Dates, years and ages in Greek
Three habits to learn: the month goes into the genitive (είκοσι Ιουνίου), the first of the month is an ordinal, and a year is read as one whole number.
Saying a date
Give the day as a cardinal number and the month in the genitive case, “twenty of June”. To say something happens on a date, put στις in front:
- Γεννήθηκε στις είκοσι Ιουνίου. He was born on 20 June.
- Έφτασε στις δεκαέξι Αυγούστου. She arrived on 16 August.
- Η πρώτη Μαΐου: the first of May, with the ordinal πρώτη.
Formal writing and the names of national days use the ordinal for every date: η 25η Μαρτίου, read η εικοστή πέμπτη Μαρτίου, Independence Day; the dictionary glosses δεκαέξι Αυγούστου in the same way as “τη δέκατη έκτη μέρα”. In figures, day comes first: 25/3, 8/10/2026.
The months
| Month | In a date | English |
|---|---|---|
| Ιανουάριος | Ιανουαρίου | January |
| Φεβρουάριος | Φεβρουαρίου | February |
| Μάρτιος | Μαρτίου | March |
| Απρίλιος | Απριλίου | April |
| Μάιος | Μαΐου | May |
| Ιούνιος | Ιουνίου | June |
| Ιούλιος | Ιουλίου | July |
| Αύγουστος | Αυγούστου | August |
| Σεπτέμβριος | Σεπτεμβρίου | September |
| Οκτώβριος | Οκτωβρίου | October |
| Νοέμβριος | Νοεμβρίου | November |
| Δεκέμβριος | Δεκεμβρίου | December |
The days of the week
| Greek | English | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Δευτέρα | Monday | the second day |
| Τρίτη | Tuesday | the third day |
| Τετάρτη | Wednesday | the fourth day |
| Πέμπτη | Thursday | the fifth day |
| Παρασκευή | Friday | the day of preparation |
| Σάββατο | Saturday | the Sabbath |
| Κυριακή | Sunday | the Lord’s day |
Monday to Thursday are ordinals counted from Sunday; the ordinals page has the rest.
Years
A year is one number, read with every rule on the big numbers page, including the feminine χιλιάδες.
- 1821: χίλια οχτακόσια είκοσι ένα
- 1990: χίλια εννιακόσια ενενήντα
- 2004: δύο χιλιάδες τέσσερα
- 2026: δύο χιλιάδες είκοσι έξι
“In” a year is το: το 2004, in 2004.
Ages
Πόσων χρονών είσαι; How old are you? The answer puts the years in the genitive, χρονών (or χρόνων): Είμαι δεκαέξι χρονών. I am sixteen. Most numbers do not change, but three and four, and numbers ending in them, take their genitive forms, τριών and τεσσάρων: ένα παιδί τριών χρόνων, a three-year-old child. In forms and documents you will see the formal ετών: ηλικία 30 ετών.
Questions teachers and learners ask
How do you say the date in Greek?
The day as a number, then the month in the genitive: είκοσι Ιουνίου, the twentieth of June, literally "twenty of June". "On" a date is στις: γεννήθηκε στις είκοσι Ιουνίου, he was born on 20 June. The first of the month is said with the ordinal: η πρώτη Μαΐου, the first of May.
How do you say the year 2026 in Greek?
δύο χιλιάδες είκοσι έξι, as an ordinary number: two thousand twenty six. Greek does not split years into pairs the English way, so 1990 is χίλια εννιακόσια ενενήντα, one thousand nine hundred ninety. "In 2026" is το 2026: το δύο χιλιάδες είκοσι έξι.
How do you ask someone’s age in Greek?
Πόσων χρονών είσαι; to a friend or a child, Πόσων χρονών είστε; politely. The answer uses the genitive χρονών: Είμαι δεκαέξι χρονών, I am sixteen, the Triantafyllidis dictionary’s own example. With three and four the number goes into the genitive too, so a three-year-old is ένα παιδί τριών χρόνων.
Are Greek months and days capitalised?
Yes. Days of the week and months take a capital letter in Greek, as in English: Δευτέρα, Μάρτιος. Dates in figures are written day first, 8/10/2026 for 8 October 2026.
Sources: Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής (Triantafyllidis Foundation): “Γεννήθηκε στις είκοσι Ιουνίου” (είκοσι), “Έφτασε στις δεκαέξι Αυγούστου, τη δέκατη έκτη μέρα” and “Είναι δεκαέξι χρονών” (δεκαέξι), “Ένα παιδί τριών χρόνων” (τρεις); Holton, Mackridge, Philippaki-Warburton and Spyropoulos, Greek: A Comprehensive Grammar (2nd ed., 2012), dates and the genitive.