In English we say it’s rainingcats and dogs; in Greek we say it drops chair legs, ρίχνεικαρεκλοπόδαρα.
DIALOGUE
This is a common dialogue about the rain, between Maria (M) and Petros (P).
Greek phrase Pronunciation Meaning
Π: Μαρία, τικαιρόκάνει maREEA, Tee keRO KAni Maria, what’s the weather like?
σήμερα στη Νέα Υόρκη; SEEmeraSTEENEaiOrki? Today in New York?
Μ: Κάνεικρύο KAni KREEo It is cold
καιβρέχει. KE VRehi. and it is raining.
Π: Βρέχει πολύ; VREhipoLEE? Is it raining heavily?
Μ: Ρίχνεικαρεκλοπόδαρα. REEhni karekloPOdara. It is raining cats and dogs.
Π: ΚιεδώστηνΑθήνα KI eDO STEEN aTHEEna Here in Athens too
ρίχνειβροχή. REEhni vroHEE. it is raining.
BASIC VOCABULARY
Greek phrase Pronunciation Meaning
Τι TEE what
Οκαιρός keROS weather
Κάνει KAni does, is
Σήμερα SEEmera today
Αύριο Avrio tomorrow
Ηβροχή EE vroHEE rain
Ρίχνειβροχή. REEhni vroHEE it is raining
Θα ρίξει βροχή. THA REExi vroHEE it will rain
Δεν ρίχνει βροχή. DEN REEhni vroHEE it is not raining
Δεν θα ρίξει βροχή. DEN THA REExi vroHEE it will not rain
Βρέχει. VREhi it is raining
Θα βρέχει. THA VREhi it will be raining
Θα βρέξει. THA VRExi it will rain
Δεν θα βρέχει DEN THA VREhi it will not be raining
Δεν θα βρέξει. DEN THA VRExi it will not rain
Βρέχει λίγο. VREhi LEEyo it is raining a little
Βρέχει πολύ. VREhi poLEE it is raining a lot
Βρέχει πολύ δυνατά. VREhipoLEEdinaTA. It is raining heavily.
Ρίχνει καρεκλοπόδαρα. PEEhni karekloPOdara. It is raining cats and dogs.
Ψιχαλίζει. PsihaLEEzi. It is drizzling
Και KE and
Εδώ eDO HERE
Στην STEEN at
BASIC GRAMMAR
In order to form a question about the weather, we keep the word order and we just add the question mark at the end of the sentence.
Βρέχει σήμερα στη Νέα Υόρκη. Βρέχει σήμερα στη Νέα Υόρκη ; -Ναι, βρέχει.- Όχι, δενβρέχει.
In order to form the negative form of the verb, we just put the word δεν in front of it. Δεν βρέχει. Δενρίχνειβροχή.
In order to form the Future Tense we add the word θα in front of the verb. Θα κάνει κρύο.
Like in English in Greek we also have Continuous Future Tense and Simple Future Tense. In order to form the Continuous Future Tense, we just add a θα, will, in front of the verb: αύριο θα βρέχει, θαψιχαλίζει, θαρίχνειβροχή όλη μέρα (= tomorrow it will rain all day). We use the Continuous Future Tense if we want to say that it will snow for a long period of time. For a short period of time we use the Simple Future Tense. In order to form the Simple Future Tense, we add the θα, will, in front of the verb and we change the ending in -σει, -ξει: αύριο το πρωί θα βρέξει, θαρίξειβροχή, θαψιχαλίσει (= tomorrow morning it will rain).
EXERCISES
Match the Greek phrases with their translation in English.
Τι καιρό κάνει σήμερα; What is the weather today?
1.Βρέχειπολύ. 1. It is rainingcats and dogs.
Ρίχνεικαρεκλοπόδαρα. 2. It is raining heavily.
Δεβρέχειπολύ. 3. It is not raining a lot.
Τι καιρό θα κάνει αύριο; What will the weather be like tomorrow?
1.Θαβρέχειόλημέρα. 1. It will drizzle in the morning.
2.Θαψιχαλίσειτοπρωί. 2. It will rain all day.
Θαβρέξειλίγο. 3. It will rain a little.
PRONUNCIATION KEY
i (ill), ee (beer), e (ever), o (organ), oo (boot), y (yes), h (helium), th (theory), d (the). The capitalized syllables are accented.
The post Our Everyday Greek: This May we Speak in Greek about Rainy Weather appeared first on The National Herald.