The Greek Alphabet: All 24 Letters, Uppercase and Lowercase

Here is the good news nobody tells you before you start: you already know a big chunk of the Greek alphabet. If you have ever solved for x using pi, seen a coefficient called sigma, joined or heard of a fraternity named Delta, Sigma, Alpha, or watched a superhero named Omega, you have already met Greek letters. There are only 24 of them, and a surprising number are hiding in plain sight in your math, physics, and pop culture.

This guide gives you the complete Greek alphabet, uppercase and lowercase, with the name and sound of each letter. Then it walks through the handful of genuine traps (three letters that all sound like "ee", a few letter pairs that change sound when they team up), and lays out a plan to read Greek words within a few days, not months.

You Already Know Half of It

Before the full table, count how many of these you recognize:

• Alpha (Α α) and Beta (Β β) gave us the word alphabet itself, plus "alpha male" and beta testing.
• Pi (Π π) is 3.14159, the most famous constant in math.
• Sigma (Σ σ) means "sum" in math and "standard deviation" in statistics.
• Delta (Δ δ) means "change" in science, and a river delta is named after its triangular Δ shape.
• Omega (Ω ω) is the ohm in electronics and "the end" in the phrase "alpha and omega."
• Lambda (Λ λ), theta (Θ θ), phi (Φ φ), mu (Μ μ), and epsilon (Ε ε) show up all over physics and engineering.

That is already a third of the alphabet you have a head start on. The shapes are familiar; you just need to attach the Greek names and sounds. Everything below builds on that.

The Complete Greek Alphabet: All 24 Letters

Here is the full alphabet in order, with uppercase, lowercase, the letter's name, and the sound it makes in Modern Greek. Read the sound column out loud as you go.

Two shapes to note right away. Sigma has two lowercase forms: σ in the middle of a word and ς at the very end. Same letter, same sound; it just changes costume at the end of a word. And several lowercase letters look nothing like their uppercase twins (Λ/λ, Γ/γ, Δ/δ), so learn both columns together rather than assuming you can guess one from the other.

The Real Traps (Learn These and You Are 90% There)

The Greek alphabet is mostly regular, but a few things trip up every beginner. Front-load them.

Three letters that all sound like "ee." Look at the table again: η (eta), ι (iota), and υ (upsilon) are all pronounced "ee" as in see, identical to each other. Two extra combinations join the club too. This is not a mistake you can reason your way out of by sound alone; you simply have to learn which spelling each word uses. Native audio is your friend here, because the letters are indistinguishable by ear.

Letters that do not sound like their English lookalikes. Three "false friends" cause most of the early confusion:

• Β β is v, not b. Greek beta sounds like "veeta."
• Η η is ee, not "eta" with an "ay" or the English H.
• Ρ ρ is r, not p, even though it looks exactly like a P.
• Χ χ is a throaty "ch" (as in loch), not English ch or x.

Digraphs: two letters that make one new sound. Greek combines certain letters into fixed pairs. These are the ones you truly cannot skip:

• ου = "oo" as in moon. So μου is "moo," not "mou."
• ει and οι = "ee" as in see (the two extra "ee" spellings mentioned above).
• αι = "e" as in bet.
• αυ / ευ = "af/av" and "ef/ev" depending on the next sound.
• γγ and γκ = "ng"/"g", as in angel. The gamma changes its behavior next to another consonant.
• μπ = "b" as in bed, and ντ = "d" as in dog. Because β and δ were repurposed for "v" and "th," Greek spells the plain "b" and "d" sounds with these pairs.

That last point is the key that unlocks a lot of words. When you see μπ at the start of a word, read "b"; when you see ντ, read "d." That is why "bar" in Greek is μπαρ.

A Note on the Accent

Almost every Greek word of two or more syllables carries a single accent mark, like this: ά, έ, ή, ί, ό, ύ, ώ. It looks intimidating but it does you a favor: it tells you exactly which syllable to stress. Greek stress is not decorative; putting it on the wrong syllable can change a word's meaning or just make you hard to understand. The good news is you never have to guess, because the mark is printed right there. Read the accented vowel a little louder and longer, and move on.

The Strategy: Read Greek in a Few Days

You do not need weeks for this. Here is a plan that works:

1. Day 1: the freebies. Nail down the letters you already half-know from math and science: alpha, beta (remember: v), gamma, delta, epsilon, pi, sigma, mu, theta, phi, lambda, omega. That is half the alphabet in one sitting.
2. Day 2: the false friends. Drill the shapes that lie to English readers: Η η (ee), Ρ ρ (r), Χ χ (ch), and the two sigma forms (σ / ς). Ten minutes, done.
3. Day 3: the "ee" club and the digraphs. Group η, ι, υ, ει, οι together and accept that they sound alike. Then learn ου, μπ, ντ, γκ. These are what let you decode real words.
4. From day 4: read real words. Stop drilling charts and start reading. Try these:
   • καλημέρα (kaliMEra) -- good morning
   • ευχαριστώ (efhariSTO) -- thank you
   • ναι (ne) -- yes
   • μπύρα (BEEra) -- beer
   • Ελλάδα (eLAda) -- Greece
   • καφές (kaFES) -- coffee

Notice how much you can already sound out. The alphabet is not the mountain; it is the trailhead, and you clear it in a long weekend.

The fastest way to make the letters stick is to stop staring at charts and start reading Greek that means something. Seeing ευχαριστώ inside a real sentence, hearing a native speaker say it, and reviewing it a few days later does more for your reading than any amount of alphabet flashcards. That is exactly how Hyperpolyglot works: you build cards from real Greek phrases, get instant native audio for each one, and review them with spaced repetition until reading Greek feels automatic. Available on iOS, Android, and Web.

Keep Reading

• How to Learn Greek -- the full beginner roadmap: what to learn first and a step-by-step plan
• Numbers in Greek -- count from one to a million now that you can actually read the words

Twenty-four letters, half of them already familiar, and a short list of traps you can memorize in an afternoon. The Greek alphabet has a fearsome reputation it does not deserve. Give it a few days of real reading and it stops being a code and starts being just... reading.