Πίνεις νερό τώρα ή τρως ψωμί;

Are you drinking water now or eating bread?

Breakdown of Πίνεις νερό τώρα ή τρως ψωμί;

• το νερό: the water
• ή: or
• τώρα: now
• πίνω: to drink

Questions & Answers about Πίνεις νερό τώρα ή τρως ψωμί;

How do I pronounce this sentence?

Roughly: PEE-nees ne-RO TO-ra ee tros pso-MEE. IPA: [ˈpinis neˈro ˈtora i tros psoˈmi] Notes:

• π is unaspirated [p].
• ει in πίνεις sounds like [i].
• ψ in ψωμί is [ps] as in “lapse.”
• ο/ω both sound [o] in Modern Greek; the accent mark only shows stress.
• Stresses: ΠΙ-νεις, νε-ΡΟ, ΤΟ-ρα, (ή), τρως, ψω-ΜΙ.

Why is there a semicolon at the end instead of a question mark?

In Greek, the question mark is the symbol that looks like an English semicolon: ;. So ; is the Greek question mark. The raised dot · (ano teleia) is a different punctuation mark.

Why is there no subject pronoun like “you” (εσύ)?

Greek verbs encode the subject person and number. Πίνεις and τρως are both 2nd person singular (“you”), so εσύ is optional and only used for emphasis or contrast: Εσύ πίνεις νερό τώρα ή τρως ψωμί;

What tense/aspect is being used, and does it mean “Are you drinking” or “Do you drink”?

It’s the present indicative with imperfective aspect. In Modern Greek, this single form covers both English simple present and present progressive. Context (here, τώρα = now) makes it clearly progressive: “Are you drinking… or eating… (now)?”