Lingoflyδεν έχει σήμα
- δεν έχει σήμαden ékhi símano signal
“δεν έχει σήμα” (den ékhi síma) — no signal in Greek. Phrase, level A2. Impersonal échei: literally 'it has no signal' — with no subject. In a live sentence: “Στο βουνό δεν έχει σήμα” (sto vunó den ékhi síma) — There is no signal in the mountains. You can hear how it sounds right here. Written with the characters δ, ε, ν, έ, χ, ε, ι, σ, ή, μ, α. A word from the everyday Greek course, level A2.
In short
| Written in Greek | δεν έχει σήμα (den ékhi síma) |
| Read in Latin letters | den ékhi síma |
| Translation | no signal |
| Part of speech | phrase |
| Level | A2 |
Why it looks that way
impersonal échei: literally 'it has no signal' — with no subject
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.
- Στο βουνό δεν έχει σήμαsto vunó den ékhi símaThere is no signal in the mountains
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 “no signal” in Greek?
«δεν έχει σήμα» (den ékhi síma), read “den ékhi síma”. In a live sentence: “Στο βουνό δεν έχει σήμα” (sto vunó den ékhi síma) — There is no signal in the mountains. You can hear how it sounds right on this page. Phrase, level A2; written with the characters δ, ε, ν, έ, χ, ε, ι, σ, ή, μ, α.
How is “δεν έχει σήμα” (den ékhi síma) written in Latin letters?
den ékhi síma. 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?
Impersonal échei: literally 'it has no signal' — with no subject. 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 this 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.