Town, Region and Country
Village, city, region, country - and the discovery that the English words you already use are full of Greek ones, which turns out to be a way of reading.
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Start revising freeWhat you'll cover
You already know some of this 🏛️
English has borrowed from Greek for centuries, and it did not stop at long scientific words. **metropolis**, **aerodrome**, **microscope**, **megaphone**: each of them has a Greek word inside. That is worth more than a fact. Turn it round and it becomes a way of **reading**: meet an unfamiliar Greek word, look for the English one hiding in it, and you often have the meaning before you have looked anything up.
Where you live 🗂️
Five words to learn, plus two you can very nearly read already: **η πόλη (i poli)**, the city, which you know from *metropolis*, and **το κέντρο (to kentro)**, the centre.
Match each word to its meaning
- το χωριό (to chorio)
- η χώρα (i chora)
- η περιοχή (i periochi)
- ο δρόμος (o dromos)
- village
- country
- region or area
- road or street
Find the Greek inside the English 🔍
Four English words you already use, each with a Greek word inside it: **metropolis** holds **πόλη (poli)**, city. **aerodrome** holds **δρόμος (dromos)**, a road or course. **microscope** holds **μικρός (mikros)**, small. **megaphone** holds **μεγάλος (megalos)**, big. So **μεγάλη πόλη** is a big city and **μικρό χωριό** is a small village. (The endings change to match the noun, which you have met already; this module is not about that.) **Use it the other way round.** When a Greek word looks unfamiliar, ask which English word it might be hiding in. It will not work every time, and when it works it saves you.
What does μεγάλη πόλη mean? ❓
You see the phrase μεγάλη πόλη (megali poli). What does it mean?
- A big city
- A small city
- A big village
- The city centre
Find the word you already knew ✍️
An interactive activity.
The strategy 📝
English has borrowed a great deal from Greek, so an unfamiliar Greek word may already be inside an English one you use. metropolis contains _____, the word for city. aerodrome contains _____, a road. microscope contains _____, meaning small, and megaphone contains _____, meaning big. So when a Greek word looks strange, ask which _____ word it might be hiding in.
Order them by size 🪜
An interactive activity.
Which hide a Greek word you have met? ✅
Select the TWO English words that contain a Greek word from this module.
- megaphone
- aerodrome
- restaurant
- window
Use it 🧭
An interactive activity.
What English took, and what it means ↔️
Read across. The English word on the left is one you already use; the Greek on the right is what it was built from.
The summary 🖊️
A village is _____ and a country is _____. A region is _____ and a road is _____. And when a Greek word looks unfamiliar, the first thing to try is finding it inside an _____ word you already use.
Your turn ✍️
An interactive activity.