LingoflyAt a café and a restaurant in Greek
9 words in Greek on the topic “at a café and a restaurant”: καφές (kafés) — coffee, τσάι (tsái) — tea, σαλάτα (saláta) — salad, σούπα (súpa) — soup. 9 words can be played from recordings.
9 words on the topic
- καφέςkaféscoffeemasculine: o kafés. Greek coffee is ordered by sweetness: skétos — plain, métrios — medium, glikós — sweet
- τσάιtsáiteathe ts is one sound, like the ts in cats. Neuter: to tsái. Mountain tea — tsái tu vunoú — is drunk in Greece even more than the regular kind
- σαλάταsalátasaladthe famous 'Greek salad' is called khoriatíki in Greece — village salad. The word 'Greek' in the name appears only abroad
- σούπαsúpasoupou gives the oo of soup — and the accent sits over the second letter of the pair: soú-pa
- θέλωthéloI wantthe th is the th of 'think' — tongue between the teeth. The polite version is tha íthela — I would like
- Τον λογαριασμό, παρακαλώton logariazmó, parakalóthe check, pleaseton is the masculine article in the object form — without it the phrase sounds cut off. Inside the word: lógos, reckoning, plus arithmós, number — the same pair as in logarithm
- 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
- ταβέρναtavérnatavernanot a restaurant but a simple family-run place with home cooking and wine from the barrel. The β reads v: ta-VER-na
- το καφενείοto kafeníocoffee houseneuter. Kafetéria is the modern café; kafenío is the old Greek coffee house where one cup lasts for hours
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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
καφές (kafés) — coffee. Masculine: o kafés. Greek coffee is ordered by sweetness: skétos — plain, métrios — medium, glikós — sweet.
τσάι (tsái) — tea. The ts is one sound, like the ts in cats. Neuter: to tsái. Mountain tea — tsái tu vunoú — is drunk in Greece even more than the regular kind.
σαλάτα (saláta) — salad. The famous 'Greek salad' is called khoriatíki in Greece — village salad. The word 'Greek' in the name appears only abroad.
σούπα (súpa) — soup. Ou gives the oo of soup — and the accent sits over the second letter of the pair: soú-pa.
Test yourself
First by ear — the way you will meet the word in conversation. Click the speaker and pick the translation.
- What is this word?
It is καφές (kafés) — coffee.
- What is this word?
It is ταβέρνα (tavérna) — taverna.
- What is this word?
It is Τον λογαριασμό, παρακαλώ (ton logariazmó, parakaló) — the check, please.
- What is this word?
It is σούπα (súpa) — soup.
- What is this word?
It is τσάι (tsái) — tea.
Now the other way around: recall the spelling from the meaning. That is harder, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “coffee” in Greek?
masculine: o kafés. Greek coffee is ordered by sweetness: skétos — plain, métrios — medium, glikós — sweet
- How do you say “taverna” in Greek?
not a restaurant but a simple family-run place with home cooking and wine from the barrel. The β reads v: ta-VER-na
- How do you say “the check, please” in Greek?
ton is the masculine article in the object form — without it the phrase sounds cut off. Inside the word: lógos, reckoning, plus arithmós, number — the same pair as in logarithm
- How do you say “soup” in Greek?
ou gives the oo of soup — and the accent sits over the second letter of the pair: soú-pa
- How do you say “tea” in Greek?
the ts is one sound, like the ts in cats. Neuter: to tsái. Mountain tea — tsái tu vunoú — is drunk in Greece even more than the regular kind
How to learn the set instead of just reading it
Order, ask the price, ask for the bill. A short and entirely predictable conversation — a convenient place to test yourself for the first time.
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 “coffee” in Greek?
«καφές» (kafés), read “kafés”. Masculine: o kafés. Greek coffee is ordered by sweetness: skétos — plain, métrios — medium, glikós — sweet. It is one of 9 words in the set “at a café and a restaurant” — the rest are in the table above.
How many café phrases do you need to start?
The whole set on this page is 9 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, 9 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.