Table of Contents
Introduction 1
About This Book 1
Conventions Used in This book 2
Foolish Assumptions 2
Icons Used in This Book 3
Beyond the Book 4
Where to Go from Here 4
Part 1: Getting Started with Greek 5
Chapter 1: Greek in a Nutshell 7
Introducing the Basics 7
The Greek alphabet 7
Basic and not-so-basic grammar 8
Useful expressions 8
Numbers, dates, and measurements 9
Greek at home 10
Putting Greek into Action 10
Going places 10
Shopping 11
Dining and entertainment 11
Health 11
Business 12
Taking Greek on the Go 12
Planning a trip 12
Transportation 13
Sightseeing 13
Enjoying traditions 13
Chapter 2: Checking Out the Greek Alphabet 15
Meeting the Full Greek Alphabet (Some Letters Will Look Familiar!) 16
I know you! Greek letters that look and sound like English letters 18
Greek letters that look like English letters but sound different 19
Sounding More Greek 19
Vowels 19
Double vowels 20
Consonants 21
Double consonants 22
Getting the Accent Right 23
Breaking the Combinations 24
Knowing the Punctuation Marks 25
Chapter 3: Tackling Basic Grammar 27
Familiarizing Yourself with a Few Basic Nouns 28
Understanding the Genders of Nouns 29
Noun endings 29
The articles 30
Breaking Down the Cases 31
Nominative case 32
Accusative case 34
Genitive case 37
Putting it all together: An overview of the cases 40
What’s Mine and What’s Yours: Possessive Pronouns 41
Chapter 4: Grammar Beyond the Basics 45
Introducing a Few Basic Greek Verbs 45
Who Does What? The Persons of Greek Verbs 47
The Verb “Είμαι” (To Be) 49
Breaking Down Verb Types 49
Type A verbs 50
Type B1 and B2 verbs 51
Type AB verbs 52
Type Γ1 and Γ2 verbs 53
Nouns and Verbs in the Mix: Forming Sentences 54
Here Come the Adjectives 55
Checking out some basic adjectives 56
Conjugating adjectives 57
Combining nouns and adjectives 58
Talking About the Past 58
Type A and AB verbs 59
Type B1 and B2 verbs 61
Type Γ1 and Γ2 verbs 63
Some irregular verbs in the simple past tense 63
Talking About the Future 65
Type A and AB Verbs 65
Type B1 and B2 Verbs 67
Type Γ1 and Γ2 verbs 69
Some irregular verbs in the simple future tense 69
Using the Subjunctive 70
Chapter 5: Getting Started with Basic Expressions 75
Greeting People You Know 75
Meeting New People 76
Asking for each other’s names 76
Getting acquainted 78
Talking about Countries, Nationalities, and Languages 79
Breaking down different places and languages 80
Asking people about their nationalities and languages 82
Speaking About Your Profession 84
Noting common professions 84
Asking and answering questions 85
Chatting About Your Family 86
Saying Goodbye 89
Chapter 6: Figuring Out Numbers, Dates, and Times 91
Counting Numbers 1 to 1,000 91
From 0 to 10 92
From 11 to 19 92
From 20 to 99 93
From 100 to 999 94
Age is just a number 95
Naming the Days of the Week 96
Listing Months and Years 97
Telling Time 97
The basics 98
Other helpful guidelines 98
Talking About Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow 101
The present 101
The past 101
The future 102
Chapter 7: Speaking Greek at Home 105
Talking About Your Daily Routines 105
The morning 106
The afternoon 106
The evening 107
Naming the Rooms of a House 107
Chatting About Furniture and Fixtures 109
The bedroom 109
The living room 110
The kitchen 112
The bathroom 112
Cleaning Your House 113
Part 2: Greek in Action 117
Chapter 8: Moving Around 119
Asking for Directions 119
Wondering where something is 120
Understanding directions you hear 120
Knowing other helpful words 121
Talking About Means of Transportation 123
Common means of transportation 124
Special means of transportation 125
Asking People Where They’re Going 127
Chapter 9: Shopping Made Easy 131
Retail Therapy: Shopping for Clothes 131
Talking with the shop staff 132
Finding the right size 132
Looking for the right style 133
Searching for sales 135
Paying with ease 135
Shopping for Groceries 137
Discovering the supermarket sections 137
Buying fruits and vegetables 138
Meat and fish 139
Other foods 140
Nonfood items 141
Visiting a Greek supermarket 142
Chapter 10: Days and Nights Out 147
Eating Out 147
Knowing the best Greek recipes 148
Looking at types of restaurants 148
Making reservations 149
Ordering food 150
Trying useful phrases in a restaurant 151
Ordering Coffee 153
Enjoying Entertainment 156
Cinema 156
Clubbing 157
Bouzoukia 157
The Greek panigiri 158
Making Plans with Friends 158
Chapter 11: Your Body and Your Health 163
Naming Body Parts 163
Discussing Health 165
Feeling sick 166
Having pain 167
Taking care when you’re sick 169
Having an accident 170
Visiting the Doctor’s Office 170
Arranging your appointment 171
Speaking with the doctor 172
Going to the Hospital 174
Eating Healthy 175
Fitting in Exercise 178
Chapter 12: Let’s Talk About Business 183
Working in an Office 183
Talking About Colleagues 184
Discussing Responsibilities 185
Going for an Interview 187
Part 3: Greek on the Go 193
Chapter 13: Planning a Trip 195
A Tourist’s Dream: Traveling to Greece 195
Preparing for Your Trip 196
Booking Your Accommodations 197
Speaking with Locals 200
Using Money in Greece 201
Chapter 14: Getting Around: Planes, Trains, Taxis, and More 205
Flying to Greece 205
Traveling by Train 208
Taxi, Please! 209
Taking the Ferry 211
Chapter 15: Enjoying the Sights 215
Appreciating Ancient Greece 215
Visiting Historical Sites and Landmarks 216
Discovering the Greek Orthodox Christian Tradition 217
Greece for Art Lovers 218
Visiting Museums 219
Going Wine Tasting 220
Chapter 16: Understanding Greek Traditions 225
Having a Big Fat Greek Wedding 225
The wedding day 227
Wedding wishes 227
The wedding reception 228
Celebrating a Name Day 230
Celebrating Greek Orthodox Easter 230
Dancing Like a Greek 233
Part 4: the Part of Tens 235
Chapter 17: Ten Ways to Pick Up Greek Quickly 237
Chapter 18: Ten Popular Greek Words 243
Chapter 19: Ten Greek Expressions About Love 249
Chapter 20: Ten Greek Words That Can’t Be Translated 255
Chapter 21: Ten Greek Phrases That Will Make You Sound More Fluent 261
Part 5: Appendixes 267
Appendix A: Mini-Dictionaries 269
Appendix B: Verb Tables 285
Appendix C: Answer Key 289
Index 295
