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Greek grammar A1: beginner

Writing Greek

Contents · A1
  1. The present tense
  2. The past
  3. The future and the να-form
  4. The imperative
  5. Nouns and articles
  6. The cases
  7. Adjectives
  8. Pronouns and possessives
  9. Numbers and the time
  10. Questions and negation
  11. Linking words and word order
  12. Writing Greek
    1. Writing words and questions: the tonos and the question mark
    2. Writing my, your, his: a second accent before a weak pronoun, το όνομά μου

In this part, you will learn to write the Greek accent and the Greek question mark.

  1. Writing words and questions: the tonos and the question mark
  2. Writing my, your, his: a second accent before a weak pronoun, το όνομά μου

Writing words and questions: the tonos and the question mark#

The tonos (΄) is written on the stressed vowel of words of two or more syllables, and the question mark is « ; ».

  • Πού μένουν οι γονείς σου;Where do your parents live?
  • Πώς πάμε στον σταθμό από εδώ;How do we get to the station from here?
  • Το Σάββατο ή την Κυριακή;On Saturday or on Sunday?
  • Η μητέρα μου είναι γιατρός.My mother is a doctor.

Formation

  • A word of two syllables or more takes one tonos, on the stressed vowel: εδώ, καλά, είμαι, κουρασμένος.
  • A word of one syllable as a rule takes no tonos: ναι, δεν, θα, μου, πας. Words such as ποιος and γεια also count as one syllable: ιο, ια are read as one sound.
  • When two letters are read as one sound (ει, αι, ου), the tonos is written on the second: είμαι, ακούω.
  • On a capital letter, the tonos stands at the top left: Άννα, Όχι, Έλα. A word written all in capitals takes no tonos.

Use

  • A few words of one syllable take a tonos to be told apart from another word.
  • As question words, πού (where) and πώς (how) take a tonos, also inside a sentence. Without a tonos, που means “who, which, that” and πως means “that”.
  • ή (or) takes a tonos, unlike the article η.
  • The question mark « ; » is written at the end of every direct question.

Difference from English

  • No accent is written on English words; every Greek word of two or more syllables takes a tonos: καλά.
  • The Greek question mark « ; » has the shape of the English semicolon: Πού;

Common mistakes

  • Που μενεις? → Πού μένεις;Πού and μένεις take a tonos, and the question mark is « ; ».
  • ναί → ναιA word of one syllable takes no tonos.

Remember

  • The tonos is part of the spelling: καλά is misspelt without it.
  • Write the tonos on the stressed vowel of every word of two or more syllables: κουρασμένος.
  • Words of one syllable take no tonos, except a few such as πού, πώς and ή.
  • End every question with « ; »: Πού είσαι; (“Where are you?”)

Practise

“The present tense: είμαι and introducing yourself”, Questions: πού, πώς, από πού and the question mark “Writing Greek”, The accent mark: είμαι, εδώ, όχι “Writing Greek”, Telling words apart: πού or που, πώς or πως, ή or η

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Writing my, your, his: a second accent before a weak pronoun, το όνομά μου#

A word stressed on the third syllable from the end takes a second accent before its own weak pronoun.

  • Γράψε εδώ το όνομά σου.Write your name here.
  • Ο δάσκαλός μας μιλάει τρεις γλώσσες.Our teacher speaks three languages.
  • Η οικογένειά της μένει στο χωριό.Her family lives in the village.
  • Πού είναι το αυτοκίνητό σας;Where's your car?

Formation

  • A word stressed on the third syllable from the end takes a second accent before its own weak pronoun. The second accent is written on the word's last syllable.
  • The weak pronouns are μου, σου, του, της, μας, σας, τους, το, τον… (my, your, his…).
  • A word stressed on one of its last two syllables does not change: το σπίτι μου, το κινητό σου.
  • Before a weak pronoun that belongs to the verb after it, no second accent is written: Ο δάσκαλος μας βλέπει. (“The teacher sees us.”)

Common mistakes

  • το τηλέφωνο μου → το τηλέφωνό μουΤηλέφωνο is stressed on the third syllable from the end: it takes a second accent before μου.
  • το σπιτί μου → το σπίτι μουΣπίτι is stressed on the second syllable from the end: it does not change.

Remember

  • A word stressed on the third syllable from the end takes a second accent before μου: ο δάσκαλός μου.
  • A word stressed on one of its last two syllables takes no second accent: το κινητό σου.

In short

RuleExample
one tonos on a word of two syllables or moreείμαι, εδώ, Όχι
no tonos on a word of one syllableναι, δεν, μου
πού, πώς, ή take a tonosΠού μένεις; τσάι ή καφέ
a second accent before a weak pronounτο όνομά μου, ο δάσκαλός σου
the question mark « ; »Πώς είσαι;
Going further
  • The word and the weak pronoun are pronounced as one word.
  • A Greek word cannot be stressed further back than the third syllable from the end.

Practise

“Pronouns and possessives: μου, σου, αυτός, εκείνος”, A second accent: το όνομά μου

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