How to use the Greek word μήπως

 

                                                    How to use the Greek word μήπως

Today I am going to explain to you how to use the Greek word μήπως. I know that it is a quite confusing word because it can be used in different ways and the hardest thing is that sometimes when we try to translate into English a Greek sentence, especially a question that begins with the word μήπως, in the English sentence there is not an equivalent word.

For example in Greek we say Μήπως έχεις αναπτήρα;, but in English we say “do you have a lighter?”

The word μήπως means “maybe”, this is why many Greek language learners use it instead of the word ίσως/maybe. For example, they say Μήπως θα επισκεφτώ την Ελλάδα φέτος. They want to say “maybe I will visit Greece this year”, but the sentence they use is wrong. In this case we have to use the word ίσως. In statements we use the word ίσως. We use the word μήπως only in questions in direct or indirect speech. Let’s see again the first example:

 Μήπως έχεις αναπτήρα; it is a direct question. Obviously, if we say Έχεις αναπτήρα; the other person will answer yes or no and this is what we want to learn, but the word μήπως denotes the uncertainty.

Γιώργο, μήπως είσαι ακόμη στο σούπερ μάρκετ; Τελείωσε το γάλα. George, are you still at the super market? The milk is finished.

Μήπως προκαλούν παρενέργειες αυτά τα χάπια; do these pills have side effects?

 Ίσως έρθω το βράδυ. Μήπως θέλεις να φέρω κάτι; maybe I will come at night. Do you want me to bring anything?

Let’s see some indirect questions.

 Με ρώτησε μήπως έχω αναπτήρα. He asked me if I have a lighter. So, in indirect questions we can translate the word μήπως as “if”. In Greek too in the indirect questions we can replace the word μήπως with the word αν/if.

Έχεις ώρα; do you have the time? Mε ρώτησε μήπως έχω ώρα. He asked me if I have the time.

But the word μήπως is not only used to ask a question directly or indirectly. It can also be used in expressions of fear after a verb that means “to be afraid”, “to be worry”. Let’s see the most often used verbs. Φοβάμαι: to be afraid, ανησυχώ: to be worry, αγωνιώ: to be anxious

After one of these verbs the word μήπως means “lest”.

Φοβήθηκα μήπως σου έχει συμβεί κάτι. I was afraid lest something have happened to you.

Ανησυχώ μήπως χαθούμε. I am worrying of getting lost.

Αγωνιώ μήπως δε φτάσουμε στην ώρα μας. I am anxious that perhaps we will not arrive on time.

The Greek verbs διαβάζω, μελετάω, σπουδάζω and μαθαίνω.

 

The Greek verbs διαβάζω, μελετάω, σπουδάζω and μαθαίνω.

Have you ever heard teachers say Σήμερα θα σας μάθω…./today I will “learn you”….

It sounds strange, right? And have you ever said “εχθές το απόγευμα σπούδαζα ελληνικά”. It is a common mistake. Today I am going to explain to you how to use the Greek verbs διαβάζω, μελετάω, σπουδάζω and μαθαίνω.

 

Τhe easiest of these verbs is the verb διαβάζω/to read.

·         We use the verb διαβάζω to say that we read a newspaper, a novel and generally something that we don’t have to memorize. 

Ο πατέρας μου κάθε πρωί διαβάζει την εφημερίδα του./My father every morning reads his newspaper.

Το καλοκαίρι διάβασα τέσσερα μυθιστορήματα./At summer I read 4 novels.

·         We use the verb διαβάζω to say that someone is able to read.

Η γιαγιά μου δεν πήγε σχολείο και γι’αυτό δεν ξέρει να διαβάζει./My grandmother didn’t go to school, this is why she cannot read.

·         We use the verb διαβάζω to say that someone helps someone else to study. For example:

Όταν ήμουν μικρή, με διάβαζε η μαμά μου.  Let’s see “when I was young my mother was reading me”. We mean when I was young, my mother was coaching me/ was helping me to study.

Ο Γιώργος είναι 16 χρονών και ακόμη τον διαβάζει ο μπαμπάς του./George is 16 years old and still his father was helping him to study.

·         We use the verb διαβάζω instead of the verbs “to recognize, to interpret”.

Εγώ δεν του είπα τίποτα. Εκείνος διάβασε τις σκέψεις μου./I didn’t tell him anything. He read my thoughts.

Διάβασε την αλήθεια στα μάτια μου./ Ηe read the truth in my eyes.

·         We use the verb διαβάζω to talk about the prayer the priest reads to bless someone who is sick.

Ο Δημήτρης είναι στα τελευταία του. Ήρθε ο παπάς να τον διαβάσει. / Dimitris is in his lasts/we mean his last days/he is ready to die. A priest came to bless him.

·         As we said the verb διαβάζω is used when we want to say that we read something for fun and we are not trying to acquire knowledge but very often we use the verb διαβάζω instead of the verb μελετάω/ to study.

Μαρία, διάβασες τα μαθήματά σου;/Maria, did you study your lessons?/did you do your homework?

Δεν έγραψα καλά στο τεστ γιατί εχθές δεν είχα χρόνο να διαβάσω./ I didn’t write well in the exam because yesterday I didn’t have time to study.

 

And let’s go to the verb σπουδάζω which is one of the verbs used incorrectly by the Greek language learners. Σπουδάζω means to study at university. So the sentence εχθές το απόγευμα σπούδαζα ελληνικά as you can understand is wrong in Greek.  We use the verb σπουδάζω with the preposition σε to say where do I study. For example:

Ο Χρήστος σπούδασε στο εξωτερικό./Christos studied abroad. Or

Σπούδασα στο Αριστοτέλειο Πανεπιστήμιο Θεσσαλονίκης./I studied at university of Aristotle in Thessaloniki.

So we ask someone Πού σπουδάζεις;/where do you study? And he can answer by using the verb σπουδάζω, the prep σε and the name of the city. Σπουδάζω στη Θεσσαλονίκη or the verb σπουδάζω, the prep σε and the name of the university. Σπουδάζω στο Αριστοτέλειο Πανεπιστήμιο.

Τo ask at which university someone goes to we can also say Σε ποιο πανεπιστήμιο σπουδάζεις;/ what university do you study at?

Another question is τι σπουδάζεις;/what do you study?we mean what subject do you study at university.

So we can use the verb to talk about the subject of our studies.

Σπουδάζω φιλοσοφία./I study philosophy. Σπουδάζω μαθηματικά./I study mathematics.

·         One more way to use this verb is to say that someone σπουδάζει someone else and we mean that someone covers my expenses to study.

Οι γονείς σου σε μεγάλωσαν, σε σπούδασαν κι εσύ τώρα τους εγκαταλείπεις./Your parents raised you and educated you and now you are abandoning them.

-θα πάτε φέτος διακοπές;/Will you go this year on vacation?

-Πού λεφτά για διακοπές! Σπουδάζουμε δύο παιδιά./ There are not money for holidays. We pay our children’s college education.

If you don’t know how to use the word που with the way I did, you can watch my lesson about που. You will find the link in the description.

·         Let’s go now to the verb μελετάω/μελετώ/to study, but it is about the work done at home.

 For example: Μελετάω 3 ώρες την ημέρα./ I work at my lessons 3 hours per day.

Μην κάνεις φασαρία. Μελετάω/Don’t make noise. I am studying.

In Greek to say “I work at my lessons” is more common to use the verb διαβάζω. In the last two examples we can replace the verb μελετάω with the verb διαβάζω. So the correct way to say that yesterday you were studying Greek is Εχθές το απόγευμα μελετούσα ελληνικά or εχθές το απόγευμα διάβαζα ελληνικά.   

When knowledge is obtained by reading books mainly, then μελετώ can be replaced by διαβάζω.

·         The verb does not always imply that any reading is done. You can study for example the life of an African race by living there. So μελετάω is to apply your mind purposefully to the acquisition of knowledge or understanding of a subject.

Ο Πέτρος μετακόμισε στην Αμερική για να μελετήσει τη ζωή των Μάγια. / Petros moved to America in order to study the life of Mayans.

And let’s go to the last verb. Μαθαίνω. The verb’s first meaning is “to learn”./ to acquire knowledge. So we say: Μαθαίνω γαλλικά./I learn French

Μαθαίνω πιάνο./I learn piano-how to play the piano

Μαθαίνω χορό./I learn dancing

Μαθαίνω ελληνικά./I learn Greek. We mean I take lessons in order to learn something. Μαθαίνω ελληνικά means to learn the Greek language.

·         We use the verb μαθαίνω instead of the verb πληροφορούμαι/I am informed.

Έμαθες τα νέα;/Did you hear the news?

Έμαθα την αλήθεια./i learned the truth.

Έμαθες τι ώρα αρχίζει το μάθημα αύριο;/Have you learned what time the lesson starts tomorrow?

·         We use the verb μαθαίνω instead of the verb συνηθίζω/to become accustomed.

Έμαθα να κοιμάμαι με το φως αναμμένο./I am accustomed to sleep with the light on.

Έμαθε να ζει μόνος./ He is accustomed to living alone.

·         And the last meaning of the verb is “to teach”.

Όταν ήμουν μικρή ο πατέρας μου μου έμαθε να οδηγώ./When I was young my father taught me how to drive.

Μαρία, μάθε μου να παίζω κιθάρα./Maria, teach me how to play the guitar.

 

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?