The days of the week in Greek are not very hard to remember because most of them follow a numerical pattern.

Nowadays in Greece, the first day of the week is considered to be Monday but this was not always the case.

Sunday was considered to be the first day of the week and this tiny detail along with the numerical pattern will help you memorize Greek days easily.

But let me explain what I mean:

Monday in Greek is called Δευτέρα (Deftera) which means second day —> δεύτερη ημέρα (defteri imera)

Tuesday in Greek is called Τρίτη (Triti) which means third day —> τρίτη ημέρα (triti imera)

Wednesday is called Τετάρτη (Tetarti) which means fourth day —> τέταρτη ημέρα (tetarti imera)

Thursday is called Πέμπτη (Pempti) which means fifth day —> πέμπτη μέρα (pempti imera)

So, until now we have the days that follow the numerical pattern. Δευτέρα, Τρίτη, Τετάρτη, Πέμπτη.

The next three days don’t follow this rule so you’ll need to remember them. But it’s only three days, right? So yay!

Ok, so after Πέμπτη, we have Παρασκευή (Paraskevi) – Friday, Σάββατο (Savato) – Saturday and Κυριακή (Kiriaki) – Sunday. As you can see, Κυριακή derives from the word Κύριος (kirios) which means Lord and it is dedicated to God, i.e. the Lord’s day. This also can work as a tip to help you remember Κυριακή.

Here is a list of all the Greek days of the week:

• Δευτέρα (Deftera) – Monday
• Τρίτη (Triti) – Tuesday
• Τετάρτη (Tetarti) – Wednesday
• Πέμπτη (Pempti) – Thursday
• Παρασκευή (Paraskevi) – Friday
• Σάββατο (Savato) – Saturday
• Κυριακή (Kiriaki) – Sunday

And here is an image of the days of the weeks in Greek. I do believe that colors always help you memorize things easier. Don’t you?

Before we move on to vocabulary and to some interesting facts related to the Greek days of the week, let me state three important things:

• Days of the week are proper nouns so they must always start with a capital letter.

• All days of the week are feminine except Σάββατο which is neuter. So the articles that accompany the days are formed as follow: η Δευτέρα, η Τρίτη, η Τετάρτη, η Πέμπτη, η Παρασκευή, το Σάββατο, η Κυριακή.

• You can see the word day represented in Greek either with the word μέρα (mera) or the word ημέρα (imera). Both forms are correct. The word ημέρα is considered to be slightly more formal but you can use both freely.

Now, we are ready to continue!

Vocabulary

• Τι μέρα είναι σήμερα; (Ti mera ine simera?) – What day is today?
• (Σήμερα είναι) Δευτέρα (Simera ine Deftera) – Today is Monday

• Τι μέρα της εβδομάδας είναι; (Ti mera tis evdomadas ine?) – What day of the week is it?
• (Είναι) Πέμπτη (Ine Pempti) – It’s Thursday

• Τι μέρα είναι; (Ti mera ine?) – What day is it?
• (Είναι) Τετάρτη (Ine Tetarti) – It is Wednesday

• Τι μέρα έχουμε; (Ti mera ehoume?) – What day is it?
• (Έχουμε) Τρίτη (Ehume Triti) – It is Tuesday

As you can see in the above examples we don’t use any article before the days. But we do use them when we are referring to a specific thing on a certain day as the examples below.

• Τι μέρα είναι η συναυλία; (Ti mera ine i sinavlia?) – What day is the concert?
• (Είναι) την Παρασκευή (Ine tin Paraskevi) – It is on Friday

• Θέλεις να πάμε για καφέ το Σάββατο; (Thelis na pame ya kafe to Savato?) – Would you like to go for a coffee on Saturday?
• Θέλεις να συναντηθούμε την Κυριακή; (Thelis na sinantithume tin Kiriaki?) – Would you like to meet on Sunday?

• Πότε θέλεις να βρεθούμε; (Pote thelis na vrethume?) – When would you like to meet up?
• Την Παρασκευή (Tin Paraskevi) – On Friday

The parenthesis on all the above examples indicates that if we answer with just the name of the week, we will still be correct. Easy, right? 😉

Other useful words related to the days of the week are:

• Σαββατοκύριακο (Savatokiriako) – Weekend
• Καθημερινή (Kathimerini) – Weekday
• Σήμερα (Simera) – Today
• Αύριο (Avrio) – Tomorrow
• Μεθαύριο (Methavrio) – Day after tomorrow
• Χθες ή Χτες (Xthes or htes) – Yesterday
• Προχθές ή Προχτές (Prohthes or prohtes) – The day before yesterday

It is very common for Greeks to wish to each other every Monday for the rest of the week. They say:

• Καλή εβδομάδα! (Kali evdomada) – Have a nice week!

We also wish for a great weekend:

• Καλό Σαββατοκύριακο! (Kalo Savatokiriako) – Have a nice weekend!

Interesting facts

• Ancient Greeks named the days after planets:

Monday: Ημέρα Σελήνης (Imera Selinis) – Moon day
Tuesday: Ημέρα Άρεως (Imera Areos) – Ares day
Wednesday: Ημέρα Ερμού (Imera Ermu) – Hermes day
Thursday: Ημέρα Διός (Imera Dios) – Zeus day
Friday: Ημέρα Αφροδίτης (Imera Afroditis) – Aphrodite day
Saturday: Ημέρα Κρόνου (Imera Kronu) – Saturn day
Sunday: Ημέρα Ηλίου (Imera Iliu) – Sun day

But as Christianity spread, the clergy no longer wanted the days of the week to be named after pagan gods, so they changed them to the form we know today.

• Famous Greek Mondays

Καθαρά Δευτέρα (Kathara Deftera) – Clean Monday. The first day of Σαρακοστή (Sarakosti), the big Greek lent before Easter.

Δευτέρα του Πάσχα (Deftera tu Pasha) – Easter Monday.

• Tuesday is considered to be an unlucky day because it is the day of the fall of Konstantinoupolis

• Thursday of the second week of the Greek Carnival is called Τσικνοπέμπτη (Tsiknopempti) and everyone eats great quantities of meat.

• Παρασκευή and Κυριακή are also Greek female names. The masculine equivalents are Παρασκευάς (Paraskevas) and Κυριάκος (Kiriakos).

• If you are born on a Saturday in Greece you’re considered to have really good or really bad luck. Depends on the traditions of different Greek areas.

Well, that was it for today. I will say goodbye with one of my favorite kid songs which still amuse me when I hear it today and guess what? It can help you learn the days of the week! You can find the lyrics in the description. Enjoy the Smurfs or στρουμφάκια (strumfakia) as we call them!