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Lesson 10 · Ο ελεύθερος χρόνος — Free time
Weekends, sport and music — and settling on a day to go to the cinema.
Read each line aloud: the sentence, how it sounds, then what it means.
Τι κάνεις τα Σαββατοκύριακα;
Ti kánis ta Savatokíriaka?
What do you do at weekends?
Μου αρέσει να κολυμπάω στη θάλασσα.
Mou arési na kolimbáo sti thálasa.
I like swimming in the sea.
Κι εγώ! Παίζεις κάποιο άθλημα;
Ki egó! Pézis kápio áthlima?
Me too! Do you play any sport?
Παίζω μπάσκετ κάθε Τετάρτη. Εσύ;
Pézo básket káthe Tetárti. Esí?
I play basketball every Wednesday. And you?
Ακούω μουσική και παίζω κιθάρα.
Akúo musikí ke pézo kithára.
I listen to music and play the guitar.
Τέλεια! Πάμε σινεμά την Κυριακή;
Télia! Páme sinemá tin Kiriakí?
Perfect! Shall we go to the cinema on Sunday?
Δεν μπορώ την Κυριακή. Έχω δουλειά.
Den boró tin Kiriakí. Ého douliá.
I cannot on Sunday. I have work.
Το Σάββατο τότε;
To Sávato tóte?
Saturday then?
Τέλεια! Τα λέμε το Σάββατο.
Télia! Ta léme to Sávato.
Perfect! See you on Saturday.
Grammar notes
Μου αρέσει να… — I like doing…
μου αρέσει να + verb: Μου αρέσει να διαβάζω. With a noun instead, drop the να: Μου αρέσει η μουσική.
κάθε — every
κάθε μέρα (every day), κάθε Τετάρτη (every Wednesday), κάθε Σαββατοκύριακο (every weekend). κάθε never changes.
μπορώ — I can
Δεν μπορώ σήμερα. Μπορείς αύριο; Like θέλω, it takes να before another verb: Μπορώ να έρθω.
παίζω covers both
One verb for sport and for instruments: παίζω μπάσκετ, παίζω κιθάρα, παίζω ποδόσφαιρο.
Three things about the culture
You do not have friends, you have a παρέα
A παρέα is the group you go out with — the same faces, week after week, often since school. Greeks say I am going out with my παρέα the way others name a place. Plans are made for the group, and one person turning up alone is unusual.
The swimming season is half the year
Greeks swim from May well into October, and no one thinks of it as a holiday activity — it is what you do after work. On the sixth of January the bravest go in anyway, diving into freezing harbours to retrieve a cross thrown by the priest at Epiphany.
A small country that beats giants at basketball
Greece won the European championship in 1987 and again in 2005, and knocked the United States out of the 2006 World Championship. Ask someone whether they support Olympiacos or Panathinaikos and you will learn more about them than any other question can teach you.
Now lock in the words
This lesson has its own flashcard folder — every new word and grammar point from the conversation.
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