είμαι
“είμαι” (íme) — be in Greek. Verb, level A0, topic — basic words. it is never dropped: íme kalá, 'I am fine' — Greek has no way to say 'I fine'. The row is learned whole: íme, íse, íne, ímaste, íste, íne. Third person serves both 'he is' and 'they are'. In a live sentence: “Είμαι Ρώσος” — I am Russian. You can hear how it sounds right here. Written with the characters ε, μ, α, ι.
In short
| Written in Greek | είμαι |
| Read in Latin letters | íme |
| Translation | be |
| Part of speech | verb |
| Level | A0 |
- είμαιímebe
Why it looks that way
it is never dropped: íme kalá, 'I am fine' — Greek has no way to say 'I fine'. The row is learned whole: íme, íse, íne, ímaste, íste, íne. Third person serves both 'he is' and 'they are'
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.
- Είμαι ΡώσοςÍme RósosI am Russian
- Είμαστε μαζίÍmaste mazíWe are together
- Πού είσαι;Pu íse;Where are you?
- Ήταν πολύ καλάÍtan polí kaláIt was very good
Nearby words: basic words
Yes, no, good, bad, very. The small change of a language — and no sentence assembles without it.
- Ναιneyesoften said with a quick downward nod; in Greece an upward nod means no
- Όχιókhinostress at the front: O-khi. October 28 is a Greek public holiday named after this single word — the day the country said no in 1940
- Καλάkalágoodboth 'good' and the agreement 'alright, fine'. The adjective of the same root changes ending with gender: kalós fílos — a good friend
- Άσχημαáskhimabadthe partner of kalá, but it sounds strong; in conversation Greeks often soften it to étsi ki étsi — so-so
- Πολύ καλάpolí kalávery goodpolý means 'very' and sits before the word; it also means 'a lot': polý neró — plenty of water
- το μισόto misóhalfas an adjective — misó kiló, half a kilo. The same word hides in mesiméri, noon
- Άλλο έναálo énaone moreálo means other, another. Akóma éna is just as correct and heard more often in the north
- αρκετάarketáenoughboth 'enough' and 'rather' as a degree: arketá kalá — rather good
- συνολικάsinolikáin totalfrom síntolo, the sum, the whole. On receipts it says síntolo — total
- περισσότεροperisóteromoreabout amount. About size: pio megálo
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “basic words”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “be” in Greek?
it is never dropped: íme kalá, 'I am fine' — Greek has no way to say 'I fine'. The row is learned whole: íme, íse, íne, ímaste, íste, íne. Third person serves both 'he is' and 'they are'
- How do you say “one more” in Greek?
álo means other, another. Akóma éna is just as correct and heard more often in the north
- How do you say “good” in Greek?
both 'good' and the agreement 'alright, fine'. The adjective of the same root changes ending with gender: kalós fílos — a good friend
- How do you say “more” in Greek?
about amount. About size: pio megálo
- How do you say “half” in Greek?
as an adjective — misó kiló, half a kilo. The same word hides in mesiméri, noon
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 “be” in Greek?
«είμαι», read “íme”. In a live sentence: “Είμαι Ρώσος” — I am Russian. You can hear how it sounds right on this page. Verb, level A0, from the set “basic words”; written with the characters ε, μ, α, ι.
How is “είμαι” written in Latin letters?
íme. 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?
it is never dropped: íme kalá, 'I am fine' — Greek has no way to say 'I fine'. The row is learned whole: íme, íse, íne, ímaste, íste, íne. Third person serves both 'he is' and 'they are'. 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.