7.5 A Letter and a Postcard — Epoché
What you will be able to do Read a short letter in the first person and the postcard that answers it. Read the verb of missing, which works backwards as the verb of liking did: Μου λείπει η οικογένειά μου. . Recognise a wish made of an adjective and a noun with no verb at all: Καλό ταξίδι. . Close a letter the way a Greek closes it: Θα σε δω αργότερα. , Τα λέμε σύντομα. . Read fourteen lines of connected first-person Greek without a glossary at your elbow. Prerequisites : 7.4 — Aesop's animals. Read 7.4 Reading first. This is the last text of the reading volume in this phase. The bulletin of 7.2 was written by nobody in particular about everybody. This text is the opposite: one person writing to another about where he is and when he will be back, and then the answer. It is the most personal Greek in this phase and the easiest to read, because a letter repeats itself and because you know its vocabulary. Every line comes from the public corpus and is printed unaltered. The first ten lines are the letter and the last four are the postcard that answers it; the arrangement is this course's, and the sentences are not. Before you read The verb that works backwards. The fourth line uses the Greek verb of missing, and it behaves like the verb of liking from lesson 3.10: the thing missed is the subject and the person who misses it is a weak pronoun in the genitive in front. So the Greek is literally to me is missing my family . If you read the first word as the subject you will get the sentence exactly backwards, which is why this construction is worth meeting twice. Wishes with no verb. The twelfth line is an adjective and a noun and nothing else, and it is a complete utterance meaning have a good trip . Greek has a large family of these: an adjective agreeing with a noun, said as a wish. You have met three already — the three clock greetings of 6.1 are built exactly this way, and so is the name-day phrase of 5.2. Once you see the pattern you can recognise a wish you have never heard. Closing a letter. Greek does not end a letter with a word for goodbye any more than it ends a conversation with one. The ninth and tenth lines are the two ordinary closings, and both are built on verbs of seeing and saying rather than on a farewell. Read the whole text once without stopping. It is fourteen short lines and you will understand most of it on the first pass. Glossary Word (with article) Meaning Notes λείπω el lípo to be missing; to be missed Part of speech / class verb, first pattern How it differs from English Greek says the person is missing to me; the one who misses is a weak genitive, as with the verb of liking Μου λείπει η οικογένειά μου. I miss my family. η οικογένεια el i ikogénia family Part of speech / class noun, feminine How it differs from English the subject of the verb of missing, not its object Μου λείπει η οικογένειά μου. I miss my family. ο φίλος el o fílos friend Part of speech / class noun, masculine How it differs from English in the accusative plural with no article, which makes it indefinite Έχω φίλους στη Βοστώνη. I have friends in Boston. η ζωή el i zoí life Part of speech / class noun, feminine How it differs from English takes the article where English says life with none Η ζωή είναι καλή εδώ. Life is good here. κρύο el krýo cold (the noun) Part of speech / class noun, neuter How it differs from English the weather verb takes this noun, not the adjective Κάνει κρύο σήμερα. It's cold today. κάνω el káno to do, to make; to be (of weather) Part of speech / class verb, first pattern How it differs from English with no subject at all for the weather Κάνει κρύο σήμερα. It's cold today. ο χρόνος el o chrónos time; year Part of speech / class noun, masculine How it differs from English one noun for both; with the verb of having it means to be free Έχω χρόνο αύριο το πρωί. I have time tomorrow morning. το πρωί el to proí morning Part of speech / class noun, neuter How it differs from English takes its article after the adverb for tomorrow Έχω χρόνο αύριο το πρωί. I have time tomorrow morning. το ταξίδι el to taxídi journey, trip Part of speech / class noun, neuter How it differs from English with the adjective for good and no verb it is the send-off Πώς ήταν το ταξίδι σου στην Αυστραλία; How was your trip to Australia? Καλό ταξίδι. Have a nice trip! Πες μας για το ταξίδι σου. Tell us about your trip. το σπίτι el to spíti house, home Part of speech / class noun, neuter How it differs from English bare, with no article, in the phrase for going home Θα είμαστε σύντομα σπίτι. We'll soon be home. ακόμη el akómi still; yet Part of speech / class adverb How it differs from English in a positive statement it means still, as lesson 5.8 set out Είμαστε ακόμη στη Βοστώνη. We're still in Boston. αύριο el ávrio tomorrow Part of speech / class adverb How it differs from English stands before the noun phrase for the part of the day Έχω χρόνο αύριο το πρωί. I have time tomorrow morning. σήμερα el símera today Part of speech / class adverb How it differs from English at the end of the weather sentence, which is its ordinary place Κάνει κρύο σήμερα. It's cold today. αργότερα el argótera later Part of speech / class adverb How it differs from English closes a letter as it closes a telephone call Θα σε δω αργότερα. I'll see you later. λέω el léo to say, to tell Part of speech / class verb, irregular How it differs from English its first person plural with a weak pronoun is the ordinary Greek for see you Τα λέμε σύντομα. See you soon. Πες μας για το ταξίδι σου. Tell us about your trip. βλέπω el vlépo to see; to meet Part of speech / class verb, first pattern How it differs from English in the future here, marked by the particle of lesson 5.1 Θα σε δω αργότερα. I'll see you later. ευχαριστώ el evcharistó thank you; to thank Part of speech / class verb, second pattern How it differs from English takes a preposition and the accusative for what you are thanking somebody for Ευχαριστώ για τη βοήθειά σου. Thank y