"The woman pays us."

Translation: Η γυναίκα μάς πληρώνει.

[FilipFilip17]

So I suppose this sentence can also mean "Our woman pays."

[relox84]

This is why it's important to pay attention to the accents:

Η γυναίκα μάς πληρώνει. - The woman pays us.

Η γυναίκα μας πληρώνει. - Our woman pays.

[Hank_Williams_Sr]

So differentiating μάς from μας in the speech is by making the accents respectively while speaking, right?

[mizinamo]

In speech, the possessive is a clitic -- it has no accent of its own and is essentially pronounced as a part of the preceding word.

So the difference would be something like iyineka mas plironi in the first case, iyinekamas plironi in the second case -- the second one has the mas joined up into one word with the yineka from the point of view of word stress.

[michaelredmond94]

Is "Μας πληρώνει η γυναίκα" also ok in greek?

[D_..]

It could be OK in spoken Greek meaning "it is the woman paying us" (not someone else), or something like "she is paying us - not taking from us", therefore I wouldn't say it is the exact translation of the given phrase as it all depends on the emphasis put and not the standard structure to be taught.

[michaelredmond94]

perfect! thanks!

[chrysaphi]

Why not Η γυναίκα πληρώνει μας ?

[troll1995]

It's in the Tips & Notes of the personal pronouns.

[Stergi3]

No! The weak form μας goes before the verb. The strong form εμάς is used after it. It is valid for other cases of the personal pronoun μου-εμένα etc http://ebooks.edu.gr/modules/ebook/show.php/DSGYM-A112/621/4006,17974/