Letter Combinations – Two letter vowels and consonants

Reading Time: 4 minutes

Hello dearests!
In a previous post, we talked about the Greek alphabet and we analyzed each of the twenty-four letters. Today, we will talk about the letter combinations.

Yes, yes, I know what you are thinking.

Twenty-four letters aren’tenough?

I’m afraid for Greeks the answer is no.
But please do not panic and look on the bright side!

Letter combinations are a vital part of the Greek alphabet and they will help you create and understand even more words and phrases.

Let’s get started then, shall we?

Greek Letter Combinations

Two-letter vowels – Δίψηφα φωνήεντα

We have already seen that the Greek alphabet consists of 7 vowels:

α, ε, η, ι, ο, υ, ω

The Greek language has also 5 two-letter vowels which are the following:

αι, ει, οι, υι, ου

ΑΙ / αι → sounds like e in English

• Example: ten
• Notes: Always a short e sound, like the “e” in bed.

ΕΙ / ει → sounds like i in English

• Example: see
• Notes: A long or pure i sound, like in machine or ski

ΟΙ / οι → sounds like i in English

• Example: see
• Notes: Pronounced the same as ει, a long or pure i sound.

ΥΙ / υι → sounds like i in English

• Example: see
• Notes: Always a long i sound, like ει and οι.
  Rarely used in modern Greek.

ΟΥ / ου → sounds like u in English

• Example: boot
• Notes: A long u sound, like “oo” in food.

The image below will help you understand two-letter vowels better.

Words that include Greek two-letter vowels

Letter Combinations – Examples:

αι

• το παιδί (pedi) – child
• το αίμα (ema) – blood
• κλαίω (kleo) – I cry

ει

• η ειρήνη (irini) – peace
• το εισιτήριο (isitirio) – ticket
• οι ειδήσεις (idisis) – news

οι

• η οικογένεια (ikoyenia) – family
• ο οικοδεσπότης (ikodespotis) – host
• η οικονομία (ikonomia) – economy

υι

• ο υιός (ios) – son
• η υιοθεσία (iothesia) – adoption

ου

• το βουνό (vuno) – mountain
• το λουλούδι (luludi) – flower
• η τούρτα (turta) – cake

Two-letter consonants – Δίψηφα σύμφωνα

We have already seen that the Greek alphabet consists of 17 consonants:  

β, γ, δ, ζ, θ, κ, λ, μ, ν, ξ, π, ρ, σ (ς), τ, φ, χ, ψ.

Apart from those 17, there are 6 two-letter consonants which are the following:

μπ, ντ, γκ, γγ, τσ, τζ.

ΜΠ / μπ – sounds like b in English

• Example: bat
• Notes: Appears at the beginning of words or in the middle. At the start of a word, it’s a hard b sound. In the middle, it may sound closer to mb.

ΝΤ / ντ – sounds like d in English

• Example: dog
• Notes: At the start of a word, it’s a hard d sound. In the middle, it can resemble nd.

ΓΚ / γκ – sounds like g in English

• Example: go
• Notes: Appears at the beginning of a word. In the middle, it may sound like ng.

ΓΓ / γγ – sounds like n + g (like ng in sing)

• Example: sing → the ng sound
• Notes: Always represents a nasal n before the hard g.

ΤΣ / τσ – sounds like ch in English

• Example: chair or cheese
• Notes: Always a voiceless affricate, like ch in “church.”

ΤΖ / τζ – sounds like j in English

• Example: jam
• Notes: Always a voiced affricate, like j in “juice.”

The images below will help you understand two-letter consonants better.

Words that include Greek two-letter consonants

Letter Combinations – Examples:

μπ

• ο μπαμπάς (babas) – father
• το μπαλόνι (baloni) – baloon
• το μπισκότο (biscoto) – biscuit

ντ

• η ντομάτα (domata) – tomatoe
• το δόντι (thodi) – tooth
• ο ελέφαντας (elefadas) – elephant

γκ

• η πριγκίπισσα (prigipissa) – princess
• η αγκαλιά (agalia) – hug
• το σαλιγκάρι (saligari) – snail

γγ

• το αγγούρι (aguri) – cucumber
• το φεγγάρι (fegari) – moon
• ο άγγελος (agelos) – angel

τσ

• η κάλτσα (kalcha) – sock
• η τσάντα (chanda) – bag
• το παπούτσι (paputsi) – shoe

τζ

• το τζάμι (jami) – glass
• ο ταξιτζής (taxijis) – taxidriver
• το τζάκι (jaki) – fireplace

A Final Note on Letter Combinations

Greek letters might look tricky at first, but don’t worry!

Once you get used to their sounds, reading and speaking will start to feel almost like a game. Keep practicing, have fun with it, and soon those letters will start dancing off the page all on their own!

If you’re feeling comfortable with these letter combinations, you can move on to the special sounds of αυ and ευ . They are a bit unique, but you’ve got this!

Well, that was it for today. See you at our next lesson! 🙂