Who Am I? - Family and Personal Characteristics

Reading Greek

Greek has its own alphabet, written from left to right (like English) and, unlike some scripts, it has capital and small letters too. In this module every word is shown three ways: the script, the sound (transliteration in brackets), and the English, so you learn to recognise it and say it.

Saying who you are

These are useful starting chunks for introducing yourself. Read the Greek first, then use the transliteration as a support.

The family

The core family and friends words from the identity topic.

Match each Greek word to its meaning

Spot the word

Which word means "father"?

• πατέρας (pateras)
• μητέρα (mitera)
• αδελφός (adelfos)
• φίλος (filos)

Match each family word to its meaning

Find the female family words

Tap the TWO Greek words that name female family members.

• αδελφή (adelfi)
• αδελφός (adelfos)
• μητέρα (mitera)
• πατέρας (pateras)

How the writing works

Greek is written left to right and is a true alphabet: each letter stands for one sound, the same idea as the English alphabet (which in fact grew out of Greek). It has capital and small letters, and a small mark called an accent (tonos) sits over the stressed vowel, as in πατέρας (pateras).

True of Greek?

Which statement about Greek writing is correct?

• It is an alphabet with both capital and small letters
• It is a script with no capital letters
• It is written right to left
• Each symbol stands for a whole word

Family members

Select ALL THREE words that are family members.

• πατέρας (pateras)
• μητέρα (mitera)
• αδελφός (adelfos)
• φίλος (filos)
• εγώ (ego)
• το όνομά μου (to onoma mou)

Introduce yourself

Choose the right word at each step to introduce yourself and your family.

• To say "I", which word do you use?
• To say "my name", which phrase?
• To talk about your sister, which word?

One more word

Which word means "friend"?

• φίλος (filos)
• οικογένεια (oikogeneia)
• πατέρας (pateras)
• εγώ (ego)

The right word

Using the script, complete: "father" is _____, "mother" is _____, "brother" is _____, and "friend" is _____.

Write a tiny profile

Write two short Greek lines using only patterns from this module.

• Use το όνομά μου είναι... for "my name is...".
• Add one family or friend word, such as πατέρας, μητέρα, αδελφή, οικογένεια or φίλος.
• Write the Greek form first; use the transliteration only as a check.