είσαι;
eísai?
Are you? In Greek is είσαι, the informal form you use with one person you know well.
Which one should you use?
In a formal or plural context, ask είστε instead. To stress the you, say Είσαι εσύ informally or Είστε εσείς politely.
How does it change in a sentence?
είσαι is the second person singular form of the verb to be, used for you in informal or singular contexts.
How do you pronounce it?
Romanized as eísai?, with the stress on the first syllable.
Did you know?
- Greek speakers often use είσαι in a rhetorical sense to express disbelief, similar to how an English speaker might say 'Really?' or 'Are you kidding me?' without using the word 'kidding'.
- While είσαι means 'are you', the word είμαι meaning 'I am' is a cognate of the English word 'am'. Both trace back to the same ancient Indo-European root for existence.
- The word είσαι comes from a verb that allows for 'nominal predicates', meaning you can say είσαι δάσκαλος without using an article like 'a'. This makes the phrase 'are you a teacher' structurally simpler than its English equivalent.
Examples in context
- Είστε έτοιμος;Are you ready?
- Είστε εσείς ο νέος αρχιτέκτονας;Are you the new architect?
