Greek words for days, months, numbers and greetings, in Greek script
These Greek words are the ones every visitor and learner needs first: the seven days, the twelve months, the numbers and the greetings, each in Greek script with an ELOT 743 romanisation and the IPA pronunciation.
Greek words by topic
Four pages, each with a word table, the grammar that comes with the words, and example sentences.
- 01Days of the week in Greek: Δευτέρα to Κυριακή, IPA and meaningThe days of the week in Greek are Δευτέρα, Τρίτη, Τετάρτη, Πέμπτη, Παρασκευή, Σάββατο and Κυριακή, Monday to Sunday. Monday to Thursday are ordinal numbers counted from Sunday, Friday is the day of preparation, and Sunday is the Lord's day.
- 02Months in Greek: formal and everyday names, romanisation, IPA, datesThe months in Greek have two sets of names. The formal set runs Ιανουάριος, Φεβρουάριος, Μάρτιος and on to Δεκέμβριος; the everyday set shortens them to Γενάρης, Φλεβάρης, Μάρτης, Απρίλης, Μάης. In a date the formal name stands in the genitive: 28 Οκτωβρίου.
- 03Numbers in Greek: zero to a million, gender, IPA and Greek numeralsNumbers in Greek from one to ten are ένα, δύο, τρία, τέσσερα, πέντε, έξι, επτά, οκτώ, εννέα, δέκα. One, three and four change with the gender of the noun, and seven, eight and nine each have a second, everyday spelling: εφτά, οχτώ, εννιά.
- 04Greetings in Greek: yia sou, kalimera, efcharisto, with IPAThe most useful of all greetings in Greek is γεια σου (yia sou) to one person you know and γεια σας (yia sas) to a stranger or a group; it means both hello and goodbye. Καλημέρα is good morning, ευχαριστώ thank you, and παρακαλώ both please and you're welcome.
Reading Greek words: alphabet, accent and romanisation
- ΕλληνικάGreek Greek
- καλημέραgood morning Greek
- ΔευτέραMonday Greek
Modern Greek is written in the 24-letter Greek alphabet, with capital and small forms and a final form of sigma, ς, at the end of a word. Each word of more than one syllable carries the tonos, an acute accent on the stressed vowel, the only accent left after the monotonic reform of 1982. Older print uses the polytonic system with breathings and three accents, and several tables on this site keep those older spellings. The Greek alphabet chart lists every letter with its name and sound.
The pronunciation of Greek words has moved far from Ancient Greek. Β is v, Δ is the th of this, Η, Ι and Υ all sound i, and ευ and αυ become ev, ef, av or af. Romanisation follows the modern sound in ELOT 743, the Greek standard that ISO 843 adopted: Δευτέρα is Deftéra, not the letter-by-letter Deutéra.
How Greek handles dates, numbers and greetings
Greek words for the days count from Sunday: Δευτέρα is the second day, Τρίτη the third, and Κυριακή is the Lord's day. Days and months take a capital letter, unlike in most European languages, and a date puts the month in the genitive: 28 Οκτωβρίου, the date of the national Ohi Day.
Numbers bring gender with them: ένας, μία, ένα for one, τρεις and τρία for three. Letters still serve as numerals for ordinals, Αʹ for first. Greetings follow the line between σου and σας, familiar and polite: γεια σου to a friend, γεια σας to a stranger.
Where Greek is official
Greek is the official language of Greece and one of the two official languages of Cyprus, beside Turkish. The Albanian, Greek and Armenian word list compares modern Greek vocabulary with Albanian, Armenian and Ancient Greek, word by word.
Questions about Greek words
How many letters does the Greek alphabet have?
24, from Α (alpha) to Ω (omega). Sigma has a second small form, ς, used at the end of a word.
Why do Greek words have an accent mark?
The tonos marks the stressed syllable. Every word of more than one syllable carries one in monotonic spelling.
What is the word for Greek in Greek?
Ελληνικά (Elliniká) for the language and Ελλάδα (Elláda) for Greece, the country's own name in the Greece entry of the country list.