# στ' αλήθεια



## OssianX

Η πρόταση:  "Ο ένας / τινάζει το σακκάκι του, μουσκεμένο στ' αλήθεια."  Literally this seems to mean that his jacket was "drenched in the truth."  But I wonder if (despite my dictionary) "στ' αλήθεια" can mean just "truly, thoroughly."  Is my guess wild?  (Wilder than a jacket drenched in truth?)


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## cougr

OssianX said:


> Η πρόταση:  "Ο ένας / τινάζει το σακκάκι του, μουσκεμένο στ' αλήθεια."  Literally this seems to mean that his jacket was "drenched in the truth."  But I wonder if (despite my dictionary) "στ' αλήθεια" can mean just "truly, thoroughly."  Is my guess wild?  (Wilder than a jacket drenched in truth?)



Spot on with your guessing OssianX.  It means "truly" or "really" wet. "Drenched in the truth" would be " μουσκεμένο στην αλήθεια".


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## an-alfabeto

cougr said:


> Spot on with your guessing OssianX. It means "truly" or "really" wet. "Drenched in the truth" would be " μουσκεμένο στην αλήθεια".


 
Hallo to both of you. That's right: "στ' αλήθεια" means really, truly.


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## OssianX

cougr said:


> Spot on with your guessing OssianX.  It means "truly" or "really" wet. "Drenched in the truth" would be " μουσκεμένο στην αλήθεια".



Thanks!  Glad I can guess sometimes.

But now you have me puzzled about that στ' in the sentence I quoted.  What is it short for?


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## cougr

ossianx said:


> thanks!  Glad i can guess sometimes.
> 
> But now you have me puzzled about that στ' in the sentence i quoted.  What is it short for?



στ' αλήθεια = στα αλήθεια


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## OssianX

cougr said:


> στ' αλήθεια = στα αλήθεια



Now I'm _more_ puzzled.  I know that αλήθεια is usually a feminine noun (as you say, στην αλήθεια)?  Mercifully it begins with α, so it's possible to look it up in the excellent Ελληνο-αγγλικό Λεξικό (Γεωργακά) (which I sure wish they'd get farther with!).  This tells me that αλήθεια can also be an adverb, which my other dictionaries didn't.  But even with that information, I'm not clear what ατ[α] is doing.  Is it often used with adverbs, something I just haven't come across?

Sorry if I'm leading down another twisty alley.


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## elliest_5

OssianX said:


> Now I'm _more_ puzzled.  I know that αλήθεια is usually a feminine noun (as you say, στην αλήθεια)?  Mercifully it begins with α, so it's possible to look it up in the excellent Ελληνο-αγγλικό Λεξικό (Γεωργακά) (which I sure wish they'd get farther with!).  This tells me that αλήθεια can also be an adverb, which my other dictionaries didn't.  But even with that information, I'm not clear what ατ[α] is doing.  Is it often used with adverbs, something I just haven't come across?
> 
> Sorry if I'm leading down another twisty alley.


Let me say OssianX, you have become very good at guessing Greek structures 

"αλήθεια" can indeed be used in the place of the adverb  "αληθινά"

And there are cases where we use "στα" with an adverb in order to put emphasis on the mode/way that something is done:

"στα κρυφά" : secretly (it actually has no difference from "κρυφά" alone, appart from the extra emphasis)

"στα σίγουρα" : for sure

"στα γρήγορα": quickly

"στ'αλήθεια" : truly

I suppose you haven't come accross that use because it is a more colloquial one.


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## OssianX

Right, except one big one: στα Ελληνικά, στα Αγγλικά ...  Which, by the way, I've never really understood till now.  Thanks very much.  I hadn't registered this as an idiomatic mode.  Cool!


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## elliest_5

OssianX said:


> Right, except one big one: στα Ελληνικά, στα Αγγλικά ...  Which, by the way, I've never really understood till now.  Thanks very much.  I hadn't registered this as an idiomatic mode.  Cool!


Oh no, don't think of "στα Ελληνικά" and "στα Αγγλικά" as being the same constructions (στα + adverb).

 The case with these is much simpler: all languages are refered to as plural neutral nouns in Greek. [as for why this is so, I just opened a new thread, because I am not sure either]

You can tell that these words are nouns and not adverbs when considering the way they are used syntactically: "Μαθαίνω Ελληνικά", "Τα Κινέζικα μου φαίνονται δύσκολα"

Then, "στα" in these cases means just "in -the" so: in <the>  English, in <the> Greek etc


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## OssianX

Μπράβα.  Κατάλαβα.


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