Άκουσα μια δυνατή βροντή και είδα μια αστραπή πάνω από το βουνό.

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Breakdown of Άκουσα μια δυνατή βροντή και είδα μια αστραπή πάνω από το βουνό.

• βλέπω: to see
• μία: one
• το βουνό: the mountain

Questions & Answers about Άκουσα μια δυνατή βροντή και είδα μια αστραπή πάνω από το βουνό.

What tense are Άκουσα and είδα?

Both are in the aorist past, which is the normal Greek tense for a single completed event in the past.

• άκουσα = I heard
• είδα = I saw

In this sentence, the speaker is reporting two finished events: first hearing the thunder, then seeing the lightning.

A very important detail:

• ακούω → άκουσα
• βλέπω → είδα

So είδα is an irregular aorist form of βλέπω.

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Why doesn’t Greek use the word I here?

Because the verb ending already shows the subject.

• άκουσα = I heard
• είδα = I saw

So Greek usually does not need the pronoun εγώ unless you want emphasis or contrast.

For example:

• Άκουσα μια δυνατή βροντή. = I heard a loud thunderclap.
• Εγώ άκουσα μια δυνατή βροντή. = I heard a loud thunderclap.
  (with extra emphasis on I)

This is very normal in Greek.

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Why is μια used before both βροντή and αστραπή?