Greeks are known for their celebrations & traditions. If you have ever participated in a Greek Easter celebration, wedding, baptism or name day party, you have definitely noticed that there are specific wishes to be used for every occasion. Our students practice those wishes very regularly, not only during a course in Greece, but also after their course. Since the Omilo-team and students are like a big family, we use wishes such as birthdays, name days, weddings, very often in emails, cards, SMS or on social media.
In this article you will find a selection of very popular wishes used in every Greek family or among friends. We wrote them in Greek and in Greeklish (Greek written with Latin characters) and added the English translation. So, whatever your level in Greek, with this article everybody can learn them!
Click on the button above to receive our extended “wish list” and Audio with the right Greek pronunciation in your inbox. (Send us a message with the code “GREEK WISHES B1” in the subject line)
By using the wishes, you will not only get a Greek feeling, but it gives you a very good opportunity to get into contact with Greeks. And this is exactly what you want, isn’t it?
“Χρόνια πολλά!” [hronia polla] “Many years”, is the most common wish that fits almost all joyful events. You can use this wish for birthdays, name days, New Year, Christmas , etc..
Apart from this one, however, below you will discover a big variety of wishes, for different occasions.
It is many times difficult to find the right translation in English, but at least we tried!
Birthdays
Να ζήσεις! [na zeesees] – May you live! = May you live long!
Να τα εκατοστίσεις! [na ta ekatosteesees] – May you live up to a hundred!
Name days
Να χαίρεσαι το όνομά σου! [na herese to onoma soo] – May you rejoice your name!
Και του χρόνου! [ke too chronoo] – “And next year!” = May you be healthy and celebrate your name day also next year!
Να τον/την χαίρεσαι! [na ton/teen herese!] = May he/she be healthy and bring happiness to your life (This last wish is said to the family members. For example, you can say this to the partner or parents of the person celebrating the name day. )
Marriage
Before marriage we wish to the couple:
Η ώρα η καλή ! [ee ora ee kalee] – “The time is good” = may the time of marriage be good and lucky.
After marriage, to the newly married couple, we wish:
Να ζήσετε! [na zeesete] – May you live long!
Συγχαρητήρια! [seehareeteeria]- Congratulations
Birth
To the parents AND family of the newborn we wish:
Να σας ζήσει! [na sas zeesee] – = May your child live a long and healthy life!
Γερό και δυνατό! [gero ke deenato] – (May your child be) healthy and strong!
Religious celebrations
Usually about one or two weeks before Christmas/New Year and Easter we wish:
Καλές γιορτές! [kales yiortes] – Happy feasts = Happy holidays
Καλά Χριστούγεννα! [kala hreestouyenna] – Merry Christmas!
During the Holy Week, namely the week before Easter, you can say:
Καλό Πάσχα! [kalo pasha] – Happy Easter!
For more information about the wishes related during the Easter celebrations, click here.
NOTE! These wishes are before the specific day itself. On the day of the feast, we use the popular Χρόνια πολλά! “Many years”.
Death
As in every culture, it is a part of life, with the necessary wishes for relatives of the deceased.
Συλλυπητήρια! [seeleepeeteeria] – Condolences!
Did you enjoy this article? Then visit also our other Blog post about “daily Greek wishes”
If you want to hear the wishes or use them yourself on the right moment, you are very welcome to join our courses in Greece, where we focus on speaking Greek and daily language.
Hope you liked this lesson and you will start using the wishes soon.
Of course there are much more interesting wishes than on this list.
