How to remember the second seven letters of the Greek alphabet:eta, theta, iota, kappa, lambda mu, nu

Greek alphabet
Αα	Alpha	Νν	Nu
Ββ	Beta	Ξξ	Xi
Γγ	Gamma	Οο	Omicron
Δδ	Delta	Ππ	Pi
Εε	Epsilon	Ρρ	Rho
Ζζ	Zeta	Σσς	Sigma
Ηη	Eta	Ττ	Tau
Θθ	Theta	Υυ	Upsilon
Ιι	Iota	Φφ	Phi
Κκ	Kappa	Χχ	Chi
Λλ	Lambda	Ψψ	Psi
Μμ	Mu	Ωω	Omega

Problem

 Eta

How do you distinguish between the Epsilon and the Eta which both start with the letter E? The Epsilon is more like E in egg.  The Eta is more like He, pronounced by somebody who drops their aitches as 'ee. 

What about the lower case eta? Just write he fast as if you are doing speedwriting, dropping other parts of the letter.

Theta

It looks like a diagram of a moth with the tongue between the teeth. Th. Theta.  The lower case is the same letter squashed sideways.

Iota

This letters is easy. The capital Iota looks like the English I. (My memory aid sentence: Does the greek I look like the English I? Not one iota. The lower case letter looks like a handwritten i without the dot. 

Kappa

This is easy. The capital and small letters are the same as the English. How do you remember the name of the letter. Put a cap on the letter K and it becomes a Kap - ah?

Lambda

A fancy lower case L, leaning back in a chair, supported, like a deck chair. The capital letter is just the lower half of the deck chair made large,  with the support but without the horizontal base.

How do you remember the spelling, that it has a b, BD like bed. Think of the letter lambda like two bedposts on a four poster bed, with a lamb on the bed. LAMB - da. Lambda.

Mu

Mu, look a cow saying moo. The lower case? In the table you can see the capital letter M beside the small letter m and they look like the sound Moo.

Nu

The sound is like the Yiddish question word at the end of the sentence. This is the letter Nu - nu?

How do you remember that the lower case is written looking more like a v than a u? Remember them upper and lower case, as a pair. You could not say Nv. Yes, you could. you could say never.
Oo - nu!

Author

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author, speaker, learner and teacher of languages. Please share links to your favourite posts.