How to pronounce ου in Greek
ου is always oo, as in “soup” or “food”. It is the only way Greek writes the oo sound.
Two letters, one sound: μου is [moo], my. You don’t say the ο and the υ separately, and it is never the “ow” of “out” or the “oh” of “soul”. The accent mark goes on the υ: πού is [poo], where?
Why oo is spelt with two letters
On its own, the letter υ is not u and not y: it says ee, like ι. So Greek needs another way to write oo, and that is ου. It looks like the “ou” in “out” or “though”, but it is one sound, the one you have in “you”, “soup” and “group”.
Examples
- μουmoo · my, to me
- σουsoo · your, to you (to a friend)
- πούpoo · where?
- κουζίναkoo-ZEE-nah · kitchen
- πουλίpoo-LEE · bird
- πουκάμισοpoo-KAH-mee-so · shirt
The capitals in a respelling mark the stressed syllable: in [koo-ZEE-nah], say ZEE louder.
What to remember
- ου is oo at the start, in the middle and at the end of a word. Never “ow”, never “oh”, never “you”. A υ with two dots (ϋ) that breaks the pair is very rare.
- A single υ is ee, not u and not y. If you see υ on its own, say ee.
- A single ο is o, short and pure. Only together do ο and υ make oo.
Check yourself
How do you say ουρανός (sky)?
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ουρανός is [oo-rah-NOS]: the pair ου gives one sound, oo, with nothing in front of it.
How do you say σούπα (soup)?
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σούπα is [SOO-pah]: ου says oo. A single υ would give ee, and ο or ω would give o.
How do you say κουκούλα (hood)?
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κουκούλα is [koo-KOO-lah]: the first and the second ου both say oo.