13 ways to use the preposition “από”

13 ways to use the preposition “από”

Lesson 54

Τhe correct use of the prepositions is vital to start speaking Greek. The preposition από, like the other prepositions, is an indeclinable word and we use it before nouns, adjectives, pronouns, adverbs.

1.We use the preposition από and then a noun in Accusative case to express the starting point.

 Το λεωφορείο αναχωρεί από το κέντρο της πόλης στις 20.00./ The bus departs from the city’s center at 20.00 o’clock.

2.We use the preposition από and a noun in Accusative to talk about someone’s or something’s origin.

Ο Γιώργος είναι από τη Θεσσαλονίκη./ George is from Thessaloniki.

 Αυτό το λάδι είναι από τη Χαλκιδική./ This oil is from Chalkidiki.

3.We use the preposition από to talk about the reason, to say why something happened.

Τα μάτια μου κοκκίνισαν από το κλάμα./ My eyes turned red from crying.

Έβγαλα σπυράκια από τον ήλιο./ I got pimples from the sun.

4.We use the preposition από to express distance.

To χωριό μου είναι 50 χιλιόμετρα από τη Θεσσαλονίκη./ My village is 50 kilometers from Thessaloniki.

Το νοσοκομείο είναι 500 μέτρα από το σπίτι μου./ The hospital is 500 meters from my house.

5. We use the prepοsition από to talk about the time, to say from which time we start doing something.

 Εχθές διάβαζα από τις οχτώ το πρωί μέχρι τις οχτώ το βράδυ./ Yesterday I was studying from eight at morning until eight at evening.

Από τις έξι το πρωί είμαι στο πόδι. It literally means “From six at morning I am on foot”. A phrase we use when we want to say that “I woke up early and I was very busy during all day”.

6.We use the preposition από and a noun in Accusative case to talk about something’s basic material. In this case we don’t use articles before the nouns.

Είναι από ξύλο./ It is made of wood.

Είναι από γυαλί./ It is made of glass.

7. We use the preposition από combined with an adverb to express place.

Κάτω από: under

Ο σκύλος κοιμάται κάτω από το κρεβάτι./ The dog is sleeping under the bed.

Μπροστά από: in front of

Η γάτα είναι μπροστά από την καρέκλα./ The cat is in front of the chair.

Πίσω από: behind

Η γάτα είναι πίσω από το δέντρο./ The cat is behind the tree.

Έξω από: out of

Είμαι έξω από το σπίτι σου./ I am out of your house.

Απέναντι από: opposite

Το σπίτι μου είναι απέναντι από την εκκλησία./ My house is opposite the church.

 8.We use the preposition από and then a pronoun in Accusative. When the pronoun that follows is a Personal pronoun, then we can only use the strong forms of the personal pronouns.

Αυτά τα λουλούδια είναι από εμένα για τα γενέθλιά σου./ These flowers are from me for your birthday.

Ποιος από εσάς θέλει να έρθει μαζί μου;/ Who of you wants to come with me?

We can use after the preposition από a demonstrative pronoun too.

For example I want to buy cheese and I don’t know the names of the different types of cheese I see in the shop, so I show them and I say: Θέλω 200 γραμμάρια από αυτό και 300 γραμμάρια από εκείνο./ I want 200 grams of this and 300 of that.

9. We use the preposition από and an adverb of time or place.

Από αύριο αρχίζω δίαιτα./ From tomorrow I am starting a diet.

Από εδώ μέχρι εκεί./ From here to there.

10. We use the preposition από with verbs in Passive voice the same way we use the English “by”.

Αυτό το βιβλίο γράφτηκε από έναν μοναχό το 1950./ This book was written by a monk in 1950.

Η Αλίκη Βουγιουκλάκη αγαπήθηκε από όλους τους Έλληνες./ Αliki Vougiouklak was loved by all Greeks.

11. We use the preposition από to compare. After the preposition we have a noun or a pronoun in Accusative.

Ο Γιώργος είναι πιο ψηλός από τον Κώστα./ George is taller than Kostas.

Είσαι πιο μεγάλος από εμένα./ You are older than me.

12. As you can see in all these examples if the word after the preposition is a declinable word, it is in Accusative case. Sometimes, mainly in oral speech, we use after the preposition a noun or an adjective in Nominative. It is not often used this way, but let’s see some examples.

Από θυρωρός ξεκίνησε και έγινε διευθυντής./ He started like a doorman and he became a manager.

Από μικρός ήταν πολύ οξύθυμος./ Since he was young he was very irritable.

We can see that there are not articles before the noun and the adj.

We use από and a noun or an adjective in nominative in phrases like από παιδί/since I/you/he/she was a child, από μικρή/since she was young, από μαθητής/since he was a student, to talk about a habit that started in past and continues now.

13. We use the preposition από as a prefix in compound words. We use από as a prefix to show that we remove something from something else: αποκεφαλισμός/beheading.

We use από as a prefix to show that what the second part of the compound word says is completed: απογαλακτισμός/weaning, απόφοιτος/graduate.

We use από as a prefix to express absence of what the second part of the word says. Απάνθρωπος: inhuman, cruel.

We use από as prefix for something happens after what the second part of the word says. Απόγευμα/afternoon.

The preposition από ends in the vowel omikron. Sometimes when the next word begins with a vowel too, we omit the preposition’s final vowel and in its place we use an apostrophe. Είσαι πιο όμορφη απ’όλες τις γυναίκες του κόσμου./ You are more beautiful than all world’s women.

Instead of από όλες, in oral speech it is easier to omit the preposition’s final vowel and to pronounce the two words as if there was only one word. Of course it is not wrong to say από όλες. If you are going to write a formal letter or mail it is better to write it as you pronounce the two words separately.

Έμαθα το τραγούδι απ’έξω.

Again we omit the preposition’s final vowel, we use an apostrophe and we pronounce the two words together. Mαθαίνω απ’εξω means “I learn by heart”.

Also sometimes we omit the preposition’s final vowel when the following word is a definite article.

Ήρθε ένα γράμμα απ’την Αγγλία./ A letter came from England.

Μ’έναν καφέ είμαι απ’το πρωί./ I’ve only had a coffee all day long.

We will talk about apostrophe and the way we use it in a new lesson.