Numbers and counting in Greek
57 words Greek words on the topic “numbers and counting”: ένα — one, δύο — two, τρία — three, τέσσερα — four. 57 words can be played from recordings.
57 words on the topic
- έναénaonethree genders: énas, mía, éna. It doubles as a soft indefinite article: éna neró — a water, any one will do
- δύοdíotwothe only small number that ignores gender completely. Its root gave English 'duet' and 'dilemma'
- τρίαtríathreethe neuter form; for masculine and feminine it is tréis. An ancient cousin of English 'three'
- τέσσεραtéserafourthe double σσ sounds as a single s. For masculine and feminine it becomes téseris. English 'tetra-' as in tetrahedron comes from the same root
- πέντεpéndefivethe inner nt is nd: PEN-de, not pen-te. The same root as 'pentagon'
- έξιéksisixthe ξ letter packs ks into one sign. Stress on the first syllable, like most Greek numbers
- εφτάeftáseventhe everyday form; the bookish eptá is just as correct. Eight and nine flicker the same way — a trace of the language's two norms
- οχτώokhtóeightthe everyday twin of the bookish októ. The chi is a throaty kh, as in 'loch': o-KH-to
- εννιάeniáninethe everyday partner of ennéa. The double νν sounds as one n
- δέκαdékatenthe delta is a soft th as in 'this', so the word comes out gentler than it looks: DHE-ka. 'Decade' and 'decalogue' share the root
- έντεκαéndekaelevenbuilt from éna and déka, one and ten. The same pair of roots hides in 'hendecasyllable', the eleven-syllable line of verse
- δώδεκαdódekatwelvethe root behind 'dodecahedron' and the Dodecanese — the island group 'of twelve'
- δεκατρίαdekatríathirteenfrom thirteen on, the pattern is déka plus the unit, glued into one word
- δεκατέσσεραdekatéserafourteentéssera is four. Watch the gender: with people, thirteen and fourteen take a different set of forms than with things
- δεκαπέντεdekapéndefifteenAugust 15 — the biggest summer feast — is one long word built on it: Dekapentaavgoustos
- δεκαέξιdekaéksisixteenéksi is six — don't mix it up with éxo, outside
- δεκαεπτάdekaeptáseventeenin casual speech it becomes dekaeftá, spelled with a φ. Both forms are in circulation
- δεκαοκτώdekaoktóeighteencasual speech shortens it to dekaokhtó. The same pi/phi and kt/kht flicker as with seventeen
- δεκαεννιάdekaeniánineteenthe bookish form is dekaennéa; in speech you will almost always hear dekaeniá
- είκοσιíkositwentyfrom here the count turns composite: íkosi éna — twenty one, written apart
- τριάνταtriándathirtynt inside the word reads nd: tri-AN-da. The same root as 'triad'
- σαράνταsarándafortythe forty days of mourning are called ta saránda — an important mark in the calendar of remembrance
- πενήνταpeníndafiftyfrom pénde, five. Pentikostí — Pentecost — is literally 'the fiftieth day'
- εξήνταeksíndasixtyfrom éksi, six. Sixty minutes to the hour: exínda leptá
- εβδομήνταevdomíndaseventybuilt on the bookish eptá through evdom-, the same stem as evdomáda, the week
- ογδόνταogdóndaeightyfrom októ, eight; the same root as 'octave' and 'October'
- ενενήνταeneníndaninetyfrom ennéa, nine. Every ten from thirty on ends in -nda
- εκατόekatóhundredthe root of 'hecatomb' and the metric prefix 'hecto-'. Two hundred is diakósia
- χίλιαkhíliathousandthe root of 'kilometer' and 'kilogram'. Khília efkharistó — a thousand thanks — is a warm way to say it
- το εκατομμύριοto ekatomíriomillionfrom ekató, hundred, and mýrioi, ten thousand: a hundred times ten thousand
- μηδένmidénzerofrom midé — 'and not': literally not one. In a score too: dío midén — two nil
- πρώτοςprótosfirstthe root of 'prototype' and 'proton'. It changes with gender: prótos, próti, próto
- δεύτεροςdéfterossecondMonday is Deftéra — the second day of the week
- τρίτοςtrítosthirdTuesday is Tríti. Ordinals differ from cardinals by their endings
- τελευταίοςteleftéoslastfrom télos, an end. As an adverb, teleftéa means 'lately'
- πόσαpósahow muchfor countable things pósa; for an amount of stuff póso
- το ζευγάριto zevgáripaira pair of objects and a pair of people alike. From zygós, a yoke — the beam that pairs the oxen
- το τεμάχιοto temákhiopieceon price tags it shrinks to tem. In speech komáti is more common
- τοις εκατόtis ekatópercentliterally 'per hundred' — an old case form frozen into the phrase
- κάθεkátheeachnever changes for gender or number — a rarity in Greek
- διακόσιαdiakósiatwo hundredchanges with gender: diakósii men, diakósies women, diakósia euros
- τριακόσιαtriakósiathree hundredfrom tría, three. Every hundred is built the same way: the number plus -kósia
- τετρακόσιαtetrakósiafour hundredfrom téssera, four, with the stem shortened to tetra- in the hundreds
- πεντακόσιαpendakósiafive hundredfrom pénde, five. You will rarely meet a five-hundred-euro note in daily life
- εξακόσιαeksakósiasix hundredfrom éksi, six, with a ξ appearing at the joint: ek-sa-KO-sia
- εφτακόσιαeftakósiaseven hundredalso written eptakósia in the learned style; everyday speech prefers eftakósia
- οχτακόσιαokhtakósiaeight hundredthe bookish twin oktakósia spells it with kt. The learned/everyday pair mirrors seven hundred
- εννιακόσιαeniakósianine hundredfrom enniá, nine. The formal enneakósia exists on paper but not in speech
- τέταρτοςtétartosfourththe neuter téssero also means a quarter — of an hour or of anything
- πέμπτοςpémptosfifthThursday is Pémpti — the fifth day, counting from Sunday
- έκτοςéktossixthdon't mix it with ektós, except — the accent alone tells them apart
- έβδομοςévdomosseventhfrom the same root as evdomáda, the week — a seven of days
- όγδοοςógdooseighththe two o letters are read apart: O-gdho-os
- ένατοςénatosninthfrom enniá but with a single ν, and the stress jumps to the first syllable
- δέκατοςdékatostenthbeyond this, ordinals are built by addition: dékatos trítos — thirteenth
- εκατοστόςekatostóshundredthdon't confuse with ekatostó — a hundredth as a unit — the stress sits elsewhere
- ο αριθμόςo arithmósnumberthe root of 'arithmetic'. Both a number and a phone number
How it sounds in a sentence
A word list is a blank. Conversation is made of sentences, and these are the ones the words fit into most often.
- Ένα τσάι, παρακαλώéna tsái, parakalóOne tea, please
- Δύο καφέδες, παρακαλώdío kafédes, parakalóTwo coffees, please
- Μένω εδώ τρία χρόνιαméno edó tría khróniaI have lived here for three years
- Είμαστε τέσσερα άτομαímaste tésera átomaThere are four of us
- Πέντε λεπτά, παρακαλώpénde leptá, parakalóFive minutes, please
- Το μαγαζί ανοίγει στις έξιto magazí aníyi stis éksiThe shop opens at six
What is worth knowing about these words
ένα (éna) — one. three genders: énas, mía, éna. It doubles as a soft indefinite article: éna neró — a water, any one will do
δύο (dío) — two. the only small number that ignores gender completely. Its root gave English 'duet' and 'dilemma'
τρία (tría) — three. the neuter form; for masculine and feminine it is tréis. An ancient cousin of English 'three'
τέσσερα (tésera) — four. the double σσ sounds as a single s. For masculine and feminine it becomes téseris. English 'tetra-' as in tetrahedron comes from the same root
Test yourself
First by ear — the way you will meet the word in conversation. Click the speaker and pick the translation.
- What is this word?
It is ένα (éna) — one.
- What is this word?
It is οχτώ (okhtó) — eight.
- What is this word?
It is δεκαπέντε (dekapénde) — fifteen.
- What is this word?
It is σαράντα (saránda) — forty.
- What is this word?
It is χίλια (khília) — thousand.
Now the other way around: recall the spelling from the meaning. That is harder, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “one” in Greek?
three genders: énas, mía, éna. It doubles as a soft indefinite article: éna neró — a water, any one will do
- How do you say “eight” in Greek?
the everyday twin of the bookish októ. The chi is a throaty kh, as in 'loch': o-KH-to
- How do you say “fifteen” in Greek?
August 15 — the biggest summer feast — is one long word built on it: Dekapentaavgoustos
- How do you say “forty” in Greek?
the forty days of mourning are called ta saránda — an important mark in the calendar of remembrance
- How do you say “thousand” in Greek?
the root of 'kilometer' and 'kilogram'. Khília efkharistó — a thousand thanks — is a warm way to say it
How to learn the set instead of just reading it
A price, the change, a house number, the time you agreed on, the floor. Numbers are the first thing you have to catch by ear — and the first thing people say fast.
A list is read in a minute and forgotten in a day. What works: hide the translation, try to recall, get it wrong — and come back to the same words tomorrow.
- Recalling beats re-reading. Covering the translation and trying to remember it does more than reading it ten more times.checked many timesAdesope, Trevisan & Sundararajan, 2017, Review of Educational Research 87(3) · 188 experiments, 272 comparisons. g = 0.61; against plain re-reading 0.51, against passive review 0.93.
- This holds not only in experiments but in ordinary classrooms, with real students.checked many timesMawson & Kang, 2025, Behavioral Sciences 15(6):771 · 22 studies, d = 0.54 (confidence interval 0.31–0.77). The authors warn that individual studies disagree widely.
Frequently asked
How do you say “one” in Greek?
«ένα», read “éna”. three genders: énas, mía, éna. It doubles as a soft indefinite article: éna neró — a water, any one will do. It is one of 57 words in the set “numbers and counting” — the rest are in the table above.
How many numbers do you need to start?
A dozen is enough. The set of 57 words on this page covers nearly every everyday case on the topic — but it is best taken a few at a time, not all at once.
Is there audio?
Yes, 57 words on this page can be played — click the speaker next to the word. The sound works on any phone, and nothing needs to be installed.