Referenca e gramatikës greke
Shënime të qarta, nivel pas niveli për t'i dhënë kuptim gramatikës moderne greke.
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The Greek alphabet
The 24 Greek letters, their names and pronunciation, and the common digraphs.
Articles and gender
Greek has three genders. The definite article ο / η / το reveals each noun’s gender — in the singular and the plural.
The present tense
The present-tense endings, the most useful verb in Greek, and why είμαι follows no rule.
The stress mark and syllables
Every Greek word of two syllables or more carries a stress mark. It is not decorative — it changes meaning.
Nominative and accusative
Subject or object? Greek shows it through the noun and its article. The key rule: the masculine drops its -ς.
To be and to have: είμαι, έχω
The two most frequent verbs in Greek — irregular, and needed from your very first sentence.
The plural of nouns
Six endings cover almost everything: -οι, -ες, -α, -ια, -ματα — with the article changing along.
Numbers
Count from 0 to 1000, agree ένας/μία/ένα and τρεις/τρία, and tell the time and prices.
Negation and questions
δεν before the verb, the semicolon as question mark, and the π- words that ask every question.
The verb’s little words: θα, να, ας, μη
Four particles steer the Greek verb: θα (future), να (want/should), ας (let’s), μη (don’t).
Proper names: ο Νίκος, η Ελλάδα
In Greek, first names, countries and cities take the article: Η Μαρία μένει στην Ελλάδα. A tiny rule that changes everything.
Από and σε: from and to
The two prepositions that carry your whole day: Είμαι από τη Γενεύη, πάω στο σχολείο — and the famous στο = σε + το.
Possessives: το βιβλίο μου
My, your, his in one syllable AFTER the noun: το σπίτι μου, η μαμά σου, ο φίλος της. Simple — once you flip the habit.
Adjectives: καλός -ή -ό, ωραίος -α -ο
One adjective, three forms — and the one-euro question: feminine in -η or in -α? The answer fits in a single letter.
Days, times, free time: τη Δευτέρα το πρωί
“On Monday I play football”: no preposition — the accusative does it. Τη Δευτέρα παίζω ποδόσφαιρο, το βράδυ βλέπω ταινίες.
Adverbs and comparison: καλά, πιο καλά
Where, when, how — and the magic word πιο that compares anything: πιο γρήγορα, πιο ωραία, πιο καλός από…
Demonstratives: αυτός, εκείνος
This and that — and trap #1: “this book” is αυτό ΤΟ βιβλίο, the article is compulsory.
Me, you, him: με, σε, τον — and εμένα
Σε βλέπω! Two sets of pronouns: the short ones before the verb (με, σε), the full ones for emphasis (εμένα, εσένα).
How much? πόσος — and the answer πολύς
Πόση ζάχαρη; Πολλή! The question-answer pair of quantity — always agreeing with the noun.
Whose? ποιανού — Mine! δικό μου
The possession question and its emphatic answer: Ποιανού είναι αυτό το κινητό; — Δικό μου!
Yesterday and tomorrow: πήγα — θα πάω
First meeting with past and future: the ten verbs that tell yesterday (πήγα, είδα, έφαγα) — and the θα that sends them to tomorrow.
He says that…: λέει ότι, ρωτάει αν
Reporting other people's words: Η Μαρία λέει ότι είναι κουρασμένη. Ρωτάει αν έρχεσαι. Your first complex sentences.
The aorist: the simple past
The storytelling tense: a past action, completed. Χθες έγραψα ένα γράμμα — yesterday I wrote a letter.
The imperative
Giving orders and advice: continuous vs aorist imperative (γράφε / γράψε), polite plural and negation with μην.
Adjectives and agreement
Adjectives in -ος / -η / -ο agree with the noun in gender, number and case; the declension of καλός and irregular πολύς.
Adverbs
How to say well, fast, often: build an adverb in -α, recognise the -ως ones, and the little words of place and time.
The second conjugation: μιλάω, μπορώ
Verbs stressed on the ending have their own endings — in two families: μιλάω, μιλάς… and μπορώ, μπορείς…
The imperfect: παρατατικός
The past of habits and backgrounds: κάθε μέρα έγραφα — every day I used to write. The aorist’s twin, with the opposite viewpoint.
The possessives: μου, σου, του…
“My book” is the-book of-me: το βιβλίο μου. The possessive follows the noun; the article stays in front.
The genitive
The case of possession: το σπίτι του Νίκου. Singular forms for all three genders, and its everyday uses.
Prepositions
σε, με, από, για, μέχρι, χωρίς: small, everywhere, and always followed by the accusative.
Comparative and superlative
Taller, the tallest, very tall: πιο ψηλός, ο πιο ψηλός, ψηλότατος — and comparing with από.
Linking sentences: και, αλλά, ή, γιατί
From two-word utterances to real sentences: the connectors that make your Greek flow.
The subjunctive with “να”
Expressing wish, purpose or obligation with να + verb; θέλω να, πρέπει να, μπορώ να.
The full case system
Four cases, two numbers: the full paradigms, the -ων genitive plural that moves the stress, and the vocative.
The future tense
Talking about the future with θα: continuous future (θα γράφω) vs simple future (θα γράψω), plus irregular futures like θα πάω, θα δω, θα πω.
Personal pronouns
Strong and weak forms (εμένα / με, μου), clitic placement before the verb (μου το έδωσε) and after the imperative (δώσε μού το).
Active and passive voice
πλένω → πλένομαι: the -ομαι endings, the -θηκα past, and the verbs that only exist in the passive.
The perfect: έχω γράψει
“I have already written”: έχω + an invariable form. The past that matters for the present — plus its big brother, the pluperfect.
Relatives: που, ο οποίος, ό,τι
One word — που — does 90 % of the work. The rest: ο οποίος for precision, ό,τι and όποιος for “whatever” and “whoever”.
Indefinites: κάποιος, κανείς, τίποτα
Someone, something, no one, nothing — and the double life of κανείς, which means “none” with δεν but “anyone” in a question.
Real conditionals: αν
If + a possible condition: Αν βρέξει, θα μείνουμε σπίτι. The grammar of plan A and plan B.
Aspect: θα γράφω or θα γράψω?
The most Greek choice in Greek grammar: every verb has two stems, and after θα or να you must pick — ongoing or one-off.
Greek punctuation
The semicolon that asks a question and the raised dot that acts as a semicolon: Greek punctuation plays by its own rules.
σ’ αγαπώ: the sounds that drop
Why songs say σ’ αγαπώ and θα ’ρθω — and why «τον πατέρα» sounds like [tombatéra]: elisions and liaisons of spoken Greek.
Numbers II: dates, fractions, multiples
στις τρεις Μαΐου, το ένα τρίτο, διπλάσιος: grown-up numbers — appointments, recipes, percentages.
Nouns that grow: ο παππούς, οι παππούδες
Some nouns gain a syllable in the plural: καφές → καφέδες, γιαγιά → γιαγιάδες. A small family of very frequent words.
Everyday adjectives: τεμπέλης, γκρινιάρης, καφετί
The lazy one, the jealous one and coffee-colored things: the -ης/-α/-ικο adjectives and the -ής/-ιά/-ί colors.
Adverbial clauses: when, because, so that
Five clause families answering five questions: when? why? what for? with what result? despite what?
Word order
Greek defaults to SVO but moves freely: what changes is the emphasis. The only hard rules concern the little pronouns.
Irregular verbs
The verbs whose aorist cannot be predicted from the present — few in number, but among the most frequent.
Expressing modality: must, can, maybe
πρέπει, μπορεί, ίσως, θα + past: the small machinery that separates “he must leave” from “he must have left”.
Myself, the same, on my own
Three neighbouring tools English mixes up: ο εαυτός μου (myself, as object), ο ίδιος (in person / the same), μόνος μου (without help).
Indeclinable and double-plural nouns
το ταξί, το σινεμά never change; ο χρόνος has two plurals that mean different things — οι χρόνοι and τα χρόνια.
Modifiers of the noun
Apposition, attribute, genitive: how one noun narrows another — in the same case or a different one.
Unreal conditionals
If I had money… Αν είχα λεφτά, θα αγόραζα σπίτι. The grammar of regrets and dreams.
The sequence of tenses
What happens to tenses after “he said that…”? Good news: in Greek, almost nothing shifts.
Sentence intonation
The melody that separates question, statement and surprise — vital, since Greek questions don’t change word order.
Politeness in practice
Formal “you” with the plural, softening with θα ήθελα and μήπως, choosing between εσύ and εσείς — the social grammar of Greek.
Two-object verbs: μου δίνεις;
Giving something TO someone: the genitive stands in for the lost dative — μου δίνεις, της λέω, σας στέλνω.
Adjectives in -ής, -ές and -ύς: διεθνής, βαθύς
Beyond -ος/-η/-ο: the learned adjectives (διεθνής, συνεχής, ακριβής), the sensory ones (βαθύς, πλατύς) — and the untameable πολύς.
The aorist in both voices: έγραψα / γράφτηκα
You have known έγραψα since Α2. Here is the whole system: which consonant yields ψ, ξ or σ, and how the same verb makes γράφτηκε in the passive.
The perfect tenses, both voices
έχω γράψει · είχα γράψει · θα έχω γράψει — and their passives έχω γραφτεί, είχα γραφτεί, θα έχω γραφτεί. One mechanism, three moments.
The imperfect in both voices: έγραφα / γραφόμουν
The scenery of the past, active side and passive side — plus the -όμουν endings nobody forgets once seen.
The subjunctive: two aspects, two voices
να γράφω / να γράψω / να γράφομαι / να γραφτώ — four cells, one logic: να takes whichever stem the meaning asks for.
The one-off imperative, both voices
Γράψε! Ντύσου! Σηκωθείτε! — the order aimed at ONE action, active and passive alike, with its pronouns hooked on behind.
Rare endings, frequent words
ο συγγραφέας, η ηχώ, το κράτος, το γράψιμο, το φως, το παν — the small families outside the three big patterns, yet everywhere in a newspaper.
Building words: prefixes and compounding
ξαναγράφω, ανεβοκατεβαίνω, ασπρόμαυρος: three word-machines — the prefix, the -ο- weld, and the multi-word compound.
The two participles: γράφοντας / γραμμένος
One describes what you do while doing something else, the other the state you are in. Two forms, two opposite grammatical lives.
Comparatives and superlatives, the full picture
πιο ωραίος or ωραιότερος? πιο γρήγορα or γρηγορότερα? Both routes — periphrastic and one-word — for adjectives AND adverbs.
Multiplicative and proportional numerals
διπλός or διπλάσιος? μονός, τριπλός, δεκαπλάσιος: the numeral family that doesn't count but multiplies.
Participles
The active gerund in -οντας / -ώντας, the passive participle in -μένος with agreement, and the learned participles of written Greek (ο αναφερθείς).
Learned forms
The legacy of katharevousa lives on in the press, the law and set phrases: fossilised datives, ancient prepositions, register doublets.
Impersonal verbs and fixed constructions
πρόκειται να, αξίζει να, απαγορεύεται, μου αρέσει: the verbs with no subject — and those whose subject is elsewhere.
The prepositions of written prose
λόγω, μέσω, βάσει, κατόπιν, εξαιτίας: the genitive-taking prepositions that make up the language of newspapers and offices.
Where Greek words come from
Three thousand years of history in the lexicon: inherited words, Turkish, Italian and French loans — and Greek words that came home from abroad.
Building words: derivation
One verb yields four nouns, one adjective yields a quality: the suffixes and prefixes that multiply your vocabulary fivefold.
Polysemy, synonyms, collocations
γλώσσα is both tongue and language; παίρνω τηλέφωνο but κάνω μπάνιο: at Γ1 the right word is a matter of neighbourhood.
Writing by genre: email, letter, essay
Αξιότιμε κύριε or Γεια σου Μαρία? Opening and closing formulas, and the structure the Γ1 exam expects.
Register: a grammar of context
The same meaning can be said three ways: casual, neutral, formal. Picking the right column is the skill that defines Γ1.
Discourse connectives
ωστόσο, επομένως, εξάλλου, αφενός… αφετέρου: the hinges that turn sentences into an argument.
The article: generic, abstract and nominalising reference
Beyond “ο, η, το”: the Greek article for whole classes, abstract notions, and for turning anything into a noun.
Learned genitives: της πόλεως, του καθεστώτος
Administrative, legal and journalistic Greek keeps ancient genitives alongside the everyday ones. How to read them, and when to write them.
Adjectives in -ων, -ουσα, -ον
Επείγων, παρών, ενδιαφέρων: old participles turned adjectives, everywhere in formal Greek and mis-declined by almost everyone.
“Που” or “ο οποίος”? Choosing the relative
The invariable relative covers almost everything — until the sentence turns ambiguous or a preposition is involved. That is where ο οποίος earns its place.
Adverbs in -ως and -α: two forms, two meanings
Απλά and απλώς do not mean the same thing. A pair of endings that changes the meaning, not just the tone.
Tenses in narrative: the historic present
At Β2 you made tenses agree. At Γ1 you choose them: present to make the past vivid, imperfect for the backdrop, aorist for the event.
Using the cases: accusative and genitive
At Β1 you could form the cases. At Γ1 you choose which one to use — and that is where correct and natural part ways.
Prepositions with accusative and genitive
Almost every preposition in everyday Greek governs the accusative. The few that take the genitive change meaning when they do — κατά is the perfect example.
The pronoun system: demonstrative, indefinite, reflexive, relative
The four sets met separately at earlier levels, set side by side — because at Γ1 the problem is no longer the form but the choice between them.
Relative clauses
Defining or non-defining: one comma changes the meaning of the whole sentence, and it is the distinction almost nobody punctuates correctly.
The six adverbial clauses
Cause, result, purpose, condition, time, concession — each relation has its own conjunctions and its own mood. This is the skeleton of any argued text.
“Θα πρέπει” and “μπορεί”: obligation or inference?
The same words both impose and guess. The tense that follows decides which — and getting it wrong turns a hypothesis into an order.
Nominal (complement) clauses
Ειδικές, βουλητικές, ενδοιαστικές, πλάγιες ερωτηματικές: four types that stand where a noun would. The main verb decides which one — it is not a free choice.
Reported speech
Reporting statements, questions and commands with ότι / πως / αν / να — and why Greek keeps the original tense, with no backshift.
Compound words
γλυκόξινος, καρδιοχτύπι, χασομέρης: how two words make a third — and the ubiquitous -ο- that welds them.
Figures of speech
Metaphor, metonymy, hyperbole, litotes: the machinery that makes words say more than they say — essential for reading press and literature.
Idiomatic structures: τα κατάφερα
The mysterious τα that refers to nothing: τα κατάφερα, τα πάμε καλά, την πάτησα — the frozen pronouns of spoken Greek.
Fossilised ancient phrases
εν ριπή οφθαλμού, άρον άρον, το μη χείρον βέλτιστον: Ancient Greek alive inside the modern — first recognise them, then dare to use them.
Highlighting: clefts and dislocations
Εγώ ήμουν που τηλεφώνησα · Τον Νίκο τον είδα χθες: the constructions that point a spotlight at a single word.
Nominalisation: το ότι, το να
A whole clause becomes subject or object: Το ότι ήρθες σημαίνει πολλά. The decisive tool of Γ2 prose.
Diminutives and augmentatives
καφεδάκι, σπιτάκι, καφεδάρα: affection, irony and admiration hidden inside a suffix.
Proverbs and vivid sayings
Όποιος βιάζεται σκοντάφτει: wisdom in one sentence, and the ready-made images that make speech sound Greek.
Spelling dilemmas
λίπη or λύπη? κτίριο or κτήριο? The iota homophones and the words with two official spellings.
The article in fossilised learned phrases
Εν τω μεταξύ, εν λόγω, τοις εκατό: frozen ancient datives, article included, used daily in legal and journalistic Greek.
Nouns of ancient declension
Το ύδωρ, το γάλα, το τέρας: nouns whose stem shifts in the genitive, surviving mostly in compounds and set phrases.
Learned comparatives and superlatives
Βέλτιστος, χείριστος, ελάχιστος: inherited suppletive forms, still alive in technical and administrative Greek.
Learned pronouns: εαυτού, αλλήλων, ουδείς
The frozen reflexive, the reciprocal with no nominative, and the absolute negator of formal Greek.
Learned adverbs and adverbial phrases
Ούτως, εντούτοις, άλλωστε, ενίοτε: the connectors that move a text from narration into argument.
Learned verb forms: -θείς, -όμενος, το ζην
Court and newspaper Greek uses participles the spoken language has lost. Reading them is essential; writing them, rarely necessary.