Elision and Synizesis

Greek dislikes two vowels crashing into each other. When a word ending in a vowel meets a word beginning with one — σε αυτό, από εδώ, θα έρθω — the language smooths the seam, either by dropping one of the vowels (elision) or by merging two vowels into a single syllable (synizesis). The result is not sloppy or lazy speech: σ' αυτό and θα 'ρθω are the normal, idiomatic forms, and pronouncing every vowel in full makes you sound stiff, over-careful, or foreign. This page shows you which words elide, where the apostrophe goes, and why μια is one syllable, not two.

Elision (έκθλιψη): dropping the first word's final vowel

Elision (Greek έκθλιψη, ékthlipsi) drops the unstressed final vowel of a word when the next word starts with a vowel. An apostrophe takes the vowel's place, written on the word that lost it. The classic eliders are the prepositions σε, από, με and a few short words:

• σε αυτό → σ' αυτό ("in/at this")
• από εδώ → απ' εδώ ("from here")
• με αυτόν → μ' αυτόν ("with him")
• από την → απ' την ("from the")

Only the unstressed final vowel elides. That's why σε → σ' and από → απ' but a word whose final vowel is accented keeps it. This links to the preposition σε and preposition από, which you'll almost always meet in their elided shapes before a vowel.

Aphaeresis: the mirror image (θα 'ρθω)

The opposite trick also exists: sometimes it's the second word's initial vowel that drops, after a word ending in a vowel. Greek grammar calls this αφαίρεση (aféresi, "taking-away"), and the apostrophe stands before the shortened word. It's most common after the particles θα and να and after object pronouns:

• θα έρθω → θα 'ρθω ("I'll come")
• να είμαι → να 'μαι ("[that] I be")
• το είπα → το 'πα ("I said it")
• μου έδωσε → μου 'δωσε ("he gave me")

Synizesis (συνίζηση): two vowels, one syllable

Elision removes a vowel; synizesis (συνίζηση, sinízisi) keeps both but fuses them into a single syllable, with the first vowel turning into a y-glide. This is why some of the commonest Greek words have one fewer syllable than their spelling suggests:

• μια = one syllable, "mya" (not mi-a)
• ποιος = one syllable, "pyos" (not pi-os)
• δυο = one syllable, "dhyo"
• δουλειά = dhu-lyá (the -ειά is one syllable, yá)
• παιδιά = pe-dhyá ("children")

Because μια, ποιος, δυο are single syllables, they take no tonos — remember that monosyllables are normally unaccented. And this produces a genuine minimal pair worth memorising:

Idiomatic, not optional-feeling

The point that trips learners is register. Full forms like σε αυτό, από εδώ, θα έρθω are grammatically fine — but in speech and ordinary writing they sound heavy and hyper-correct, the way "I am not going to" sounds stiff next to "I'm not gonna" in English. Elision and aphaeresis are the default in speech and in most prose; the full forms belong to slow, formal, or emphatic delivery. Synizesis, meanwhile, is not optional at all: pronouncing μια as mi-a or ποιος as pi-os sounds distinctly archaic or non-native. English does the same thing without noticing — million is said mil-yun, onion is un-yun — so the mechanism is familiar; Greek just makes it standard and lets it affect syllable-counting and accents.

Note the family resemblance to the final-ν rule and to και → κι: all of these are Greek smoothing the joints between words so speech flows.

Common Mistakes

1. Putting the apostrophe on the wrong word (or the wrong vowel). In σ' αυτό it is σε that lost its ε, so the apostrophe attaches to σ'.

2. Accenting μια as if it were two syllables. As the "a/an" article it's a monosyllable and takes no tonos.

3. Pronouncing synizesis vowels apart. ποιος is pyos, one beat — not pi-os.

4. Over-eliding in genuinely formal writing. In a contract, an essay, or a speech, the full forms (σε αυτό, θα έρθω) are the safer register; save the apostrophized forms for speech and informal prose.

Key Takeaways

• Elision (έκθλιψη): an unstressed final vowel drops before a vowel; apostrophe on the first word — σ' αυτό, απ' εδώ, μ' αυτόν. Chief eliders: σε, από, με.
• Aphaeresis: the initial vowel of the second word drops after θα, να, and pronouns; apostrophe before it — θα 'ρθω, να 'μαι, το 'πα.
• Synizesis (συνίζηση): two vowels fuse into one syllable — μια (mya), ποιος (pyos), δυο (dhyo), παιδιά (pedhyá) — so they take no accent.
• Watch μια (article, 1 syllable) vs μία (numeral "one", 2 syllables).
• These forms are idiomatic, not sloppy: full forms read stiff in speech; reserve them for formal registers.