LingoflyI'm coming or I'm going? in Greek
Agreeing on who goes to whom in Greek. 7 phrases that the conversation is made of: «Είμαι (íme) στην (stin) πλατεία (platía). Έρχεσαι ή να (na) έρθω (értho) εγώ (egó);» — I'm at the square. Will you come, or should I come over?; «Έρχομαι (érkhome) εγώ (egó), είμαι (íme) δύο (dío) δρόμους (drómus) μακριά (makriá).» — I'll come to you; I'm two streets away. Every line can be played right on the page.
How the whole thing sounds
The situation: agreeing on who goes to whom. First the whole conversation, then each line on its own, with a translation.
- Ωραία. Θα κατέβω προς τα κάτω, στο σιντριβάνι.oréa. tha katévo pros ta káto, sto sindrivániGood. I'll come down to the fountain.
- tóte méno edó. tha me dis apó makriá, foráo kókinoThen I'll stand here. You'll spot me from afar; I'm in red.
- se vlépo. plisiázo apó tin áli plevráI see you. I'm coming from the other side.
Lines one by one
| Greek | Reading | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| Είμαι (íme) στην (stin) πλατεία (platía). Έρχεσαι ή να (na) έρθω (értho) εγώ (egó); | íme stin platía. érkhese i na értho egó? | I'm at the square. Will you come, or should I come over? |
| Έρχομαι (érkhome) εγώ (egó), είμαι (íme) δύο (dío) δρόμους (drómus) μακριά (makriá). | érkhome egó, íme dío drómus makriá | I'll come to you; I'm two streets away. |
| Ωραία (oréa). Θα (tha) κατέβω προς τα κάτω (pros ta káto), στο (sto) σιντριβάνι (sindriváni). | oréa. tha katévo pros ta káto, sto sindriváni | Good. I'll come down to the fountain. |
| Μην (min) απομακρύνεσαι, δεν ξέρω (den kséro) καλά (kalá) την (tin) περιοχή (periokhí). | min apomakrínese, den kséro kalá tin periokhí | Don't go far; I don't know the area well. |
| Τότε (tóte) μένω (méno) εδώ (edó). Θα (tha) με (me) δεις (dis) από μακριά (apó makriá), φοράω (foráo) κόκκινο (kókino). | tóte méno edó. tha me dis apó makriá, foráo kókino | Then I'll stand here. You'll spot me from afar; I'm in red. |
| Σε (se) βλέπω (vlépo). Πλησιάζω (plisiázo) από την άλλη πλευρά (apó tin áli plevrá). | se vlépo. plisiázo apó tin áli plevrá | I see you. I'm coming from the other side. |
| Πέρνα μέσα από (mésa apó) την (tin) αγορά (agorá), είναι (íne) πιο (pio) σύντομα (síndoma). | pérna mésa apó tin agorá, íne pio síndoma | Come through the market; it's shorter. |
How to prepare for a conversation like this
Memorizing the lines is not enough: the other person will say their own thing, not what is written. What helps more is catching the key words by ear and keeping three rescue phrases ready: “I don't understand”, “repeat, please”, “slower”.
And one more thing phrasebooks do not mention: awkwardness gets in the way more than not knowing the words.
- Fear of making mistakes gets in the way of learning a language, and noticeably so. The link turns up study after study, and together those studies cover almost twenty thousand people.checked many timesTeimouri, Goetze & Plonsky, 2019, Studies in Second Language Acquisition 41(2) · 19,933 participants from 23 countries; correlation with results r = −0.36.
- That fear can be dealt with — the methods have been tested and they work.checked many timesXiong et al., 2024, Journal of Language and Social Psychology · 37 studies, anxiety reduced by −0.61. Of the seven conditions examined, only age turned out to matter.
Frequently asked
How do you start a conversation in Greek in this situation?
“Είμαι (íme) στην (stin) πλατεία (platía). Έρχεσαι ή να (na) έρθω (értho) εγώ (egó);” (íme stin platía. érkhese i na értho egó?) — I'm at the square. Will you come, or should I come over? The first line in such a conversation is almost always the same, and that is the one worth learning: the other person will carry it from there.
What if you did not understand the reply?
Say “I don't understand” and “repeat, please” — both are in the rescue set. Admitting your language is still shaky almost always makes the other person more patient.
Should you memorize the dialogue?
No. It is more useful to catch the key words by ear: the other person will say their own thing, and a memorized line will not always fit their reply.