The Greek verbs λέω and μιλάω

 

The Greek verbs λέω and μιλάω

Today I am going to explain to you how to use the Greek verbs λέω/I say, I tell and μιλάω/I speak, I talk. Λέω is a verb with more than a thousand derivatives and compound words. In this lesson we will learn in how many different ways the verb λέω can be used and when to use this verb and when the verb μιλάω.

The verb λέω can be used in many different ways.

First way. Λέω κάτι σε κάποιον. /I say something to someone.

Λέω στα παιδιά μου μια ιστορία/I tell a story to my children.

Λέω μια ιστορία/I tell a story

Λέω στον Γιώργο την αλήθεια/I tell the truth to George

Λέω την αλήθεια/I tell the truth

Λέω στη μαμά μου ψέματα/I tell lies to my mother

Λέω ψέματα  /I tell lies

As you can see we have to mention “what” do we say, that is the direct object, for example λέω ψέματα/λέω την αλήθεια. Sometimes as a direct object instead of a noun we can also have a dependent clause. For example: Ο Γιώργος είπε ότι δε θα έρθει στο πάρτι μου/George said that he will not come to my party. What did George say? “That he will not come to my party” is the direct object of the sentence.

So we should mention the direct object but when we speak in general we are not obliged to say “to whom” we say something. But if we are talking about a specific situation to clarify to whom we said something, we use the preposition σε and then a name in accusative or the preposition σε and the strong form of the personal pronoun in Accusative. Είπα την αλήθεια στον Γιώργο/I told the truth to George.

Είπα την αλήθεια σε αυτόν./I told to him the truth.

If the person I m talking to knows to whom I told the truth, to avoid repeating the name we can use the weak form of the personal pronoun in genitive. Του είπα την αλήθεια/told him the truth.  

 Second way

Sometimes we use the verb λέω instead of the verb νομίζω/I think

Είναι καλύτερα να πάμε με το αεροπλάνο παρά με το πλοίο. Τι λες;/it is better to go by plane than by ship. What do you think?/What is your opinion? Very often we ask someone’s opinion by using the question τι λες;

One more example. I am in a shop with my friend and I cannot choose which skirt I will buy and I am telling to her:

Δεν μπορώ να αποφασίσω. Μου αρέσουν και οι δύο. Εσύ τι λες;/i cannot choose. İ like both of them. What is your opinion?

Εγώ λέω ότι έχεις ήδη πολλές φούστες. /I think that you have already many skirts.

Third way.

We use the verb λέω when we want to suggest something to someone. Απόψε λέω να βγούμε έξω για φαγητό. Εσύ τι λες;/i suggest we go out for dinner tonight. What is your opinion? The first λέω is used instead of the verb προτείνω / I suggest and the second λέω instead of the verb νομίζω/think.

Λέω να πιούμε πρώτα έναν καφέ και μετά καθαρίζουμε το σπίτι/I suggest that we drink first a coffee and then we can clean the house.

Εγώ λέω να δώσεις μια δεύτερη ευκαιρία στον Δημήτρη/I suggest you to give a second chance to Dimitris.

Η Μαρία είπε να πάμε το βράδυ σινεμά/Maria suggested that we go to cinema at evening.

So when the verb λέω and the following verb have different subjects, then we suggest something to someone else. Εγώ λέω εσύ να δώσεις/I suggest you to give. And let’s go to the forth way.

When the verb λέω and the following verb have the same subject, the verb λέω means “I intend”.

Λέω να φύγω/I intend to leave

Λέω να επισκεφτώ τους γονείς μου το Σάββατο/I am going to visit my parents on Saturday.

Fifth way.

We use the verb λέω instead of the verb ονομάζω/I name/I call/I give name to someone or something.

We already know that to ask someone’s name we can say πώς σε λένε;/how do they call you? And the answer is με λένε…and then the name. They call me….

Another example. Vasilis Karras was singing some years ago με λες αλήτη, τρελό, εγωιστή/you call me vagabond, crazy, selfish. The same meaning has the verb λέω in the following proverb. Λέω τα σύκα σύκα και τη σκάφη σκάφη./I call the figs figs and the washtub washtub/to call a spade a spade, to speak clearly and directly about things, even embarrassing or unpleasant things.

6^th way.  We use the verb λέω in third plural person to express a general opinion. For example. Λένε ότι οι γυναίκες είναι πιο ευαίσθητες από τους άνδρες/the say that women are more sensitive than men. We mean people say that….

Λένε ότι πρέπει να πίνουμε δύο λίτρα νερό την ημέρα/the say/people say that we should drink two liters of water per day. We have almost the same meaning when we use the third singular person of the verb λέω in passive voice.

Λέγεται ότι οι γυναίκες ζούνε περισσότερο από τους άνδρες/it is said that women live more than men. We will learn how to use the passive verb λέγομαι in another lesson.

7^th way. We use the verb λέω instead of the verb συζητάω/I discuss. The best example is the phrase we use when we leave our friends. Τα λέμε/it literally means “we will tell them” but we mean “we will talk”/see you. Or we use the phrase θα τα πούμε το απόγευμα/we will talk at evening. Θα τα πούμε σύντομα/we will talk soon.

Πέρνα από το σπίτι μου αύριο να τα πούμε/pass by my home/come to my home tomorrow to talk/ to have a discussion.

8^th way. We use the verb λέω instead of the verb συμβουλεύω/I advise. After making a mistake or taking a wrong decision the worst phrase you can hear in Greece from your parents or your friends is εγώ σου τα έλεγα/I was telling them to you/ we mean I advised you about it. Or another example: Σου είπα να μην τον εμπιστεύεσαι αλλά δε με άκουσες/I told you/ I advised you to not trust him but you didnt liesten to me.

9th way. We use the verb λέω instead of the verbs υποθέτω/I guess φαντάζομαι/I imagine.

So let’s see  some examples. Πες ότι αύριο βρίσκεις στον δρόμο 1000000 ευρώ. Επιστρέφεις τα χρήματα ή τα κρατάς;/say that/imagine that tomorrow you find in street 1000000 euro. Do you give it back or you keep it?

Παρήγγειλα φαγητό και για τους δυο μας. Δε σε ρώτησα γιατί είπα ότι θα πεινούσες κι εσύ/i ordered food for both of us. I didnt ask you because I guessed that you too were hungry .

And lets go to the verb μιλάω. It is a b1 verb. If you don’t know which are the b1 verbs and how to conjugate them, you can follow the link you will find in the description box. The verb μιλάω means I speak, I talk.

First way

Μιλάω σε κάποιον για κάτι/I talk to someone about something.

Θα μιλήσω στους γονείς μου για το πρόβλημα που αντιμετωπίζω/ I will talk to my parents about the problem I face

Μίλησα στον Γιώργο για τη Μαρία/ I talked to George about Maria.

To say to whom we talk we use the preposition σε and a noun in accusative or σε and the strong form of the personal pronoun in accusative.

Μίλησα στον Γιώργο/μίλησα σε αυτόν/ του μίλησα. Instead of using σε and the strong form of the personal pronoun in accusative we can also use the weak form of the personal pronoun in genitive. Του μίλησα/I talked to him. Της μίλησα/I talked to her.

Second way

Another way to use the verb μιλάω is to say μιλάω με κάποιον για κάτι/I speak with someone about something. It sounds similar but it is not. When we say μιλάω σε κάποιον/I talk to someone we mean that “I  speak to him”. When we say μιλάω με κάποιονwe mean that we have a discussion with someone about something.

Κάθε μέρα μιλάω με τη μαμά μου στο τηλέφωνο./I every day talk with my mother on the phone.

We use the verb μιλάω. The prep με and a noun in Accusative to say if we have still a relationship with someone. For example Ο Γιώργος και ο Δημήτρης δε μιλάνε εδώ και πέντε χρόνια. /since 5  years George and Dimitris do not talk. As you can see using the verb this way we focus on their bad or good relationship.

Μιλάτε ακόμη με τη Δήμητρα; Πόσα χρόνια έχεις να τη δεις;/do you still talk with Dimitra? For how many years you didn’t see her/meet her?

Ναι, μιλάμε. Μιλάω με όλους τους φίλους μου από το σχολείο/yes we talk. I talk with all my friends from school.

Next way. We use the verb μιλάω to say if we can use a foreign language.

Κύριε Παπαδόπουλε, μιλάτε αγγλικά;/mister papadopoulos, do you speak English?

We dont ask about his oral skills only but generally if the other person knows the language. So, when you go to an interview you can use this verb to talk about the foreign languages you know. Mιλάω αγγλικά, γαλλικά και ιταλικά/I speak English, French and Italian.

And last way. We use the verb μιλάω to say that someone speaks in front of an audience.

Ο καθηγητής μου μιλάει σήμερα σε ένα συνέδριο./My professor is speaking today at a congress.

Τι ώρα θα μιλήσει ο πρωθυπουργός και πού;/ At what time and where will the prime minister talk?

  

10 funny Greek swear words

10 funny Greek swear words

 In this lesson we are going to learn some funny swear words. We will learn their literal meaning and how to use them metaphorically.

The first one is my favorite funny swear words. Ο χαλβάς. It is a word we use for three different delicious sweets we make in Balkans and in Arabic countries. It is not a Greek sweet. We probably started making it here in Greece from the 12^th century. We use the word χαλβάς metaphorically too for a man who is sluggish and fearful and he does not take initiatives. The man who doesn’t know how to deal with unfairness and he is always ready to do whatever other people ask him to do, most often what his mother asks him to do. 

So we can say Ο Γιώργος είναι and then the noun in Nominative when we talk with someone else about George. Ο Γιώργος είναι χαλβάς.

Or when we talk directly to George we use the Vocative case «Xαλβά!»

Τhe next word is the word ξανθόψειρα. Ιt is a compound word. The first part is the adjective ο ξανθός – η ξανθιά/η ξανθή – το ξανθό/blond and the second part is the feminine noun η ψείρα/louse/cootie. So it is a blond louse. We use the word for a blond woman when we want to say that her blond hair and her white skin make her colorless and ugly. The strangest thing is that you will hear only women using this word and most often the blond woman they call ξανθόψειρα is in fact a very beautiful woman.

Third word. Μπαγλαμάς. As far as I know it is a Turkish word. It is a seven stringed musical instrument that looks like a μπουζούκι but it is much smaller than a μπουζούκι. Because of its tiny size very often we use it metaphorically too for a man who always says stupid things, for someone we don’t like because we think that he is stupid. So, I can say to my friend:

Πάλι μ’αυτόν τον μπαγλαμά ήσουν;/were you again with that stupid?

The word can also be used when we are talking to someone who did something stupid to refer to him.

Άσε μας κι εσύ, ρε μπαγλαμά!/ Leave us/don’t bother us, stupid.

Forth word. Ο κεφτές or το κεφτεδάκι mean the meat ball. We don’t cook this kind of food only with meat but also with tomatoes, so we have ντοματοκεφτέδες/tomato balls, κολοκυθοκεφτέδες/pumkin balls, μελιτζανοκεφτέδες/eggplantballs etc. So, the word κεφτές which comes from the Turkish köfte is used to describe different ingredients rolled up into a small ball. Metaphorically we use the word κεφτές for a man who is a little bit fat and sluggish.

Next one. Φυτό. It is the plant. As plants are motionless, we call φυτό someone who is in a coma, who is unresponsive and cannot be woken. Also, you will hear children using this word when they talk about one of their classmates. They call φυτό a very good student who studies many hours every day, who cares only about the lessons and he does not participate in other activities.

-Πιστεύεις ότι   θα έρθουν όλοι οι συμμαθητές μας στο πάρτι μας το Σάββατο;/ Do you think that all our classmates will come to our party on Saturday?

- Όλοι εκτός από τον Κώστα. Αυτός είναι φυτό. Ακόμη και το Σάββατο το βράδυ θα διαβάζει./ All except for Kostas. He is a “φυτό”. Even Saturday evening he will be studying.

We can use the word φυτό either for a boy or a girl.

Sixth word. Στόκος/stucco, a construction material made of aggregates, a binder and water. The word στόκος is used for someone, man or woman, who is stupid.

Χίλιες φορές σου το εξήγησα. Τι δεν καταλαβαίνεις; Στόκος είσαι;/I explained it to you a thousand times. What don’t you understand? Are you blockhead?

Another word with similar meaning is the word τούβλο/brick, a type of block used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Again the word can be used for a man or a woman who is stupid. We also use this word for students who cannot learn easily their lessons.

-Άφησε το βιβλίο και έλα να παίξουμε, ρε Γιώργο. Μην είσαι φυτό./ Leave the book and let’s play, George. Don’t be a φυτό.

-Καλύτερα φυτό παρά τούβλο σαν κι εσένα./ Better a φυτό than brick like you.

8^th word. Βλήμα. It literally means “projectile”. We use the word metaphorically too to say that a man or a woman is stupid. As the projectile goes straight ahead, the same way a stupid person can do something without realizing that it can be harmful to someone else. The same way a stupid person acts without thinking about it before.

Τι έκανες, ρε βλήμα; Άφησες την πόρτα ανοιχτή και μπήκαν μέσα κλέφτες./ What did you do, stupid? You left the door unlocked and thieves got into/ broke into.

The next one is the word πατσαβούρα. It is a piece of old cloth, especially one torn from a larger piece, used typically for cleaning things/the rag.

As the rag is a dirty and ugly piece of cloth, we use this noun metaphorically for a woman who is dirty, ugly or she has a bad behavior. To make it even stronger we can combine the noun with the adjective παλιός/παλιά/παλιό/old. So we have the compound word παλιοπατσαβούρα.

-Τελικά θα βγεις με τη Μαρία; Εάν δε βγεις μαζί της, είπε πως θα βγει με τον Δημήτρη./ Finally will you go out with Maria? If you don’t go out with her, she said that she will go out with Dimitris.

-Να βγει με όποιον θέλει η πατσαβούρα./ She can go out with anyone she wants. Η πατσαβούρα here is the woman with bad/dirty behavior.    

And the last word for today is the word τσόκαρο, a kind of simple slippers, shaped and hollowed out from a single block of wood. As in past only poor women were wearing this kind of slippers, we call τσόκαρο a low class woman with bad behavior. Also, as the sound when we walk with sabots is nerve racking, we use the singular form of the noun, τσόκαρο, for a woman who makes us extremely nervous.