The Greek language has been spoken for more than 3,000 years. Modern Greek grew out of the classical Greek of ancient times. In the past, there were two forms of modern Greek. The pure form, katharevousa, was used mostly in writing. In conversation, Greeks used an everyday form of Greek called demotiki (demotic). Today, only demotic Greek is used.

Did you know? Greek characters such as pi or sigma are used for mathematical symbols all over the world.

There were many dialects in ancient times. Attic was the dialect of Athens, and since Athens was the centre of learning and civilization, the Attic dialect became the standard language for the entire Greek-speaking world. Modern Greek has developed from the Attic dialect.

Greek is the official language. Many people, however, speak English, German, French and Italian. Some residents of Greece may also understand Albanian, Bulgarian or Turkish. The letters of the Greek alphabet are different from those of the Latin alphabet used for English. There are only 24 letters. The word "alphabet" is based on the first two letters of the Greek alphabet, alpha and beta.

English Greek Hello/Goodbye Yássu (singular)/Yássas (plural) Yes Ne No Ochi Thank you Efharistó How are you? Ti kánis (singular)/Ti kánete (plural) I am fine, and you? Kalá, esi (singular)/esís (plural) Good morning Kaliméra Good night Kaliníchta Good wishes Khrónia pollá (used on birthdays or holidays)