τα καστανά μάτια
“τα καστανά μάτια” (ta kastaná mátia) — brown eyes in Greek. Noun, level A1. kastanó is the color of the chestnut — the same root. Hair is described the same way. In a live sentence: “Έχει καστανά μάτια και μακριά μαλλιά” — She has brown eyes and long hair. You can hear how it sounds right here. Written with the characters τ, α, κ, α, σ, τ, α, ν, μ, τ, ι, α. A word from the everyday Greek course, level A1.
In short
| Written in Greek | τα καστανά μάτια |
| Read in Latin letters | ta kastaná mátia |
| Translation | brown eyes |
| Part of speech | noun |
| Level | A1 |
- τα καστανά μάτιαta kastaná mátiabrown eyes
Why it looks that way
kastanó is the color of the chestnut — the same root. Hair is described the same way
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.
- Έχει καστανά μάτια και μακριά μαλλιάékhi kastaná mátia ke makriá maliáShe has brown eyes and long hair
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 “brown eyes” in Greek?
«τα καστανά μάτια», read “ta kastaná mátia”. In a live sentence: “Έχει καστανά μάτια και μακριά μαλλιά” — She has brown eyes and long hair. You can hear how it sounds right on this page. Noun, level A1; written with the characters τ, α, κ, α, σ, τ, α, ν, μ, τ, ι, α.
How is “τα καστανά μάτια” written in Latin letters?
ta kastaná mátia. 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?
kastanó is the color of the chestnut — the same root. Hair is described the same way. 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.