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I have always used Εφτά for the number seven but...................................I was recently told on holiday in Greece that the modern way is to say Επτά.

Does it matter?

Ευχαριστώ

Ιάκοωος
by (2.7k points)

2 Answers

+2 votes

Hi

Both are correct, just different way to say it.  "Επτά" is more formal, while "Εφτά" sounds much more informal.

by
+1 vote
Hello

"επτά" is older form and sounds a bit more formal than "εφτά".

The old combination "πτ" is phonetically difficult to pronounce, so it has been replaced by "φτ" in modern Greek for phonetic reasons. This replacement exists in other words as well, and not only in επτά - εφτά.

Apart from επτά - εφτά, other numbers  have double forms as well.

οκτώ (old) - οχτώ (new) = eight

εννέα (old) - εννιά (new) = nine

δεκαέξι (old) - δεκάξι (new) = sixteen

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Vasiliki Baskou, Instructor/Director, https://learn-greek-online.com.

by (45.0k points)
Thank you for that. I understand better now
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