Καλέστε την αστυνομία
“Καλέστε την αστυνομία” (kaléste tin astinomía) — call the police in Greek. Phrase, level A2, topic — phrases that save you. the police number is 100. Astinomía is from ásty, city, and nómos, law. In a live sentence: “Καλέστε την αστυνομία!” — Call the police! You can hear how it sounds right here. Written with the characters Κ, α, λ, σ, τ, ε, τ, η, ν, α, σ, τ. One of 15 words in the set “phrases that save you” in the Greek course.
In short
| Written in Greek | Καλέστε την αστυνομία |
| Read in Latin letters | kaléste tin astinomía |
| Translation | call the police |
| Part of speech | phrase |
| Level | A2 |
- Καλέστε την αστυνομίαkaléste tin astinomíacall the police
Why it looks that way
the police number is 100. Astinomía is from ásty, city, and nómos, law
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.
- Καλέστε την αστυνομία!kaléste tin astinomía!Call the police!
Nearby words: phrases that save you
“I don't understand”, “say that again”, “slower, please”, “help”. They are learned first for a reason: they bring back a conversation that has already gone wrong.
- Δεν καταλαβαίνωden katalavénoI don't understandnegation is a separate word, den, placed before the verb — no prefixes here. Remove den and you get I understand
- Επαναλάβετε, παρακαλώepanalávete, parakalóplease repeatthe polite plural imperative of 'repeat'. In conversation people more often say Páli, parakaló — again, please
- αργάargáslowlyboth 'slowly' and 'late': argá to vrádi — late in the evening. The classic request: pio argá, parakaló — more slowly, please
- Βοήθεια!voíthiahelp!shouted as a noun — help! — not as a verb. The β reads v: vo-EE-thia
- ΧάθηκαkháthikaI'm lostfrom chánome, to get lost, about a person. About a thing you say it differently: ékhasa to klidí — I lost the key
- Περιμένετε λίγοperiménete lígowait a minuteliterally 'wait a little'. To your own people: perímene lígo
- Δεν μπορώ να ανοίξωden boró na aníksoI can't open itGreek has no infinitive: after boró comes na plus a personal form
- Χρειάζομαι γιατρόkhriázome yatróI need a doctorkhriázome means to need; the accusative follows straight away, with no preposition
- Προσοχή!prosokhí!cautionprinted on signs and announced in the metro. Literally 'attention'
- επικίνδυνοepikíndinodangerfrom kíndynos, danger. On signs it stands in the neuter
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “phrases that save you”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “call the police” in Greek?
the police number is 100. Astinomía is from ásty, city, and nómos, law
- How do you say “I can't open it” in Greek?
Greek has no infinitive: after boró comes na plus a personal form
- How do you say “slowly” in Greek?
both 'slowly' and 'late': argá to vrádi — late in the evening. The classic request: pio argá, parakaló — more slowly, please
- How do you say “danger” in Greek?
from kíndynos, danger. On signs it stands in the neuter
- How do you say “wait a minute” in Greek?
literally 'wait a little'. To your own people: perímene lígo
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 “call the police” in Greek?
«Καλέστε την αστυνομία», read “kaléste tin astinomía”. In a live sentence: “Καλέστε την αστυνομία!” — Call the police! You can hear how it sounds right on this page. Phrase, level A2, from the set “phrases that save you”; written with the characters Κ, α, λ, σ, τ, ε, τ, η, ν, α, σ, τ.
How is “Καλέστε την αστυνομία” written in Latin letters?
kaléste tin astinomía. 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?
the police number is 100. Astinomía is from ásty, city, and nómos, law. 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.