LingoflyNumbers and counting in Greek
57 words in Greek on the topic “numbers and counting”: ένα (éna) — one, δύο (dío) — two, τρία (tría) — three, τέσσερα (tésera) — four. 57 words can be played from recordings.
57 words on the topic
- 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
- εφτάeftáseventhe everyday form; the bookish eptá is just as correct. Eight and nine flicker the same way — a trace of the language's two norms
- 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
- δώδεκαdódekatwelvethe root behind 'dodecahedron' and the Dodecanese — the island group 'of twelve'
- δεκατρίαdekatríathirteenfrom thirteen on, the pattern is déka plus the digit, glued into one word
- δεκατέσσεραdekatéserafourteentéssera is four. Watch the gender: with people, thirteen and fourteen take a different set of forms than with things
- δεκαπέντεdekapéndefifteenAugust 15 — the biggest summer feast — is one long word built on it: Dekapentaavgoustos
- δεκαέξιdekaéksisixteenéksi is six — don't mix it up with éxo, outside
- δεκαεπτάdekaeptáseventeenin casual speech it becomes dekaeftá, spelled with a φ. Both forms are in circulation
- δεκαοκτώdekaoktóeighteencasual speech shortens it to dekaokhtó. The same pi/phi and kt/kht flicker as with seventeen
- δεκαεννιάdekaeniánineteenthe bookish form is dekaennéa; in speech you will almost always hear dekaeniá
- είκοσιíkositwentyfrom here the count turns composite: íkosi éna — twenty one, written apart
- τριάνταtriándathirtynt inside the word reads nd: tri-AN-da. The same root as 'triad'
- σαράνταsarándafortythe forty days of mourning are called ta saránda — an important mark in the calendar of remembrance
- πενήνταpeníndafiftyfrom pénde, five. Pentikostí — Pentecost — is literally 'the fiftieth day'
- εξήνταeksíndasixtyfrom éksi, six. Sixty minutes to the hour: exínda leptá
- εβδομήνταevdomíndaseventybuilt on the bookish eptá through evdom-, the same stem as evdomáda, the week
- ογδόνταogdóndaeightyfrom októ, eight; the same root as 'octave' and 'October'
- ενενήνταeneníndaninetyfrom ennéa, nine. Every ten from thirty on ends in -nda
- εκατόekatóhundredthe root of 'hecatomb' and the metric prefix 'hecto-'. Two hundred is diakósia
- χίλιαkhíliathousandthe root of 'kilometer' and 'kilogram'. Khília efkharistó — a thousand thanks — is a warm way to say it
- το εκατομμύριοto ekatomíriomillionfrom ekató, hundred, and mýrioi, ten thousand: a hundred times ten thousand
- μηδένmidénzerofrom midé — 'and not': literally not one. In a score too: dío midén — two nil
- πρώτοςprótosfirstthe root of 'prototype' and 'proton'. It changes with gender: prótos, próti, próto
- δεύτεροςdéfterossecondMonday is Deftéra — the second day of the week
- τρίτοςtrítosthirdTuesday is Tríti. Ordinals differ from cardinals by their endings
- τελευταίοςteleftéoslastfrom télos, an end. As an adverb, teleftéa means 'lately'
- πόσαpósahow muchfor countable things pósa; for an amount of stuff póso
- το ζευγάριto zevgáripaira pair of objects and a pair of people alike. From zygós, a yoke — the beam that pairs the oxen
- το τεμάχιοto temákhiopieceon price tags it shrinks to tem. In speech komáti is more common
- τοις εκατόtis ekatópercentliterally 'per hundred' — an old case form frozen into the phrase
- κάθεkátheeachnever changes for gender or number — a rarity in Greek
- διακόσιαdiakósiatwo hundredchanges with gender: diakósii men, diakósies women, diakósia euros
- τριακόσιαtriakósiathree hundredfrom tría, three. Every hundred is built the same way: the number plus -kósia
- τετρακόσιαtetrakósiafour hundredfrom téssera, four, with the stem shortened to tetra- in the hundreds
- πεντακόσιαpendakósiafive hundredfrom pénde, five. You will rarely meet a five-hundred-euro note in daily life
- εξακόσιαeksakósiasix hundredfrom éksi, six, with a ξ appearing at the joint: ek-sa-KO-sia
- εφτακόσιαeftakósiaseven hundredalso written eptakósia in the learned style; everyday speech prefers eftakósia
- οχτακόσιαokhtakósiaeight hundredthe bookish twin oktakósia spells it with kt. The learned/everyday pair mirrors seven hundred
- εννιακόσιαeniakósianine hundredfrom enniá, nine. The formal enneakósia exists on paper but not in speech
- τέταρτοςtétartosfourththe neuter téssero also means a quarter — of an hour or of anything
- πέμπτοςpémptosfifthThursday is Pémpti — the fifth day, counting from Sunday
- έκτοςéktossixthdon't mix it with ektós, except — the accent alone tells them apart
- έβδομοςévdomosseventhfrom the same root as evdomáda, the week — a seven of days
- όγδοοςógdooseighththe two o letters are read apart: O-gdho-os
- ένατοςénatosninthfrom enniá but with a single ν, and the stress jumps to the first syllable
- δέκατοςdékatostenthbeyond this, ordinals are built by addition: dékatos trítos — thirteenth
- εκατοστόςekatostóshundredthdon't confuse with ekatostó — a hundredth as a unit — it is the same ordinal in the neuter
- ο αριθμόςo arithmósnumberthe root of 'arithmetic'. Both a number and a phone number
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How it sounds in a sentence
A word list is a blank. Conversation is made of sentences, and these are the ones the words fit into most often.
What is worth knowing about these words
ένα (éna) — one. Three genders: énas, mía, éna. It doubles as a soft indefinite article: éna neró — a water, any one will do.
δύο (dío) — two. The only small number that ignores gender completely. Its root gave English 'duet' and 'dilemma'.
τρία (tría) — three. The neuter form; for masculine and feminine it is tréis. An ancient cousin of English 'three'.
τέσσερα (tésera) — four. The double σσ sounds as a single s. For masculine and feminine it becomes téseris. English 'tetra-' as in tetrahedron comes from the same root.
Test yourself
First by ear — the way you will meet the word in conversation. Click the speaker and pick the translation.
Now the other way around: recall the spelling from the meaning. That is harder, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “one” in Greek?
three genders: énas, mía, éna. It doubles as a soft indefinite article: éna neró — a water, any one will do
- 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 “fifteen” in Greek?
August 15 — the biggest summer feast — is one long word built on it: Dekapentaavgoustos
- How do you say “forty” in Greek?
the forty days of mourning are called ta saránda — an important mark in the calendar of remembrance
- How do you say “thousand” in Greek?
the root of 'kilometer' and 'kilogram'. Khília efkharistó — a thousand thanks — is a warm way to say it
How to learn the set instead of just reading it
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.
A list is read in a minute and forgotten in a day. What works: hide the translation, try to recall, get it wrong — and come back to the same words tomorrow.
- 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.
- Study spread over days wins not only in experiments but in ordinary classrooms, with real students.checked many timesMawson & Kang, 2025, Behavioral Sciences 15(6):771 · 22 studies, d = 0.54 (confidence interval 0.31–0.77). The authors warn that individual studies disagree widely.
Frequently asked
How do you say “one” in Greek?
«ένα» (éna), read “éna”. Three genders: énas, mía, éna. It doubles as a soft indefinite article: éna neró — a water, any one will do. It is one of 57 words in the set “numbers and counting” — the rest are in the table above.
How many numbers do you need to start?
The whole set on this page is 57 words, but there is no need to start with all of it: the words you will need in the next few days are enough. Take them a few at a time — five to seven new ones per session.
Is there audio?
Yes, 57 words on this page can be played — click the speaker next to the word. The sound works on any phone, and nothing needs to be installed.