By me becomes just Μ' which is short for ΜΟΥ, and
it is liked becomes just αρέσει/ΑΡΕΣΕΙ (3rd person singular of the verb αρέσω/ΑΡΕΣΩ)
Similarly if it's "you" doing the liking then ΣΟΥ is shortened to just Σ' (unless it's plural or formal in which case ΣΑΣ remains in full)
So together this looks like:
English | Lower | Upper |
---|---|---|
I like ...[he/she/it] | μ'[ου] αρέσει... | Μ'[ΟΥ] ΑΡΕΣΕΙ |
I like …[them] | μ'[ου] αρέσουν... | Μ'[ΟΥ] ΑΡΕΣΟΥΝ |
[Do] you like …[he/she/it]? | σ'[ου] αρέσει ...; | Σ'[ΟΥ] ΑΡΕΣΕΙ; |
[Do] you like …[them]? | σ'[ου] αρέσουν ...; | Σ'[ΟΥ] ΑΡΕΣΟΥΝ; |
and by deduction: | ||
I like you | μ'[ου] αρέσεις | Μ'[ΟΥ] ΑΡΕΣΕΙΣ |
[Do] you like me? | σ'[ου] αρέσω; | Σ'[ΟΥ] ΑΡΕΣΩ; |
And to go with these phrases you can use use "δεν/ΔΕΝ"
in front to say you don't like something or at the end you can add "πολύ/ΠΟΛΥ"
or "πάρα πολύ/ΠΑΡΑ ΠΟΛΥ"
at the end to say you like it "a lot" or "very much".
Of course when asked if you like something you can just reply "ναι"
or "οχι"
- you don't have to repeat the whole "μ'αρέσει".
Remember in Greek that the articles get used all the time (where we would drop
the article - "I like wine" as it means something slightly different to "I
like the wine") so here are a few examples:
English | Lower | Upper |
---|---|---|
I like wine | μ' αρέσει το κρασί | Μ' ΑΡΕΣΕΙ ΤΟ ΚΡΑΣΙ |
I like wines | μ' αρέσουν τα κράσια | Μ' ΑΡΕΣΟΥΝ ΤΑ ΚΡΑΣΙΑ |
Do you like red cars? | σ' αρέσουν τα κόκκινα αυτοκίνητα; | Σ' ΑΡΕΣΟΥΝ ΤΑ ΚΟΚΚΙΝΑ ΑΥΤΟΚΙΝΗΤΑ; |
Do you like Greece? | σ' αρέσει η Ελλαδα | Σ' ΑΡΕΣΕΙ Η ΕΛΛΑΔΑ |
I don't like green olives | δεν μ' αρέσουν οι πρασινες ελλιες | ΔΕΝ Μ' ΑΡΕΣΟΥΝ ΟΙ ΠΡΑΣΙΝΕΣ ΕΛΛΙΕΣ |
I like coffee very much | μ' αρέσει ο κεφες πάρα πολύ | Μ' ΑΡΕΣΕΙ Ο ΚΕΦΕΣ ΠΑΡΑ ΠΟΛΥ |
I like tea a little | μ' αρέσει το τσαι λίγο | Μ' ΑΡΕΣΕΙ ΤΟ ΤΣΑΙ ΛΙΓΟ |
Don't you like beers much? | δεν σ'αρέσουν οι μπίρες πολύ; | ΔΕΝ Σ'ΑΡΕΣΟΥΝ ΟΙ ΜΠΙΡΕΣ ΠΟΛΥ; |
Another word worth mentioning on this topic is the verb
προτιμώ/ΠΡΟΤΙΜΩ meaning
"I prefer" which allows a few distinctions to be made - "Do you like white
wine?"/"I prefer red" - "Σ'αρέσει το
λευκο κρασί;"/"Προτιμώ
κόκκινο" ("Σ'ΑΡΕΣΕΙ ΤΟ
ΛΕΥΚΟ ΚΡΑΣΙ;"/"ΠΡΟΤΙΜΩ
ΚΟΚΚΙΝΟ" for the capital hungry of you).
To finish, for comepleteness here is how anyone and everyone likes things:
English | Lower | Upper |
---|---|---|
I like it | μ'[ου] αρέσει | Μ'[ΟΥ] ΑΡΕΣΕΙ |
You like it | σ'[ου] αρέσει | Σ'[ΟΥ] ΑΡΕΣΕΙ |
He/it likes it | του αρέσει | ΤΟΥ ΑΡΕΣΕΙ |
She likes it | της αρέσει | ΤΗΣ ΑΡΕΣΕΙ |
we like it | μας αρέσει | ΜΑΣ ΑΡΕΣΕΙ |
You like it (pl. or formal) | σας αρέσει | ΣΑΣ ΑΡΕΣΕΙ |
They like it | τους αρέσει | ΤΟΥΣ ΑΡΕΣΕΙ |
And replace "αρέσει" with "αρέσουν" as before to like plural things
The above covers the way to say that you like things. Now we'll
look at how to like doing things. This is really a combination of the
"liking things" post and grammar post that I said had nothing to do with Year
1....how wrong I was! So when you like doing something the "something" you
like doing is formed by using the subjunctive form of the verb.
So remember the subjunctive verb is just the normal verb with
να/ΝΑ in front of it, and
to like something we used μ'αρέσει/Μ'ΑΡΕΣΕΙ
so putting it together we get:
- I like to write - μ'αρέσει να γράφω - Μ'ΑΡΕΣΕΙ ΝΑ ΓΡΑΦΩ
So remembering to take care with articles and plurals and verb endings etc. here are some examples to illustrate:
English | Lower | Upper |
---|---|---|
I like to work in the garden | μ'αρέσει να δουλευω στο κήπο | Μ'ΑΡΕΣΕΙ ΝΑ ΔΟΥΛΕΥΩ ΣΤΟ ΚΗΠΟ |
We like to eat tasty food | μας αρέσει να τρώμε νόστιμα φάγητα | ΜΑΣ ΑΡΕΣΕΙ ΝΑ ΤΡΩΜΕ ΝΟΣΤΙΜΑ ΦΑΓΗΤΑ |
Do you like to read books? | σ'αρέσει να διαβάζεις βιβλία | Σ'ΑΡΕΣΕΙ ΝΑ ΔΙΑΒΑΖΕΙΣ ΒΙΒΛΙΑ |
Do you like to watch football? | σ'αρέσει να βλέπεις ποδόσφαιρο | Σ'ΑΡΕΣΕΙ ΝΑ ΒΛΕΠΕΙΣ ΠΟΔΟΣΦΑΙΡΟ |
He likes to understand Greek | του αρέσει να καταλαβαίνει ελληνικά | ΤΟΥ ΑΡΕΣΕΙ ΝΑ ΚΑΤΑΛΑΒΑΙΝΕΙ ΕΛΛΗΝΙΚΑ |
In the last example above (and the "reading books" one), even though it several animals he likes to understand as opposed to just one, technically it's the action of understanding animals that is being liked, not the animals themselves, and to understand has no quantity - it is neither singular nor plural. So, you always used the singular form of the verb (normally αρέσει) when talking about liking to do something.