The Greek words που and πού

The Greek words που and πού

Lesson 51

 

Ιn today’s lesson we will learn when the word που is written with accent and when it is written without accent. Also, we will learn some very important phrases we use in daily life. Let’s start!

When the word πού introduces a direct question, it is an adverb, it means “where” and it is written with accent.

Πού μένεις;/where do you live?

Πού είναι η τσάντα μου;/ where is my bag?

As you can see we have two direct questions. The word πού here is an adverb, it means “where” and it is written with accent.

The word πού with accent introduces indirect questions as well.

Θα μπορούσατε να μου πείτε πού είναι το ταχυδρομείο;/Could you tell me where is the post office?

Δε θυμάμαι πού άφησα τα κλειδιά μου./I don’t remember where I left my keys.

Also sometimes in daily life, when we are surprised by something, we use the word πού with accent instead of the adverb πώς.

 For example my friend is telling me: Ο Πέτρος και η Δέσποινα θα πάρουν διαζύγιο/Petros and Despina will get divorced. I am so surprised that my response is Πού το ξέρεις;/where do you know it? We mean “how do you know it?’

Μy friend again is telling me: Νομίζω πως ο Κώστας είναι ερωτευμένος μαζί μου./I think that Kostas is in love with me. Again I am surprised and my response is:

Πού το κατάλαβες;/how did you understand it?

So we can use the word που with accent mark instead of the adverb πώς when we want to show that we are surprised my something.

Also the word πού is written with accent in the following phrase: από πού κι ως πού.  It is a phrase we use when we hear something weird, when we want to express strong disagreement. It is something like “how come?”, “how is that possible?”

Από πού κι ως πού με κατηγορείς; Με ξέρεις;/ how is it possible to accuse me? Do you know me?

Aπό πού κι ως πού ψηφίσατε για δήμαρχο έναν ξένο;/ How did you vote for mayor a foreigner? With the word ξένος here we don’t mean a person from other country, but someone from another Greek city.

Also there are two phrases we use like adverbs of time. Again the word πού is written with accent. The first one is: πού και πού/now and then. The second is αραιά και πού/every now and then/ not often.

-Πηγαίνεις στο γυμναστήριο;/ Do you go to the gym?

 -Aραιά και πού./ not often/ every now and then.

Πηγαίνω στο γυμναστήριο πού και πού, όμως όχι όσο συχνά θα έπρεπε./I go to the gym now and then but not as often as I should.

Sometimes in daily life we use the word πού with accent mark instead of the word δεν/not.

-Θα πάτε φέτος διακοπές;/Will you go this year on vacation?

 - Πού λεφτά για ταξίδια! / Where is the money for trips. We mean there is not money for trips/we don’t have money for trips.

Σε δύο μέρες γράφω εξετάσεις, αλλά πού μυαλό για διάβασμα!/ In two days I am writing exams but I don’t have mind for studying/I don’t feel like studying.

 The word που without accent can be a relative pronoun introducing a relative dependent clause.

 Ο άντρας που μιλάει είναι ο πατέρας μου./Τhe man who is speaking is my father.

Η γυναίκα με το κόκκινο φόρεμα, που κάθεται δίπλα στον καθηγητή μας, είναι η μητέρα μου./ The woman with the red dress, who is sιtting next to our teacher, is my mother.

The relative dependent clause adds information, important or not important, for the independent sentence’s subject or object.

When we use the word που without accent mark with an adverb of time, the word που is a conjunction introducing a dependent clause which says that while something was happening, the action of the independent sentence happened.

Την ώρα που έτρωγα, χτύπησε το τηλέφωνο./ The time I was eating/ while I was eating the phone rang.

Εκεί που έβλεπα ταινία, κόπηκε το ρεύμα./ While I was watching a movie, the power went out.

To show a repeated action now, in past or in future, we can use the phrase:

κάθε φορά που and then a continuous tense. The word που is written without accent.

Κάθε φορά που πηγαίνω στην Ελλάδα, η μητέρα μου ετοιμάζει ένα σωρό φαγητά./ Every time I go to Greece my mother prepares a lot of food.

Κάθε φορά που βλέπω αυτήν τη φωτογραφία, θυμάμαι τα παιδικά μου χρόνια. / Every time I see this photo, I remember my childhood.

Also sometimes we use the conjunction που without accent instead of the words γιατί, επειδή/because.

Λυπάμαι πολύ που έχασες την πτήση σου./ I’ m so sorry because you lost your flight.

Χαίρομαι που σε βλέπω./I’ m glad because I see you.

Rules for comma usage in Greek

Rules for comma usage in Greek

Lesson 50

Today we will learn how to use commas in Modern Greek. The comma indicates small interruptions in continuity of speech and it is one of the most misused punctuation marks in Greek.

 First of all let’s see the word’s etymology. The word κόμμα (το) comes from the ancient greek verb κόπτω, κόβω in modern Greek/ I cut, I cut off.

Κόμμα in ancient Greek was a piece cut off. Later the word κόμμα, became a rhetorical term which was used to describe a part of a sentence.

Let’s see the rules:

The first and easiest rule: We use commas before or after the Vocative case. We’ve learnt that we use the Vocative case to show direct address, to show that we are talking to someone or something directly.

Μαρία, είσαι η καλύτερη φίλη μου./ Maria, you are my best friend.

When the vocative is in the middle of a sentence then we put commas before and after it.

Ελάτε, παιδιά, να φάτε./Come, children, to eat.

Second rule:

When we have a series of nouns, commas are the most common way to separate one noun from the next. The final two nouns are usually separated by the conjunction και/yes or the conjunction ή/or. So when we have a series of nouns in the same case and all of them are subjects or objects of the sentence’s verb, we use commas to separate them. For example:

Το καλοκαίρι τρώω συχνά φράουλες, κεράσια, ροδάκινα, σταφύλια και βερίκοκα/At summer I often eat strawberries, cherries, peaches, grapes and apricots.

 We have 5 nouns in Accusative case and all of them are the verb’s objects. We separate the first four of them with commas and between the fourth and the last noun we use the conjunction και/and.

O Γιώργος, η Μαρία και ο Δημήτρης ζουν στην Αμερική/ George, Maria and Dimitris live in America.

We have 3 proper names in Nominative case and all of them are the verb’s subjects. We separate the first two with a comma and between the second and the last we use the conjunction “και”.

We should use a comma between two or more adjectives when they are coordinate adjectives, so when they describe the same noun equally.

Η Μαρία είναι όμορφη, ευγενική και καλόκαρδη/ Maria is beautiful, polite and kind-hearted.

There are here 3 adjectives in Nominative case. We use all of them to describe positively Maria. So we separate the first two with comma and between the second and the last one we use the conjunction “και”.  

Also we use commas to separate a series of verbs.

 Το πρωί ξεσκόνισα, σκούπισα και σφουγγάρισα το σπίτι μου/ in the morning I dusted, I swept and I mopped my house.

Third rule:

We use a comma before or after the words ναι/yes or όχι/no, when the statement that follows confirms our answer. For example:

-Θέλεις παγωτό;/ do you want ice-cream?

-Nαι, θέλω./ Yes, I want.

Όχι, δε θέλω. / No, I don’t want.

Μπορείς να έρθεις στο σπίτι μου;/ Can you come to my house?

Ναι, μπορώ./ Yes, I can.

Fourth rule:

We write between commas a short explanation, a nonessential element of a sentence. For example:

Η καλύτερη μου φίλη, η Μαρία, ζει στην Ελλάδα./My best friend, Maria, lives in Greece.

Οι γείτονές μου, ο Δημήτρης και η Κατερίνα, ψάχνουν για νέο σπίτι./My neighbors, Dimitris and Katerina, are looking for a new house.

So we write between commas a nonessential element which can be removed and the sentence still is grammatically correct and it makes sense.

Fifth rule:

We separate with commas an independent sentence from a dependent clause when the dependent clause begins with the words μολονότι, αν και, παρόλο που, ενώ. All of them have a similar meaning, “although, even though”.

Παρόλο που έβρεχε, πήγαμε στο πάρκο./ Even though it was raining, we went to the park.

Μολονότι του εξήγησα τι συνέβη, δε με πίστεψε./ Αlthough I explained to him what happened, he didn’t believe me.\

Αν και έχω δει την ταινία, θα έρθω μαζί σου στον κινηματογράφο./ Although I’ve watched the movie, I will come to the cinema with you.

Ενώ δε διαβάζει, είναι ο καλύτερος μαθητής της τάξης./ Εven though he doesn’t study, he is the best student of the class.

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