Greek numbers 1 to 10

Ten words to learn by heart, each with its accent. Two of them give English speakers trouble: δύο starts with the th of “this”, and εννιά squeezes its ι into a y sound, e-NYA.

ένα

E-na

/ˈena/

English: henotheism (worship of one god), from Ancient Greek heis, hen

δύο

THEE-o

/ˈði.o/

English: dyad, a pair

τρία

TREE-a

/ˈtri.a/

English: tripod, trilogy

τέσσερα

TE-se-ra

/ˈtesera/

English: tetrahedron, tetrapod

πέντε

PEN-de

/ˈpende/

English: pentagon, pentathlon

έξι

E-ksee

/ˈeksi/

English: hexagon

εφτά

ef-TA

/efˈta/

English: heptathlon, heptagon

οχτώ

okh-TO

/oxˈto/

English: octopus, octagon

εννιά

e-NYA

/eˈɲa/

English: ennead, a set of nine

δέκα

THE-ka

/ˈðeka/

English: decade, decathlon

Counting things: the gender of one, three and four

The list above is how Greek counts aloud, in the neuter. Put a noun after the number and one, three and four agree with it: ένας σκύλος (one dog), μία γάτα (one cat), ένα ψάρι (one fish); τέσσερις σκύλοι, τέσσερις γάτες, τέσσερα ψάρια. The gender page has every form.

On to twenty

έντεκα and δώδεκα are single words to learn. From thirteen, Greek writes ten and the unit as one word, δεκα- plus the number: δεκατρία is ten-three. Seventeen to nineteen follow the spoken forms of seven to nine, so they read δεκαεφτά, δεκαοχτώ, δεκαεννιά. Twenty, είκοσι, is a new word.

Figure	Greek	Say it
11	έντεκα	EN-de-ka
12	δώδεκα	THO-the-ka
13	δεκατρία	the-ka-TREE-a
14	δεκατέσσερα	the-ka-TE-se-ra
15	δεκαπέντε	the-ka-PEN-de
16	δεκαέξι	the-ka-E-ksee
17	δεκαεφτά	the-ka-ef-TA
18	δεκαοχτώ	the-ka-okh-TO
19	δεκαεννιά	the-ka-e-NYA
20	είκοσι	EE-ko-see

Printing this for a class? The worksheet generator has 1 to 10 and 1 to 20 ranges, and the 1 to 100 page carries the chart PDF.

Questions teachers and learners ask

How do you say 1 to 10 in Greek?

ένα (E-na), δύο (THEE-o), τρία (TREE-a), τέσσερα (TE-se-ra), πέντε (PEN-de), έξι (E-ksee), εφτά (ef-TA), οχτώ (okh-TO), εννιά (e-NYA), δέκα (THE-ka). The capitals mark the stressed syllable, which is the one carrying the accent in Greek spelling.

Why is two pronounced with a th sound?

The Greek letter δ (delta) is pronounced like the th in "this", not like an English d. So δύο begins with that soft th, and so do δέκα and δώδεκα. The phonetic symbol is [ð].

Which numbers from 1 to 10 change?

Only three: one, three and four. Counting, they are ένα, τρία, τέσσερα. Before a masculine noun they become ένας, τρεις, τέσσερις, and before a feminine noun μία, τρεις, τέσσερις. Two and five to ten do not change.

How do you write 16 in Greek, δεκαέξι or δεκάξι?

Both appear. The Triantafyllidis dictionary gives δεκαέξι first and δεκάξι as the shorter spoken variant. This site writes δεκαέξι, and the worksheets accept δεκάξι.

Sources: spellings and variants from the Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής (Triantafyllidis Foundation), entries ένας, οχτώ, εννιά, δεκαέξι, δεκαεφτά, δεκαοχτώ, δεκαεννέα; sound values and IPA after Arvaniti, “Standard Modern Greek”, Journal of the International Phonetic Association 29(2), 1999; English derivations from the Wiktionary etymologies of each English word (for example ennead, from Ancient Greek ἐννεάς, and dyad, from δυάς).