Greek Grammar Practice: Rules, Resources and Tips for Improving Your Greek Grammar Skills

Let me start by addressing the elephant in the room: studying grammar can be tedious and challenging.

Traditional learning approaches will constantly instruct you to learn and repeat grammar rules, often out of context. Most of the time in a boring and dated manner that modern linguistic and pedagogical methods have rendered obsolete.

I am with you on that – it shouldn’t be this way. On the other hand, grammar is an essential component of each and every language. It is not the only way to fluency, but it is necessary.

So, I agree, we should not go on to become self-conscious about our grammar skills – in reality, no native speaker will mock you for not knowing the correct form of the passive present perfect. Yet, you should not neglect to practice your target language’s grammar.

What’s our plan of action? Find a new, more interactive, and “natural” way to learn grammar, rather than ignoring it completely or obsessing over it. Find a happy medium, a way to improve your grammar skills while also placing them in a fruitful learning context.

This article will act as a basic guide for your Greek grammar practice. I’ve gathered the basic rules of the language, as well as a handful of resources and exercises, to help you study Greek grammar in a way that fits your personal learning style.

Basic Overview of Greek Grammar

A common question from everyone who starts learning modern Greek: “Is Greek grammar difficult?”. This question cannot be directly answered, simply because there is no such thing as “easy” or “hard” grammar; it all depends on the structure of your native language and how similar it is to that of your target language.

Assume you are a native English speaker who wants to learn modern Greek grammar. Some would say that Greek grammar is complicated. In reality, it is not that different from English! Both languages share (mostly) similar sentence structure and parts of speech!

To assist you with your Greek grammar practice, we will now go over the basic grammatical structure of modern Greek.

Sentence Structure

Both English and Greek follow the basic SVO rule (Subject, Verb, Object). And, in general, most structures are the same in questions, indicative and imperative phrases, adjective and adverb placement, and so on.

However, Greek has a more “relaxed” structure. Due to its rich morphology, it is easier to determine which noun is the object or the subject. This results in easier “juggling” between the words in a sentence, but also – occasionally –the omission of the subject!

I know it seems tricky, but I assure you, it is much simpler than it appears! With systematic Greek grammar practice, you will get the hang of it in no time.

You can also check out this very useful chart that compares typical sentence structure in Greek, English, and Spanish.

Parts of Speech

Another interesting fact for those who aspire to learn Greek grammar is that it has the same parts of speech as English.

You can see below the parts of speech of the Greek language and which grammatical aspects they share.

	Numbers	Genders	Cases	Tenses	Persons	Voices	Moods
Articles	2	3	4	–	–	–	–
Nouns	2	3	4	–	–	–	–
Adjectives	2	3	4	–	–	–	–
Pronouns	2	3	4	–	3	–	–
Verbs	2	–	–	8	3	2 (3*)	3
Participles	2 (*)	3 (*)	4 (*)	3	–	2	–
Adverbs	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
Prepositions	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
Conjunctions	–	–	–	–	–	–	–

Number, Gender & Case

In Greek, articles, nouns, adjectives, and pronouns, are all declined for number, gender, and case.

There are only two numbers in modern Greek: singular (ενικός) and plural (πληθυντικός). Easy, right?

The other two categories are a little trickier, for different reasons. Let’s discuss the cases. There are four cases in Modern Greek:

• Nominative (Ονομαστική), commonly used for subjects in sentences;
• Genitive (Γενική), commonly denoting possession, location, and other adverbial situations;
• Accusative (Αιτιατική), used for objects in sentences;
• Vocative (Κλητική), used only when you exclaim and call someone.

The cases are relatively simple to master. However, that is not the case with genders.

Modern Greek has three genders: masculine, feminine, and neuter. Well, these genders are not “genders” in the biological or social sense. They are called “formal genders”. What does that mean? It means that each noun has a completely arbitrary formal gender. The sofa is masculine, the chair is feminine, the table is neutral, and chaos is everywhere.

This rule is fortunately known to speakers of other Indo-European languages (such as Italian, Spanish, French, German, Polish, and others). For the English-speaking learners of Greek, I get your frustration. It all comes down to consistent practice.

Tenses, Persons, Moods & Voices

A trickier part of your Greek grammar practice is verb conjugations. We’ve already created a guide to help you with Greek conjugation, so, here, we will review some of the Greek grammar basics.

The Greek language has three persons, in their singular and plural forms. You can see the three persons in this handy chart of the personal pronoun:

	Greek	IPA	Translation
1st Person Singular	εγώ	/e’γο/	I
2nd Person Singular	εσύ	/e’si/	you (sing.)
3rd Person Singular	αυτός / αυτή / αυτό	/a’ftos/, /a’fti/, /a’fto/	he / she / it
1st Person Plural	εμείς	/e’mis/	we
2nd Person Plural	εσείς	/e’sis/	you (pl.)
3rd Person Plural	αυτοί / αυτές / αυτά	/a’fti/, /a’ftes/, /a’fta/	they (male / female / neutral)

Note: if you need help with the International Phonetic Alphabet for Greek, check out this site.

Aside from that, there are two grammatical voices in Greek verbs (there are actually three, but the third one is more semantically relevant, so we’ll leave it out for now):

1. Active Voice (Ενεργητική Φωνή)
2. Passive Voice (Παθητική Φωνή)

Modern Greek also has a total of three or five moods (some include the participle and the infinitive). Namely:

1. Indicative (Οριστική)
2. Subjunctive (Υποτακτική)
3. Imperative (Προστακτική)
4. Participle (Μετοχή)
5. Infinitive (Απαρέμφατο)

Finally, there are eight tenses in Greek. These are as follows:

Present Tense	Ενεστώτας	Present
Past Tenses	Παρατατικός	Past Continuous
	Αόριστος	Simple Past
Future Tenses	Στιγμιαίος Μέλλοντας	Future Simple
	Εξακολουθητικός Μέλλοντας	Future Continuous
Perfect Tenses	Παρακείμενος	Present Perfect
	Υπερσυντέλικος	Past Perfect
	Συντελεσμένος Μέλλοντας	Future Perfect

You can find a comprehensive guide to Greek Verb Conjugations here.

Types of Exercises for Greek Grammar Practice

Depending on your grammar level and what you are most comfortable with, you can practice with a variety of grammar exercises.

The following are some of the most common types of exercises:

• Fill-in-the-blank; you must use the correct form of the missing word to fill in a gap within a sentence.
• Choose the correct word; a simpler option than the one above, you must select the correct form of a word from a list of options.
• Word formation; given a sentence, you must change the form of a word, such as changing a verb to a noun.

For example:

• _____ ήταν πολύ καλός. (μαγειρεύω)

The correct answer is “ο μάγειρας”, given the verb “μαγειρεύω” and the agreement with the adjective “καλός”. The sentence translates to “The cook was very good”.

• Sentence transformation; usually changing the subject and object of a sentence to test the active and passive voice of the verb.

These and other types of grammar exercises are excellent for your Greek grammar practice. If you are a beginner, you can test the waters with multiple-choice exercises. If you approach an intermediate level, you can give harder exercises a shot.

Clozemaster offers both multiple-choice exercises – for a quick practice session – as well as fill-in-the-gap sentences, making it a great Greek grammar app to test your skills.

Resources for Greek Grammar Practice

Now that we’ve covered the fundamentals of modern Greek grammar and the various types of grammar exercises, let’s look at some resources to help you with your Greek grammar practice.

Apps to Learn Greek Grammar

To keep up with the times, many apps have been developed to assist you in your language-learning journey.

The ones we found most useful are listed below:

Duolingo

Duolingo is undoubtedly one of the most popular language learning apps, providing a personalized, gamified learning experience.

Using Duolingo can be really beneficial for your Greek grammar practice since many of the exercises require you to pick the grammatically correct form of a word, or arrange words into a well-formed Greek sentence.

Anki

If you enjoy playing with flashcards, Anki is a great free software. You can create your own flashcards to help you memorize the most important endings or irregular verbs.

Clozemaster

Of course, if you want to take it one step further, Clozemaster is the way to go.

Clozemaster is a fun and quick way to improve your language skills by playing a series of fill-in-the-blank phrases that help you build both your vocabulary and your grammar knowledge.

Study with Greek Grammar Textbooks

Some of you prefer a more traditional way of studying – and that is totally fine! You can check out one of the following digital or physical Greek grammar textbooks:

• Modern Greek Grammar Notes For Absolute Beginners (digital). The perfect companion for beginners.
• Neohel’s complete series for learning Greek with textbooks for adults and adolescents.
• 200+ Greek verbs grammar practice. This is a workbook with an English explanation, aimed at people who learn modern Greek as a foreign language.
• The beginner’s workbook for Greek. A workbook for beginners, containing grammar tables and exercises of basic Greek grammar.
• 71 Everyday Greek Verbs. A printable eBook with 71 common Greek verbs, fully conjugated.

Greek Grammar Exercises (Printable or Online)

Finally, don’t forget to work on your Greek grammar worksheets. Many of them, available either for download or as online exercises, will be very useful in your Greek grammar practice.

Below are some resources for Greek grammar exercises:

• The website GreekGrammar.eu offers a wide variety of free Greek worksheets for beginners and advanced learners, making it a great resource for grammar practice.
• Helinika offers a wide variety of exercises, many of which are dedicated to grammatical phenomena.
• P. Georgalas’ website contains interactive grammar exercises for all your needs.
• GreekPod101 also provides us with a variety of printable Greek Worksheets.

If you are interested in more resources, you can check out our article on the best Greek language resources.

Tips for Better Greek Grammar Practice

Aside from the specific resources, we can also provide you with some pointers on how to improve your Greek grammar practice.

Create a Study Schedule

Do not neglect to study on a regular and consistent basis. Language learning is an activity that requires time and the right headspace.

Choose a time of day when you believe you can perform better and do your practice every single day. The key to fluency, particularly in grammar, is to stay in touch with what you’re learning at all times.

Set Clear Goals

Another critical step is to make your goals clear and feasible. If you set goals that are too broad, you may eventually lose motivation, or you may even make yourself feel bad for not meeting unattainable goals.

Don’t try to over-achieve. It is always preferable to take small steps toward perfection, even if it means that something will take longer or that you will have to revise some things several times. Practice makes perfect, and setting small, attainable goals is the best way to feel good about your progress and stay motivated.

Seek Feedback

The third and equally important piece of advice is to always seek feedback. As you progress in your language learning journey, getting feedback is crucial. You could try to communicate with fellow learners, or even converse with native speakers by using apps like HelloTalk and Tandem.

Greek Grammar Practice – A Conclusion

It is true, grammar is an essential component of language learning. You should not fixate on it, but you cannot ignore it either. But that doesn’t mean that you should stick to traditional practices. Through systematic, everyday practice with the methods that you prefer, you will finally get accustomed to the specific rules of your target language.

If you’re looking for additional tips, you can also check out our article on how to improve your grammar in any foreign language.