# Mia vs Mono



## Malki92

Hello all,

What's the difference between μόνος and μία in Greek? Can you provide examples demonstrating their differences/similarities? 

Thank you.


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## dmtrs

Hello!
The two words are completely different.
_Μόνος,-η,-ο_ (adjective) means _alone, sole_. From the adjective derives the adverb _μόνο(ν)_ that means _only_.
_Ένας, μία_ (or _μια_, with the accent on α), _ένα _is a numeral (cardinal number) [=_one_]; it is also used as the indefinite article: _a, an_.

Frequently the adverb can be found along with the numeral: _μόνο ένας, μόνο μία, μόνο ένα_ = _only one_.

The phrase _ο μόνος (e.g. που γνωρίζω)_ means _the only one (I know) _so it can be a bit confusing.

_(Από) μόνος μου (μόνος του, μόνη μου, μόνη της, μόνο του, μόνοι μας, μόνοι σας...)_ sometimes means (_by) oneself:_
Τα κατάφερε (από) μόνη της = She did it (by) herself/alone.
Καθόταν μόνος του = He was sitting by himself/alone.

Also:
while μοναδικός = unique,
ο μοναδικός (που...) = the only one (that...)
(ο) ένας και μοναδικός = (the) one and only

Things seem complicated because genders multiply the examples; they're not. Try to understand everything for the male, the others follow suit.


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## Malki92

Interesting, thank you very much for the detailed response! 

In the context of the rather theological discussion between Chalcedon and non-Chalcedon Christians, there's a distinction made between the terms "monophysitism" (preferred term by Chalcedon Christians to describe the beliefs of non-Chalcedon Christians) and "miaphysitism" (the preferred term of the non-Chalcedon Christians to describe their own beliefs, who take offense to the former term). In that context, how would you describe the difference between mia as in μία φύση (sp?) vs mono as in μονοφυσιτισμός?


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## Helleno File

That's a very full and helpful answer from dmtrs.  Μόνο pretty much translates all uses of only in English.  The exception is where you mean merely.  In a shop you might say "Απλώς κοιτάζω" - I'm only looking.

There is also the adjective μονός with two meanings. 1) Single as opposed to more than one.  If you order a Greek coffee you may be asked "Ενα μονό ή ένα διπλό;" - a single or a double? Of course a double is always better . 2) Odd as in numbers 1 3 5 etc - μονοί αριθμοί.


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## dmtrs

The question was if Christ had two distinct 'natures' (divine and human-dyophisitism), only one of the two (monophisitism), or both as one (miaphysitism) -if I get it right. 
The terms are strictly theological and, in fact, do not fully comply with Greek common word building (the fist and the third one are at least 'odd' in structure, as if you said oneism, twoism in English).

For more:
Dyophysitism - Wikipedia 
Monophysitism - Wikipedia 
Miaphysitism - Wikipedia


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## dmtrs

Helleno File said:


> In a shop you might say "Απλώς κοιτάζω" - I'm only looking.



True. But you can also say "κοιτάζω μόνο" which still means " I'm only looking".


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## Malki92

Thank you all very much, I appreciate helpful explanations as well as the examples.



dmtrs said:


> The terms are strictly theological and, in fact, do not fully comply with Greek common word building (the fist and the third one are at least 'odd' in structure, as if you said oneism, twoism in English).



That's what I suspected!  Thank you.


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## Helleno File

dmtrs said:


> True. But you can also say "κοιτάζω μόνο" which still means " I'm only looking".


Gosh, thanks!


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