Modern Greek/Lesson 04.1

Lesson 4.1: To Be and To Have

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Two important verbs are έχω, to have, and είμαι, to be.

έχω - I have

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The first-conjugation verb έχω is regular in the present tense (this is covered in the next lesson).

Verb Table

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Verb
Έχω · To Have
- Sing. Plu.
1st έχω έχουμε
2nd έχεις έχετε
3rd έχει έχουν

Audio recording:   Modern_greek_1j.ogg
NOTE: This recording was made by a non-native speaker of Greek.
We would be grateful to any native speaker who could redo it.


Examples

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είμαι- I am

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To be in English is expressed in the active voice, but the Greek είμαι is passive, and doesn't have an active form. The ending -μαι is a typical, regular ending for passive verbs. Although we won't be concerned with passive constructions until later, είμαι is so important that you need to get it under your belt right away.

Verb Tables

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Verb
Είμαι · To Be
- Sing. Plu.
1st είμαι είμαστε
2nd είσαι είστε
3rd είναι είναι

Audio recording:   Modern_greek_1k.ogg
NOTE: This recording was made by a non-native speaker of Greek.
We would be grateful to any native speaker who could redo it.


Examples

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Summary

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  • We have introduced the verb έχω - to have.
  • We have introduced the verb είμαι - to be.
  • We have learnt these verbs in the present tense.

Exercises

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Now try the exercises here.