandwiches with pork souvlaki.)
-Θέλετε ντομάτα, κρεμμύδια και τζατζίκι; (=Do you want tomato, onions, and tzatziki?)
-Ναι, θέλω ντομάτα και τζατζίκι. Δεν θέλω κρεμμύδια. (=Yes, I want tomato and tzatziki. I don’t want onions.)
-Θέλω και τρεις μερίδες πατάτες τηγανητές. (=I want three portions of potatoes.)
-Θέλετε μουστάρδα ή μαγιονέζα; (=Do you want mustard or mayonnaise?)
-Ναι, θέλω. (=Yes, I want.)
-Εσείς, τι θέλετε; (=What would you like?)
-Εγώ θέλω τρία χάμπουργκερ με μπιφτέκια κοτόπουλο. (=I want three hamburgers with chicken burgers.)
-Θέλετε και κέτσαπ; (=Would you like ketchup?)
-Όχι, θέλω δύο με μαγιονέζα και ένα με μουστάρδα. (=No, I want two with mayonnaise and one with mustard.)
-Εσείς τι θέλετε; (=What do you want?)
-Εγώ θέλω τέσσερα σουβλάκια κοτόπουλο με ψωμί. (= I want five chicken souvlaki with bread.)
EXERCISE
Write the numbers and the neuter nouns in the parenthesis in the plural.
Θέλω ……. (3) ……….. (σουβλάκι) κοτόπουλο και ………. (5) ……….. (χοιρινό) με ……… (πατάτα) τηγανητές.
Θέλω ……..(4) ……….. (λουκάνικο) με ……… (4) φέτες ψωμί.
Θέλω ……. (2) χάμπουργκερ με ………. (μπιφτέκι) και …… (κρεμμύδι).
PRONUNCIATION KEY
i (idiom), ee (needle), e (energy), o (organism), oo (boot), y (yes), h (helium), th (theory), d (the). The capitalized syllables are accented.
NEW YORK – Meropi Kyriacou, the new Principal of The Cathedral School in Manhattan, was honored as The National Herald’s Educator of the Year.
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