This lesson covers adverbs in Modern Greek. Just as in Ancient Greek, adverbs in Modern Greek are indeclinable words which denote place, manner, quantity, time, etc. Consider the sentences below: each of them shows one of those types of adverb. The adverb in each Greek sentence is underlined.
| Ψάχνω παντού. | I am searching everywhere. | → Place |
| Δε νιώθω καλά. | I don’t feel well. | → Manner |
| Τρώω πολύ. | I eat a lot. | → Quantity |
| Φεύγει νωρίς. | She leaves early. | → Time |
This lesson begins with adverbs that denote time. Just like in Ancient Greek, there are many different ways of expressing time, from expressions, secondary clauses, and noun cases. Temporal adverbs, however, are very common.
Several of them closely resemble similar adverbs in Ancient Greek: can you recognize any from the list provided below?
| συχνά: often | συνήθως: usually |
| συνέχεια: all the time | σπάνια: seldom/rarely |
| ποτέ: never | πάντα: always |
| πέρ(υ)σι: last year → | πρόπερσι: the year before last year → | φέτος: this year → | του χρόνου: next year |
| σήμερα/απόψε: today | (ε)χθες: yesterday |
| προχθές: the day before yesterday | αύριο: tomorrow |
| μεθαύριο: the day after tomorrow | – |
| αμέσως: immediately | κιόλας: already |
| ήδη: yet | πάλι: again |
| ξανά: again | |
In what other ways can I express time?
I can do that using the cases. Let’s see some examples from AG.
Oἱ δ’ ἐπὶ τοῦ τείχους, καὶ θέρους καὶ χειμῶνος ἐταλαιπωροῦντο (Those at the walls would suffer during summer and during winter)
Τὰ ψηφίσματα τὸν ἅπαντα χρόνον φυλάττετε. (Always guard the resolutions)
Likewise, in MG as well, we use the Accusative to denote time. For example:
Θα γυρίσω το πρωί. (I will be back in the morning).
Θα έρθω να σε δω το βράδυ. (I will visit you at night).
In rare cases we might also use a Genitive of time as well. For example:Θα δώσει ξανά εξετάσεις του χρόνου. (He will give the exams again next year).