πλένομαι
“πλένομαι” (plénome) — wash up in Greek. Verb, level A1, topic — everyday life and routine. middle voice from pléno, to wash: I wash myself. In a live sentence: “Πλένομαι με κρύο νερό” — I wash up with cold water. You can hear how it sounds right here. Written with the characters π, λ, ν, ο, μ, α, ι. One of 12 words in the set “everyday life and routine” in the Greek course.
In short
| Written in Greek | πλένομαι |
| Read in Latin letters | plénome |
| Translation | wash up |
| Part of speech | verb |
| Level | A1 |
- πλένομαιplénomewash up
Why it looks that way
middle voice from pléno, to wash: I wash myself
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.
- Πλένομαι με κρύο νερόplénome me krío neróI wash up with cold water
Nearby words: everyday life and routine
Work, home, rest, errands. The words the answer to “how are things?” is made of.
- δουλειάduliájobou gives oo, ei gives ee: dul-YA. One root with doúlos, slave: in antiquity work was a slave occupation
- δουλεύωdulévoworkabout people and about things alike: den dulévi to asansér — the lift does not work
- ξυπνάωksipnáowake upfrom ípnos, sleep, with the prefix x-: I step out of sleep
- σηκώνομαιsikónomeget upmiddle voice from sikóno, to raise: I raise myself
- χτενίζομαιkhtenízomecomb one’s hairfrom khténa, a comb, in the middle-voice form
- ξυρίζομαιksirízomeshavefrom ksirafáki, a razor, in the middle-voice form
- ντύνομαιdínomeget dressedfrom endýo, to dress; the same stem in endimasía, work clothes
- γδύνομαιgdínomeget undressedthe prefix g- undoes what dínome does
- κάθομαι κάτωkáthome kátosit downthe same káthome as 'to sit'; káto separates the action from the state
- ξαπλώνω στο κρεβάτιksaplóno sto krevátilie downthe same xaplóno as 'to lie'; Greek does not split the two
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “everyday life and routine”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “wash up” in Greek?
middle voice from pléno, to wash: I wash myself
- How do you say “get dressed” in Greek?
from endýo, to dress; the same stem in endimasía, work clothes
- How do you say “wake up” in Greek?
from ípnos, sleep, with the prefix x-: I step out of sleep
- How do you say “lie down” in Greek?
the same xaplóno as 'to lie'; Greek does not split the two
- How do you say “shave” in Greek?
from ksirafáki, a razor, in the middle-voice form
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 “wash up” in Greek?
«πλένομαι», read “plénome”. In a live sentence: “Πλένομαι με κρύο νερό” — I wash up with cold water. You can hear how it sounds right on this page. Verb, level A1, from the set “everyday life and routine”; written with the characters π, λ, ν, ο, μ, α, ι.
How is “πλένομαι” written in Latin letters?
plénome. 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?
middle voice from pléno, to wash: I wash myself. 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.