Difference between revisions of "Language/Modern-greek-1453/Grammar/Past-Tense"
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===Examples=== | ===Examples=== | ||
{| class="wikitable" | {| class="wikitable" | ||
| | |εγώ | ||
|έ-παιζ-α ( épeza ) | |έ-παιζ-α ( épeza ) | ||
|I was playing | |I was playing | ||
|- | |- | ||
| | |εσύ | ||
|έ-παιζ-ες (épezes ) | |έ-παιζ-ες (épezes ) | ||
|You were playing | |You were playing |
Revision as of 22:08, 11 January 2018
In Greek, there are three past tenses. We use each tense for a different reason.
Παρατατικός (paratatikos)
We use this tense to talk about something that happened in the past for a long time of more than once. Unlike English, we use the continuous tense to talk about past habits.
It is a continuous tense and is translated into the Past Continuous tense in English.
To form this tense, you add the letter 'ε' in front of the verb (this comes from the ancient Greek language) and the proper ending.
Note: In modern Greek, the 'ε' in the beginning is eliminated for 1st and 2nd plural and when the verb starts with a vowel you can't add 'ε'.
Also, the intonation is placed above the vowel of the third syllable counting from the end.
Examples
εγώ | έ-παιζ-α ( épeza ) | I was playing |
εσύ | έ-παιζ-ες (épezes ) | You were playing |
αυτός, - η , -ό | έ-παι-ζε ( épeze | He/She/It was playing |
εμείς | παί-ζα-με ( pézame | We were playing /
Notice that there is no 'ε' in the beginning of the word. |
εσείς | παί-ζα-τε (pézate ) | You were playing /
Notice that there is no 'ε' in the beginning of the word. |
αυτοί,-ές, -ά | έ-παιζ-αν ( épezan | hey were playing
Note: For a few verbs you have to place 'η' instead of 'ε', like the verb ξέρω (ksEro=know) that becomes ήξερα (Iksera=I knew). |
Αόριστος (Aôristos )
We use this tense to talk about something that happened in the past for a short time or just once. It is a non-continuous tense. To form this tense, you add the letter 'ε' in front of the verb (this comes from the ancient Greek language), the proper ending and change the last letter (if the last letter is a consonant, there will be a table of the letter changes, but it's not always accurate, you will mostly learn that from experience) or add the letter 'σ' (if the last letter is a vowel, most times though, native Greek speakers have a different way of doing this, which you will be taught from experience). Note: In modern Greek, the 'ε' in the beginning is eliminated for 1st and 2nd plural and when the verb starts with a vowel you can't add 'ε'. Also, the intonation is placed above the vowel of the third syllable counting from the end.
Examples
εγώ | έ-παι-ξα ( épexa ) | I played |
εσύ | έ-παι-ξες ( épexes ) | You played |
αυτός ,-ή ,-ό | έ-παι-ξε ( épexe ) | He/She/It played |
εμείς | παί-ξα-με ( péxame ) | We played
Notice = that there is no 'ε' in the beginning of the word. |
εσείς | παί-ξα-τε (péxate ) | You played
Notice= that there is no 'ε' in the beginning of the word. |
αυτοί ,-ές ,-ά | έ-παι-ξαν (épexan ) | They played
Note: For a few verbs you have to place 'η' instead of 'ε', like the verb ξέρω (ksEro=know) that becomes ήξερα (Iksera=I knew). |
Υπερσυντέλικος (Hypersyntélikos)
We use this tense to talk about something that was completed in the past, or that something was completed before something else happened in the past. To for this tense, you use the past form of the verb έχω (Eho=have) and the infinitive form of the verb.
Examples
εγώ | είχα παίξει ( îcha péxi ) | I had played |
εσύ | είχες παίξει (îches péxi ) | You had played |
αυτός ,-ή ,ό | είχε παίξει ( îche péxi ) | He/She/It had played |
εμείς | είχαμε παίξει ( îchame péxi ) | We had played |
εσείς | είχατε παίξει îchate péxi ) | You had played |
αυτοί ,-έ ,-ά | είχαν / είχανε παίξει | They had played |
Starting Letter | Changes into |
---|---|
κ, γ, χ, ττ | ξ |
π, β, φ, πτ | ψ |
τ, δ, θ, ζ | υσ |