το μέταλλο
“το μέταλλο” (to métalo) — a metal in Greek. Noun, level A2, topic — shopping and money. A Greek word: originally a mine, then what comes out of it. In a live sentence: “Η λαβή είναι από μέταλλο” — A handle made of metal. You can hear how it sounds right here. Written with the characters τ, ο, μ, τ, α, λ, λ, ο. One of 99 words in the set “shopping and money” in the Greek course.
In short
| Written in Greek | το μέταλλο |
| Read in Latin letters | to métalo |
| Translation | a metal |
| Part of speech | noun |
| Level | A2 |
- το μέταλλοto métaloa metal
Why it looks that way
A Greek word: originally a mine, then what comes out of it
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.
- Η λαβή είναι από μέταλλοi laví íne apó métaloA handle made of metal
Nearby words: shopping and money
How much it costs, whether there is a smaller one, whether cards are accepted. A shop forgives mistakes: miss a word and they will show you the thing with their hands anyway.
- Πόσο κάνει;póso káni?how much is it?literally 'how much does it make' — no verb 'to cost' needed. The question mark looks like a semicolon
- ευρώevróeurosev before the voiced r gives ev. The word never changes: dío evró, déka evró — no plural ending at all
- μαγαζίmagazíshopthe word travelled from Arabic through Italian; English 'magazine' started life the same way, as a storehouse. Neuter: to magazí
- αγοράagorámarketthe very agora — the gathering square of ancient Athens. Today it is also a purchase: káno agorés — I do the shopping
- ο πάγκοςo pángoscountergk reads as g: Greek has no letter of its own for that sound
- ο πωλητήςo politíssalespersonfrom pouláo, to sell. A saleswoman is i polítria
- ο αγοραστήςo agorastísbuyerfrom agorázo, to buy; agorá itself is both the market and the purchase
- η ζυγαριάi zigariáscalessingular in Greek, though the object has two pans. From zygízo, to weigh
- το κιλόto kilókiloat the market you ask directly: éna kiló domátes — a kilo of tomatoes, no preposition
- φρέσκοςfréskosfreshthe ending follows gender: fréskos, fréskia, frésko
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “shopping and money”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “a metal” in Greek?
A Greek word: originally a mine, then what comes out of it
- How do you say “buyer” in Greek?
from agorázo, to buy; agorá itself is both the market and the purchase
- How do you say “shop” in Greek?
the word travelled from Arabic through Italian; English 'magazine' started life the same way, as a storehouse. Neuter: to magazí
- How do you say “fresh” in Greek?
the ending follows gender: fréskos, fréskia, frésko
- How do you say “salesperson” in Greek?
from pouláo, to sell. A saleswoman is i polítria
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 “a metal” in Greek?
«το μέταλλο», read “to métalo”. In a live sentence: “Η λαβή είναι από μέταλλο” — A handle made of metal. You can hear how it sounds right on this page. Noun, level A2, from the set “shopping and money”; written with the characters τ, ο, μ, τ, α, λ, λ, ο.
How is “το μέταλλο” written in Latin letters?
to métalo. 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?
A Greek word: originally a mine, then what comes out of it. 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.