Asking for the price in Greek

Asking for the price in Greek

Today I am going to teach you 10 ways to say “how much does it cost?” in Greek. In the next lesson we will learn the shopping vocabulary, but first I would like to show you the different phrases we use to ask about something’s price according to where we are. We don’t use the same question when we buy something at an open market or when we want to pay at a restaurant. Also we will see how we can ask what do we owe to someone who offers services to us, for example to a plumber.

1.The most common way to ask something’s price is to say Πόσο κοστίζει; / how much does it cost? So we use the word πόσο, it is an adverb here so it is indeclinable and then the verb κοστίζω in third singular or third plural persons. In singular if we ask about one thing and in plural if we ask about many. If it is not clear, if we don’t show to the seller the price of what we ask, we should mention it. So after the word πόσο and the verb, we will use a noun in Nominative.

*πόσο + κοστίζει/κοστίζουν + Ονομαστική/Nominative

Πόσο κοστίζει η μπλούζα;/how much does the blouse cost?

Πόσο κοστίζουν τα παπούτσια;/how much do the shoes cost?

 

2.If we are in  a shop and we want to buy many thngs and to ask about their prices of course it is boring to use always the question “πόσο κοστίζει;” Instead we can ask: πόσο κάνει;The verb κάνω means “I make, I do”. So, how much does it makes? Again we mean “how much does it cost?” and in plural πόσο κάνουν; again the following noun is in nominative.

Πόσο κάνει η ζάχαρη;/ how much does the sugar cost?

Πόσο κάνουν οι μπίρες;/how much do the beers cost?

 

3.Another way is to ask “πόσο έχει;”. The verb έχω means “I have”. So how much does it have? We mean “how much does it cost?” and in plural πόσο έχουν;

Πόσο έχει ο κιμάς;/how much does the minced meat cost?

Πόσο έχουν οι μπριζόλες;/how much do the steaks cost?

 

4.The forth way is to ask πόσο στοιχίζει; στοιχίζω means “to cost”. After this phrase again we can use a noun in nominative.

Πόσο στοιχίζει ένας καινούργιος υπολογιστής;/how much does a new computer cost?

Πόσο στοιχίζουν οι διακοπές στην Eλλάδα;/how much do the holidays in Greece cost?

 

5.Another question we use is ποια είναι η τιμή του; in singular and in plural ποια είναι η τιμή τους; η τιμή is the price, so “what is its price?” or “what is their price?”. If we have a feminine noun, for example if we ask about a skirt, η φούστα/ the skirt, then we will say ποια είναι η τιμή της;

 

6.A similar question is τι τιμή έχει; and in plural τι τιμή έχουν;/ what price does it have or what price do they have?

 

7.And now we will go to λαϊκή αγορά. Η λαϊκή αγορά or η λαϊκή is the farmer’s market where we can go once a week and buy fresh vegetables and fruits. You can find there clothes, shoes, and flowers as well. We almost always buy vegetables and fruits by kilogram, so a very common question is πόσο πάει το κιλό;/ how much does the kilogram go? We mean how mush does the kilogram cost? Also, we can say πόσο έχει το κιλό;/how much does the kilogram have/ we mean how much does it cost.

 

8.When we are at a café and we want to pay we can ask τι χρωστάω;/what do I owe? Or if you are not alone you can say τι χρωστάμε;/ what do we owe?

9.You will also hear native speakers saying πόσο θέλεις;/ how much do you want? Or πόσο θέλεις για όλα;/how much do you want for everything? To be honest i dont use or reccomend you to use this way if you dont know very well the waiter. İt is not a rude way but it is very friendly. Of course you can also say πόσο κάνει ο χυμός;/how much does the juice cost?

Πόσο κάνουν οι καφέδες;/how much do the coffees cost?

 

10.And last but not least. How we can ask what do we owe to someone who offers serveices to us. A plumber came to fix something. We want ask him for the price but we dont know the appropriate way and none of the former questions sounds good here. So we can say τι χρωστάω; or τι χρωστάμε; / what do I or what do we owe?

Another very polite question that I always prefer is τι σας οφείλω;or τι σας οφείλουμε; again what do I or what do we owe to you?