Spelling dilemmas
λίπη or λύπη? κτίριο or κτήριο? The iota homophones and the words with two official spellings.
Six letters, one sound [i]
ι, η, υ, ει, οι, υι are all pronounced [i]: spelling is etymological, not phonetic. Minimal pairs to memorise: λίπη (fats) / λύπη (sorrow), φύλο (gender) / φύλλο (leaf) / φίλο (friend, acc.), κλίμα (climate) / κλήμα (vine), ψηλός (tall) / ψιλός (thin, fine).
The double-spelling words
A few words have two accepted spellings, the legacy of etymological debates: κτίριο/κτήριο, αυγό/αβγό, τρένο/τραίνο (the first now dominates), μαζί (never μαζύ!). Pick ONE spelling and keep it throughout a text — consistency wins.
The highest-frequency traps
ότι (that) / ό,τι (whatever) — πως (that) / πώς (how?) — που (relative) / πού (where?) — η (article) / ή (or) — μια / μία. These five pairs account for half the mistakes of Γ2 candidates — and of Greeks themselves.
Your turn
Choose the correct form.