Basic Greek phrases: greetings and politeness
For a first conversation, a handful of phrases is enough: hello, “how are you?”, thank you and sorry.
Greek has two kinds of “you”. To a stranger or a shop assistant, use the polite one: Γεια σας, Τι κάνετε; To friends and people your own age, the friendly one: Γεια σου, Τι κάνεις;
The capitals in a respelling mark the stressed syllable. kh is the throaty h of Scottish “loch” (the letter χ), and dh is the th of “this” (the letter δ).
Hello
Press the button to hear each phrase.
- Γεια σου!yah soo · Hello! (to a friend)
- Γεια σας!yah sahs · Hello! (polite, or to several people)
Both mean “hello”: Γεια σου is the friendly one, Γεια σας the polite one. They work at any time of day, and as “goodbye” too. Γεια is a single syllable, [yah]: γ before ει sounds like the y of “yes”, never like a hard g.
Times of day
- Καλημέρα!kah-lee-MEH-rah · Good morning!
- Καλησπέρα!kah-lee-SPEH-rah · Good afternoon! / Good evening!
- Καληνύχτα!kah-lee-NEEKH-tah · Good night!
Say Καλημέρα in the morning, until about noon, and Καλησπέρα after lunch and in the evening. Καληνύχτα is for saying goodbye before bed. In all three, η says ee, never “ay”: Καλημέρα is [kah-lee-MEH-rah].
How are you
- Τι κάνεις;tee KAH-nees · How are you? (to a friend)
- Τι κάνετε;tee KAH-neh-teh · How are you? (polite)
- Καλά, ευχαριστώ.kah-LAH ef-khah-ree-STO · Fine, thanks.
If someone asks you Τι κάνεις;, answer Καλά, ευχαριστώ. To ask back, say Κι εσύ; [kee eh-SEE], “And you?”, or politely Εσείς; [eh-SEES]. The ; at the end is not a semicolon: it is the Greek question mark.
Thank you, please, sorry
- Ευχαριστώ πολύ.ef-khah-ree-STO po-LEE · Thank you very much.
- Παρακαλώ πολύ.pah-rah-kah-LO po-LEE · You’re very welcome.
- Συγγνώμη, παρακαλώ.seeg-NO-mee pah-rah-kah-LO · Excuse me, please.
- Δεν πειράζει.dhehn pee-RAH-zee · Never mind. / No problem.
- Δεν καταλαβαίνω.dhehn kah-tah-lah-VEH-no · I don’t understand.
Παρακαλώ is a word for everything: it is the answer to “thank you” (“you’re welcome”) and the way to ask for something (“please”). In ευχαριστώ the first two letters say ef, not “you”: [ef-khah-ree-STO], with the stress at the very end. And if you couldn’t follow what someone said, use Δεν καταλαβαίνω, “I don’t understand”.
Check yourself
You walk into a pharmacy in the afternoon. The pharmacist is older than you, and you’ve never met. How do you say hello?
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You greet a stranger with the polite form: Γεια σας [yah sahs]. Γεια σου is for friends, Καληνύχτα is “good night”.
The cashier hands you your change and says Ευχαριστώ. What do you answer?
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The answer to Ευχαριστώ is Παρακαλώ [pah-rah-kah-LO], “you’re welcome”. Καληνύχτα is “good night”, Συγγνώμη is “sorry”.
You are leaving a friend’s house late in the evening. What do you wish your hosts?
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Leaving late in the evening, you say Καληνύχτα [kah-lee-NEEKH-tah], “good night”. Καλημέρα is for the morning, Καλησπέρα is an evening hello.