The 100 Most Common Greek Words

These are the 100 most common Greek words, ranked by how often they appear in real Greek text and speech, drawn from published word-frequency research. Frequency-first learning works: a small core of high-frequency words does most of the work in everyday sentences, so mastering this list with spaced repetition gives you the fastest possible start.

#	Word	Pronunciation	English meaning
1	ο	oh	the (definite article)
2	και	keh	and
3	να	nah	to
4	είμαι	EE-meh	be
5	αυτός	af-TOHS	he
6	δεν	dhen	not (negation)
7	θα	thah	will
8	σε	seh	in
9	από	ah-POH	from
10	για	yah	for
11	με	meh	with
12	που	poo	which
13	τι	tee	what
14	ένας	EH-nahs	one
15	έχω	EH-khoh	have
16	ότι	OH-tee	that (conjunction)
17	αλλά	ah-LAH	but
18	εγώ	eh-GOH	I
19	εσύ	eh-SEE	you
20	εμείς	eh-MEES	we
21	μπορώ	boh-ROH	can
22	λέω	LEH-oh	say
23	κάνω	KAH-noh	do
24	πηγαίνω	pee-YEH-noh	go
25	βλέπω	VLEH-poh	see
26	δίνω	DHEE-noh	give
27	χρόνος	KHROH-nohs	time
28	ημέρα	ee-MEH-rah	day
29	καλός	kah-LOHS	good
30	μεγάλος	meh-GAH-lohs	big
31	άνθρωπος	AHN-throh-pohs	person
32	ξέρω	KSEH-roh	know
33	θέλω	THEH-loh	want
34	πού	poo	where
35	γιατί	yah-TEE	why
36	τότε	TOH-teh	then
37	εκεί	eh-KEE	there
38	μαζί	mah-ZEE	together
39	δουλειά	dhoo-LYAH	work
40	ή	ee	or
41	ζωή	zoh-EE	life
42	τώρα	TOH-rah	now
43	νέος	NEH-ohs	new
44	πράγμα	PRAHG-mah	thing
45	πολύς	poh-LEES	many
46	δύο	DHEE-oh	two
47	πρώτος	PROH-tohs	first
48	όλος	OH-lohs	all
49	άλλος	AH-lohs	other
50	ακόμα	ah-KOH-mah	still
51	όταν	OH-tahn	when
52	αν	ahn	if
53	ποιος	pyohs	who (which one)
54	όχι	OH-khee	no
55	ναι	neh	yes
56	πώς	pohs	how
57	ως	ohs	as
58	όπως	OH-pohs	as (like)
59	μετά	meh-TAH	after
60	πριν	preen	before
61	χωρίς	khoh-REES	without
62	μόνο	MOH-noh	only
63	εδώ	eh-DHOH	here
64	πάντα	PAHN-dah	always
65	πάλι	PAH-lee	again
66	ποτέ	poh-TEH	never
67	κάθε	KAH-theh	every
68	κάτι	KAH-tee	something
69	τίποτα	TEE-poh-tah	nothing
70	γίνομαι	YEE-noh-meh	become
71	πρέπει	PREH-pee	must
72	υπάρχω	ee-PAR-khoh	exist
73	έρχομαι	EHR-khoh-meh	come
74	παίρνω	PEHR-noh	take
75	βρίσκω	VREES-koh	find
76	μένω	MEH-noh	stay (live)
77	μιλάω	mee-LAH-oh	speak
78	ακούω	ah-KOO-oh	hear
79	αφήνω	ah-FEE-noh	let (leave)
80	αρχίζω	ar-KHEE-zoh	begin
81	καταλαβαίνω	kah-tah-lah-VEH-noh	understand
82	νομίζω	noh-MEE-zoh	think
83	πιστεύω	pees-TEH-voh	believe
84	περιμένω	peh-ree-MEH-noh	wait
85	ρωτάω	roh-TAH-oh	ask
86	φεύγω	FEV-goh	leave (depart)
87	ώρα	OH-rah	hour
88	κόσμος	KOHZ-mohs	world (people)
89	σπίτι	SPEE-tee	house
90	παιδί	peh-DHEE	child
91	γυναίκα	yee-NEH-kah	woman
92	άντρας	AHN-drahs	man
93	χέρι	KHEH-ree	hand
94	μέρος	MEH-rohs	place (part)
95	τρόπος	TROH-pohs	way (manner)
96	λόγος	LOH-gohs	reason (word)
97	όνομα	OH-noh-mah	name
98	χώρα	KHOH-rah	country
99	σήμερα	SEE-meh-rah	today
100	μέσα	MEH-sah	inside

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Ranked by lemma frequency in published Greek corpus research; proper nouns, numbers, and duplicates removed. Pronunciation is a respelling guide, not phonetic notation.

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Frequently asked questions about Greek words

How many Greek words do you need for a basic conversation?

Frequency research shows the 1,000 most common words cover roughly 85 percent of everyday speech, and the top 100 alone appear in almost every sentence. You can manage simple exchanges with a few hundred words; this list is the foundation to build on.

What is the fastest way to memorize these 100 words?

Spaced repetition: review each word just before you would forget it, at growing intervals. It moves vocabulary into long-term memory far faster than rereading a list. Turn the 100 words into flashcards and review a small batch daily; the whole list fits into two to three weeks.

Are 100 words enough to speak Greek?

No. One hundred words let you recognize the skeleton of most sentences, but not hold a real conversation. They are the right starting point: after this list, grow toward the most common 1,000 words and start speaking practice early, even with simple phrases.

Where does this Greek word list come from?

From published Greek word-frequency research: lemma-ranked corpus lists cleaned for learners, with proper nouns, numbers, and duplicates removed. Rankings are approximate, since real usage varies by region and register, but the core is stable across corpora.