The Greek Alphabet

The Greek alphabet has 24 letters. Sigma has two lower-case forms: σ, and ς at the end of a word. Tap any letter to hear its name and its sound in modern Greek.

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All 24 letters

Tap any letter to hear its name and its sound in modern Greek.

άλφα alpha say “AL-fa” a as in “father”
βήτα beta say “VEE-ta” v as in “van”
γάμμα gamma say “GHA-ma” a soft g made in the throat without closing it; before e and i, y as in “yes”
δέλτα delta say “DHEL-ta” th as in “this”
έψιλον epsilon say “EP-see-lon” e as in “bed”
ζήτα zeta say “ZEE-ta” z as in “zoo”
ήτα eta say “EE-ta” ee as in “see”
θήτα theta say “THEE-ta” th as in “think”
γιώτα iota say “YO-ta” ee as in “see”
κάππα kappa say “KA-pa” k as in “skip” (no puff of air)
λάμδα lambda say “LAM-tha” l as in “let”
μι mu say “mee” m as in “man”
νι nu say “nee” n as in “no”
ξι xi say “ksee” ks as in “box”
όμικρον omicron say “O-mee-kron” a short, pure o (no “oh-oo” glide)
πι pi say “pee” p as in “spin” (no puff of air)
ρο rho say “ro” r: one quick tap of the tongue, like the tt in American “butter”
σίγμα sigma say “SEEG-ma” s as in “sun”
ταυ tau say “taf” t as in “stop” (no puff of air)
ύψιλον upsilon say “EE-psee-lon” ee as in “see”
φι phi say “fee” f as in “fun”
χι chi say “hee” ch as in Scottish “loch”; before e and i softer, like the h in “huge”
ψι psi say “psee” ps as in “lapse”
ωμέγα omega say “o-MEH-gha” a short, pure o (no “oh-oo” glide)

7 letters that fool English readers

Looks like H, sounds “ee”
Looks like P, is an r
ν looks like v, is an n
Looks like Y or u, sounds “ee”
Looks like X, sounds like ch in “loch”
Looks like B, sounds v
ω looks like w, is an o

Letter pairs

Letters	Example	Sound
ου		oo as in “food”
αι		e as in “bed”
ει · οι · υι		ee as in “see”
αυ · ευ		av / ev, but af / ef before κ π τ σ φ χ θ ξ ψ
μπ		b at the start of a word; b or mb in the middle
ντ		d at the start of a word; d or nd in the middle
γκ · γγ		γκ: g at the start, g or ng in the middle; γγ: ng as in “finger”
τσ		ts as in “cats”
τζ		dz as in “kids”