το παρελθόν
“το παρελθόν” (to parelthón) — the past in Greek. Noun, level B1, topic — time, days and hours. From pernáo, to go by: literally 'the gone-by'. In a live sentence: “Το παρελθόν δεν αλλάζει” — The past cannot be changed. You can hear how it sounds right here. Written with the characters τ, ο, π, α, ρ, ε, λ, θ, ν. One of 142 words in the set “time, days and hours” in the Greek course.
In short
| Written in Greek | το παρελθόν |
| Read in Latin letters | to parelthón |
| Translation | the past |
| Part of speech | noun |
| Level | B1 |
- το παρελθόνto parelthónthe past
Why it looks that way
From pernáo, to go by: literally 'the gone-by'
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.
- Το παρελθόν δεν αλλάζειto parelthón den aláziThe past cannot be changed
Nearby words: time, days and hours
Today, tomorrow, in the morning, at six. You cannot arrange to meet without these — let alone understand the answer.
- μέραméradaythe full form is iméra, but the opening vowel gets swallowed in speech. The root of 'ephemeral' — living a single day
- σήμεραsímeratoday'this day' fused into one word, as ávrio and khthes likewise: Greek names time in one word, with no preposition
- αύριοávriotomorrowav before the voiced ρ gives av: AV-rio. Sigá sigá, ávrio — slowly, slowly, tomorrow — is the most Greek of excuses
- χθεςkhthesyesterdaythree consonants in a row and not a single vowel at the start: khthes. A variant ekhthés exists, with a vowel up front
- πρωίproímorningthe ω and ι are read apart, stress on the second: pro-I. 'In the morning' is simply to proí — the article doing the preposition's job
- βράδυvrádieveningthe β is v, the υ is ee: VRA-di. The same root as 'bradycardia', the slow rhythm
- νύχταníkhtanightthe υ is ee, the chi is kh: NEE-khta. The same nýhta inside kaliníkta
- ώραórahourwritten with ω though it sounds like o — memorize it with the word. It also asks the time: Ti óra íne?
- Τι ώρα;ti óra?what time?the same question asks the hour of day: ti óra íne?
- Είναι αργάíne argáit's lateargá means both late and slowly; the context tells them apart
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “time, days and hours”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “the past” in Greek?
From pernáo, to go by: literally 'the gone-by'
- How do you say “night” in Greek?
the υ is ee, the chi is kh: NEE-khta. The same nýhta inside kaliníkta
- How do you say “tomorrow” in Greek?
av before the voiced ρ gives av: AV-rio. Sigá sigá, ávrio — slowly, slowly, tomorrow — is the most Greek of excuses
- How do you say “it's late” in Greek?
argá means both late and slowly; the context tells them apart
- How do you say “evening” in Greek?
the β is v, the υ is ee: VRA-di. The same root as 'bradycardia', the slow rhythm
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 “the past” in Greek?
«το παρελθόν», read “to parelthón”. In a live sentence: “Το παρελθόν δεν αλλάζει” — The past cannot be changed. You can hear how it sounds right on this page. Noun, level B1, from the set “time, days and hours”; written with the characters τ, ο, π, α, ρ, ε, λ, θ, ν.
How is “το παρελθόν” written in Latin letters?
to parelthón. 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?
From pernáo, to go by: literally 'the gone-by'. 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.