Αντίο
“Αντίο” (antío) — goodbye in Greek. Interjection, level A0, topic — greetings and goodbyes. borrowed from Italian addio. Everyday farewells usually reuse the greeting — yia sou serves both directions. In a live sentence: “Αντίο, καλή σας μέρα” — Goodbye, have a good day. You can hear how it sounds right here. Written with the characters Α, ν, τ, ο. One of 8 words in the set “greetings and goodbyes” in the Greek course.
In short
| Written in Greek | Αντίο |
| Read in Latin letters | antío |
| Translation | goodbye |
| Part of speech | interjection |
| Level | A0 |
- Αντίοantíogoodbye
Why it looks that way
borrowed from Italian addio. Everyday farewells usually reuse the greeting — yia sou serves both directions
A word with a story stays in memory longer than one learned as a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.
In a live sentence
A single word almost never appears alone in conversation. A sentence shows where it fits and what stands next to it.
- Αντίο, καλή σας μέραantío, kalí sas méraGoodbye, have a good day
Nearby words: greetings and goodbyes
Every conversation starts here, and so does every first impression: say hello in the local language and you stop being a stranger in about a second.
- Γειαyahione stressed beat, on ya: short and light
- Γεια σαςya sashellosas means 'to you': one form for the polite you and for several people at once. To friends you say yia sou instead
- Καλημέραkaliméragood morningkalí (good) + méra (day) fused into one word — ka-lee-MEH-ra. Used until midday, and in casual speech often into the early afternoon
- Καλησπέραkalispéragood eveningthe same kalí + espéra, evening: ka-lee-SPE-ra. After midday kaliméra is out and kalispéra takes over
- Καληνύχταkaliníkhtagood nighta third greeting built the same way: kali + nýhta, good + night. Said only when parting for sleep, never as an evening hello
- Τι κάνεις;ti kánis?how are you?literally 'what do you do?'. The semicolon at the end is not a pause — it is the Greek question mark
- Τι κάνετε;ti kánete?how are you (formal)?the same question politely: the -ete ending instead of -is. Use it with strangers and elders
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “greetings and goodbyes”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “goodbye” in Greek?
borrowed from Italian addio. Everyday farewells usually reuse the greeting — yia sou serves both directions
- How do you say “how are you (formal)?” in Greek?
the same question politely: the -ete ending instead of -is. Use it with strangers and elders
- How do you say “how are you?” in Greek?
literally 'what do you do?'. The semicolon at the end is not a pause — it is the Greek question mark
- How do you say “good night” in Greek?
a third greeting built the same way: kali + nýhta, good + night. Said only when parting for sleep, never as an evening hello
- How do you say “good evening” in Greek?
the same kalí + espéra, evening: ka-lee-SPE-ra. After midday kaliméra is out and kalispéra takes over
How not to forget this word
Reading a word and remembering it are different jobs. A day later, little survives of a single reading — and that is not bad memory, that is how memory works.
- This has been tested on foreign words too. The difference shows up most when you test yourself a few days later rather than straight away.checked many timesKim & Webb, 2022, Language Learning 72(2) · 48 experiments, 3,411 participants, 98 comparisons.
- 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.
- An answer you worked out yourself sticks better than one handed to you.checked many timesBertsch et al., 2007, Memory & Cognition 35(2) · 86 studies, 445 comparisons, d = 0.40.
Frequently asked
How do you say “goodbye” in Greek?
«Αντίο», read “antío”. In a live sentence: “Αντίο, καλή σας μέρα” — Goodbye, have a good day. You can hear how it sounds right on this page. Interjection, level A0, from the set “greetings and goodbyes”; written with the characters Α, ν, τ, ο.
How is “Αντίο” written in Latin letters?
antío. This is a practical spelling — you need it to read aloud and be understood, not to meet an academic standard.
Why does this word look the way it does?
borrowed from Italian addio. Everyday farewells usually reuse the greeting — yia sou serves both directions. A word with a story stays in memory longer than a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.
Can I hear how it sounds?
Yes, right on this page: click the word and it will play. The sound works on any phone, and nothing needs to be installed.