LingoflyHow words are made: -ση and -μα
Half of the unfamiliar Greek words you meet need not be learned. They can be taken apart: a root plus a suffix with one job. Here are the suffixes that turn a verb into the name of a deed. For example: “Η διόρθωση θα (tha) πάρει (pári) τρεις (tris) μέρες” (méres) — The fix 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 root plus a suffix with one job. Here are the suffixes that turn a verb into the name of a deed.
A deed out of a verb — -ση (feminine) and -μα (neuter). διορθώνω (diorthóno) (to fix) → η διόρθωση (i diórthosi); ρυθμίζω (rithmízo) (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.
Use this for reading, not for speaking. Recognizing η εγκατάσταση from εγκαθιστώ (to install) 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 (rithmízo) → η ρύθμιση |
| -μα | the mark of a deed | ραγίζω → το ράγισμα (to ráyizma) |
By example
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 root plus a suffix with one job. Here are the suffixes that turn a verb into the name of a deed.
What does it look like in a Greek example sentence?
“Η διόρθωση θα (tha) πάρει (pári) τρεις (tris) μέρες” (méres) (i diórthosi tha pári tris méres) — The fix 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.