N. Χαίρετε, αγαπητοί ακροατές. So far, we have been using words of the neuter gender. In today’s lesson we are going to talk about words of the masculine gender. Most of these words end in –ος, like ο τοίχος, ο αριθμός, ο κύριος. But there are at least two other common endings –ας: = ο Αντρέας, and –ης = ο Μιχάλης or Michael.
Whatever the ending, –ος, –ας, or –ης, the final sound with masculine words is always ς (s). Let me begin by introducing you to a few men’s names.
This is Andreas will be αυτός είναι ο Αντρέας, and that is Andreas will be εκείνος είναι ο Αντρέας. We say αυτό και εκείνο for neuters, but αυτός ή εκείνος for masculines. Ellie will use the question word ποιος – who. Ποιος, who for masculines, listen:
E. Ποιος είναι αυτός; Who is this?
A. Αυτός είναι ο Νίκος. This is Nick.
N. This is Nikos.
A. Αυτός είναι ο Πέτρος. This is Peter.
N. This is Peter.
E. Ποιος είναι εκείνος; Who is that?
N. Who is that?
A. Εκείνος είναι ο Παύλος. That is Paul.
N. That is Paul.
E. Ποιος είναι αυτός και ποιος είναι εκείνος; Who is this and who is that?
A. Αυτός είναι ο Πέτρος και εκείνος είναι ο Παύλος This is Peter and that is Paul.
E. Εσύ, ποιος είσαι; You, who are you?
Α. Εγώ είμαι ο Αντρέας. I am Andrea.
Ε. Ποιος είναι ο κύριος αυτός; Who is this gentleman?
N. Who is this gentleman?
Α. Αυτός είναι ο κύριος Πετρήδης. This is Mr. Petridis.
* * *
N. Now someone is going to knock at the door. I want you to ask in Greek “Who is it?”, “ποιος είναι;” and the person who knocked will answer you. Are you ready?
E. Ποιος είναι; Who is it?
Α. Εγώ είμαι, ο Αντρέας. Me it is, Andreas.
E. Έλα μέσα, Αντρέα. Come in, Andreas.
N. One of us here is writing and you want to know who is writing. You will ask the question:
E. Ποιος γράφει; Who is writing?
Α. Εγώ γράφω. I write.
Ν. Ευχαριστώ. In the following exercise, we will give you statements, and you will ask questions to which our statements are the answers. Here’s the first statement:
E. Ο Πέτρος βλέπει τηλεόραση. Peter watches television.
N. The question was:
A. Ποιος βλέπει τηλεόραση; Who watches television?
N. Here is another statement:
Ε. Ο Αντρέας καπνίζει πολύ. Andrea smokes a lot.
Α. Ποιος καπνίζει πολύ; Who smokes a lot?
Ε. Ο Μιχάλης θέλει γάλα. Michael wants milk.
Α. Ποιος θέλει γάλα; Who wants milk?
Ε. Ο Νίκος διαβάζει πολλά βιβλία. Nick reads many books.
Α. Ποιος διαβάζει πολλά βιβλία; Who reads many books?
N. Andreas has brought along a photograph of his friend Paul. He will introduce his friend to us. He will say: “This is my friend”.
“Αυτός είναι ο φίλος μου.” Ο φίλος – the friend. This is is my friend.
A. Αυτός είναι ο φίλος μου. This is my friend.
Ε. Ποιος είναι Αντρέα; Who is it Andrea.
Α. Είναι ο φίλος μου. Είναι ο φίλος μου ο Παύλος. It is my friend. It is my friend Paul.
Ν. It is my friend Paul. Notice that in Greek we use the article before names: ο φίλος μου, ο Παύλος.
Andreas will tell us that his friend is a good man. Καλός άνθρωπος. The word for man is άνθρωπος, o άνθρωπος. The adjective must agree with the noun as I explained in a previous lesson, so it takes the masculine form ο καλός, ο καλός άνθρωπος. A good child would be το καλό παιδί, and a bad child, το κακό παιδί. But a bad man would be ο κακός άνθρωπος. So we have (please repeat):
E. Ο καλός άνθρωπος. Ο κακός άνθρωπος. The good man. The bad man.
N. A handsome man would be:
E. Ο ωραίος άνθρωπος ή ο όμορφος άνθρωπος. The handsome man or the handsome man.
Ν. Let’s go back to Andreas’ friend:
Α. Ο φίλος μου είναι καλός άνθρωπος. Ο φίλος μου ο Παύλος είναι καλός άνθρωπος. Δεν είναι κακός, είναι καλός, ο Παύλος.
My friend is a good man. My friend Paul is a good man. He is not bad, is good, Paul.
Ε. Είναι και όμορφος, ο φίλος σου, Αντρέα; He is also handsome, your friend, Andrea.
Α. Ναι, είναι πολύ όμορφος. Yes, he is very handsome.
Ε. Πώς είναι τα μάτια του; How are his eyes?
Α. Τα μάτια του είναι γαλανά. His eyes are sky blue.
Ε. Τα μαλλιά του; His hair?
Α. Δεν ξέρω, Έλλη. Νομίζω είναι ξανθά. Ναι, είναι ξανθά.
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