Learning Greek, A Study Guide
Lessons 001 — 005

Lesson 001

The verb είμαι, I am. Its full conjugation in the present tense is shown in this table, although only the first person singular is used in this first lesson. (From this point forward, all verbs will be listed in this order, but "1st", "2nd", "3rd" and "singular", "plural" will be omitted.)

Definite article "the": ο (masculine), η (feminine), το (neuter):
ο Ανδρέας
η Έλλη
το βιβλίο

"This is ...." construction, as in:
Αυτό είναι βιβλίο.
Note that it's pronounced avTO.

"That is ...." construction, as in:
Εκείνο είναι παράθυρο.

"What is this?" construction:
Τι είναι αυτό;
Είναι βιβλίο.
Notice that Greek uses ";" rather than "?" as a question mark! The question could also be posed:
Αυτό, τι είναι;
And, of course, you could ask What is that? about a remote object:
Τι είναι εκείνο;
Εκείνο παράθυρο.

And — και
This is a box and this is a table.
Αυτό είναι βιβλίο και αυτό είναι τραπέζι.

Lesson 002

Or — ή
Is this a key or a pencil?
Είναι κλειδί αυτό ή μολύβι;

Not — δεν
This is not a pencil, it is a key.
Δεν είναι μολύβι, είναι κλειδί.
Note that it's pronounced then with a voiced th like the English word then.

Isn't it?
This is a basket, isn't it?
Αυτό είναι καλάθι, δεν είναι;

Now, ...
Now, dear listeners, ...
Τώρα, αγαπητοί ακροατές, ...
This was used by the professor but not explained. It has been the same thing with please, ραρακαλώ, thank you, ευχαριστώ, and hello or good-bye, γεια σας.

Lesson 003

Here and there: εδώ και εκεί
Compare there εκεί to that εκείνο, there must be a connection...

Where? πού

You (singular, familiar): εσύ. All the personal pronouns in the nominative case are:

Pleasantries and politeness, some from later lessons

Lesson 004

The verb to be for second person singular (informal), see above under Lesson 001.

Useful words:
other — άλλο
thing — το πράγμα
Τι άλλο πράγμα; What other thing?

In, on, at —
στον (maculine)
στην (feminine)
στο (neuter)
Το κλειδί είναι στο γραφείο. The key is in (or on, or at) the desk.

Plurals (of neuters):
Αυτό είναι βιβλίο. This is a book.
Αυτά είναι βιβλία. These are books.
Εκείνο είναι τραπέζι. That is a table.
Εκείνα είναι τραπέζια. Those are tables.

Neuters ending in -ο change that to -α.
το βιβλίο becomes τα βιβλία

Neuters ending in -ι add an -α.
το τραπέζι becomes τα τραπέζια.

Neuters ending in -α add the syllable -τα.
το πράγμα becomes τα πράγματα.

Lesson 005

Here is ... — Να ...
Πού είναι ραδιόφωνο; Να το, είναι στο γραυείο.
Where is the radio? Here it is, on the desk.
Πού είναι τα περιοδικά; Να τα.
Where are the magazines? Here they are.

Possession
μου — my
του — his
της — her
το δομάτιό μου είναι εκεί στο σπίτι μου.
My room is over there in my house.

Feminine nouns: αυτό and εκείνο become αυτή and εκείνη.
Αυτή είναι η καρέκλα μου.
Here is my chair. (literally Here is the-chair of-me.)