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.