The days of the week in Greek

Do you know the days of the week in Greek? This is an important topic for beginners and in this article, we will present the days of the week in the Greek language as well as other important time-related words and phrases that you can use to say when something happens. In addition, we are going to learn an easy way to remember the days of the week and some grammar on how to use them correctly on some occasions.  Let’s start:

Monday

We start from ‘’Monday’’ because it is considered the first day of the week for many people. However, this is not the case for the Greek language. Monday in Greek is ‘’Δευτέρα’’ which actually means ‘’the second’’. For example, if you want to say in Greek ‘’the second day’’, you will say ‘’η δεύτερη μέρα’’. This is because the first day of the week was considered ‘’Sunday’’ the holy day for Greeks! Nowadays, however, Sunday is the last day of the week for many people as it is the day of rest, whereas Monday is the first because it is the start of a new working week.

Tuesday to Thursday

Guess what! What do Greeks say for ‘’Tuesday’’? What comes after the second day of the week? You guessed correctly! It is the third day of the week. ‘’Η Τρίτη’’.  The same happens to the other two days that follow. ‘’Τετάρτη’’ the fourth day of the week and ‘’Πέμπτη’’ the fifth day of the week. So, I would suggest remembering that from Monday to Thursday there is an arithmetic order in Greek days (second, third, fourth, fifth).

Friday

Let’s move on to Friday. This day is different. It does not follow the arithmetic order of the previous days. Friday in Greek is ‘’Παρασκευή’’. The word ‘’παρασκευή’’ in Greek has another meaning. It means the preparation of or for something (usually of sweets in modern days). This is exactly the reason why we use this word as Friday. The Greeks got that word directly from Jews. This was a day of preparation for Jews for Saturday. As we know, Saturday is the holy day of Jews. So, Friday was the day of their preparations. Christian Greeks later took that word and used it as Friday.

Saturday 

Saturday in Greek is called ‘’Σάββατο’’ taking it directly from Hebrew (Shabbat). It means ‘’the day of rest’’ as for Jews this is the seventh day of the week, God’s rest day after the creation of the world. Interestingly, the English word ‘’Saturday’’ comes from Ancient Greece. In Ancient Greece, Saturday was called ‘’Κρονία’’, which mean the day of Saturn (Κρόνος).

Sunday

Finally, we have Sunday. In Greek is called ‘’Κυριακή’’ which mean the day of the lord (Κυρίου) as this is the holy day for Christians. Again, the word ‘’Sunday’’ in English has Greek roots as in Ancient Greece this day was called ‘’Ηλιαία’’ (the day of the sun).

I mention the history of the words because I believe that this may help you to remember the days of the week. Associate these words with their history and I am sure you will be able to recall them whenever you need them.

Days of the week in Greek

Δευτέρα = Monday 

Τρίτη = Tuesday

Τετάρτη = Wednesday

Πέμπτη = Thursday

Παρασκευή = Friday

Σάββατο = Saturday

Κυριακή = Sunday

Greek Grammar using the days of the week

We need first to say that all the days of the week except for Saturday are feminine (so you put ‘’η’’ before these words). Saturday is neuter and you put ‘’το’’ before the word.

There is an important grammar point that you need to know if you want to use the days of the week in Greek correctly. In Greek, if you want to say when something happens and then say a day, you don’t put a preposition as you do in English. For example, ‘’on Monday, on Tuesday, etc’’. In Greek, you just change the word from the nominative case to the accusative. For example, instead of saying ‘’η Δευτέρα’’ (nominative), you will say ‘’τη Δευτέρα’’ (accusative). Let’s on the days of the week in the accusative:

Τη Δευτέρα

Την τρίτη

Την Τετάρτη

Την Πέμπτη

Την Παρασκευή

Το Σάββατο

Την Κυριακή

So, if someone asks you when are you going on holiday? You would reply: ‘’την Πέμπτη, την Παρασκευή’’ etc

I hope that this article will help you remember the days of the week, recall them when you need them and use them correctly. In conclusion, I would suggest a tip to help you learn the days of the week faster. Change your phone to Greek! You will see the days of the week every single day. In this way, very soon you will know them without you realizing it.