Numbers and Punctuation

Greek punctuation has some surprising differences from English, and the traditional Greek numeral system uses letters of the alphabet as numbers. This lesson covers both topics.

---

Greek Punctuation

Modern Greek uses most of the same punctuation marks as English, with two notable exceptions:

Mark	Symbol	Greek Name	Usage
Period	.	Τελεία	End of sentence (same as English)
Comma	,	Κόμμα	Pause within a sentence (same as English)
Question mark	;	Ερωτηματικό	Used instead of ?
Raised dot	·	Άνω τελεία	Used like English semicolon (;)
Exclamation mark	!	Θαυμαστικό	Emphasis (same as English)
Quotation marks	« »	Εισαγωγικά	Guillemets (French-style)

English:  Where are you going?  I don't know; maybe the park.
Greek:    Πού πας;  Δεν ξέρω· ίσως στο πάρκο.

Note: ; = question mark in Greek
      · = semicolon in Greek (raised dot)

Tip: This is one of the most confusing things for English speakers reading Greek. The semicolon (;) asks a question!

---