Exclaiming and intensifying: τι ωραία, πόσο, τόσο, καθόλου
An exclamation uses two different words, and they do not swap. Τι goes before a noun or an adjective, and with no article: Τι κρίμα! Τι ωραία ταινία! Never "τι η ταινία". For example: “Τι ωραία παράσταση ήταν χθες!” — What a wonderful performance there was yesterday!. A rule from the Greek course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
An exclamation uses two different words, and they do not swap. Τι (ti) goes before a noun or an adjective, and with no article: Τι κρίμα (ti kríma)! Τι ωραία ταινία (ti oréa tenía)! Never "τι η ταινία (ti i tenía)".
Πόσο (póso) goes before an adjective or an adverb and never changes: Πόσο ωραίο είναι (póso oréo íne)! Before a noun the same word changes shape and means amount: Πόσος κόσμος!
Τόσο (tóso) usually pulls a που (pu) after it: Ήταν τόσο αστείο που γελούσαμε ως το τέλος. With nothing following, it is a plain "so": Ήταν τόσο ωραία (ítan tóso oréa)!
Καθόλου (kathólu) means "not at all", and in that sense it lives only next to δεν (den): Δεν μου άρεσε καθόλου (den mu árese kathólu). Drop the δεν and it turns into "any", fit for a question: Έχεις καθόλου νερό (ékhis kathólu neró);
Table
| the intensifier | example | in English |
|---|---|---|
| τι without the article | Τι κρίμα! | What a pity! |
| πόσο with an adjective | Πόσο ωραίο είναι! | How beautiful it is! |
| τόσο ... που | τόσο αστείο που γελούσαμε | so funny that we laughed |
| πολύ | πολύ γνωστός ζωγράφος | a very famous painter |
| εντελώς | εντελώς διαφορετικό είδος | a completely different genre |
| καθόλου with δεν | δεν μου άρεσε καθόλου | I didn't like it at all |
By example
- Τι ωραία παράσταση ήταν χθες!ti oréa parástasi ítan khthes!What a wonderful performance there was yesterday!
- Πόσο αστείο είναι αυτό το ντοκιμαντέρ!póso astío íne aftó to dokimandér!How funny this documentary is!
- Δεν μου άρεσε καθόλου η πλοκήden mu árese kathólu i plokíI didn't like the plot at all
How the rule settles in your head
A rule is not memorized from an explanation. It is memorized from an attempt to use it and a mistake — that is why the app delivers it mixed in with words, not as a separate lesson: it resurfaces exactly where you forgot it.
Frequently asked
Exclaiming and intensifying: how does it work in Greek?
An exclamation uses two different words, and they do not swap. Τι goes before a noun or an adjective, and with no article: Τι κρίμα! Τι ωραία ταινία! Never "τι η ταινία".
What does it look like in an example sentence Greek?
“Τι ωραία παράσταση ήταν χθες!” (ti oréa parástasi ítan khthes!) — What a wonderful performance there was yesterday!. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.