Greek's ordinary way of saying when is the bare accusative — την Κυριακή, το πρωί, τον Αύγουστο — and that pattern is set out in full on Accusative for time and duration. This page is about the much smaller set of time expressions that take the genitive instead. It is worth a page of its own for two reasons: the genitive expressions are extremely high-frequency (you will say του χρόνου every December), and they are not a productive pattern. You cannot decide to put a time noun in the genitive; you have to know which ones already are.
Be warned up front that some textbooks present this area more tidily than the language actually is. Several of the "genitives of time" you will see listed are really attributive genitives — Sunday's paper, not on Sundays — and one or two are not genitives at all. This page separates the four core groups that genuinely exist — plus two closed lists, of frozen idioms and of learned prepositions — from the look-alikes.
1. του χρόνου — next year
The single most useful item in this whole category. Του χρόνου is the genitive of ο χρόνος (the year) and it means, all by itself, next year. It is completely everyday — there is nothing formal or bookish about it.
Του χρόνου τέτοια μέρα θα έχουμε ήδη μετακομίσει.
tu chrónu tétia méra tha échume ídhi metakomísi
This time next year we'll already have moved.
Πέρσι δεν πήγαμε πουθενά, αλλά του χρόνου θα ταξιδέψουμε.
pérsi dhen píghame puthená, alá tu chrónu tha taksidhépsume
Last year we didn't go anywhere, but next year we're going to travel.
Notice the asymmetry in that second sentence: "next year" is a genitive noun phrase, but "last year" is a plain adverb, πέρσι (or πέρυσι). The genitive covers the future direction only: του περασμένου χρόνου exists, but only as an attributive genitive attached to a noun — τα κέρδη του περασμένου χρόνου, "last year's profits" — never as a standalone "last year".
Και του χρόνου! is one of the most-used wishes in the language: you say it at a birthday, a name day, a wedding anniversary, Christmas — anything you hope the person will live to celebrate again.
Χρόνια πολλά, και του χρόνου!
chrónia polá, ke tu chrónu
Many happy returns — and may we do this again next year!
2. Feast days and name days
Here is the one corner of this topic that is still semi-productive, and it is genuinely elegant. To say "on the feast of X", Greek puts the name of the feast or the saint in the genitive. The reason is an ellipsis: the full phrase is την ημέρα *του Αγίου Γεωργίου* ("on the day of Saint George"), the head noun ημέρα drops out, and the genitive is left standing on its own as the whole time expression.
| Genitive | Occasion |
|---|---|
| των Χριστουγέννων | at Christmas |
| της Πρωτοχρονιάς | on New Year's Day |
| του Αγίου Γεωργίου | on Saint George's day (23 April) |
| της Παναγίας | on the Feast of the Dormition (15 August) |
| του Αϊ-Γιάννη | on Saint John's day (informal, clipped form of Αγίου Ιωάννη) |
Των Χριστουγέννων μαζευόμαστε όλοι στο χωριό της γιαγιάς.
ton Christuyénon mazevómaste óli sto chorió tis yayás
At Christmas we all gather in my grandmother's village.
Του Αγίου Γεωργίου γιορτάζει ο πεθερός μου και μαγειρεύει η πεθερά μου.
tu Ayíu Yeoryíu yortázi o petherós mu ke mayirévi i petherá mu
My father-in-law's name day is on Saint George's day, and my mother-in-law does the cooking.
Της Παναγίας το νησί γεμίζει κόσμο και δεν βρίσκεις δωμάτιο πουθενά.
tis Panayías to nisí yemízi kózmo ke dhen vrískis dhomátio puthená
On the fifteenth of August the island fills up and you can't find a room anywhere.
Because this genitive is an ellipsis rather than a case rule, it competes with the accusative for the two biggest holidays: τα Χριστούγεννα and των Χριστουγέννων both mean "at Christmas", the accusative being the more neutral and the genitive carrying a faint traditional flavour. For saints' days, though, the genitive is the only option: the accusative τον Άγιο Γεώργιο is a perfectly good noun phrase, but it can only mean "Saint George" as an object, never "on Saint George's day".
3. Dates: the month goes in the genitive
This one is easy, because English does exactly the same thing with of: the twenty-fifth of March, στις είκοσι πέντε Μαρτίου. The day is accusative (with the feminine plural article στις, from σε), and the month name is genitive: Ιανουαρίου, Φεβρουαρίου, Μαρτίου, Απριλίου, Μαΐου, Ιουνίου…
Ο γάμος τους είναι στις είκοσι δύο Σεπτεμβρίου, αν δεν αλλάξει τίποτα.
o ghámos tus íne stis íkosi dhío Septemvríu, an dhen aláksi típota
Their wedding is on the twenty-second of September, if nothing changes.
Η προθεσμία λήγει στις τριάντα Απριλίου, όχι στις τριάντα μία.
i prothezmía líyi stis triánda Aprilíu, óchi stis triánda mía
The deadline expires on the thirtieth of April, not the thirty-first.
The same partitive logic gives you του μήνα ("of the month") for a date whose month is understood from context — the everyday form, with the (formal) doublet του μηνός on invoices and official letters.
Θα πληρωθούμε στις πέντε του μήνα, όπως πάντα.
tha plirothúme stis pénde tu mína, ópos pánda
We'll get paid on the fifth of the month, as always.
4. Age and span: δέκα χρονών, δύο ωρών δρόμος
Greek states age with a genitive plural, and this is the one place where a learner uses the genitive of time every single day without noticing. Δέκα χρονών is literally "of ten years".
| Everyday | Formal | English |
|---|---|---|
| δέκα χρονών | δέκα ετών | ten years old |
| τριών μηνών | τριών μηνών | three months old |
| ενός χρόνου | ενός έτους | one year old |
Είναι εξήντα χρονών και τρέχει ακόμα μαραθώνιο κάθε χρόνο.
íne eksínda chronón ke tréchi akóma marathónio káthe chróno
He's sixty and he still runs a marathon every year.
Έχω ένα μωρό τεσσάρων μηνών, οπότε μη με ρωτάς πώς κοιμάμαι.
écho éna moró tesáron minón, opóte mi me rotás pos kimáme
I have a four-month-old baby, so don't ask me how I'm sleeping.
Ετών is the (formal) and (official) counterpart of χρονών — you meet it on forms, in news reports and on signs (κάτω των δώδεκα ετών), never over dinner. The same genitive-of-measure builds an attributive span:
Το χωριό είναι δύο ωρών δρόμος από την Αθήνα, αν δεν πέσεις σε κίνηση.
to chorió íne dhío orón dhrómos apó tin Athína, an dhen pésis se kínisi
The village is a two-hour drive from Athens, if you don't hit traffic.
The look-alikes: attributive genitives, not time adverbials
Now the correction that most sources skip. Της Κυριακής does not mean "on Sundays". It is an ordinary possessive-attributive genitive attached to a noun, exactly like English Sunday's. Compare all three shapes:
| Form | Case | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| την Κυριακή | accusative sg. | on Sunday (this coming one) |
| τις Κυριακές | accusative pl. | on Sundays (habitually) |
| της Κυριακής | genitive sg. | Sunday's — attached to a noun, never on its own |
Διαβάζω πάντα την εφημερίδα της Κυριακής με τον καφέ μου.
dhiavázo pánda tin efimerídha tis Kiriakís me ton kafé mu
I always read the Sunday paper with my coffee.
Τις Κυριακές δεν δουλεύει κανένα φαρμακείο εδώ γύρω.
tis Kiriakés dhen dhulévi kanéna farmakío edhó yíro
No pharmacy round here is open on Sundays.
The seasons behave identically: την άνοιξη is "in spring", while της άνοιξης only ever modifies a noun.
Τα βράδια της άνοιξης είναι ακόμα κρύα εδώ πάνω.
ta vrádhia tis ániksis íne akóma kría edhó páno
Spring evenings are still cold up here.
And τα μεσάνυχτα ("at midnight"), which is often filed under this heading, is not a genitive at all — it is a neuter plural accusative, like τα Χριστούγεννα and το βράδυ.
Τα μεσάνυχτα χτύπησε το τηλέφωνο και τρόμαξα.
ta mesánichta chtípise to tiléfono ke trómaksa
The phone rang at midnight and it gave me a fright.
Fixed genitive time-phrases worth learning whole
A handful of attributive genitives have hardened into idioms with a temporal meaning. Learn them as vocabulary; they are not built from a rule.
| Phrase | Meaning | Register |
|---|---|---|
| της ώρας | freshly made, cooked to order (of food) | everyday |
| της στιγμής | spur-of-the-moment, improvised | everyday |
| της τελευταίας στιγμής | last-minute | everyday |
| τέτοια ώρα της νύχτας | at this hour of the night | everyday |
| του παρελθόντος | of the past, bygone | formal / journalistic |
Ήταν απόφαση της στιγμής, χωρίς καθόλου σκέψη.
ítan apófasi tis stighmís, chorís kathólu sképsi
It was a spur-of-the-moment decision, with no thought behind it at all.
Βρήκαμε εισιτήρια της τελευταίας στιγμής για Θεσσαλονίκη.
vríkame isitíria tis teleftéas stighmís ya Thesaloníki
We found last-minute tickets to Thessaloniki.
The formal layer: προ and εντός
Learned prepositions inherited from Katharevousa take a genitive complement, and several of them are temporal. These belong to written and official Greek, and each has a plain spoken counterpart. The full set is on Genitive after learned prepositions.
| Formal | Everyday | English |
|---|---|---|
| προ ημερών | πριν από μερικές μέρες | a few days ago |
| προ ετών | πριν από χρόνια | years ago |
| εντός του μηνός | μέσα στον μήνα | within the month |
| μέχρι τέλους του έτους | μέχρι το τέλος της χρονιάς | by the end of the year |
Η αίτηση πρέπει να υποβληθεί εντός του μηνός.
i étisi prépi na ipovlithí endós tu minós
The application must be submitted within the month. (formal / official)
Τον είχα δει προ ημερών στο κέντρο, αλλά δεν προλάβαμε να μιλήσουμε.
ton ícha dhi pro imerón sto kéndro, alá dhen prolávame na milísume
I'd seen him a few days earlier in the centre, but we didn't get a chance to talk. (formal / written)
Common Mistakes
1. Using the singular genitive of a weekday for a habit. English on Sundays maps onto the accusative plural, not the genitive.
❌ Της Δευτέρας έχω μάθημα ελληνικών.
Incorrect as a time expression — της Δευτέρας can only mean 'Monday's'. For a habit use the accusative plural: τις Δευτέρες.
✅ Τις Δευτέρες έχω μάθημα ελληνικών.
tis Dheftéres écho máthima elinikón
I have a Greek lesson on Mondays.
2. Using του χρόνου for a past year. It points forward only.
❌ Του χρόνου πήγαμε στην Κρήτη με το αυτοκίνητο.
Incorrect — του χρόνου means 'next year', so this cannot be a past event. Use πέρσι.
✅ Πέρσι πήγαμε στην Κρήτη με το αυτοκίνητο.
pérsi píghame stin Kríti me to aftokínito
Last year we drove to Crete.
3. Leaving the month in the nominative in a date. The month is a genitive complement of the day.
❌ Γεννήθηκα στις είκοσι πέντε Μάρτιος.
Incorrect — the month must be genitive: Μαρτίου.
✅ Γεννήθηκα στις είκοσι πέντε Μαρτίου.
yeníthika stis íkosi pénde Martíu
I was born on the twenty-fifth of March.
4. Giving an age in the accusative. Age is a genitive of measure — χρονών, not χρόνια.
❌ Η κόρη μου είναι επτά χρόνια.
Incorrect — as an age it must be the genitive χρονών; επτά χρόνια means 'seven years' as a duration.
✅ Η κόρη μου είναι επτά χρονών.
i kóri mu íne eptá chronón
My daughter is seven.
5. Making the distributive "per" a genitive. Frequency uses the accusative, as on the accusative time page.
❌ Πηγαίνω στο γυμναστήριο δύο φορές της εβδομάδας.
Incorrect — the distributive 'per' takes the accusative: δύο φορές την εβδομάδα.
✅ Πηγαίνω στο γυμναστήριο δύο φορές την εβδομάδα.
piyéno sto yimnastírio dhío forés tin evdhomádha
I go to the gym twice a week.
Key Takeaways
- The accusative is the default for time in Greek. The genitive covers four specific areas and is otherwise not productive — you cannot invent new genitive time phrases.
- του χρόνου = next year, everyday register, future-facing only; "last year" is the adverb πέρσι. Και του χρόνου! is a standard wish.
- Feast days take the genitive by ellipsis of την ημέρα: των Χριστουγέννων, της Πρωτοχρονιάς, του Αγίου Γεωργίου, της Παναγίας.
- In dates the month is genitive: στις είκοσι πέντε Μαρτίου, στις πέντε του μήνα (του μηνός is the (formal) doublet).
- Age is a genitive plural: δέκα χρονών (everyday) / δέκα ετών (formal) — as is an attributive span, δύο ωρών δρόμος.
- της Κυριακής, της άνοιξης are attributive ("Sunday's", "spring's"), never adverbial. "On Sundays" is τις Κυριακές; "in spring" is την άνοιξη. And τα μεσάνυχτα is an accusative, not a genitive.
- προ ημερών, εντός του μηνός are learned genitives belonging to formal writing; speech uses πριν από and μέσα σε.
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- Accusative for Time and DurationA2 — Greek says την Κυριακή, το πρωί, δύο ώρες and τρεις φορές την εβδομάδα with a bare accusative and no preposition at all — covering everything English needs on, in, for and per for — and this page maps exactly when to leave the preposition out and when σε or για is genuinely required.