# I’ve been studying Greek for several years



## stelingo

‘I’ve been studying Greek for several years.’ I presume the present tense is used as in most other European languages but wasn’t sure how to translate for. My attempt:

Μαθάινω Ελληνικά αρκετά χρόνια.

Thanks


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## Perseas

I would put the preposition "για" before the temporal "αρκετά χρόνια": 

_Μαθαίνω Ελληνικά για αρκετά χρόνια_.


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## Andrious

I think that languages don't take capital letter, so that would be "ελληνικά". Or am I mistaken?


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## Perseas

I just looked up in Babiniotis' dictionary and it says that when _Ελληνικά_ or _Ελληνική_ is used as a noun denoting the language, E is capitalised. In contrary, when it is used as an adjective, for ex. _ελληνική γη, ελληνικό τοπίο_, then not.


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## sotos

stelingo said:


> ‘I’ve been studying Greek for several years.’ I presume the present tense is used as in most other European languages but wasn’t sure how to translate for. My attempt:
> 
> Μαθάινω Ελληνικά αρκετά χρόνια.
> 
> Thanks


Σωστό.


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## stelingo

So για isn't necessary in this sentence?


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## Tassos

Strictly speaking, no. If I were a teacher grading a test, I'd consider the sentence without the για as correct. Still, to my ears, using _για_ or even _εδώ και_ (as in _Μαθαίνω Ελληνικά εδώ και αρκετά χρόνια_) "strengthens" the sentence, makes it sound more "defined". 
I remember in school, our grammar book had the phrase (similar to yours) _Ντύνομαι βαριά ρούχα_, which always sounded really strange to me (although it is, as yours, correct) without the preposition με (as in _Ντύνομαι με βαριά ρούχα_). For one reason or another, it is more likely to include a preposition in phrases like these, linking the two parts.


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## Perseas

I also agree that the sentence without "για" is not wrong. However, I feel that  the English sentence ‘I’ve been studying Greek for several years.’ has a completeness in meaning and grammar and its translation into Greek would need a "για". The Greek "Μαθαίνω Ελληνικά αρκετά χρόνια", although correct, sounds to me a little "bare" in comparison to the English sentence.


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