www.talkcyprus.org

[Dhavlos]

when i speak in the past tense, i tend to find myself saying things like

'to exw kane' instead of 'ekana'

ie, using the perfect tense....is this commonly used...or do i sound stupid?

should i use the perfect tense (to have done sthg), or the aorist( i think thats what it is called)

[Crash Test Dummy]

i just talk and it does not really matter.


my tensing is pretty ok.

[Dhavlos]

i know, i talk quite freely, but i just want to make sure it is the normal way to speak...

[respiridus]

In the Cyprus dialect, we usually only use the aorist for talking about the past.

For example:

Kalamaras talk:
Έκατσα να φάω, αφού πρώτα είχα τελειώσει.

Kypraios talk:
Ετέλειωσα τζιαι έκατσα να φάω.

[Xenos 2Fan]

respiridus wrote: In the Cyprus dialect, we usually only use the aorist for talking about the past.

For example:

Kalamaras talk:
Έκατσα να φάω, αφού πρώτα είχα τελειώσει.

Kypraios talk:
Ετέλειωσα τζιαι έκατσα να φάω.


Without a translation this is all Greek to me. :lol:

[respiridus]

Sorry re, roughly it translates to:

Kalamaras (person from Greece) talk:
I ate, after I had finished.

Kypraios (person from Cyprus) talk:
I finished, then I ate.

The translation is not exact: Tenses in English and Greek don't map 1:1, and the whole use of dialect is lost. But, you get the point.

[Xenos 2Fan]

Thanx re.