Πώς τα πας; Τα έμαθες; How to use these everyday Greek phrases?

Speaking TipsGrammar Notes

22 Mar

Written By Danae Florou

Imagine you’re strolling along the street in Athens, a lovely sunny day of Spring…

A lady is standing on the sidewalk. She chats with her friend who’s sitting at her little geranium-filled balcony.

You can't help but overhear their chat:

- Τα έμαθες; Η ανιψιά μου πήγε στην Αμερική. Στο καλύτερο πανεπιστήμιο!

Did you hear? My niece went to the States. At the best University!

- Μα δε στα ‘λεγα εγώ; Αυτή είναι πανέξυπνη!

Didn’t I tell you? She’s a genius!

- Τι τα θες όμως, τα παιδιά μας φεύγουν όλα στο εξωτερικό…

But what can you do, all our children are going abroad.

- Μαρία μου, τα έχουμε πει: θα τα καταφέρει, θα τελειώσει τις σπουδές και μετά θα γυρίσει.

(My) Maria, we talked about it: she’ll make it, she’ll finish her studies and she’ll come back.

- Μακάρι. Πώς τα πας εσύ; Τι κάνεις;

Let’s hope. How about you? How are you?

- Τα ίδια Κατερίνα μου…

Same, (my) Katerina…

What’s this “τα” they repeat all the time?

how to use everyday greek phrases_danaeflorou

Let’s zoom in on these phrases for a bit:

τα πάω/πηγαίνω
τα καταφέρνω
τα λέμε
τα έμαθα
τα θέλω
τα βρίσκω
τα ξέρω

A (necessary) Grammar Snippet First

Τα here is the personal pronoun. The short (or “weak”) form, to be precise.

It can confuse you, because it’s like the plural neuter article τα: τα παιδιά, τα σπίτια, τα μαθήματα, τα όμορφα, τα καλά.

Here’s how to distinguish it - and why this is important to do:

The article τα is always with a noun or adjective, as in the examples above.

The pronoun τα, however, replaces a noun (this is why it’s called pronoun, after all) and fits well with a verb: τα βλέπω, τα καταφέρνω etc.

The pronoun τα in all the above sentences usually replaces the word “the things”. More on this in a moment.

This distinction is important to help you understand the meaning of the sentence. By realizing τα is not an article, you don’t expect a noun to be right after it.

But let’s go back to the τα when it replaces the word “the things” (τα πράγματα)?

It’s a word we use in Greek to generally talk about a situation. A bit like in English: How are things going? > Πώς πάνε τα πράγματα;

Back To The Phrases

The phrases we saw above frequently appear in chats and everyday conversations or in other everyday or idiomatic expressions.

For example, you can see:

1.Τα πάω/πηγαίνω

Πώς τα πας; (How are things going?)
Δεν τα πηγαίνω καλά στη δουλειά. (Things don’t go well for me at work)
Τα πηγαίνουμε πολύ καλά μαζί. (We get along well together)

Τα means here: τα πράγματα, η καθημερινότητα, η κάτασταση (everyday life, conditions)

2.Τα καταφέρνω

Δεν τα κατάφερα στο τεστ χτες. (The test didn’t go well yesterday)
Τα καταφέρνεις θαυμάσια, μπράβο! (You can do it great, well done!)
Κοίτα, μαμά, τα κατάφερα! (Look, mom, I did it!)

Τα means here: τα πράγματα, αυτά που κάνω (the things I do)

3.Τα λέμε

Τα’ λεγα εγώ! (I told you!)
Τα λέμε! (Talk to you later)

Τα means here: τα νέα, τα πράγματα που έλεγα (the news, the things I say)

4.Τα έμαθα

Τα έμαθες; (did you hear the news?) This is usually used in past tense.

Τα means here: τα νέα (the news)

5.Τα θέλω

Τι τα θες; και Τι τα θες, τι τα γυρεύεις; (Oh well, what can you do?)
Τα ‘θελες και τα’ παθες. (You got what you deserved)

Τα means here: αυτά που συμβαίνουν (the things happening)

6.Τα βρίσκω

Δεν τα βρήκαμε με τον Νίκο, χωρίσαμε τελικά. (We didn’t get along with Niko, we separated)
Τα βρήκες εύκολα στο σχολείο; (Were things easy for you at school?)
Θα τα βρει μπροστά του. (He’ll face the consequences)

Τα means here: αυτά που κάνω, τα πράγματα που γίνονται (the things I do, things happening)

7.Τα ξέρω

Τα ξέρεις, έφυγε για την Ινδία! (You 've heard the news, s/he left for India!)
Δεν τα ξέρεις, όλο τα ίδια και τα ίδια! (You heard the news, didn’t you, same old, same old)

Τα means here: τα νέα, αυτά που γίνονται (the news, the things happening)

All the examples imply there’s something more to this “τα”. We might be talking about the things we do, everyday life, the things someone says or does, our news.

And because the very generic word “πράγματα” is a neuter noun in plural, this is the reason why you usually see its pronoun, τα in the sentences.