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- "Ο άντρας της διαβάζει ένα βι…
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This sentence is actually pretty tricky. It could mean two distinct things:
- (Ο άντρας) (της διαβάζει) (ένα βιβλίο) = (The man) (reads to her) (a book)
- (Ο άντρας της) (διαβάζει) (ένα βιβλίο) = (Her man/husband) (reads) (a book) !!not to her!!
Depending on the meaning, each parenthesis is pronounced as a whole. So in case (1) της is pronounced close to διαβάζει, with similar intensity, whereas in case (2) της is pronounced together with άντρας, as if the two were one single word with the accent in the third syllable from the end: *άντραστης.
So, to distinguish between the two cases in written, if the meaning is (1) an accent is put on της. We have then:
- Ο άντρας τής διαβάζει ένα βιβλίο = The man reads a book to her
- Ο άντρας της διαβάζει ένα βιβλίο = Her man reads a book
and the ambiguity is dealt with. The same stands with other words that could be either possessive or object pronouns, i.e. μου, σου, του, μας, σας, τους.
Note that when there is no possibility of misunderstanding, no accent is put on these words, following the general rule that on (most) one-syllable words there is no accent:
Ο άντρας της της διαβάζει ένα βιβλίο = Her man reads a book to her
Τα παιδιά μας τους διαβάζουν ένα γράμμα = Our children read a letter to them
1175
Because when used with a possessive, "άντρας" means "husband". "Man" does not mean "husband" very often in (modern) English; it is usually only used that way informally or within certain phrases, such as "man and wife".
167
This is just a general comment for the mods, but I found the Tips & Notes for this section extraordinarily confusing. The information seems to be randomly delivered and many concepts go unexplained or explained in a confusing manner. It could really do with some better organization and an explanation right off the bat, for example of what Weak and Strong forms are and when to use them. Right now I'm basically going in blind and learning by mistakes. Anyway this is otherwise a great course with very helpful mods, keep up the good work!
Thank you for your comment. It is very important that the Tips & notes be as comprehensible as possible. We will review this and make it clearer...and yes remove terms like weak and strong forms in favor of more examples.
Are you using the Drop Down hints?
TIPS TO MAKE LEARNING EASIER + HOW TO REPORT A PROBLEM…..https://forum.duolingo.com/comment/22424028
And check out the Greek Forum here with more links. https://forum.duolingo.com/topic/936 If you have any questions just ask.
577
@ teopap2: such a clear explanation. I copied all your comments to my notes. Thanks so much!
No. That would be τους and not τις. Τις doesn't work for indirect objects. It's for direct objects. ^.^
Τις είδε και τους μίλησε. - He saw them and talked to them.
When it comes to indirect objects, τους is for all three genders in plural. Note that even when the direct and indirect object are the same person (like in the example above) you still have to use the correct form.
- άντρας = man
- ο άντρας = the man
-
ο άντρας μου = my husband (informal)
-
γυναίκα = woman
- η γυναίκα = the woman
-
η γυναίκα μου = my wife (informal)
-
σύζυγος = husband/wife
- ο σύζυγος = the husband
- η σύζυγος = the wife
- ο σύζυγός μου = my husband (formal)
- η σύζυγός μου = my wife (formal)
You can replace μου with any other possessive (σου, του, της, μας, σας, τους).
You can see that "the husband" corresponds only to "ο σύζυγος", but not to "ο άντρας".
566
σύζυγός gets the second accent from the following possessive μου, which is not stressed.