θέλω μια σακούλα
“θέλω μια σακούλα” (thélo mia sakúla) — I need a bag in Greek. Phrase, level A1, topic — shopping and money. literally 'I want a bag': Greek gets by with thélo where English builds 'I need'. Bags have cost money since 2018. In a live sentence: “Θέλω μια σακούλα, παρακαλώ” — I need a bag, please. You can hear how it sounds right here. Written with the characters θ, λ, ω, μ, ι, α, σ, α, κ, ο, λ, α.
In short
| Written in Greek | θέλω μια σακούλα |
| Read in Latin letters | thélo mia sakúla |
| Translation | I need a bag |
| Part of speech | phrase |
| Level | A1 |
- θέλω μια σακούλαthélo mia sakúlaI need a bag
Why it looks that way
literally 'I want a bag': Greek gets by with thélo where English builds 'I need'. Bags have cost money since 2018
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.
- Θέλω μια σακούλα, παρακαλώthélo mia sakúla, parakalóI need a bag, please
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 “I need a bag” in Greek?
literally 'I want a bag': Greek gets by with thélo where English builds 'I need'. Bags have cost money since 2018
- 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 “I need a bag” in Greek?
«θέλω μια σακούλα», read “thélo mia sakúla”. In a live sentence: “Θέλω μια σακούλα, παρακαλώ” — I need a bag, please. You can hear how it sounds right on this page. Phrase, level A1, from the set “shopping and money”; written with the characters θ, λ, ω, μ, ι, α, σ, α, κ, ο, λ, α.
How is “θέλω μια σακούλα” written in Latin letters?
thélo mia sakúla. 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?
literally 'I want a bag': Greek gets by with thélo where English builds 'I need'. Bags have cost money since 2018. 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.