Useful Greek Phrases for Travelers: Greetings, Thank You, Signs and Restaurant Words

A waiter sets down a plate of grilled octopus and a basket of bread, and you want to say something better than a nod. A handful of Greek words turns that moment, and a hundred others like it, into a small exchange that people notice and enjoy. English gets you through most of Greece, but a few phrases in Greek, a feel for the letters on the signs and the habit of a warm hello do a lot more than they cost.

Which Greek phrases help travelers?

The most useful ones are the smallest: a greeting, please and thank you, yes and no, and the words on the doors you will walk through every day. Almost all Greeks except the oldest can understand and speak English, and basic English can be expected from nearly everyone in tourism and public transport.

Greek is the official language of the country and the native tongue of the vast majority. That means your phrases are not survival tools. They are a courtesy, and people often answer them with a smile and a switch to English anyway.

Greetings you will use all day

Yassou (YAH-soo) is the friendly hello and goodbye, used with one person you know or with a group. Yassas is the more formal version, and it suits shopkeepers, hotel desks and anyone older than you. Kalimera (kah-lee-MEH-rah) is good morning, kalispera (kah-lee-SPEH-rah) is good evening, and kalinychta (kah-lee-NEEKH-tah) is good night, said when you leave for bed rather than when you arrive.

You can walk into a bakery, a small shop or a village kafenio (the neighborhood coffee house) with a kalimera and already be on a better footing than a silent customer. Adio is a goodbye too, but it sounds final, so yassou or andio, a casual see you, is the safer word to leave with.

Words on the signs

Three words show up constantly on doors and windows. Ανοιχτό (ah-neekh-TO) means open, Κλειστό (klee-STO) means closed, and Τουαλέτα (too-a-LE-ta) means toilet. You will see the first two on shops, cafés and sites, and the third on a door at a café, a ferry terminal or a gas station.

The alphabet is less of a wall than it looks. It has 24 letters, and about half of them look like their Latin counterparts, so Greek signs start to make sense after a short stretch of staring. One oddity is worth knowing: the Greek question mark looks exactly like an English semicolon, so a sentence that ends with; is asking something.

Place names and their many spellings

Place names on road signs throughout Greece are often transliterated into Latin letters, and some signs, especially on newer roads, are outright translated into English. The same town can still appear spelled several ways on a sign, a map and your booking. Multiple spellings arise from the move from Greek to Roman letters, from Greek grammar that changes a word depending on its role in the sentence, and from the language reform of 1976.

Heraklion in Crete may appear as Heraklion, Iraklion, Heraklio or Iraklio, all matching the Greek Ηράκλειο. Rethymnon, also in Crete, may be written Rethymnon, Rethymno, Rethimnon or Rethimno, for Ρέθυμνο. If a sign seems to point somewhere you did not expect, read it twice, because it is probably your destination in another spelling.

Dates and times in Greek

Dates in Greece are written day first, then month, then year, so Christmas Day 2009 is 25/12/09. Time is spoken on the twelve-hour clock in everyday talk, while timetables often use the twenty-four-hour clock, so a departure board that says 18:30 means half past six in the evening.

How do you say thanks and excuse me?

Thanks is efharisto (ef-hah-ree-STO) and excuse me is signomi (see-GNO-mee), and both go a long way when said with a smile. They are the two phrases to learn first, because they work in a shop, on a crowded ferry deck, in a narrow lane and at a table. Pair them with parakalo and you have the core of polite Greek.

Efharisto and parakalo

Efharisto is thank you, and efharisto poli (ef-hah-ree-STO poh-LEE) is thank you very much. The answer is parakalo (pah-rah-kah-LO), which does double duty as you are welcome and please.

When you hand over a coffee order, parakalo is how you ask. When someone passes you the salt, parakalo is also how they answer your efharisto. One word, several jobs, so it is the best investment in the whole vocabulary.

Greeks often add small touches, such as a nod or a hand to the chest, and you can do the same. A thank you to a bus driver, a baker or a host at a guesthouse is the kind of gesture people remember. If your pronunciation wobbles, nobody minds. The effort is what reads, and the reply tends to be warm.

Signomi and the art of getting past

Signomi does two jobs. It means excuse me when you squeeze past someone in a doorway, an aisle or a market lane, and it means sorry when you bump a shoulder or step on a toe.

To get a waiter’s attention, a calm signomi with eye contact does the work, and it sounds far more natural than waving. If you are asking a stranger for directions, open with it, then ask your question in English.

Given how widely English is understood in tourism and transport, the answer is nearly always yes, and you will have been polite on the way in.

Yes, no and maybe

Here is the trap for newcomers. Ne (neh) means yes, which sounds like no to English ears, and ochi (OH-hee) means no. Mixing them up is the single most common mistake, and it is usually settled with a laugh. Isos (ee-SOHS) means maybe, handy when you are not sure about a second helping of dessert.

A small gesture also differs. A Greek no is often a slight upward tilt of the head, sometimes with a click of the tongue, and it can look like a nod to a visitor. When someone seems to agree with you but says ochi, trust the word over the head movement.

What do you say at a restaurant?

At a taverna you say kalispera, ask for what you want with parakalo, and finish with to logariasmo, parakalo, the check please. The rest of the exchange often happens in English, but a few food words let you read a menu, point at a dish and order with confidence. Tavernas serve dishes meant to be shared, so ordering in rounds is natural.

Sitting down and ordering

Ena trapezi gia dyo, parakalo (EH-nah trah-PEH-zee yah THEE-oh) is a table for two. Change dyo to the number you need. Menu words that help are salata (salad), psari (fish), kreas (meat), kotopoulo (chicken) and horiatiki, the classic Greek salad of tomato, cucumber, onion, olives and a slab of feta.

Meze are small plates, and ordering several at once is a normal way to eat. You might ask for tzatziki, the yogurt and cucumber dip, melitzanosalata, an eggplant spread, and a plate of grilled vegetables, then add souvlaki, skewered meat, or moussaka, the baked layers of eggplant and minced meat, as a main. Say sto ena (stoh EH-nah), together, if you want to share.

Drinks, bread and water

Nero (neh-RO) is water, krasi (krah-SEE) is wine, bira is beer and ouzo is the anise-flavored spirit that turns cloudy when water is added. Wine often comes by the carafe, which you can request as a karafaki, a small carafe. A coffee order is simple: ena kafe, parakalo, and you can add the style, such as ellinikos for Greek coffee, made in a small pot and sipped slowly with the grounds left in the cup.

Psomi (pso-MEE) is bread, and it often arrives at the table along with the cutlery. Ligo (lee-GO) means a little, useful if you want a small portion or just a taste. Pagoto (pah-go-TO) is ice cream, and ena glyko means a sweet, which is how you ask for dessert when the menu does not name one.

Compliments and the bill

Ine poli nostimo (EE-neh poh-LEE noh-STEE-moh) means it is very tasty, and saying it to the cook or the host will earn a smile. Kali orexi (kah-LEE oh-REH-xee) is the Greek bon appetit, and you may hear it as plates land. When you raise a glass, the toast is yia mas (yah MAHS), to us, or stin ygeia mas, to our health.

When you are finished, catch the waiter’s eye with a signomi and ask for to logariasmo, parakalo (toh loh-gah-ree-ahz-MO). The bill generally arrives when you ask for it, not before, because a Greek meal is not rushed.

Good to know before you go

Greece uses the euro, and Greek on a sign or menu is written in the 24-letter alphabet, with the stress marked by a single accent on the vowel. That accent is a clue to pronunciation, so syllables with it get the emphasis.

Greek has been written in this alphabet since about the 9th century BC, and the letters on a modern ferry timetable are the same ones used in ancient texts. Keep a screenshot of the alphabet on your phone and the signs begin to read themselves.

Sources

Wikipedia, Greek alphabet (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_alphabet), checked October 12, 2026
Wikipedia, Greek language (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_language), checked October 12, 2026
Wikivoyage, Greek phrasebook (https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Greek_phrasebook), checked October 12, 2026
Wikivoyage, Greece, section Talk (https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Greece#Talk), checked October 12, 2026