Open any Greek newspaper, contract, recipe or property listing and you will meet a dozen short words studded with full stops — π.χ., κ.λπ., βλ., τ.μ., π.Χ. — none of which is guessable from its letters and none of which a dictionary lists under an obvious heading. They are a closed set, they recur constantly, and this page expands every one of them. It also owns the thing that makes them a spelling topic rather than a vocabulary one: where the dots go, and why.
The dots are part of the spelling
A Greek abbreviation is not a word with a decoration on the end. The full stop is the signal that a word has been cut short, so it belongs to the spelling exactly as a letter does, and four rules govern it.
1. Every cut element keeps its own stop. κ.λπ. abbreviates και λοιπά — two words, two stops. π.χ. abbreviates παραδείγματος χάριν — again two. Writing the letters with no stop at all is simply a misspelling.
2. The stop is not doubled at the end of a sentence. If an abbreviation closes a sentence, its own final stop does the sentence's work as well. You write …μαχαιροπίρουνα κ.λπ. and stop there.
3. The accent survives only if its vowel does. δηλ. comes from δηλαδή, which is stressed on the last syllable — but that vowel has been cut away, so the short form is written bare. Same for βλ. (βλέπε), σελ. (σελίδα), αρ. (αριθμός), καθ. (καθηγητής). Where the surviving letter is the stressed vowel, the tonos stays put: κ.ά. keeps the ά of άλλα and ό.π. the ό of όπου. So the question is never "do abbreviations take accents" but "did the accented vowel make the cut".
4. An abbreviation that keeps the word's last letter usually drops the stop. Greek writes κα for κυρία, Δρ for δόκτωρ/διδάκτωρ and κος for κύριος (informal) normally with no dot, because nothing has been cut off the end. Compare κ. (κύριος), αρ. (αριθμός), οδ. (οδός), where the word visibly stops mid-word and the dot marks the break.
The stop itself, and the Greek question mark ; that shares its keyboard, belong to Greek punctuation; the accent-dropping in ALL-CAPS text is on capitalization.
Referring, listing, pointing
| Written | Stands for | Means | Read aloud as |
|---|---|---|---|
| π.χ. | παραδείγματος χάρη / χάριν | for example | "πι χι", or the full phrase |
| κ.λπ. / κλπ. | και λοιπά | etc. | και λοιπά |
| κ.τ.λ. / κτλ. | και τα λοιπά | etc. | και τα λοιπά |
| κ.ά. | και άλλα | and others | και άλλα |
| κ.ο.κ. | και ούτω καθεξής | and so on | the full phrase (formal) |
| δηλ. | δηλαδή | that is, i.e. | δηλαδή |
| βλ. | βλέπε | see | βλέπε |
| ό.π. | όπου παραπάνω | ibid., op. cit. (academic) | the full phrase |
| σ. / σσ. | σελίδα / σελίδες | p. / pp. | σελίδα, σελίδες |
| σελ. | σελίδα | page | σελίδα |
| αρ. | αριθμός | number | αριθμός |
| σημ. | σημείωση | note | σημείωση |
Three of these deserve a footnote. σ. against σσ. works like English p. and pp.: doubling the letter pluralises it. ό.π. is expanded differently by different style manuals — όπου παραπάνω in the academic-library guides, όπως παραπάνω among editors and translators, όπου και προηγουμένως in some dictionaries; all three mean "in the work already cited", and you will only ever meet the abbreviation, never the words. And π.χ. has two live expansions and two live readings. The phrase behind it is παραδείγματος χάρη in ordinary Greek and παραδείγματος χάριν in the learned register — χάριν is the surviving ancient form, so the two are a register pair, not a right and a wrong. Read aloud, careful speech restores the whole phrase while conversation simply says the letter-names, πι χι; the examples below give that short reading, because it is what you will actually hear.
Φέρε κάτι απλό, π.χ. ένα μπουκάλι κρασί.
fére káti apló, pi chi éna bukáli krasí
Bring something simple, e.g. a bottle of wine.
Πάρε ό,τι χρειάζεσαι: ρούχα, παπούτσια κ.λπ.
páre óti chriázese: rúcha, papútsia ke lipá
Take whatever you need — clothes, shoes and so on.
Στο μενού είχε και χορτοφαγικά πιάτα, σαλάτες κ.ά.
sto menú íche ke chortofayiká piáta, salátes ke ála
The menu had vegetarian dishes too, salads and others.
Θα έρθουμε την Παρασκευή, δηλ. μεθαύριο.
tha érthume tin Paraskeví, dhiladhí methávrio
We'll come on Friday, that is, the day after tomorrow.
Για τα στοιχεία επικοινωνίας βλ. την τελευταία σελίδα.
ya ta stichía epikinonías vlépe tin teleftéa selídha
For contact details, see the last page.
One small convention worth copying: Greek writes the list without a comma in front of κ.λπ. — ψωμί, γάλα, αυγά κ.λπ., never αυγά, κ.λπ. The abbreviation already begins with και, so the comma would be separating a list from its own conjunction.
π.χ. and π.Χ.: one letter apart, nothing in common
This is the single most useful pair on the page, because the two abbreviations are distinguished only by the case of the chi and mean completely unrelated things.
| Written | Second element | Stands for | Means |
|---|---|---|---|
| π.χ. | lowercase χ | παραδείγματος χάριν | for example |
| π.Χ. | capital Χ | προ Χριστού | BC |
The capital is not decorative. Χ here is the first letter of Χριστός, a proper name, so it is capitalised for the same reason Χριστούγεννα is. In π.χ. the χ belongs to the ordinary noun χάρη / χάριν and stays small.
Dates and eras
π.Χ. is προ Χριστού — προ is one of the learned prepositions and takes the genitive, hence Χριστού. μ.Χ. is μετά Χριστόν, with μετά and the accusative. The mismatched endings are inherited from ancient usage and are not a misprint. Both follow the century or the year, exactly as English BC and AD do — how the century itself is written is on dates.
Το θέατρο χτίστηκε τον τέταρτο αιώνα π.Χ.
to théatro chtístike ton tétarto eóna pro Christú
The theatre was built in the fourth century BC.
Το ψηφιδωτό χρονολογείται στον έκτο αιώνα μ.Χ.
to psifidhotó chronoloyíte ston ékto eóna metá Christón
The mosaic dates to the sixth century AD.
People, addresses, paperwork
| Written | Stands for | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| κ. | κύριος or κυρία | the one you meet on day one — envelopes, emails, forms |
| κα | κυρία | no stop; κος for κύριος is (informal) |
| κ.κ. | κύριοι | plural address (formal) |
| Δρ | δόκτωρ / διδάκτωρ | no stop |
| καθ. | καθηγητής | professor |
| οδ. | οδός | street, on signs and letterheads |
| Τ.Κ. | ταχυδρομικός κώδικας | postcode |
| τ.μ. | τετραγωνικά μέτρα | square metres — every property ad |
| χλμ. | χιλιόμετρα | kilometres |
Ο κ. Βασιλείου θα σας δει στις έντεκα.
o kírios Vasilíu tha sas dhi stis éndeka
Mr Vasileiou will see you at eleven.
Ψάχνουμε διαμέρισμα γύρω στα ογδόντα τ.μ.
psáchnume dhiamérizma yíro sta oghdhónda tetraghoniká métra
We're looking for a flat of about eighty square metres.
Initialisms: the dots are optional, the pronunciation is not
Organisations and official terms are abbreviated to their initials, and here the modern convention has moved: the interior stops are increasingly dropped. ΔΕΗ and Δ.Ε.Η. are both correct, and you will meet both on the same page of the same newspaper — the stopless spelling is now the default in print and online, the dotted one survives in older and more formal documents. Neither takes an accent, since ALL-CAPS text drops every tonos.
| Written | Stands for | Said as |
|---|---|---|
| ΔΕΗ | Δημόσια Επιχείρηση Ηλεκτρισμού | a word — dheí |
| ΟΤΕ | Οργανισμός Τηλεπικοινωνιών Ελλάδος | a word — oté |
| ΚΤΕΛ | Κοινό Ταμείο Εισπράξεων Λεωφορείων | a word — ktel, the intercity bus |
| ΑΜΚΑ | Αριθμός Μητρώου Κοινωνικής Ασφάλισης | a word — ámka |
| ΑΦΜ | Αριθμός Φορολογικού Μητρώου | letter by letter, run together — α-φι-μί |
| ΕΕ | Ευρωπαϊκή Ένωση or Ετερόρρυθμη Εταιρεία | usually expanded in full |
| ΑΕ | Ανώνυμη Εταιρεία | as letters, or expanded — the plc after a company name |
| ΟΕ | Ομόρρυθμη Εταιρεία | as letters, or expanded — general partnership |
Whether a given initialism is pronounced as a word or spelled out is lexical: nothing in ΔΕΗ or ΑΦΜ predicts it, and Greeks who get it wrong sound as odd as an English speaker saying "en-ay-ess-ay" for NASA. The two you need first are the two on your bills.
Πλήρωσα τον λογαριασμό της ΔΕΗ χθες το πρωί.
plírosa ton loghariazmó tis dheí chthes to proí
I paid the electricity bill yesterday morning.
Χρειάζομαι το ΑΦΜ σου για να κόψω το τιμολόγιο.
chriázome to afimí su ya na kópso to timolóyio
I need your tax number so I can make out the invoice.
Common Mistakes
1. Swapping the two chis. A capital Χ turns "for example" into "BC", and a small one turns a date into a shrug. Both directions are wrong and both are common.
❌ Μπορείς να φέρεις κάτι γλυκό, π.Χ. ένα παγωτό.
Incorrect — with a capital Χ this is the era abbreviation. 'For example' is π.χ.
✅ Μπορείς να φέρεις κάτι γλυκό, π.χ. ένα παγωτό.
borís na féris káti ghlikó, pi chi éna paghotó
You could bring something sweet, an ice cream for example.
❌ Ο ναός είναι του πέμπτου αιώνα π.χ.
Incorrect — the era abbreviation is π.Χ., with the capital Χ of Χριστού.
✅ Ο ναός είναι του πέμπτου αιώνα π.Χ.
o naós íne tu pémptu eóna pro Christú
The temple is from the fifth century BC.
2. Leaving the abbreviation with no stop at all. κ.λπ. and κλπ. are both acceptable spellings; a bare κλπ is not, because nothing then marks the word as cut short.
❌ Πήρα ψωμί, γάλα, αυγά κλπ
Incorrect — the abbreviation must close with its full stop: κ.λπ. or κλπ.
✅ Πήρα ψωμί, γάλα, αυγά κ.λπ. από το σούπερ μάρκετ.
píra psomí, ghála, avghá ke lipá apó to súper márket
I got bread, milk, eggs and so on from the supermarket.
3. Doubling the stop at the end of a sentence. The abbreviation's own dot closes the sentence too. One dot, never two.
❌ Έφερε φρούτα, τυριά, ελιές κ.ά..
Incorrect — the abbreviation's stop also ends the sentence; write a single dot.
✅ Έφερε φρούτα, τυριά, ελιές κ.ά. από το χωριό.
éfere frúta, tiriá, elyés ke ála apó to chorió
He brought fruit, cheeses, olives and more from the village.
4. Spacing out the elements. Typing a dot and then reflexively hitting the space bar breaks the abbreviation into two. It is written closed up, however many dots it contains.
❌ Πάρε κάτι ελαφρύ, π. χ. μια σαλάτα.
Incorrect — no space inside the abbreviation: π.χ.
✅ Πάρε κάτι ελαφρύ, π.χ. μια σαλάτα.
páre káti elafrí, pi chi mia saláta
Get something light, a salad for example.
Key Takeaways
- The full stop is part of the spelling: every cut element keeps its own dot (κ.λπ., π.χ., κ.ά.), and a form that keeps the word's last letter usually drops it (κα, Δρ).
- The sentence-final stop is never doubled, and an abbreviation is accented only when the stressed vowel itself survives the cut — κ.ά., ό.π. keep their tonos; δηλ., βλ., σελ., αρ. lose theirs with the syllable that carried it.
- The pair to burn in: π.χ. = παραδείγματος χάρη / χάριν "for example", π.Χ. = προ Χριστού "BC". The capital Χ is the initial of Χριστός.
- μ.Χ. is μετά Χριστόν — accusative after μετά, genitive after προ. The endings differ on purpose.
- κ. is κύριος/κυρία, never και. κα, κ.κ. and Δρ are its relatives.
- Everyday listing abbreviations: κ.λπ. / κτλ. (και λοιπά), κ.ά. (και άλλα), κ.ο.κ. (και ούτω καθεξής), δηλ., βλ., σ./σσ., αρ., τ.μ., χλμ.
- Initialisms are written both ways (ΔΕΗ and Δ.Ε.Η.), and whether they are said as a word (ΔΕΗ, ΚΤΕΛ, ΑΜΚΑ) or spelled out letter by letter (ΑΦΜ, ΑΕ) has to be learned item by item.
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