Greek Adjectives
Learning the Greek Adjectives is very important because its structure is used in every day conversation. The more you practice the subject, the closer you get to mastering the Greek language. But first we need to know what the role of Adjectives is in the structure of the grammar in Greek.
Greek Adjectives are words that describe or modify another person or thing in the sentence.
Grammar Tips:
While in English an adjective doesn’t change
when the noun changes, in Greek an adjective should agree in gender and number with the noun. So
adjectives have a masculine, a feminine and a neuter form, the most common
suffixes being the following:
Singular: Καλ-ός, καλ-ή, καλ-ό (good)
Plural: καλ-οί, καλ-ές, καλ-ά
Ωραί-ος, ωραί-α, ωραί-ο (nice, pretty)
Ωραί-οι,
ωραί-ες, ωραί-α
Βαθ-ύς, βαθ-ιά,
βαθ-ύ (deep)
Βαθ-ιοί, βαθ-ιές, βαθ-ιά
Διεθν-ής,
διεθν-ής, διεθν-ές (international)
Διεθν-είς, διεθν-είς, διεθν-ή
Examples:
Singular Plural
Ένας καλός
άνδρας (a good man) Καλοί
άνδρες. (good men)
Μία καλή
γυναίκα (a good woman) Καλές
γυναίκες. (good women)
‘Ενα καλό
παιδί (a good child) Καλά
παιδιά. (good children)
Ένας
διεθνής
οργανισμός. Διεθνείς
οργανισμοί (international organisations)
Μία διεθνής συνθήκη. Διεθνείς συνθήκες (international treaties)
Ένα διεθνές αεροδρόμιο. Διεθνή αεροδρόμια (international airports)
Here are some examples:
| English Adjectives | Greek Adjectives |
| adjectives | epitheta - επίθετα |
| a green tree | ena prasino dentro - ένα πράσινο δέντρο |
| a tall building | ena pshlo ktirio - ένα ψηλό κτίριο |
| a very old man | enas poly geros - ενας πολυ γερος |
| the old red house | to palio kokkino spiti - το παλιό κόκκινο σπίτι |
| a very nice friend | enas poly wraios filos - ενας πολυ ωραιος φιλος |
As you can see from the example above, the structure of the Adjectives in Greek has a logical pattern. Locate the Adjectives above and see how it works with the rest of the sentence in Greek.
List of Adjectives in Greek
Below is a list of the Adjectives, Colors, Shapes, Sizes in Greek placed in a table. Memorizing this table will help you add very useful and important words to your Greek vocabulary.
| English Adjectives | Greek Adjectives |
| colors | xrwmata - χρώματα |
| black | mayro - μαύρο |
| blue | ble - μπλε |
| brown | kafe - καφέ |
| gray | gkri - γκρί |
| green | prasino - πράσινο |
| orange | portokali - πορτοκαλί |
| purple | mwv - μωβ |
| red | kokkino - κόκκινο |
| white | lefko - λευκό |
| yellow | kitrino - κίτρινο |
| |
| sizes | megethh - μεγέθη |
| big | megalo - μεγάλο |
| deep | vathia - βαθιά |
| long | makrys - μακρύς |
| narrow | stenos - στενός |
| short | syntomo - σύντομο |
| small | mikro - μικρό |
| tall | pshlos - ψηλός |
| thick | paxos - πάχος |
| thin | leptos - λεπτός |
| wide | evrys - ευρύς |
| |
| shapes | sxhmata - σχήματα |
| circular | kyklikos - κυκλικός |
| straight | eftheia - ευθεία |
| square | tetragwno - τετράγωνο |
| triangular | trigwnikos - τριγωνικός |
| |
| tastes | goysta - γούστα |
| bitter | pikros - πικρός |
| fresh | fresko - φρέσκο |
| salty | almyros - αλμυρός |
| sour | ksino - ξινό |
| spicy | pikantiko - πικάντικο |
| sweet | glykos - γλυκός |
| |
| qualities | idiothtes - ιδιότητες |
| bad | kakos - κακός |
| clean | katharos - καθαρός |
| dark | skotadi - σκοτάδι |
| difficult | dyskolos - δύσκολος |
| dirty | vrwmikos - βρώμικος |
| dry | kshros - ξηρός |
| easy | eykolos - εύκολος |
| empty | adeio - άδειο |
| expensive | akrivos - ακριβός |
| fast | grhgora - γρήγορα |
| foreign | ksenos - ξένος |
| full | gematos - plhrhs - γεμάτος - πλήρης |
| good | kalos - καλός |
| hard | sklhros - σκληρός |
| heavy | varea - βαρέα |
| inexpensive | |
| light | fws - φως |
| local | topiko - τοπικό |
| new | neos - νέος |
| noisy | thoryvwdhs - θορυβώδης |
| old | palaia - παλαιά |
| powerful | isxyros - ισχυρός |
| quiet | hsyxa - ήσυχα |
| correct | orthh - ορθή |
| slow | argos - αργός |
| soft | malako - μαλακό |
| very | poly - πολύ |
| weak | adynamos - αδύναμος |
| wet | ygros - υγρός |
| wrong | lathos - λάθος |
| young | neos - νέος |
| |
| quantities | posothtes - ποσότητες |
| few | ligoi - λίγοι |
| little | ligo - λίγο |
| many | polla - πολλά |
| much | poly - πολύ |
| part | meros - μέρος |
| some | merika - μερικά |
| a few | ligo - λίγο |
| whole | oloklhro - ολόκληρο |
Adjectives, Colors, Shapes, Sizes have a very important role in Greek, therefore they need very special attention. Once you're done with Greek Adjectives, you might want to check the rest of our Greek lessons here: Learn Greek. Don't forget to bookmark this page.