In Modern Greek the sound /e/ — the "e" of English bed — can be written two different ways: with the single letter ε (épsilon) or with the two-letter digraph αι (álfa-ióta). Both are pronounced identically, so your ear gives you no clue which one a word takes. This is one of the first real spelling hurdles for a learner, because the choice looks random. It mostly is not: αι clusters in a handful of very common words, and — crucially — it is the fixed spelling of an entire grammatical machine, the passive/mediopassive verb endings. Get that one rule and you have removed the guesswork from hundreds of verb forms at once.
The default is ε
Most of the time, an /e/ sound is written with plain ε. When you meet a new word and have no reason to think otherwise, ε is the safe bet.
Πέρασα μια πολύ ωραία μέρα σήμερα.
pérasa mia polí oréa méra símera.
I had a really nice day today.
Δεν θέλω τίποτα άλλο, ευχαριστώ.
dhen thélo típota álo, efcharistó.
I don't want anything else, thanks.
Κάνει πολλή ζέστη μέσα, ας ανοίξουμε το παράθυρο.
káni polí zésti mésa, as aníksume to paráthiro.
It's very hot inside, let's open the window.
In μέρα, θέλω, ζέστη, μέσα the /e/ is a single ε. There is nothing to memorize here — this is the unmarked, ordinary spelling.
The αι words: και, παιδί, αίμα and friends
A limited set of everyday words spell their /e/ with αι. Because they are so frequent, they are worth learning as a block. The single most important one is the conjunction και ("and") — the most common word in the language after the articles.
Θέλω έναν καφέ και ένα ποτήρι νερό.
thélo énan kafé ke éna potíri neró.
I want a coffee and a glass of water.
Το παιδί κοιμάται ακόμα, μη μιλάς δυνατά.
to pedhí kimáte akóma, mi milás dhinatá.
The child is still asleep, don't talk loudly.
Έδωσα αίμα χθες στο νοσοκομείο.
édhosa éma chthes sto nosokomío.
I gave blood yesterday at the hospital.
Η γυναίκα του δουλεύει σε τράπεζα.
i yinéka tu dhulévi se trápeza.
His wife works at a bank.
Other high-frequency αι words to lock in: γυναίκα (woman), λαιμός (throat/neck), αίθουσα (hall, classroom), αιτία (cause), αιώνας (century), and παίζω / παίρνω at the start of two extremely common verbs.
The systematic rule: passive endings are always αι
Here is where the /e/ spelling stops being a memory game and becomes a rule. Greek verbs come in two voices. The active voice (I do something) and the passive/mediopassive voice (something is done, or I do it to/for myself). The passive endings are, without exception, spelled with αι:
| Person | Passive ending (αι) | Example |
|---|---|---|
| 1sg | -μαι | έρχομαι (I come) |
| 2sg | -σαι | έρχεσαι (you come) |
| 3sg | -ται | έρχεται (he/she comes) |
| 3pl | -νται | έρχονται (they come) |
Every verb that ends in the /e/ sound in these persons takes αι. This covers a huge, high-frequency family: έρχομαι (come), κάθομαι (sit), γίνομαι (become/happen), θυμάμαι (remember), κοιμάμαι (sleep), χρειάζομαι (need), φαίνομαι (seem), σκέφτομαι (think), φοβάμαι (be afraid). Whenever you conjugate one of them, the ending is αι — you never have to wonder.
Έρχομαι σε πέντε λεπτά, μη φεύγεις.
érchome se pénde leptá, mi févyis.
I'm coming in five minutes, don't leave.
Δεν θυμάμαι πού άφησα τα κλειδιά μου.
dhen thimáme pu áfisa ta klidhiá mu.
I don't remember where I left my keys.
Τι γίνεται εδώ; Γιατί φωνάζετε όλοι;
ti yínete edhó; yatí fonázete óli;
What's going on here? Why is everyone shouting?
Ο γιος μου κάθεται πάντα στην ίδια καρέκλα.
o yos mu káthete pánda stin ídhia karékla.
My son always sits in the same chair.
Notice φαίνεται ("it seems") carries αι twice — once in its root (φαιν-) and once in its ending (-εται). Both are the /e/ sound, both are αι.
Active endings use ε — and that creates one famous trap
The active voice, by contrast, spells its /e/ endings with ε: the 2nd-person-plural ending is -ετε (γράφετε "you write", θέλετε "you want"). Set this beside the passive 3rd-person-singular -εται and you get a genuine homophone:
- γράφεται = "it is written" (passive 3sg, αι)
- γράφετε = "you (all) write" (active 2pl, ε)
Both are pronounced ghráfete. Nothing in the sound distinguishes them — only the αι-vs-ε spelling, driven by which verb form you mean. This exact clash is the heart of the verb-ending spelling page; for now, just register the logic: passive → αι, active 2pl → ε.
When αι splits apart: the diaeresis
Sometimes α and ι sit next to each other but are not the /e/ digraph — they are two separate vowels, /a/ + /i/. Greek marks this split in one of two ways. If the stress falls on the α, the accent itself signals the break: Μάιος ("May") is má-i-os, three syllables, not "méos". When no accent falls on the α, a diaeresis (the two dots ¨) goes on the ι to force the split: λαϊκός (la-i-kós, "folk/popular"), καΐκι (ka-í-ki, "small boat"), χαϊδεύω (cha-i-dhévo, "I caress").
Θα παντρευτούν τον Μάιο στο νησί.
tha padreftún ton máio sto nisí.
They're getting married in May on the island.
Κάναμε μια βόλτα με ένα παλιό καΐκι.
káname mia vólta me éna palió kaíki.
We took a ride on an old fishing boat.
So the presence of α-ι does not automatically mean /e/. The accent or the diaeresis tells you whether it is one sound (αι = /e/) or two (ά-ι / α-ϊ = /a.i/).
Common Mistakes
1. Writing the conjunction "and" as ×κε. It is always και.
❌ Θέλω έναν καφέ κε ένα κρουασάν.
Wrong — the conjunction 'and' is spelled και, never ×κε.
✅ Θέλω έναν καφέ και ένα κρουασάν.
thélo énan kafé ke éna kruasán.
I want a coffee and a croissant.
2. Spelling a 1sg passive ending with ε. The -μαι ending is fixed αι.
❌ Δεν θυμάμε το όνομά της.
Wrong — the 1sg passive ending is -μαι with αι.
✅ Δεν θυμάμαι το όνομά της.
dhen thimáme to ónomá tis.
I don't remember her name.
3. Using the active -ετε where you mean the passive -εται. These are homophones; the meaning picks the spelling.
❌ Το φαγητό ετοιμάζετε τώρα από τη μαμά.
Wrong — 'is being prepared' is 3sg passive -εται with αι; -ετε is the active 'you (all) prepare'.
✅ Το φαγητό ετοιμάζεται τώρα από τη μαμά.
to fayitó etimázete tóra apó ti mamá.
The food is being prepared now by mom.
4. Simplifying παιδί to ×πεδί. A handful of core nouns keep αι — memorize them.
❌ Το πεδί παίζει στην αυλή.
Wrong — 'child' is παιδί with αι (and 'plays' is παίζει, also αι).
✅ Το παιδί παίζει στην αυλή.
to pedhí pézi stin avlí.
The child is playing in the yard.
Key Takeaways
- The /e/ sound is written ε by default (μέρα, θέλω, ζέστη) and αι in a set of common words — above all και, plus παιδί, αίμα, γυναίκα.
- The big systematic win: passive/mediopassive endings are always αι — -μαι, -σαι, -ται, -ονται (έρχομαι, γίνεται, θυμάμαι). No guessing.
- Active endings use ε — the 2pl -ετε (γράφετε). This gives the homophone pair γράφεται (αι, passive) vs γράφετε (ε, active).
- When you see ά-ι or α-ϊ (Μάιος, λαϊκός, καΐκι), the vowels split into /a.i/ — that is not the /e/ digraph. The accent or diaeresis marks the break.
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
- Spelling Verb EndingsB1 — A verb ending is spelled by what it does, not by how it sounds. Learn the fixed spellings — active -ω, -εις, -ει; passive -ομαι, -εται — and the three homophone traps they resolve, like γράφεται (is written) vs γράφετε (you write).
- Spelling the /i/ Sound: η ι υ ει οιA2 — The single hardest thing about writing Greek: five different spellings — η, ι, υ, ει, οι (plus archaic υι) — all sound identical, /i/. You can't hear which one a word takes, but you can predict most of them from grammatical endings and word families. This is the page to master.
- Vowel Digraphs: αι, ει, οι, ου, υιA1 — Five two-letter combos spell single vowels: αι = 'e' (και), ει/οι/υι = 'i' (είναι, ποιος), ου = 'u' (μου). Because ει, οι, υι all collapse into 'i' with η/ι/υ, they're the root of Greek's biggest spelling headache — and the diaeresis (Μάιος) exists to un-merge them.