Modern Greek/Lesson 06.4

Lesson 6.4: Time This lesson teaches you how to tell the time, as well as some useful expressions. Introduction τι ώρα είναι; What time is it? Η ώρα είναι οκτώ. The time is eight o'clock. Είναι οκτώ. It's eight o'clock. Είναι οκτώ και δέκα. It's ten past eight. Because ώρα is feminine, the feminine forms of the numbers are used for time: Είναι τέσσερις. It's four o'clock. Vocabulary παρά (short of) in expressions of time, "to" και (and) in expressions of time, "past" ακριβώς (exactly) in expressions of time, "sharp" μισή half (feminine form, used with the feminine ώρα) τέταρτο quarter Examples: Είναι οκτώ παρά δέκα. It's ten to eight. Είναι οκτώ ακριβώς. It's eight o'clock sharp. Είναι οκτώ και μισή. It's half past eight. Είναι οκτώ και τέταρτο. It's quarter past eight. Vocabulary το πρωί the morning το μεσημέρι the noon το απόγευμα the afternoon το βράδυ the evening η νύχτα the night το ρολόι the clock (~Spanish "reloj") νωρίς early αργά late τώρα now μετά later Useful Questions The expression "τι ώρα" can be used to form many useful questions, such as Τι ώρα θα φύγουμε; What time will we leave?Τι ώρα θα πάμε; What time will we go?Τι ώρα θα πάς στη δουλειά; What time will you go to work?Θα φάω στις έξι. I will eat at 6. Usage of noon, afternoon etc. Be careful, the words may have the same literal meaning, but they do not correspond to the same time! Morning is between 5am to 12pm. Noon for Greeks is approximately between 12pm to 4pm. The afternoon is approximately between 4 to 8pm. The evening is from 8pm to 12am and the night comes afterwards. However in actual speech "night" is rarely used when specifying the time. Usually both "evening" and "morning" are used for times between 1am and 2am. Afterwards it is always "morning". Although, if asked, people will refer to the time between 3am and 5am as "night", when specifying the time they will refer to it as "morning". Γιατί με ξυπνάς στις τρεις το πρωί; Why are you waking me up at three o'clock in the morning? Μείναμε στο εστιατόριο μέχρι τις δύο to βράδυ. We stayed at the restaurant until two o'clock in the evening.