Lingoflyεφτά
- εφτάeftáseven
“εφτά” (eftá) — seven in Greek. Numeral, level A1, topic — numbers and counting. The everyday form; the bookish eptá is just as correct. Eight and nine flicker the same way — a trace of the language's two norms. In a live sentence: “Η βδομάδα έχει εφτά μέρες” (i vdomáda ékhi eftá méres) — There are seven days in a week. You can hear how it sounds right here. Written with the characters ε, φ, τ, ά.
In short
| Written in Greek | εφτά (eftá) |
| Read in Latin letters | eftá |
| Translation | seven |
| Part of speech | numeral |
| Level | A1 |
Why it looks that way
the everyday form; the bookish eptá is just as correct. Eight and nine flicker the same way — a trace of the language's two norms
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.
Nearby words: numbers and counting
A price, the change, a house number, the time you agreed on, the floor. Numbers are the first thing you have to catch by ear — and the first thing people say fast.
- έναénaonethree genders: énas, mía, éna. It doubles as a soft indefinite article: éna neró — a water, any one will do
- δύοdíotwothe only small number that ignores gender completely. Its root gave English 'duet' and 'dilemma'
- τρίαtríathreethe neuter form; for masculine and feminine it is tréis. An ancient cousin of English 'three'
- τέσσεραtéserafourthe double σσ sounds as a single s. For masculine and feminine it becomes téseris. English 'tetra-' as in tetrahedron comes from the same root
- πέντεpéndefivethe inner nt is nd: PEN-de, not pen-te. The same root as 'pentagon'
- έξιéksisixthe ξ letter packs ks into one sign. Stress on the first syllable, like most Greek numbers
- οχτώokhtóeightthe everyday twin of the bookish októ. The chi is a throaty kh, as in 'loch': okh-TO
- εννιάeniáninethe everyday partner of ennéa. The double νν sounds as one n
- δέκαdékatenthe delta is a soft th as in 'this', so the word comes out gentler than it looks: DHE-ka. 'Decade' and 'decalogue' share the root
- έντεκαéndekaelevenbuilt from éna and déka, one and ten. The same pair of roots hides in 'hendecasyllable', the eleven-syllable line of verse
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “numbers and counting”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “seven” in Greek?
the everyday form; the bookish eptá is just as correct. Eight and nine flicker the same way — a trace of the language's two norms
- How do you say “eight” in Greek?
the everyday twin of the bookish októ. The chi is a throaty kh, as in 'loch': okh-TO
- How do you say “three” in Greek?
the neuter form; for masculine and feminine it is tréis. An ancient cousin of English 'three'
- How do you say “eleven” in Greek?
built from éna and déka, one and ten. The same pair of roots hides in 'hendecasyllable', the eleven-syllable line of verse
- How do you say “six” in Greek?
the ξ letter packs ks into one sign. Stress on the first syllable, like most Greek numbers
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 “seven” in Greek?
«εφτά» (eftá), read “eftá”. In a live sentence: “Η βδομάδα έχει εφτά μέρες” (i vdomáda ékhi eftá méres) — There are seven days in a week. You can hear how it sounds right on this page. Numeral, level A1, from the set “numbers and counting”; written with the characters ε, φ, τ, ά.
How is “εφτά” (eftá) written in Latin letters?
eftá. 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 everyday form; the bookish eptá is just as correct. Eight and nine flicker the same way — a trace of the language's two norms. 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.