Πέστε ή πείτε;

I’m a beginner at Greek. I noticed the word “πέστε” in the following lesson. ( 001 - Με το Νίκο - With Nikos15 - Μιλάτε ελληνικά;).
Shouldn’t it be called "πείτε or is it only used in certain regions?

Σας ευχαριστώ για τη βοήθηα σας!
Bernd

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Ηi Bernd,

I’m still learning Greek myself, but your question intrigued me so I did a little research. According to Lexigram (www.lexigram.gr), both πέστε and πείτε are used as the plural simple imperative of the verb λέω, to say (“you (all/formal) say”), but only πείτε is used in the simple future or past subjunctive ( θα/να πείτε). Confusingly, πέστε is also the plural simple imperative of the verb πέφτω, to fall.

I hope an expert in Greek will help us understand better the usage of πέστε and πείτε. Good for you for noticing; that’s one of Steve Kaufmann’s keys to learning a language!

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Hello Potami, thank you very much for your friendly answer!
I found two sources discussing our term. Unfortunately, my Greek is not so good yet to understand everything well. But it seems that “πείτε” is grammaticly better.
Maybe see you soon! All the best!
Bernd

https://www.translatum.gr/forum/index.php?topic=16879.0
Το γραμματικώς σωστό είναι πες (β’ ενικ.) - πείτε (β’ πληθ.).
Το “πέστε” είναι ιδιωματικό από συμφυρμό του ενικού (πες) με προστακτικές αορίστου άλλων ρημάτων τα οποία ακολουθούν τη μορφή κάλεσε-καλέστε.
Σε περιοχές της Πελοποννήσου δημιουργήθηκε και ιδιωματικός ενικός “πέσε” αντί πες, με τον ίδιο μηχανισμό που προανέφερα.

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Thanks for those links, Bernd! I’ve used translatum.gr before when puzzling over some bit of Greek, but I wasn’t familiar with the second one.

I just remembered that a while back I covered this topic with a Greek teacher. I went back to look at my notes. The textbook we were using, Επικοινωνήστε Ελληνικά 2, showed 2 forms of the simple plural imperative of several verbs, and, in all cases, my teacher told me not to use the second form. Here’s the list, for your future reference:

βλέπω : δείτε / δέστε
λέω: πείτε / πέστε
πίνω: πιείτε / πιέστε
βρίσκω: βρείτε / βρέστε
μπαίνω: μπείτε / μπέστε
βγαίνω: βγείτε / βγέστε

So, I think your conclusion is correct that πείτε is the preferred usage. But it’s always good to be aware of the “incorrect” forms, because it is very possible they will come up in text or conversation.

Glad you asked the question!

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Hello, Potami,
thank you very much for your effort and the good results of your research! I also have online lessons with a native speaker about twice a month (unfortunately the lesson is quite expensive). I will discuss this with her soon.
Once again, thank you very much and enjoy learning Greek.
All the best!
Bernd

My pleasure, Bernd! Clearly, I had forgotten about what I had learned in that lesson, but your question has brought it back into my mind and I am more likely to remember it now. So this conversation was helpful to me also. I’ll be interested to hear what your teacher says, if you get a chance to ask her.

Γεια χαρά! (health and joy)

Next Monday I have another lesson. I am curious what Sitsa, my teacher, says about your list.
Thanks for that!
Για σου!
Bernd

Hello Potami,
As I’ve already written to you, I had an online meeting with my teacher on Monday. I told her our concern. Her answer was the same as your teacher’s: The forms you sent me are colloquial and should not be used. Well, now everything is clear! :wink:
Still much joy in learning Greek.
Oh yes, I have found a great site, which is surely also interesting for you. A certain Mihalis, a Greek living in Cyprus, has developed a learning system that really excites me. Finally I found a way to systematically train the composition of words into sentences. He also offers other languages, but the language of instruction is English.
I’m really excited because that was my problem in learning Greek. Here is the website for Greek:
https://www.languagetransfer.org/free-courses-1#greek
Although my English is very weak, I can follow it.
Για σου!

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Γεια σου Bernd ( Μπερντ in Greek?),

Σ’ ευχαριστώ for reporting back about your teacher’s answer. It’s so helpful to have details about language confirmed from several sources!

The language site you linked to looks very interesting. I will definitely try it out. You might want to create a new post here at LingQ in the Open Forum to tell others about the course, as I see that Language Transfer offers several languages.

By the way, your written English is excellent.

Καλή συνέχεια στις εργασίες σου!
I wish you every success in the continuation of your work!
(I’ve heard this phrase on Greek TV shows; I took the translation from Καλή συνέχεια στις εργασίες σας! )

Για σου Ποτάμι!
I’m really glad I had this dialogue with you, Potami. Most of the time you sit pretty lonely and learn for yourself. So it’s nice to have a personal contact. That encourages and motivates!
Thanks also for the link!
I will follow your advice and post the website of LanguageTransfer.
Maybe we will have contact again. If I can make progress with my studies, maybe even in Greek.
Thank you for your compliment, but to be honest, I like to use sometimes an online translator - especially if Ι want to be quick. It was developed in Germany www.deepL.com
By the way: In my school days I had no opportunity to learn foreign languages and I started to learn English later for myself and in the adult education centre. When I wanted to go to Greece with young people (I was a youth worker in the church) I was enthusiastic about the country and the language and I began with it. Then there was a big break. But after my retirement (I am now 75 years old) I started again to study the languages and I love it very much.
That’s it!
God bless you!
Πολύ χαιρετίσματα!
Μπερντ

Γεια σου, Μπερντ!

I’ve enjoyed this dialogue with you as well. I agree, it is more motivating and fun to have others to share the learning process with. I’m sure we will have more opportunities to puzzle over details in Greek. I look forward to it!

No shame in using online translators. They are useful tools. But my guess is that you have made great progress in English as well.

Yes, having time to study foreign languages is certainly a challenge!

Oh, regarding your name: I guessed the Greek spelling from the way your name is spelled, but I really don’t know how your name is pronounced. Is it like “Bernard”? If so, I think there is a Greek translation of Bernard, according to Google Translate! :slight_smile:

Thank you for your encouragement! My name is just Bernd, it is a short form of Bernhard. And your name has to do with ποταμός I think :wink:
Να 'σαι καλά
Μπερντ

Yes, ποτάμι and ποταμός both mean “river”. Not my real name, just a user name.

Επίσης, να 'σαι καλά. Καλό σαββατοκύριακο, και τα λέμε σύντομα!