Greek alphabet and pronunciation

Upper	Lower	Name	Pronunciation	Example
Α	α	άλφα	álfa	apple
Β	β	βήτα	víta	van
Γ	γ	γάμμα	gámma	garden (fricative g/y)
Δ	δ	δέλτα	délta	the
Ε	ε	έψιλον	épsilon	egg
Ζ	ζ	ζήτα	zíta	zoo
Η	η	ήτα	íta	fleece
Θ	θ	θήτα	thíta	thing
Ι	ι	γιώτα	jóta	fleece
Κ	κ	κάππα	káppa	cat
Λ	λ	λάμδα	lámda	lamp
Μ	μ	μι	mi	milk
Ν	ν	νι	ni	net
Ξ	ξ	ξι	ksi	taxi
Ο	ο	όμικρον	ómikron	off
Π	π	πι	pi	pizza
Ρ	ρ	ρο	ro	rose (Spanish pero / perro)
Σ	σ/ς	σίγμα	sígma	sun
Τ	τ	ταυ	taf	tea
Υ	υ	ύψιλον	ípsilon	fleece
Φ	φ	φι	fi	fish
Χ	χ	χι	chi	German ich / Bach
Ψ	ψ	ψι	psi	psyche
Ω	ω	ωμέγα	oméga	off

Vowels and vowel combinations

• αι → /e/ as in “bed”
• ου → /u/ as in “food”
• ο and ω → both /o/ as in “off”
• η, ι, υ, ει, οι, υι → all /i/ as in “fleece” (“iotacism”)

Consonants that sound different from what you expect

• β → /v/ as in “van”, not /b/
• δ → voiced English th as in this
• θ → voiceless English th as in thing
• γ → usually a fricative, roughly between English “g” and “y”
• χ → like German “ch” in “Bach” or “ich”, depending on the following vowel
• ρ → a rolled or briefly tapped r

Γ and Χ change before front vowels

Before ε, αι, η, ι, ει, οι, υ, υι they are pronounced further forward:

• γε, γι roughly like a soft English y
• χε, χι roughly like German ch in “ich”

Before α, ο, ω, ου they sound further back:

• γα, γο as a throaty γ
• χα, χο like “ch” in “Bach”

αυ and ευ

Pronunciation depends on the next sound:

• αυ → /av/ or /af/
• ευ → /ev/ or /ef/

Before voiceless consonants, f is used:

• αυτό → aftó
• ευχαριστώ → efcharistó

Otherwise usually v:

• αύριο → ávrio
• Ευρώπη → Evrópi

Combinations for b, d, and g

Because β, δ, γ are no longer pronounced /b d g/ today, those sounds are made with combinations:

• μπ → /b/ or /mb/
• ντ → /d/ or /nd/
• γκ → /g/ or /ng/
• γγ → usually /ng/ or /g/

At the start of a word, usually closer to plain stops:

• μπαρ → bar
• ντομάτα → domáta
• γκολ → gol

Inside a word, some speakers also add a preceding m or n.

Other letter combinations

• τσ → /ts/
• τζ → /dz/
• ξ → /ks/
• ψ → /ps/

Sigma

• σ appears at the beginning and in the middle of a word.
• ς appears only at the end of a word.
• Both are pronounced the same.

Before voiced consonants, σ can sound like /z/:

• κόσμος → roughly kózmos

Accent mark

The ´ mark shows the stressed syllable:

• άνθρωπος → ánthropos
• Ελλάδα → Elláda
• ευχαριστώ → efcharistó

That is very helpful, because stress in Greek can distinguish meaning.

Two dots above a vowel

The diaeresis shows that two vowels are pronounced separately:

• αι → normally /e/
• αϊ → /ai/

Example:

• Μαΐου → Ma-íu

The main pitfalls, then, are really: iotacism, ο/ω, αι/ει/οι/ου, αυ/ευ, the modern pronunciation of β γ δ, and the combinations μπ ντ γκ.