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- "Ο καφές είναι μέσα στο ποτήρ…
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1944
To express a location or a direction in modern Greek, you have to use the preposition "σε" (= "in" or "to", depending on the context).
After this preposition, the word that follows has to be in accusative case.
Here's how the definite articles change in accusative:
- ο -> το(ν) (sing. masc.)
- η -> τη(ν) (sing. fem.)
-
το -> το (sing. n.)
-
οι -> τους (pl. masc.)
- οι -> τις (pl. fem.)
- τα -> τα (pl. n.)
To say "in the'' or "to the" in Greek, you have to combine the preposition "σε" and the definite article of your choice in accusative:
- το(ν) -> στο(ν)
- τη(ν) -> στη(ν)
-
το -> στο
-
τους -> στους
- τις -> στις
- τα -> στα
I hope that this helps. :-)
Wow thanks! That really helped me. They should put it in the tips and notes haha
Wow this definitely helps. I understand now why the accusative case must be used, as "in the" and "to the" obviously express action toward the direct object, which would need to be in the accusative case. Is the same true for phrases like "between the"?
This is really very informative...but can you answer this....why is το, τη, στο and στη sometimes followed by an ν? What rule make στο into στον?
Well, there is an actual rule for that.
When the articles/pronouns are followed by a vowel or κ, π, τ, μπ, ντ, γκ, ξ, and ψ, the -ν is used.
When the articles/pronouns are followed by β, δ, γ, φ, θ, χ, μ, ν, λ, ρ, σ, or ζ, the -v is omitted.
This rule is now for feminine articles/pronouns only.
No, not at all. Mostly because of context. The liquid couldn't be anywhere but in the glass. ^.^
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I was told by a greek I can remove μέσα from the sentence, but I asked her if I could remove the σε in στο so it would be ο καφές είναι μέσα το ποτήρι, she said that was wrong.
Could someone help me understand why it's wrong?
I am catching this, but I still don't understand why στο (σε) is necessary here, when we have μέσα. How come that σε is more important than μέσα? Μεσα is preposition, not σε το.
Reading many posts I realized that native English speakers have problems with these kinds of prepositions. I am not a Greek speaker, but as a native Spanish speaker I want to say something that might help.
The word μέσα is an adverb (and not a preposition). As such, it can be used to modify verbs:
Εγώ είμαι μέσα (I am inside)
If you want to give more information you have to use the correct preposition according to the type of additional information:
Εγώ είμαι μέσα στο σπίτι (I am inside * the house)
The thing is that in English the word "inside" is an adverb, a preposition and also a noun. In the first example, the word "inside" works like an adverb. In the second one it works like a preposition. English doesn't need an "extra" preposition in order to introduce the complement "the house" because "inside" is the preposition. Other languages, like Spanish, require "extra" preposition because the word "dentro (inside)" is an adverb. In fact a typical mistake we make when we are learning English is say: "I am inside to/of the house" As far as I know the same thing happen in Greek. In all examples where people keep asking about the "σε" it seems the confusion arises from the fact that they think the word before "σε" is the preposition, but usually is an adverb. Almost all the greek words in the "tips" section are adverbs.
I think you can say the same thing (in context) in Greek without using the adverb "inside" if you use the correct preposition (in this case "σε"):
Εγώ είμαι στο σπίτι. (I am in the house)
In this case, there is no doubt about the "σε". Σε is more important that μέσα because σε is the preposition.
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Not all coffee in a glass is φραπέ (try freddo espresso, whatever that might be in Greek)
