η πρωτεύουσα
“η πρωτεύουσα” (i protévusa) — capital in Greek. Noun, level A2, topic — the city and its places. From prótos, first: literally 'the first among cities'. In a live sentence: “Η πρωτεύουσα της Ελλάδας είναι η Αθήνα” — The capital of Greece is Athens. You can hear how it sounds right here. Written with the characters η, π, ρ, ω, τ, ε, ο, υ, σ, α. One of 95 words in the set “the city and its places” in the Greek course.
In short
| Written in Greek | η πρωτεύουσα |
| Read in Latin letters | i protévusa |
| Translation | capital |
| Part of speech | noun |
| Level | A2 |
- η πρωτεύουσαi protévusacapital
Why it looks that way
From prótos, first: literally 'the first among cities'
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 πρωτεύουσα της Ελλάδας είναι η Αθήναi protévusa tis Eládas íne i AthínaThe capital of Greece is Athens
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
- πόληpólicitythe same root as in 'metropolis' and 'cosmopolitan' — and in city names like Minneapolis. Feminine: i póli
- 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
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 “capital” in Greek?
From prótos, first: literally 'the first among cities'
- How do you say “bank” in Greek?
literally 'table': the money changers worked at one. The same table gave the geometry term 'trapezoid'
- How do you say “street” in Greek?
one word for street, road and way. The same dromos runs in 'aerodrome', 'hippodrome' and 'velodrome' — places for running
- How do you say “island” in Greek?
neuter: to nisí. Greece counts more than two thousand islands, about two hundred of them inhabited
- How do you say “pharmacy” in Greek?
fármako, medicine, plus -ío, a place. The same scheme built grafeío, an office, and vivliopolío, a bookshop
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 “capital” in Greek?
«η πρωτεύουσα», read “i protévusa”. In a live sentence: “Η πρωτεύουσα της Ελλάδας είναι η Αθήνα” — The capital of Greece is Athens. You can hear how it sounds right on this page. Noun, level A2, from the set “the city and its places”; written with the characters η, π, ρ, ω, τ, ε, ο, υ, σ, α.
How is “η πρωτεύουσα” written in Latin letters?
i protévusa. 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 prótos, first: literally 'the first among cities'. 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.