Do you make these 10 errors in Greek?
It happens to me. Does it happen to you?
You have the right word in your head. Suddenly, another comes out. And now it’s too late to correct what you said because the conversation keeps going.
Or, you speak to someone who suddenly gives you a perplexed look. Then you become perplexed not really knowing what kind of mistake you made. Again.
Βe brave: You’re one more step closer to fluency.
How?
By realizing you just made a mistake means you‘re starting to self-correct.
This is an important first step to internalize the aspects of the language you’re learning.
And let’s face it. No errors, no learning.
In the previous article you 've read about why you make language mistakes.
Today, I’m going to show you 10 common errors learners make in the Beginner and Intermediate level.
By the end of this article, you’ll have tackled things such as:
Πότε vs όταν
Σαν vs όπως
Endings of neuter nouns
The accusative and more!
A little note:
I use both the words “error” and “mistake”, although in language learning these are all considered “errors” and not “mistakes”. The difference is in the intention: errors are not made on purpose :-)
Let’s start!
#1 Ο Κώστας vs τον Κώστα:
How to use the accusative for the masculine in Greek?
Or ο φίλος vs τον φίλο, ο διευθυντής vs τον διευθυντή ο υπολογιστής vs τον υπολογιστή and so on.
In short, this happens when the sentence has a verb that requires the accusative case of a masculine word (as an “object” of the sentence) or after most prepositions, such as με (with).
Είδα τον Γιάννη. (I saw Yanni)
✘ Είδα ο Γιάννης.
Πήγα με τον φίλο μου για καφέ. (I went with my friend for coffee)
✘ Πήγα με ο φίλος μου για καφέ.
Interested in finding more about this common Greek Grammar mystery? Read here.
#2 Έλληνας, Ελληνίδα, ελληνικός, ελληνικά:
How to use “Greek” in ...Greek?
In some languages there is only one word/adjective to describe the “Greek” and it applies to anything: a Greek coffee, a Greek girl etc.
Notice also the spelling. In English, the adjective is always written with an uppercase “Greek”. In Greek, only the first example is written with an uppercase (the nationality):
α) Ο Έλληνας - η Ελληνίδα: are the words to describe nationality: the male and female Greek.
Ο Κώστας είναι Έλληνας. (Kostas is Greek.)
Η Αθηνά είναι Ελληνίδα. (Athena is Greek)
β) ο ελληνικός, η ελληνική, το ελληνικό: are the adjectives, which include the masculine, feminine, neuter plus their grammar numbers and cases:
Ο ελληνικός καφές (Greek coffee)
Η ελληνική σημαία (Greek flag)
Το ελληνικό νησί (Greek island)
γ) Τα ελληνικά: is the language.
Μαθαίνω ελληνικά. (I learn Greek.)
Μου αρέσουν τα ελληνικά. (I like Greek)
You can use η ελληνική γλώσσα (the Greek language) as well, but always as two words together.
Note: If you want to say “I’m having a Greek lesson” you’ll say “κάνω μάθημα ελληνικών” (I’m doing a lesson of Greek), because the structure here requires genitive.
#3 Πότε vs Όταν:
When to use πότε? And when to use όταν?
Use “Πότε” when you’re asking a question about time. This is the adverb of time, used only in questions.
Πότε μίλησες με την Ελένη; (When did you speak with Helen? - direct question)
This works also for what we call in Greek grammar "indirect questions".
Με ρώτησε πότε μίλησα με την Ελένη. (She/he asked me when I spoke with Helen. - indirect question)
However, when there is a statement about time, connecting two sentences, you only use “όταν”:
Μίλησα με την Ελένη, όταν την είδα χτες στον δρόμο. (I spoke with Helen when I saw her yesterday on the street.)⠀
Το κινητό μου δε βγάζει φωτογραφίες, όταν δεν έχει πολλή μπαταρία. (My phone doesn't take photos when the battery is low.)
Όταν έρθει το καλοκαίρι, θα πάω φυσικά στην Ελλάδα! (When summer comes, I'll go to Greece of course!)
Note for grammar geeks (I know you’re out there!): “Όταν” is a temporal conjunction, this is why it’s used for connecting sentences.
#4 Simple Past vs Past Continuous in Greek
(Αόριστος vs Παρατατικός)
So here’s the story with these two tenses:
α) Past Continuous keeps the “stem” from the Present tense.
β) Simple past has a “stem”, a part of its own.
Let’s take the verb τρώω (to eat), for example.
It usually comes naturally to use the Present tense stem “τρώ-” in the past tense. And this is correct, it is a Past tense.
Just probably not the one you wanted to use.
“Τρώ-” gives us “έτρωγα” (I was eating). This is the Past Continuous. In short, you use it for narrations, habits, to state a specific duration of time and with words or phrases such as όλη τη μέρα (all day), κάθε εβδομάδα (every week) etc.
The Simple Past stem is “φαγ-”, which gives us “έφαγα”. This is what you use to talk about past, completed actions.
Past continuous: Έτρωγα πρωινό, όταν με πήρες τηλέφωνο. This emphasizes how I was eating yesterday when I received your phone call.
Simple past: Σήμερα έφαγα πρωινό στο γραφείο. This means that today I ate my breakfast at the office.
#5 Simple Future vs Future Continuous
(Απλός Μέλλοντας vs Μέλλοντας Συνεχείας ή Εξακολουθητικός)
This is in the same spirit as the last one.
In a way, you can see both #4 and #5 as similar concepts. Which means that the same logic is applied: you use Simple Future for the actions done & completed some time in the future.
On the other hand, Future Continuous is used for narrations, again to state a specific duration of time and with words or phrases such as όλη τη μέρα (all day), κάθε εβδομάδα (every week) etc.
Future continuous: Θα τρώω πρωινό κάθε πρωί στις 8. This states how I will be eating breakfast every morning at 8.
Future simple: Αύριο θα φάω με την Μαρία. Here it states how I will eat tomorrow with Maria.
Interested in more examples and how to use Future Tenses correctly? Read here.
Note: The translations in English emphasize how and why you’d use these tenses in Greek. They're not always accurate in English.
#6 Σαν vs Όπως:
Like vs Such As/As in Greek
When comparing, both can be used, with some differences in the structure:
Παίζει σαν παιδί. Παίζει όπως τα παιδιά. (Plays like/as a child)
Τρώει σαν λύκος. Τρώει όπως οι λύκοι (ή ο λύκος) (Eats like/as a wolf)
Ο Νίκος θέλει να τρέχει σαν την Άννα. Ο Νίκος θέλει να τρέχει όπως η Άννα. (Nikos wants to run like/as Anna does)
Note: Short comparison sentences with σαν are usually used as expressions. You’ll hear them more often than the sentences with όπως.
Πονηρή σαν αλεπού (sneaky like a fox - more common than είναι πονηρή όπως η αλεπού)
Γρήγορος σαν λαγός (fast like a rabbit - more common than είναι γρήγορος όπως ο λαγός)
Κρύο σαν χιόνι (cold like snow - more common than είναι κρύο όπως το χιόνι)
It’s worth noting that σαν can be confusing because sometimes is also used to state the time, like όταν (when, once, as soon as):
Σαν νύχτωσε, πήγαν όλοι σπίτια τους. (Once it was dark, everyone went home.)
#7 Mου αρέσει (plus noun):
How to use “I like” in Greek?
Μου αρέσει ο or τον, η or την;
After learning this tip you’ll never get confused again.
Μου αρέσει is always, always used with nominative. It’s very straightforward.
I can hear you saying: “Hey! Greek has 3 grammar genders X 2 grammar numbers = 6 things to choose from and you’re calling this straightforward?.”
OK, how about straightforward-ish?
If you know what to use (masculine or feminine, plural or singular) then yes, it’s only the nominative case you have to worry about. Oh, and “μου αρέσει” works for singular but “μου αρέσουν” works for plural. (Sorry! But I know you got this.):
Μου αρέσει ο καφές. (I like coffee)
Μου αρέσει η ζεστή σοκολάτα. (I like hot chocolate)
Μου αρέσουν τα πορτοκάλια. ( I like oranges)
Μου αρέσουν οι λουκουμάδες. ( I like doughnuts - loukoumades)
For a more detailed guide on μου αρέσει, read here.
#8 Stress/ accent: τόνος
Note: I’ll simply use the word “stress” here, to avoid confusion with the Greek accent.
Not knowing which syllable to stress, is a common problem. Especially if you’re used to stress only one syllable in your language, as in French for example, where the stress is on the last syllable. It’s true, it can take time to train your ear.
There are two golden rules however:
α) One-syllable words are never stressed, except for: ή (as a disjunctive) πού and πώς in a direct or indirect question.
β) There’s never a stress beyond the 3rd syllable, counting from the last one, except from some words in dialects.
Πού πας; (Where are you going?)
Θέλεις καφέ ή τσάι; (Do you want coffee or tea?)
Με ρώτησε πώς να πάει στην Αθήνα. (S/he asked me how to go to Athens)
Listening activities will greatly help you so don’t hesitate to add more if you feel that you ‘re stressing out too much. (Couldn’t help myself!)
#9 Neuter nouns ending in -μα
Is it το πράγμα or η πράγμα ? And how is it in plural?
Words ending in -α are feminine and you know that already.
But sneaky neuter words end in -μα.
Το πρόβλημα (the problem)
Το διάλειμμα (the break/pause)
Το ζήτημα (the matter/issue)
Το μάθημα (the lesson)
Το παράδειγμα (the example)
In plural, they will be:
Τα προβλήματα
Τα διαλείμματα
Τα ζητήματα
Τα μαθήματα
Τα παραδείγματα
Pay attention, does it end in -μα or -α, next time you say or hear such a word?
#10 Word by word translations
This last one seems kind of obvious. But in reality, it’s not.
If you add to the language transfer errors the need to communicate, the attempt to translate word by word happens all too often.
There are 3 steps to make sure you avoid such errors, as much as possible.
α) Notice, then mimic the language patterns the native speakers use.
β) Be open and creative, as well as ready to challenge your mindset about expressing yourself in another language: the more open you are, the less word by word translations you’ll make.
γ) Avoid using Google Translate for whole sentences, idioms, expressions.
Especially for the last one, Google might give you a word by word translation, which is often far from the actual structure, choice of words and meaning.
So there you have it, a complete list of 10 common language mistakes in Greek.
Which of these 10 errors is the most challenging for you? And which one you never really had a problem with?
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