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Lesson 8 · Στην πόλη — Around town
A visitor asks the way to the museum, and finds a pharmacy on the way.
Read each line aloud: the sentence, how it sounds, then what it means.
Συγγνώμη! Πού είναι το μουσείο;
Signómi! Pou íne to musío?
Excuse me! Where is the museum?
Είναι εδώ κοντά. Πηγαίνετε ευθεία.
Íne edó kondá. Piyénete efthía.
It is near here. Go straight ahead.
Ευθεία… και μετά;
Efthía… ke metá?
Straight ahead… and then?
Μετά στρίψτε δεξιά στα φανάρια.
Metá strípste dexiá sta fanária.
Then turn right at the traffic lights.
Είναι μακριά;
Íne makriá?
Is it far?
Όχι, πέντε λεπτά με τα πόδια.
Óhi, pénde leptá me ta pódia.
No, five minutes on foot.
Υπάρχει φαρμακείο εδώ κοντά;
Ipárhi farmakío edó kondá?
Is there a pharmacy near here?
Ναι, αριστερά, δίπλα στην τράπεζα.
Ne, aristerá, dípla stin trápeza.
Yes, on the left, next to the bank.
Σας ευχαριστώ πολύ!
Sas efharistó polí!
Thank you very much!
Grammar notes
Πού είναι…; — where is…?
Πού είναι η τράπεζα; Πού είναι το μετρό; Watch the accent: πού with a mark means where, που without it means that.
Υπάρχει…; — is there…?
Υπάρχει φαρμακείο εδώ κοντά; For more than one: Υπάρχουν τουαλέτες εδώ;
Words for directions
ευθεία (straight on), δεξιά (right), αριστερά (left), δίπλα σε (next to), απέναντι από (opposite), κοντά σε (near), μακριά από (far from).
Συγγνώμη does two jobs
Excuse me when you stop a stranger, and sorry when you are at fault. Both are said the same way.
Three things about the culture
The metro is also a museum
Digging the Athens metro turned into the largest archaeological excavation the city had ever seen. Rather than hide what came up, the stations display it: walk through Syntagma or Monastiraki and you pass ancient graves, riverbeds and pottery on your way to the platform.
Every town has the same street names
Ερμού, Βενιζέλου, 25ης Μαρτίου — a god, a statesman and the date of the 1821 uprising. Greek addresses put the street first and the number after it: Σταδίου 5. Learn the handful of names that repeat and half the country becomes navigable.
Tiny shrines by the roadside
Along Greek roads stand thousands of προσκυνητάρια — miniature churches on a post, holding an icon, an oil lamp and matches. Some mark the spot of a fatal accident, others give thanks for a life saved at that exact bend.
Now lock in the words
This lesson has its own flashcard folder — every new word and grammar point from the conversation.
Study this lesson's cards