πόλη
“πόλη” (póli) — city in Greek. Noun, level A1, topic — the city and its places. the same root as in 'metropolis' and 'cosmopolitan' — and in city names like Minneapolis. Feminine: i póli. In a live sentence: “Η Αθήνα είναι μεγάλη πόλη” — Athens is a big city. You can hear how it sounds right here. Written with the characters π, λ, η. One of 95 words in the set “the city and its places” in the Greek course.
In short
| Written in Greek | πόλη |
| Read in Latin letters | póli |
| Translation | city |
| Part of speech | noun |
| Level | A1 |
- πόληpólicity
Why it looks that way
the same root as in 'metropolis' and 'cosmopolitan' — and in city names like Minneapolis. Feminine: i póli
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 Αθήνα είναι μεγάλη πόληi Athína íne megáli póliAthens is a big city
Nearby words: the city and its places
Street, square, pharmacy, bank. An address is built out of these, and an address is something you have to both say and understand.
- καφετέριαkafetériacaféa place where people sit with one cup for hours: a Greek café is about conversation, not takeaway. The old-fashioned mens-only kind has a different name, kafenío
- δρόμοςdrómosstreetone word for street, road and way. The same dromos runs in 'aerodrome', 'hippodrome' and 'velodrome' — places for running
- 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
- φαρμακείοfarmakíopharmacyfármako, medicine, plus -ío, a place. The same scheme built grafeío, an office, and vivliopolío, a bookshop
- τράπεζαtrápezabankliterally 'table': the money changers worked at one. The same table gave the geometry term 'trapezoid'
- σταθμόςstathmósstationthe same word serves the metro stop and the bus terminal: stathmós metró, stathmós leoforíon
- θάλασσαthálasaseathe word is older than Greek itself — the Greeks took it from whoever lived here before them. The double σσ sounds as one s
- νησίnisíislandneuter: to nisí. Greece counts more than two thousand islands, about two hundred of them inhabited
- πλατείαplatíasquarefrom platýs, wide — the same root as in 'platypus', the flat-foot. Ei reads ee: pla-TEE-a
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “the city and its places”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “city” in Greek?
the same root as in 'metropolis' and 'cosmopolitan' — and in city names like Minneapolis. Feminine: i póli
- How do you say “station” in Greek?
the same word serves the metro stop and the bus terminal: stathmós metró, stathmós leoforíon
- 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 “square” in Greek?
from platýs, wide — the same root as in 'platypus', the flat-foot. Ei reads ee: pla-TEE-a
- How do you say “bank” in Greek?
literally 'table': the money changers worked at one. The same table gave the geometry term 'trapezoid'
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 “city” in Greek?
«πόλη», read “póli”. In a live sentence: “Η Αθήνα είναι μεγάλη πόλη” — Athens is a big city. You can hear how it sounds right on this page. Noun, level A1, from the set “the city and its places”; written with the characters π, λ, η.
How is “πόλη” written in Latin letters?
póli. 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 same root as in 'metropolis' and 'cosmopolitan' — and in city names like Minneapolis. Feminine: i póli. 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.