Read through this chart several times, and practice saying the names of the letters and then repeating the sounds they make. Guides to pronunciation are taken from W. Sidney Allen's Vox Graeca and Hansen and Quinn's Greek: An Intensive Course. Some audio files are provided for foreign examples.
| Capital | Lower Case | Name | Pronunciation | |
| Α | α | alpha | Italian amare or drama (long α); Italian amare or drama (short α) | |
| Β | β | beta | as in English bit | |
| Γ | γ | gamma | English hard g as in get; before κ, χ, γ, or μ, as n in English ink or ng in English song | |
| Δ | δ | delta | as French d (a true dental), or as in English den | |
| Ε | ε | epsilon | as in English pet | |
| Ζ | ζ | zeta | as in English wisdom | |
| Η | η | eta | as in French tête; more open than English wait, bait | |
| Θ | θ | theta | as in English thin (it would be better to pronounce it as an aspirate — English cathair — rather than a fricative, but as English speakers we will compromise) | |
| Ι | ι | iota | as in French vive or English pizza (long ι); as in French vite or English bit (short ι) | |
| Κ | κ | kappa | as in English duck (non-initial) | |
| Λ | λ | lambda | as in English lit | |
| Μ | μ | mu | as in English meet | |
| Ν | ν | nu | as in English neat | |
| Ξ | ξ | xi | as in English taxi | |
| Ο | ο | omicron | as in German Gott or English pot or thought | |
| Π | π | pi | as French p, or as in English cap (non-initial) | |
| Ρ | ρ | rho | as Scottish rolled r, an alveolar trill | |
| Σ | σ or ς | sigma | as in English set; as English z before β, γ, δ, and μ | |
| Τ | τ | tau | as French t (a true dental), or as in English cat (non-initial) | |
| Υ | υ | upsilon | as in French lune or English boot (long υ) a in French ruse (short υ) | |
| Φ | φ | phi | as in English fit (it would be better to pronounce it as an aspirate — English tophat — rather than a fricative, but as English speakers we will compromise) | |
| Χ | χ | chi | as in Scottish loch (it would be better to pronounce it as an aspirate — English backhand — rather than a fricative but as English speakers we will compromise) | |
| Ψ | ψ | psi | as in English upset | |
| Ω | ω | omega | as in English saw or total |
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There are three more things you should know:
1. There are two forms of the lower-case letter sigma: σ (at the beginning or in the middle of a word), and ς (at the end of a word). They are pronounced the same. When σ is followed by β, γ, δ, or μ, it is pronounced like English z.
2. When γ (gamma) is followed by another γ, κ, χ, or ξ, it makes an n sound. So, ἄγγελος "messenger" is pronounced angelos, ὄγχος "mass" is pronounced onkhos, and βρόγχος "airway" is pronounced bronkhos. (By the way, γ, κ, χ, and χ are all velars: consonants made with the back part of the tongue against the soft palate (the back part of the roof of the mouth, also called the velum). Try pronouncing them and see!
3. You don't need to worry yet about all those little accents over the letters, except for the ᾽ or ῾ over a vowel at the beginning of a word. These are called breathings. When ῾ (called a rough breathing) appears over an initial vowel, the word begins with an h sound: so ἑξἀγονον "hexagon" is pronounced hexagonon. When ᾽ (called a smooth breathing) appears over an initial vowel, it is pronounced without the h sound; so, ἐπιστολή "letter" is pronounced epistolē. Thus the Greek word ὁμός (homos), meaning "same," gives us the English root homo-, while the Greek word ὀρθός (orthos) "straight" gives us the English root ortho-.
Here are some common diphthongs and digraphs you should know:
| αι | as in English high | |
| αυ | as in English how | |
| ευ | a glide from ε to υ | |
| οι | as in English boy | |
| ει | as in German Beet | |
| oυ | as in English pool or French rouge | |
| υι | as in English wit |