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?