Exclaiming and intensifying: τι ωραία, πόσο, τόσο, καθόλου
Exclamation is built from two different words, and they do not interchange. Τι stands before a noun or an adjective — and without the article: Τι κρίμα!, Τι ωραία ταινία!, Τι ήσυχο μέρος!. An article here is a straight-out error: not "τι η ταινία" but simply τι ταινία — just as English says "what a film", never "what the film". For example: “Τι ωραία παράσταση ήταν χθες!” — What a wonderful performance there was…
How it works
Exclamation is built from two different words, and they do not interchange. Τι (ti) stands before a noun or an adjective — and without the article: Τι κρίμα (ti kríma)!, Τι ωραία ταινία (ti oréa tenía)!, Τι ήσυχο μέρος (ti ísikho méros)!. An article here is a straight-out error: not "τι η ταινία (ti i tenía)" but simply τι ταινία (ti tenía) — just as English says "what a film", never "what the film".
Πόσο (póso) stands before an adjective or an adverb and changes by neither gender nor number: Πόσο ωραίο είναι (póso oréo íne)!, Πόσο γρήγορα πέρασε ο χρόνος (póso grígora pérase o khrónos)!. Before a noun, though, the same word declines and means an amount: Πόσος κόσμος!, Πόση ώρα (pósi óra)!.
The intensifiers stand strictly in front of the adjective: πολύ (very), τόσο (so), εντελώς (completely), αρκετά (quite). Πολύ γνωστός ζωγράφος (polí gnostós zográfos), εντελώς διαφορετικό είδος.
Τόσο often drags a continuation with που (pu) after it: Ήταν τόσο αστείο που γελούσαμε ως το τέλος — so funny that we laughed to the end. Without the continuation it stays a plain "so": Ήταν τόσο ωραία (ítan tóso oréa)!.
Καθόλου (kathólu) — "not at all" — in this meaning lives only beside a negation: Δεν μου άρεσε καθόλου (den mu árese kathólu). Remove the δεν (den) and the word changes into "at all, any": it is then only good for a question — Έχετε καθόλου νερό (ékhete kathólu neró);.
In writing the exclamation mark is the ordinary one, while the question mark is a semicolon. So Πόσο ωραίο είναι! and Πόσο κάνει (póso káni); differ to the eye only by the end of the line.
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?
Exclamation is built from two different words, and they do not interchange. Τι stands before a noun or an adjective — and without the article: Τι κρίμα!, Τι ωραία ταινία!, Τι ήσυχο μέρος!. An article here is a straight-out error: not "τι η ταινία" but simply τι ταινία — just as English says "what a…
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.