Pronouns in Greek
26 words Greek words on the topic “pronouns”: εγώ — I, εσύ — you, εσείς — you (plural), αυτός — he. 26 words can be played from recordings.
26 words on the topic
- εγώegóIalmost always dropped in speech — the verb ending already shows the person. Egó appears only for contrast: as in 'well, I for one...'
- εσύesíyoufor friends, peers and children; a stranger gets esís. Like egó, it usually stays out of the sentence
- εσείςesísyou (plural)one word for the polite 'you' and for several people. Here ei is the ordinary ee sound
- αυτόςaftósheav before the k sound reads af. Gender follows the noun, not the person: coffee (o kafés, masculine) is aftós, a door (i pórta) is aftí, a house (to spíti) is aftó
- εμείςemíswethe partner of egó. Its verbs end in -oume: ménume — we stay, pínume — we drink
- αυτοίaftítheythe plural of aftós; the final oi reads ee. For women it is aftés
- μουmumyplaced after the word and never changes: to spíti mu — my house, literally the house my
- σουsuyourthe same scheme as mu: it follows the word and stays unchanged
- μαςmasourthe same little word also means 'to us' — the slot in the phrase tells you which
- σαςsasyour (plural)both 'your' for several owners and the polite 'your' for one person addressed formally
- του, της, τουςtu, tis, tushis, her, theirthree forms agreeing with the owner in gender and number, not with the thing owned
- δικός μουdikós mumy owna reinforced 'my': to dikó mu — my very own one
- ο ίδιοςo ídiosoneselfthe same phrase means 'the very same': o ídios ánthropos — the same person
- όλοςólosallit demands an article after itself: óli i méra — the whole day
- καθένας απόkathénas apóeach offrom káthe, each; apó sets out whom exactly you mean
- οποιοσδήποτεopiozdípoteanyonethe suffix -dípote adds 'whichever you like'; the same trick in opiadípote óra — at any hour you like
- αυτόςaftósthisbefore a noun it demands an article: aftó to vivlío — literally 'this the book this'
- εκείνοςekínosthatthe same scheme with the article: ekíni i méra — that day
- τέτοιοςtétiossuchunlike aftós, it takes no article after itself
- άλλοςálosanotherthe root of alliós — otherwise — and allázo, to change
- κανέναςkanénasnot anywith den it means 'not any'; in a question, 'any'
- κάποιοςkápiossomeonefrom pios with the prefix ká-: indefiniteness
- κάτιkátisomething or otherunchanging. Káti tétoio means something of the kind
- κανένας απόkanénas apónone ofthe same scheme as pios apó: apó sets the group
- τίποταtípotanothingin reply to 'thank you' it means don't mention it: típota!
- αυτήaftíshethe feminine partner of aftós; av before t reads af. Gender follows the noun: a door — i pórta — is aftí too. Don't confuse with to aftí, the ear
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.
- Εγώ είμαι από τη Μόσχαegó íme apó ti MóskhaI am from Moscow
- Εσύ τι θέλεις;esí ti thélis?And what do you want?
- Εσείς από πού είστε;esís apó pu íste?Where are you from?
- Αυτός είναι ο φίλος μουaftós íne o fílos muHe is my friend
- Εμείς μένουμε στην Αθήναemís ménume stin AthínaWe live in Athens
- Αυτοί έρχονται αύριοaftí érkhonde ávrioThey arrive tomorrow
What is worth knowing about these words
εγώ (egó) — I. almost always dropped in speech — the verb ending already shows the person. Egó appears only for contrast: as in 'well, I for one...'
εσύ (esí) — you. for friends, peers and children; a stranger gets esís. Like egó, it usually stays out of the sentence
εσείς (esís) — you (plural). one word for the polite 'you' and for several people. Here ei is the ordinary ee sound
αυτός (aftós) — he. av before the k sound reads af. Gender follows the noun, not the person: coffee (o kafés, masculine) is aftós, a door (i pórta) is aftí, a house (to spíti) is aftó
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 εγώ (egó) — I.
- What is this word?
It is σου (su) — your.
- What is this word?
It is καθένας από (kathénas apó) — each of.
- What is this word?
It is κάποιος (kápios) — someone.
- What is this word?
It is εσείς (esís) — you (plural).
Now the other way around: recall the spelling from the meaning. That is harder, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “I” in Greek?
almost always dropped in speech — the verb ending already shows the person. Egó appears only for contrast: as in 'well, I for one...'
- How do you say “your” in Greek?
the same scheme as mu: it follows the word and stays unchanged
- How do you say “each of” in Greek?
from káthe, each; apó sets out whom exactly you mean
- How do you say “someone” in Greek?
from pios with the prefix ká-: indefiniteness
- How do you say “you (plural)” in Greek?
one word for the polite 'you' and for several people. Here ei is the ordinary ee sound
How to learn the set instead of just reading it
I, you, we, they. There is a handful of them, they turn up in every sentence, and politeness rides on them: most of these languages keep a formal “you” apart from a familiar one, and choosing the wrong one is noticed faster than a mispronounced word.
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 “I” in Greek?
«εγώ», read “egó”. almost always dropped in speech — the verb ending already shows the person. Egó appears only for contrast: as in 'well, I for one...' It is one of 26 words in the set “pronouns” — the rest are in the table above.
How many pronouns do you need to start?
A dozen is enough. The set of 26 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, 26 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.