Greek has three closely related exclamatory frames: indeclinable τι introduces an evaluated quality or situation, indeclinable adverbial πόσο marks a remarkable degree, and agreeing πόσος / πόση / πόσο marks a remarkable quantity before a noun. They look like question expressions, but an exclamation displays the speaker's reaction rather than asking the listener to supply missing information.
Τι + adjective + noun
Before a noun phrase, τι means “what a...” or “what...” and never changes form. Any adjective after it agrees with the noun in the ordinary way.
Τι ωραία μέρα διαλέξατε για την εκδρομή!
ti oréa méra dhaléksate ya tin ekdhromí!
What a lovely day you chose for the excursion!
Τι όμορφο δώρο σου έφερε η αδερφή σου!
ti ómorfo dhóro su éfere i adherfí su!
What a beautiful gift your sister brought you!
Τι δύσκολες ερωτήσεις έβαλαν στις εξετάσεις!
ti dhískoles erotísis évalan stis eksetásis!
What difficult questions they put on the exam!
In these examples τι is unchanged. Ωραία is feminine singular because of μέρα, όμορφο is neuter singular because of δώρο, and δύσκολες is feminine plural because of ερωτήσεις. The agreement lives inside the noun phrase; it is not agreement on τι.
The noun can also stand without an adjective when its evaluation is recoverable:
Τι τύχη να βρούμε τραπέζι χωρίς κράτηση!
ti tíchi na vrúme trapézi chorís krátisi!
What luck to find a table without a reservation!
Τι θόρυβος είναι αυτός τέτοια ώρα!
ti thórivos íne aftós tétia óra!
What is all this noise at this hour!
Standalone Τι + evaluation
Greek can use τι with a compact evaluation that has no overt noun: τι ωραία!, τι κρίμα! The shape is conventional and highly productive with suitable evaluative words.
Τι ωραία που θα έρθετε κι εσείς στο χωριό!
ti oréa pu tha érthete ki esís sto chorió!
How lovely that you'll come to the village too!
Τι κρίμα που χάσαμε την τελευταία παράσταση!
ti kríma pu chásame tin teleftéa parástasi!
What a shame that we missed the final performance!
A following που clause gives the fact being evaluated. It does not turn τι into a question word requiring an answer.
Adverbial πόσο + adjective or adverb
Adverbial πόσο means “how” to a remarkable degree. It modifies an adjective or adverb and is invariable, even when that adjective agrees with a feminine or plural noun.
Πόσο ήσυχη είναι η πόλη νωρίς το πρωί!
póso ísichi íne i póli norís to proí!
How quiet the city is early in the morning!
Πόσο χαρούμενα έτρεξαν τα παιδιά στην αυλή!
póso charúmena étreksan ta pedhiá stin avlí!
How happily the children ran into the yard!
In the first sentence, feminine ήσυχη agrees with η πόλη; πόσο does not. In the second, neuter-plural χαρούμενα functions adverbially with έτρεξαν, while πόσο remains unchanged.
Adverbial πόσο + verb
Πόσο can also measure the degree of a verb phrase. Object clitics and other preverbal material stay in their normal places.
Πόσο μου έλειψες αυτούς τους μήνες!
póso mu élipses aftús tus mínes!
How much I missed you these past months!
Πόσο χάρηκαν οι γονείς σου όταν άκουσαν τα νέα!
póso chárikan i ghonís su ótan ákusan ta néa!
How happy your parents were when they heard the news!
English often places how much after the verb: “I missed you so much.” Greek readily fronts πόσο to frame the whole clause as exclamatory. The internal verb syntax remains normal: μου έλειψες, not a special exclamative clitic order.
Agreeing πόσος + noun
Before a noun denoting the measured quantity, Greek uses the determiner πόσος / πόση / πόσο. Unlike adverbial πόσο, this word agrees in gender, number, and case.
| Noun type | Form | Example phrase |
|---|---|---|
| masculine singular | πόσος | πόσος κόσμος |
| feminine singular | πόση | πόση υπομονή |
| neuter singular | πόσο | πόσο νερό |
| masculine plural | πόσοι | πόσοι άνθρωποι |
| feminine plural | πόσες | πόσες βαλίτσες |
| neuter plural | πόσα | πόσα πράγματα |
Πόσος κόσμος μαζεύτηκε μπροστά στο θέατρο!
pósos kózmos mazéftike brostá sto théatro!
What a crowd gathered in front of the theater!
Πόση υπομονή έχεις με όλα αυτά τα προβλήματα!
pósi ipomoní échis me óla aftá ta provlímata!
How much patience you have with all these problems!
Πόσα πράγματα κουβαλάς μέσα σ' αυτή την τσάντα!
pósa prághmata kuvalás mésa s' aftí tin tsánda!
How many things you're carrying in that bag!
Case also matters. Accusative masculine is visible in πόσους φίλους, while feminine plural retains πόσες in nominative and accusative.
Πόσους φίλους κάλεσες στο μικρό σου σπίτι!
pósus fílus káleses sto mikró su spíti!
How many friends you invited to your little apartment!
For the related demonstrative quantity system—τόσος, τόση, τόσο “that much/many”—see τέτοιος and τόσος.
Exclamation or question?
The words alone do not settle the speech act. Compare:
Πόσο χρόνο χρειάζεστε για την επισκευή;
póso chróno chriázeste ya tin episkeví;
How much time do you need for the repair?
Πόσο χρόνο χάσαμε περιμένοντας στην ουρά!
póso chróno chásame periménondas stin urá!
How much time we lost waiting in line!
Both contain accusative πόσο χρόνο. The first opens an information slot and ends in the Greek question mark ;. The second presents the amount as excessive and ends in !. In speech, context and exclamatory prominence do the work; no punctuation is audible.
Similarly, Τι ωραία μέρα! evaluates a day, while Τι μέρα είναι σήμερα; asks for the date or day of the week. Question formation itself belongs to wh-questions.
Common Mistakes
Making adverbial πόσο agree
❌ Πόση όμορφη είναι η παλιά πόλη!
Incorrect—before the adjective όμορφη, adverbial πόσο is invariable.
✅ Πόσο όμορφη είναι η παλιά πόλη το βράδυ!
póso ómorfi íne i paliá póli to vrádhi!
How beautiful the old town is at night!
Leaving determiner πόσος uninflected before a feminine noun
❌ Πόσο υπομονή έδειξες με τους πελάτες!
Incorrect—the quantity word modifies feminine υπομονή, so it is πόση.
✅ Πόση υπομονή έδειξες με τους δύσκολους πελάτες!
pósi ipomoní édhikses me tus dhískolus pelátes!
What patience you showed with the difficult customers!
Mismatching the adjective after τι
❌ Τι ωραίος μέρα έκανε σήμερα!
Incorrect—ωραίος must agree with feminine μέρα: ωραία.
✅ Τι ωραία μέρα έκανε σήμερα μετά τη βροχή!
ti oréa méra ékane símera metá ti vrochí!
What a lovely day it was today after the rain!
Letting the intended speech act choose the punctuation
The version with ; is grammatical when the speaker genuinely requests an assessment. Use ! when the same frame displays the speaker's own amazed evaluation.
✅ Πόσο γρήγορα πέρασε το καλοκαίρι;
póso ghríghora pérase to kalokéri;
How quickly did the summer pass? (genuine question requesting an assessment)
✅ Πόσο γρήγορα πέρασε φέτος το καλοκαίρι!
póso ghríghora pérase fétos to kalokéri!
How quickly the summer passed this year!
Key Takeaways
- Τι is indeclinable; adjectives inside its noun phrase agree normally.
- Adverbial πόσο is invariable before adjectives, adverbs, and verbs.
- Determiner πόσος / πόση / πόσο agrees with the noun in gender, number, and case.
- The same forms can ask or exclaim. The expected response, context, intonation, and final ; / ! reveal the speech act.
Now practice Greek
Reading grammar gets you part of the way. The exercises are where it sticks — free, no signup needed.
Start learning Greek →Related Topics
- τέτοιος and τόσοςB1 — Greek points at kinds and quantities the way it points at objects: τέτοιος is 'that sort of' and τόσος is 'that much', and both decline and agree — τέτοια προβλήματα, τόση ζέστη, τόσα λεφτά. The hard part is that τόσο is also an invariable adverb, so Είναι τόσο ωραία never agrees while Τόση ζέστη! always does.
- Wh-Questions (ποιος, τι, πού...)A1 — Build neutral Greek information questions by fronting the complete wh-phrase, keeping ordinary clause order after it, and carrying any preposition to the front instead of stranding it.
- Exclamations OverviewA2 — See how Greek reuses question words, interjections, address particles, and intonation to express surprise, admiration, pain, impatience, and other reactions.