Τhe difference between the adjectives άσπρος and λευκός

Τhe difference between the adjectives άσπρος and λευκός

Today we will talk about my favorite color, λευκό/white or it is better to call it άσπρο? Have you ever wondered when do we use the one adjective and when the other? Some people say that the adjective λευκός is mostly used in formal speech while the adjective άσπρος in daily life. Is that really so?

Even thought the adjective λευκός is Greek, the word άσπρος is a Latin word. In Roman empire “asprum” was called the low value coin. It was coming by the word “asper”/rough. Little later, Byzantines were calling άσπρα the silver coins in order to focus on their difference from the high value gold coins. So, from the byzantine Greek until today the word got the same meaning as the adjective “λευκός/white”. In most cases we can choose which of the two adjectives we want to use. For example, I can say both άσπρα νύχια and λευκά νύχια/white nails. With the clothes as well. Άσπρο/λευκό παντελόνι/white pants, but with the clothes we usually choose the adjective άσπρος. Άσπρη μπλούζα/White blouse, άσπρο πουκάμισο/white shirt, άσπρο σακάκι/white jacket etc.

Unfortunately, we cannot always choose which adjective we like the most. Sometimes we can use only the adjective λευκός and other times only the adjective άσπρος.   Let’s see:

Λευκό κρασί/White wine, Λευκός Οίκος/White House, Λευκός Πύργος/White tower, λευκά είδη/linen  (bed and bath). With the term λευκά είδη/linen we mean bed sheets, tablecloths, towels). While we can say “Προτιμώ τα άσπρα σεντόνια/I prefer the άσπρα σεντόνια/white sheets” or “Αγόρασα ένα άσπρο τραπεζομάντιλο/I bought a άσπρο τραπεζομάντιλο/white tablecloth”, the general term to talk about all of them includes the adjective λευκός. “Η Μαρία παντρεύεται, γι’αυτό αύριο θα πάμε να αγοράσουμε λευκά είδη/Maria is going to get married this is why tomorrow we will go to buy linen”.

Let’s go to the next. Λευκή κόλλα is a white paper on which we haven’t written anything yet. It is usually that paper we were writing a test at. When I was a student I hated the phrase that the teachers were using “Βγάλτε μία λευκή κόλλα/take out a piece of paper”. Unfortunately nowadays I say to my students the same phrase too.

Λευκό ποινικό μητρώο: clean criminal record has the person who has not committed any crime. Λευκά αιμοσφαίρια/leucocytes and λευχαιμία/leukemia is called the blood’s disease that is manifested by a very high number of leucocytes.

In the elections when someone does not want to vote any of the existing political parties, we say that he gives “λευκή ψήφος/white vote” or “λευκό ψηφοδέλτιο/white ballot”. The “white vote” is a way of protest against the political system and at the same time the vote is not considered as invalid.

“λευκή μαγεία/white magic. I don’t know what exactly is, but here the adjective is used to focus on the contrast between this kind of magic and black magic.

 “Λευκή απεργία/work to rule” is called the strike that some people have without stop working completely to not lose their work.

Λευκός θάνατος/white death are called the hard drugs, because it is about a white powder that leads to death.

Λευκός γάμος/white wedding but in Greek it means “fake wedding”. When two people get married without loving one the other or wanting to have a family, but for another reason, usually in order to take one of them a resident permit or maybe to take a legacy.

We use the adjective λευκός for some animals, such as “λευκός καρχαρίας/white shark” and “λευκός ελέφαντας/white elephant”, but also the same adjective is used about the people. We say λευκή φυλή/white race, λευκοί άνθρωποι/white people.

 And let’s go now to the adjective άσπρος/white. We say άσπρο τυρί/white cheese, such as greek feta cheese, cream cheese.

Now some phrases with the word άσπρος. My friends usually tell me “Είσαι άσπρη σαν το γάλα/you are white like the milk”. When somebody’s skin is very “light colored/pale”, we say that he is white like milk.

Άσπρη μέρα/White day is the happy day. This is why you will listen very often Greeks saying “Πότε θα δούμε μια άσπρη μέρα/when are we going to see a white day?/a day without problems”.

Next phrase is ”κάνει το άσπρο μαύρο/he makes the white black. It means “to distort the truth”. So when someone narrates the facts not as they are but in the way he wants in order to prove that he is the good one, we say that he makes the white black.

I kept for the end my favorite phrase. Στη ζωή τίποτα δεν είναι άσπρο ή μαύρο. Υπάρχει και το γκρι./ In the life nothing is white or black. There is grey too. In a difficult situation when we don’t know what to do because we don’t like the two choices we have, a friend of us can say to us. In life nothing is white or black. Using this phrase we encourage the other person because we are telling to him that certainly there is a third choice.

I want also to tell you the three compound words you should know. Ασπρόμαυρος/black and white. we cannot say λευκόμαυρο. We always say ασπρόμαυρο.

The second compound word is ασπρομάλλης/white-haired”. We don’t say λευκομάλλης. He who has white hair is called ασπρομάλλης. But we say that the Greece’s flag is γαλανόλευκη/blue-white. In this compound word we use only the adjective λευκός.

 

The Greek verb φταίω

The Greek verb φταίω

Today we will learn how to use the Greek verb φταίω/to be blame, to be responsible. Many of you find it quite difficult to use this verb because it is not always possible to translate it properly into English. This is why today we will learn how to use it through sentences.

First of all let’s see how to conjugate the verb φταίω in Present tense.

 

Ενεστώτας/Simple Present/Present Continuous

εγώ φταίω

εσύ φταις

αυτός, αυτή, αυτό φταίει

εμείς φταίμε

εσείς φταίτε

αυτοί, αυτές, αυτά φταίνε/ φταιν

 

Αόριστος/Simple Past

εγώ έφταιξα

εσύ έφταιξες

αυτός, αυτή, αυτό έφταιξε

εμείς φταίξαμε

εσείς φταίξατε

αυτοί, αυτές, αυτά έφταιξαν/ φταίξανε

 

 

Παρατατικός/Past Continuous

εγώ έφταιγα

εσύ έφταιγες

αυτός, αυτή, αυτό έφταιγε

εμείς φταίγαμε

εσείς φταίγατε

αυτοί, αυτές, αυτά έφταιγαν/ φταίγανε

 

 Μέλλοντας Εξακολουθητικός/Future Continuous

εγώ θα φταίω

εσύ θα φταις

αυτός, αυτή, αυτό θα φταίει

εμείς θα φταίμε

εσείς θα φταίτε

αυτοί, αυτές, αυτά θα φταίνε

 

Let’s see now some examples.

Εγώ φταίω. Σου ζητώ να με συγχωρήσεις./I am at fault. So, we use the verb to say that I am responsible for a particular situation that has gone wrong. “I am at fault. I am asking you to forgive me”. 

  Εάν έφταιξα, σου ζητώ συγγνώμη./if I did wrong, I am sorry.

Ο Γιώργος έφταιγε, αλλά ο διευθυντής δεν του είπε τίποτα. /George was at fault but the manager didn’t tell him anything.

Όταν ένας γάμος διαλύεται, φταίνε και οι δυο./”when a marriage breaks up, both are to blame.”

Φταίμε κι οι δυο. /”we are both at fault!”

Also, we can use the preposition για after the verb φταίω if we want to mention what bad we have done.

Εσύ φταις για το ατύχημα./”you are to blame for the accident”.

Αυτός φταίει για όσα περνάω τώρα./”he is at fault/he is responsible for everything bad I am living now”. So, we use the verb φταίω, the preposition για and then Accusative.

Ποιος φταίει για το σπασμένο παράθυρο;/”who is to blame for the broken window?”

 

Another way to use this verb is to say φταίω and then to use a dependent clause to say the reason.

Φταίω κι εγώ που πίστευα ό,τι μου έλεγε. /”it’s my fault too because I was believing everything he was telling to me”.

Η δασκάλα φταίει που δεν ενημέρωσε τους γονείς του μαθητή./  ”it is the teacher’s fault because she didn’t inform the student’s parents”.

 

It is very common to use the weak form of the personal pronoun in genitive before the verb. For example:

Σε τι έφταιξα και με τιμωρείς;/”what did I do to you and you are punishing me?”,

Τι σου έφταιξε ο σκύλος και τον χτυπάς;/“what did the dog do to you and you are beating it?”

Τι τους έφταιξαν τα αδέσποτα και τα δηλητηρίασαν;/”what did the stray dogs do to them and they poisoned them?”

 

Also, the neuter noun φταίξιμο comes from the verb φταίω. So we say:

Eσύ φταίς/”you are at fault” or Το φταίξιμο είναι δικό σου/“the fault is yours”.

Εγώ φταίω.Δεν έπρεπε να τον πιστέψω./”I am to blame/I am at fault. I shouldn’t believe him” or

Το φταίξιμο είναι δικό μου. Δεν έπρεπε να τον πιστέψω./“the fault is mine. I shouldn’t believe him”.

 

 

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.