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False Friends

📖 Lesson 2 of 5 ⏱ ~12 min 🎯 6 letters
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The trap

Five Greek letters look exactly like Latin letters — but make completely different sounds. Your brain will auto-read them wrong. You need to actively override that reflex.

Coming from Cyrillic? You've seen this exact pattern. В looks like B but = V. Р looks like P but = R. Х looks like X but = KH. Three of the five Greek false friends work the same way — your Cyrillic training is an asset here.

The key is to pause on these letters until the correct sound is wired in. After a few passes it becomes automatic.

5 false friends

trap
Β
β
looks like B
"V"
like "v" in violin DE: wie in Vater CY: same trap as В
trap
Η
η
looks like H
"EE"
like "ee" in feet DE: wie in sie CY: Н = N — different trap!
trap
Ρ
ρ
looks like P
"R"
like "r" in Rome DE: wie in Regen CY: same trap as Р
trap
Υ
υ
looks like Y/U
"EE"
like "ee" in feet DE: wie in sie CY: У = OO — different!
trap
Χ
χ
looks like X
"KH"
like "ch" in Bach DE: wie in Bach CY: same trap as Х

+ 1 bonus letter

true
Ν
ν
looks like N
"N"
exactly like N DE: wie in Nein CY: same as Н

Ν sounds exactly like N — no trap. But its lowercase ν looks like a "v" to fresh eyes. It isn't: it's the same N sound. Worth flagging now so the shape doesn't surprise you in real text.

The EE cluster

You now have three letters that all sound like EE: Ι (from Lesson 1), Η, and Υ. This is called iotacism — ancient vowels that merged over centuries.

For reading, treat them as identical: any of Ι, Η, Υ = EE. Spelling is a separate skill for later. For now, just recognize the sound.

(There are actually five EE-spellings in Greek — Ι, Η, Υ, ΕΙ, ΟΙ — but the last two are digraphs you'll see in Lesson 3 and 4.)

Side by side

Greek letter Looks like… Actual sound Cyrillic parallel
Β β B — wrong! V (violin) В = same trap
Η η H — wrong! EE (feet) Н = N (different)
Ρ ρ P — wrong! R (Rome) Р = same trap
Υ υ Y/U — wrong! EE (feet) У = OO (different)
Χ χ X — wrong! KH (Bach) Х = same trap
Ν ν N — correct! N (Nein) Н = same

Letters unlocked

After two lessons you know 14 of 24 Greek letters — more than half the alphabet.

Α Ε Ι Κ Μ Ο Τ Ζ Β Η Ρ Υ Χ Ν

Grey = Lesson 1 · Blue = Lesson 2 · Remaining 10 in Lessons 3–4

Drill — false friends only

See a letter, call out its sound — then reveal to check.

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What sound does this make?
Β
🎉
Lesson complete!
📚 Lesson 2 · Greek False Friends ← Lesson 1: True Friends Full alphabet reference → Lesson 3: New Shapes I →
Ask your teacher anything. If a letter sound is unclear, or you want more words to practice, just ask in the chat. Your teacher (Claude) can drill you on any letter, explain the history, or give you more examples.