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Greek is written in its own alphabet of 24 letters, the alphabet the Latin and Cyrillic letters came from. Seven of them look and sound much as in English, seven look like English letters but stand for other sounds, and the rest are shapes known from maths and science. Greek spelling is regular for reading: once the letters and the letter pairs are known, every word can be read aloud correctly, and the stress is always written.
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The Greek alphabet
Every letter has a name of its own, most of them known in English from maths and science (άλφα, βήτα, πι), but said the modern Greek way: βήτα is “vita” and γιώτα is “yota”.
A letter’s name is what you say when you spell a word aloud, for example your name or address on the phone.
| Letter | Name | Sounds | Examples | Tip |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Α α | άλφα (AHL-fah) /ˈalfa/ | /a/ | μαμά | like “a” in “father”, but short |
| Β β | βήτα (VEE-tah) /ˈvita/ | /v/ | καράβι | looks like B, but is said “v” |
| Γ γ | γάμμα (GHAH-mah) /ˈɣama/ | /ɣ/ · /ʝ/ | γάτα αγελάδα | a soft “g” breathed in the throat, never the “g” of “go”; before an “e” or “ee” sound, like “y” in “yes” “gh”, a soft “g” breathed in the throat |
| Δ δ | δέλτα (DHEL-tah) /ˈðelta/ | /ð/ | δέκα | like “th” in “this”, never “d” “dh”, the “th” of “this” |
| Ε ε | έψιλον (EP-see-lon) /ˈepsilon/ | /e/ | τότε | like “e” in “bed” |
| Ζ ζ | ζήτα (ZEE-tah) /ˈzita/ | /z/ | τραπέζι | like “z” in “zoo” |
| Η η | ήτα (EE-tah) /ˈita/ | /i/ | ημέρα | looks like H or n, but is said “ee”, as in “see” |
| Θ θ | θήτα (THEE-tah) /ˈθita/ | /θ/ | θέατρο | like “th” in “think” |
| Ι ι | γιώτα (YOH-tah) /ˈʝota/ | /i/ | κάτι | like “ee” in “see”, but short the name starts with a “y” |
| Κ κ | κάππα (KAH-pah) /ˈkapa/ | /k/ | κότα | like “k”, without the puff of air of English “k” |
| Λ λ | λάμδα (LAHM-dhah) /ˈlamða/ | /l/ | λέω | like “l” |
| Μ μ | μυ (mee) /mi/ | /m/ | μάτι | like “m” |
| Ν ν | νυ (nee) /ni/ | /n/ | νερό | looks like v, but is said “n” |
| Ξ ξ | ξι (ksee) /ksi/ | /ks/ | ταξί | like “x” in “taxi” |
| Ο ο | όμικρον (OH-mee-kron) /ˈomikron/ | /o/ | Τόκιο | like “o” in “hot”, short, never “oh” |
| Π π | πι (pee) /pi/ | /p/ | επτά | like “p”, the shape of pi in maths |
| Ρ ρ | ρο (roh) /ro/ | /r/ | καρότο | looks like p, but is a tapped “r”, as in Scottish “very” |
| Σ σ | σίγμα (SEEGH-mah) /ˈsiɣma/ | /s/ · /z/ | δάσος κόσμος | like “s” in “sun”; before β, γ, δ, μ, ν, ρ, like “z”: κόσμος, world, is said “kozmos” written ς at the end of a word |
| ς | /s/ | δάσος | the same letter σ, in the shape it takes at the end of a word | |
| Τ τ | ταυ (tahf) /taf/ | /t/ | τι | like “t”, without the puff of air of English “t” |
| Υ υ | ύψιλον (EEP-see-lon) /ˈipsilon/ | /i/ | τυρί | looks like u or y, but is said “ee”, as in “see” |
| Φ φ | φι (fee) /fi/ | /f/ | φόβος | like “f” |
| Χ χ | χι (hyee) /çi/ | /x/ · /ç/ | χρώμα αρχή | looks like x, but is said like “ch” in Scottish “loch”; before an “e” or “ee” sound, like the “h” of “huge” the “h” of “huge” |
| Ψ ψ | ψι (psee) /psi/ | /ps/ | ψωμί | like “ps” in “lips”, also at the start of a word |
| Ω ω | ωμέγα (oh-MEH-ghah) /oˈmeɣa/ | /o/ | μωρό | looks like w, but is said “o”, just like ο |
Alphabetical order. Dictionaries follow the order of the table above, which is close to the Latin order but not the same: η and θ follow ζ, ξ comes between ν and ο, and ψ and ω close the alphabet. Final ς is sorted as σ.
Remember
Seven letters are false friends: η and υ are said “ee”, ρ is a tapped “r”, ν is “n”, χ is the “ch” of Scottish “loch”, β is “v” and ω is “o”.
Each letter stands for one sound, or two close sounds that depend on the vowel after it. The vowels are short and pure, with none of the glide heard in English “day” or “go”: ε is always the “e” of “bed” and ο never “oh”.
Difference from English
English “th” is one spelling for two sounds (“think”, “this”). Greek writes them with two letters: θ for the “th” of “think”, δ for the “th” of “this”. And it never uses δ for “d”: that sound is written ντ.
Practise
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Five ways to write “ee”
η, ι, υ, ει and οι are all said “ee”: ημέρα, κάτι, τυρί, οικογένεια. They sound the same and are told apart only in writing, so each word is learnt with its spelling. In the same way, ο and ω are both “o”, and ε and αι are both “e”.
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Two letters, one sound
Some pairs of letters are read as one sound. They are read as a pair whenever they meet, unless the tonos or the diaeresis splits them (see below).
| Spelling | Sounds | Examples | Tip |
|---|---|---|---|
| ου | /u/ | μουσείο | “oo”, as in “food” |
| αι | /e/ | και | “e”, as in “bed” |
| ει | /i/ | οικογένεια | “ee”, as in “see” |
| οι | /i/ | οικογένεια | “ee”, as in “see” |
| μπ | /b/ · /mb/ | μπανάνα | “b”, often “mb” inside a word |
| ντ | /d/ · /nd/ | ντομάτα | “d”, often “nd” inside a word |
| γκ | /ɡ/ · /ŋɡ/ | γκρι | “g” as in “go”, often “ng” as in “finger” inside a word |
| γγ | /ŋɡ/ | Αγγλία | “ng” as in “finger”: Αγγλία, England |
| τσ | /ts/ | πίτσα | like “ts” in “cats” |
| τζ | /dz/ | τζατζίκι | like “ds” in “cards” |
| αυ | /av/ · /af/ | αυγό αυτί | “av”, but “af” before κ, π, τ, χ, φ, θ, σ, ξ, ψ |
| ευ | /ev/ · /ef/ | Ευρώπη ευχαριστώ | “ev”, but “ef” before κ, π, τ, χ, φ, θ, σ, ξ, ψ |
Practise
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“b”, “d” and “g”
Greek has the sounds “b”, “d” and “g”, but no single letter for them: β is “v”, δ the “th” of “this”, γ the soft “g”. They are written with pairs: μπ for “b” (μπανάνα), ντ for “d” (ντομάτα), γκ for “g” (γκρι).
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αυ and ευ
“v” or “f”
αυ and ευ are said “av” and “ev” before a vowel and before β, γ, δ, ζ, λ, μ, ν, ρ: αυγό, egg, Ευρώπη, Europe. Before κ, π, τ, χ, φ, θ, σ, ξ, ψ they are said “af” and “ef”: αυτί, ear, ευχαριστώ, thank you.
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Written marks
| Spelling | Sounds | Examples | Tip |
|---|---|---|---|
| ΄ | /ˈ/ | κάτι | the tonos: it marks the stressed vowel of every word of two syllables or more |
| ¨ | /i/ | προϊόν | the diaeresis: the vowel under it is said on its own, not as part of a pair: προϊόν, product, is said “pro-ee-on” |
The tonos also splits a pair: in τσάι, tea, the stress is on α, so αι is not “e” but two vowels, “tsa-ee”. Greek words of one syllable take no tonos (και, τι), except a few that would be confused with another word, such as πού, where, and πώς, how.
The question mark. Greek writes its question mark as the English semicolon: Τι κάνεις; means “How are you?”. The Greek semicolon is a raised dot (·).
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Stress
Greek stress is free: it can fall on any of the last three syllables, and it changes the meaning of some words: πότε, when, ποτέ, never. It is always written, with the tonos on the stressed vowel, so a word is read with the right stress the first time it is seen. On a pair, the tonos sits on the second letter: μουσείο, είναι. Words written in capitals leave the tonos out.
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Letter shapes
Some small letters look like other Latin letters: ν like v, ρ like p, η like n, υ like u, ω like w, χ like x. Capitals look like Latin ones more often: Η, Ρ, Χ, Β, Ν look like H, P, X, B, N.
Common mistake
Reading ν as v→ ν is “n”: νερό, water, is said “neh-ro”.Reading the false friends as English letters is the most common mistake at the start.