How words are made: -ση, -τής, -ικός
Half of the unfamiliar Greek words you meet need not be learned. They can be taken apart: a known root plus a suffix with one job. For example: “Η επισκευή θα πάρει τρεις μέρες” — The repair will take three days. A rule from the Greek course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
Half of the unfamiliar Greek words you meet need not be learned. They can be taken apart: a known root plus a suffix with one job.
A deed out of a verb — -ση and -μα. επισκευάζω (to repair) → η επισκευή (i episkeví); ρυθμίζω (to adjust) → η ρύθμιση; ραγίζω (to crack) → το ράγισμα (to ráyizma). The difference is thin: -ση leans to the doing, -μα to the mark it leaves.
A person out of a deed — -τής, and -τρια for a woman: πωλώ → ο πωλητής (o politís), η πωλήτρια (i polítria). A quality out of a name — -ικός: η πόλη (i póli) → πολιτικός (politikós), το σπίτι (to spíti) → σπιτικός (spitikós).
Use this for reading, not for speaking. Recognizing η εγκατάσταση from a known εγκαθιστώ (engathistó) is safe. Inventing a new word to the pattern is not.
Table
| suffix | what it makes | example |
|---|---|---|
| -ση | a deed out of a verb | ρυθμίζω → η ρύθμιση |
| -μα | the mark of a deed | ραγίζω → το ράγισμα |
| -τής, -τρια | a person out of a deed | πωλώ → ο πωλητής, η πωλήτρια |
| -ικός | a quality out of a noun | η πόλη → πολιτικός |
| -άκι | a diminutive | το παιδί → το παιδάκι |
By example
- Η επισκευή θα πάρει τρεις μέρεςi episkeví tha pári tris méresThe repair will take three days
- Η πωλήτρια μου έδειξε άλλο χρώμαi polítria mu édikse álo khrómaThe shop assistant showed me another color
- Είναι σπιτικό γλυκό, όχι αγοραστόíne spitikó glikó, ókhi agorastóThis is a homemade dessert, not a store-bought one
How the rule settles in your head
A rule is not memorized from an explanation. It is memorized from an attempt to use it and a mistake — that is why the app delivers it mixed in with words, not as a separate lesson: it resurfaces exactly where you forgot it.
Frequently asked
How words are made: how does it work in Greek?
Half of the unfamiliar Greek words you meet need not be learned. They can be taken apart: a known root plus a suffix with one job.
What does it look like in an example sentence Greek?
“Η επισκευή θα πάρει τρεις μέρες” (i episkeví tha pári tris méres) — The repair will take three days. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.