# χρόνος - χρόνια - χρονιά



## larshgf

Hello!

I really wish that all of you good and helpfull people is saved from the Covid19 disease. As for the psycological effects of this pandemic I have been helped a lot from my interest in the greek language. So I will start with a big "thank you" for helping me in this project!

Now to my question:
Foreigners who want to learn the greek language are attracted to rules like moths to light and sugar in the night.
Foreigners are confused by the ways in which you can express "year" in modern greek.

χρόνος means year, age, time, days. Apparently it is inflected regularly. BUT - there is this irregularity χρόνια (neutrum in pluralis).
In pluralis: When do we use χρόνος inflected regularly (χρόνοι), and when do we use the alternative neutrum version χρόνια?

And then we have the feminine vesion η χρονιά. The question here is: how does this differ from χρόνος?

Best Regards
Lars


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## Αγγελος

The usual plural is χρόνια.
Πόσα χρόνια έχεις στην Αθήνα; How many years have you been living in Athens for?
Χρόνοι sounds quaint, archaic or poetic. Ήρθαν χρόνοι δίσεκτοι... (literally, ‘leap years arrived’ — but leap years were thought to be inauspicious)
Of course, χρόνος also means other things besides ‘year’: it can mean ‘time’, it can mean ‘step in a cycle’, it can mean (verbal) tense, it can mean ‘tempo’... In all those other senses, the plural is χρόνοι.
Χρονιά refers to a period of one year, not necessarily coincident with the calendar year. H σχολική χρονιά = the school year (also called σχολικό έτος), καλή/κακή χρονιά για τα κρασιά, τι χρονιά κι αυτή! (Oh, what a year this one has been!).. However, on New Year’s Day we wish each other καλή χρονιά, never καλό χρόνο, even though it is definitely the calendar year that is meant. Curiously, the curse κακό χρόνο να ´χεις is always said that way.
Perhaps χρόνος is the year considered as a unit of duration, while χρονιά refers more to a period of time along with the events it contains.
And in addition we have the ancient word έτος, used in referring to academic years in higher education, in comparing calendars (το εβραϊκό έτος, το αιγυπτιακό έτος) and in scientific terms (έτος φωτός = might year).


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## larshgf

Thank you for your clarifying answer Αγγελος!
So if the meaning of χρόνος is YEAR we use for plural the neutrum version, and I guess it is used in all cases:





So when I say "είμαι 30 χρονών" it is the neutrum version I use?
(allthough I know that there is no morforlogical difference between the masculine and the neutrum accusative.)
*NB correction*: in fact the two gentive forms ARE different as Perseas write below. I just failed to notice that in the first place!


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## Perseas

About the genitive plural of "χρόνος":
When it is used to denote a certain age, usually has the form "χρον*ώ*ν". Otherwise it is "χρ*ό*νων".
So we say "είμαι 30 χρονών", but "με την πάροδο των χρόνων" ("over the years").


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## larshgf

Thank you Perseas! 
As an example of the plural accusative, if you want to say: "I have two years to make this house."
Could it be: 
"Έχω δύο χρόνια (or χρόνους) για να φτιάξω αυτό το σπίτι" ? (guessing that have -> transitive -> accusative)


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## Perseas

larshgf said:


> "Έχω δύο χρόνια (or χρόνους) για να φτιάξω αυτό το σπίτι" ? (guessing that have -> transitive -> accusative)


"Έχω δύο χρόνια   για να φτιάξω αυτό το σπίτι"  (The best choice is "χρόνια", but the whole sentence does not sound perfect)
The variant with "χρόνους" is not wrong, but it's odd, not idiomatic.



larshgf said:


> Thank you for your clarifying answer Αγγελος!
> So if the meaning of χρόνος is YEAR we use for plural the neutrum version, and I guess it is used in all cases:
> 
> View attachment 39698​
> So when I say "είμαι 30 χρονών" it is the neutrum version I use?
> (allthough I know that there is no morforlogical difference between the masculine and the neutrum accusative.)
> *NB correction*: in fact the two gentive forms ARE different as Perseas write below. I just failed to notice that in the first place!



The genitive of the masculinum has both forms χρονών & χρόνων. "χρόνων" is used for the age.

The neutrum is "χρονιών", in my opinion. That's also what Wiktionary has: χρόνια - Βικιλεξικό


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## larshgf

I got my version from this Lexiscope.


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## Perseas

larshgf said:


> I got my version from this Lexiscope.


OK. Some genitives plural in Greek are awkward/not practical. In any case, I feel that, when we use the genitive "χρόνων"/"χρονών", it's the masculine.


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## larshgf

Αγγελος & Perseas - thank you!


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## Αγγελος

Perseas said:


> The genitive of the masculinum has both forms χρονών & χρόνων. "χρόνων" is used for the age.
> The neutrum is "χρονιών", in my opinion. That's also what Wiktionary has: χρόνια - Βικιλεξικό



No. Χρόνια doesn’t have a genitive. Χρονιών, if at all used, would be the gen. pl. of χρονιά.
Χρονών, stressed on the ending, is _only _used for indicating age.


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