In Modern Greek the sound /e/ — the "e" of English bed — can be written with the single letter ε (épsilon) or the digraph αι (álfa-ióta). Your ear cannot choose between them. The contrast is lexical in common words such as μέρα and και, but several mediopassive person-number slots provide a dependable grammatical rule.
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 inside the mediopassive paradigm
Greek has active and mediopassive paradigms. In the Class-A model έρχομαι, the three singular forms and 3pl contain αι; 1pl and 2pl instead use ε. The full distribution is visible in one table:
| Person | Present ending | /e/ spelling | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1sg | -ομαι | αι | έρχομαι (I come) |
| 2sg | -εσαι | αι | έρχεσαι (you come) |
| 3sg | -εται | αι | έρχεται (he/she comes) |
| 1pl | -όμαστε | ε, not αι | ερχόμαστε (we come) |
| 2pl | -εστε | ε, not αι | έρχεστε (you all come) |
| 3pl | -ονται | αι | έρχονται (they come) |
Across other mediopassive classes, the corresponding tails -μαι, -σαι, -ται, -νται likewise contain αι: θυμάμαι, κοιμάσαι, αγαπιέται, θεωρούνται. The plural endings corresponding to 1pl and 2pl still use epsilon, as in θυμόμαστε and θυμάστε. The rule is systematic, but it applies by person-number slot rather than to every mediopassive form.
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 2pl -ετε uses ε — and creates one famous trap
Type A active 2pl is -ετε (γράφετε "you write", θέλετε "you want"). Set it beside mediopassive 3sg -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; person, number and voice select the spelling. This exact clash is the heart of the verb-ending spelling page: mediopassive 3sg -εται, Type A active 2pl -ετε.
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 an αι-bearing 1sg mediopassive ending with ε. The tail -μαι contains αι.
❌ Δεν θυμάμε το όνομά της.
Wrong — the 1sg mediopassive-form tail is -μαι with αι.
✅ Δεν θυμάμαι το όνομά της.
dhen thimáme to ónomá tis.
I don't remember her name.
3. Using active -ετε where the subject requires mediopassive -εται. These endings are homophones; the grammatical slot picks the spelling.
❌ Η παραγγελία ετοιμάζετε τώρα από την υπάλληλο.
Wrong — nominative η παραγγελία requires 3sg mediopassive ετοιμάζεται.
✅ Η παραγγελία ετοιμάζεται τώρα από την υπάλληλο.
i paranghelía etimázete tóra apó tin ipálilo.
The order is being prepared now by the employee.
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 systematic distribution: singular -ομαι/-εσαι/-εται and 3pl -ονται contain αι; 1pl -όμαστε and 2pl -εστε use ε.
- Type A active 2pl -ετε gives the homophone pair γράφεται (mediopassive 3sg, αι) versus γράφετε (active 2pl, ε).
- 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.
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Start learning Greek →Related Topics
- Mediopassive Present FormsB1 — A recognition map from a verb's active conjugation class to its present mediopassive shape — Α → -ομαι, Β1 → -ιέμαι, Β2 → -ούμαι, plus the closed -άμαι deponent set — routing to the three pages that drill each full paradigm.
- Spelling Verb EndingsB1 — A verb ending is spelled by its paradigm, not by sound: Type A γράφω, γράφεις, γράφει contrasts with Type B αγαπάω/αγαπώ, αγαπάς, αγαπά(ει), while passive -εται contrasts with active -ετε.
- 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.