Μπ μπ — mi-pi
«mi-pi» is a digraph of Greek, the “Greek alphabet” script, read as “b as in "book"”. A plain b at the start of a word, an mb in the middle. For example, in the word “μπαμπάς” — dad. The Greek alphabet has 37 letters in total, and this character can be played right here. There is no separate letter for b: μπύρα comes out "bira", μπαμπάς "babas". Every borrowed word with a b is written this way. It appears, for example, in the word “μπαμπάς” — dad.
In short
| Character | Μπ μπ |
| Name | mi-pi |
| Sound | b as in "book" |
| What it is | a digraph |
In our course the character comes 31st of 37: the order here is not alphabetical but from familiar to unfamiliar, its neighbours in the course are ευ and ντ, appears in 112 words of this site.
How it sounds
A plain b at the start of a word, an mb in the middle
The character in a word
A lone character is hard to remember: memory holds on to meaning, and a letter has none. The word it stands in provides that anchor.
- μπαμπάςbabásdad
The character in the “the letter pairs” group
Eleven pairs of letters read as one sound. Nothing can be read without them: Greek has no separate letters for the oo, b, d and g sounds at all — they are written with the pairs ου, μπ, ντ, γκ.
- Αι αιe as in "met", written αιalfa-iota
- Ει ειee as in "see", written ειepsilon-iota
- Οι οιee as in "see", written οιomikron-iota
- Ου ουoo as in "food"omikron-ipsilon
- Αυ αυav or af, decided by the next soundalfa-ipsilon
- Ευ ευev or ef, decided by the next soundepsilon-ipsilon
- Ντ ντd as in "door"ni-taf
- Γκ γκg as in "go"gama-kapa
- Τσ τσts as in "cats"taf-sigma
- Τζ τζa voiced dz, close to j as in "jam"taf-zita
Words with this character
- μπαμπάςbabásdad
- η ταμπέλα τιμήςi tambéla timísprice tag
- το μπάνιοto bániobathroom
- το μπαλκόνιto balkónibalcony
- η λάμπαi lámbalamp
- Δεν μπορώ να ανοίξωden boró na aníksoI can't open it
- η Πέμπτηi pémptiThursday
- Συμπληρώστε την αίτησηsimbliróste tin étisifill out the form
- κάνω μπάνιοkáno bániogo swimming
- κολυμπάωkolibáoswim
- η ομπρέλα θαλάσσηςi ombréla thalásisbeach umbrella
- το μπλουζάκιto bluzákiT-shirt
How to remember this character
A single letter is the hardest thing to remember: memory has nothing to hold on to — a character has no meaning. A three-step loop works: see the character, try to recall the sound (for «mi-pi» it is “b as in "book"”, as in the word “μπαμπάς”), see the right answer.
And come back to it the next day, not in an hour: a check a day or two later beats a check the same day. Nobody holds the whole alphabet — 37 letters — at once.
- It is better to test yourself the next day than at the end of the same session. That is why a word comes back to you tomorrow.checked many timesAdesope, Trevisan & Sundararajan, 2017, Review of Educational Research 87(3) · g = 0.82 when tested a day or two later, against 0.56 on the same day.
- Studying a little every day gets more into your head than spending the same total time in one sitting.checked many timesDonovan & Radosevich, 1999, Journal of Applied Psychology 84(5) · 63 studies compared, difference d = 0.46 — a sizeable figure for a learning effect.
Frequently asked
How does the Greek character μπ read?
As “b as in "book"” — it is a digraph of the “Greek alphabet” script. A plain b at the start of a word, an mb in the middle. For example, in the word “μπαμπάς” — dad.
What is the letter μπ called?
Mi-pi. A character's name and its sound are different things in the Greek script: it is called “mi-pi” and reads as “b as in "book"”. Learn the second one: the name only helps when the alphabet is recited aloud.
What can μπ be confused with?
There is no separate letter for b: μπύρα comes out "bira", μπαμπάς "babas". Every borrowed word with a b is written this way. Similar characters are best studied side by side and deliberately compared: learned on different days, they stay separate and get mixed up at their first meeting inside a word.