Πώς γράφεται το όνομά σας;

How is your name spelled? (polite)

Breakdown of Πώς γράφεται το όνομά σας;

• πώς: how
• σας: your
• γράφεται: to be spelled
• το όνομα: the name

Questions & Answers about Πώς γράφεται το όνομά σας;

Why is the verb passive here (γράφεται) instead of active (γράφετε)?

Greek uses the impersonal passive to ask about standard spelling: Πώς γράφεται…; literally “How is … written?” It’s the most neutral, natural way to mean “How do you spell …?” You may also hear the active version with a clitic, e.g., Πώς το γράφετε το όνομά σας;, which focuses more on “How do you (personally) write it?” Both are acceptable; the passive is very common and sounds less “you-centered.”

Is this formal or informal? When would I use σας vs σου?

Σας is the polite/formal or plural “your.” Σου is the informal singular “your.” So:

• Formal: Πώς γράφεται το όνομά σας;
• Informal (to a friend): Πώς γράφεται το όνομά σου;

Why does όνομά have two accent marks in «το όνομά σας»?

Because σας is an enclitic. In Modern Greek, when a word stressed on the antepenultimate (like όνομα) is followed by an enclitic (e.g., μου, σου, του, μας, σας, τους), the word keeps its original accent and gets an extra written accent on its final syllable: το όνομά σας. You’ll see the same in:

• το τηλέφωνό μου
• η θάλασσά σου In speech, you mainly hear the original stress, with a lighter secondary stress near the end.

Is «το όνομά σας» the subject or the object here?

It’s the grammatical subject of the passive verb γράφεται. The sentence literally means “How is your name written?” Greek often places the subject after the verb, especially in questions.

What’s the deal with the semicolon at the end? Why a “;” for a question?

In Greek, the question mark is the semicolon sign: ;. The Greek semicolon, on the other hand, is a raised dot (·, called άνω τελεία). So …σας; is the correct way to mark a question.

How do I pronounce the sentence?

Rough guide with stressed syllables in caps:

• Πώς: pos (close “o” as in “port”, unaspirated p)
• γράφεται: GRA-fe-te (γ is a voiced “gh”/“y” sound [ɣ])
• το: to
• όνομά: O-no-MA (main stress on O, with a lighter stress also on MA in this clitic context)
• σας: sas

Put together: “pos GRA-fe-te to O-no-MA sas?”

Can I say «Πώς το γράφετε το όνομά σας;» instead?

Yes. It’s also idiomatic, especially when you’re literally asking the person to spell it out. Informal: Πώς το γράφεις το όνομά σου; The passive Πώς γράφεται…; is slightly more neutral/impersonal.

How do I ask “How do you pronounce your name?” in Greek?

• Neutral/passive: Πώς προφέρεται το όνομά σας;
• Active: Πώς το προφέρετε το όνομά σας; Informal: Πώς προφέρεται/Πώς το προφέρεις το όνομά σου;

How do I ask specifically about the surname or the first name?

• Surname: Πώς γράφεται το επίθετό σας;
• First name: Πώς γράφεται το μικρό σας όνομα; (You’ll see the extra accent with the enclitic again: το επίθετό σας.)

How do people typically answer this question in Greek?

Common ways:

• Spelling it out by letters: Μ-α-ρ-ί-α.
• Naming the letter(s): Με γιώτα. Με ήτα. Με ωμέγα. (ι = γιώτα, η = ήτα, ω = ωμέγα, υ = ύψιλον, α = άλφα)
• Indicating double letters: Με διπλό λ (διπλό λάμδα).
• Describing the ending: Με -ης στο τέλος.
• Mentioning the stress: Με τόνο στο α.

I mix up γράφεται, γράφετε, and γράφεστε. What’s the difference?

• γράφεται = “it is written/spelled” (3rd person singular, passive)
• γράφετε = “you write” (2nd person plural; used for you-plural or polite you-singular)
• γράφεστε = “you enroll/register (yourselves)” (2nd person plural, middle) — not used for spelling

Why do we need the definite article «το»? Can I drop it?

Greek normally uses the definite article with possessed nouns, even where English would omit “the.” So το όνομά σας is the natural form. Όνομά σας without το is not idiomatic here.

Can I move the noun to the front: «Το όνομά σας πώς γράφεται;»?

Yes. Greek word order is flexible, and this is perfectly natural. Fronting Το όνομά σας adds slight emphasis to “your name.”

What if I’m talking to several people and mean “your names” (plural)?

Use the plural noun and verb:

• Πώς γράφονται τα ονόματά σας; (“How are your names written/spelled?”)

Do I really need the accent on «Πώς»? What’s the difference between «Πώς» and «πως»?

Yes—use the accent.

• Πώς (with accent) = “how”
• πως (without accent) = “that” (a conjunction, roughly like “that/that is”) So here it must be Πώς.

Should I write accents on capital letters?

In normal mixed-case writing, yes: keep the tonos, e.g., Πώς. In all-caps text, the accent is usually omitted (ΠΩΣ), but when only the first letter is capitalized, you write the accent as shown.