Greek for English speakers Street · Lesson 2

Colors

Colors and past in Greek — Παλιά ήταν άσπρο (It used to be white) — with the imperfect tense ήταν.

Conversation

  1. Bolin Bolin

    Ωω! Yaya! Τι ωραίο μπλε καπέλο;

    Oo! Yaya! Ti oreo ble kapelo!

    Oh, Yaya! What a nice blue hat!

  2. Yaya Yaya

    Ευχαριστώ! Παλιά ήταν άσπρο, αλλά δεν πρόσεξα όταν το έπλυνα!

    Efharisto! Palia itan aspro ala den proseksa otan to eplina!

    Thank you! It used to be white, but I wasn't careful while washing it!

  3. Bolin Bolin

    Κατάλαβα! Μια φορά όλα μου τα κίτρινα έγινα γκρι, αφού τα έπλυνα με μαύρα!

    Katalava! Mia fora ola mu ta mavra eyinan gkri, afu ta eplina me mavra!

    Got it, I once turned all my yellow clothing grey as I washed them with my black clothing!

  4. Yaya Yaya

    Αυτό είναι λυπηρό, σου πάει πολύ το κίτρινο!

    Afto ine lipiro! Su pai poli to kitrino!

    That's sad, yellow looks great on you!

Common questions

Quick answers about this lesson's grammar and vocabulary.

What is παλιά?

'Before / in the past / formerly'. Παλιά ήταν διαφορετικό = 'it used to be different'. From παλιός = old.

Greek imperfect tense?

Past continuous: ήταν (was), έκανε (was doing). Different from aorist (single past action).

Greek for color changes?

Άσπρο (white), μπλε (blue), κίτρινο (yellow), ξεθώριασε (it faded). Έβαψα (I dyed/painted).

Test yourself

Pick the English translation for each line from this lesson. Wrong answers are pulled from other Greek lessons.

4 quick questions on what you just heard.

Next lesson in Street The verb "I have" →