(Καλά Χριστούγεννα και Ευτυχισμένος ο Καινούργιος Χρόνος!)

Happy Christmas and a Merry New Year

You are likely to see this full greeting on cards. On more traditional cards it may end in "Ευτυχισμένο το Νεο Ετος" (ΕΥΤΥΧΙΣΜΕΝΟ ΤΟ ΝΕΟ ΕΤΟΣ) which is still "Merry New Year", but in a more old fashioned form.

Of course that's all a bit of a mouthfull so it's probably easier to stick with either "Καλά Χριστούγεννα" (ΚΑΛΑ ΧΡΙΣΤΟΥΓΕΝΝΑ) for Happy Christmas or you can use, "Χρονιά Πολλά!" (ΧΡΟΝΙΑ ΠΟΛΛΑ) which is the equivalent of "Many Happy Returns" when you're saying it. You can also say "Καλή Χρονιά" (ΚΑΛΗ ΧΡΟΝΙΑ) for "Happy New Year".

You may also see "Θερμές/Θερμότατες Ευχές" (ΘΕΡΜΕΣ/ΘΕΡΜΟΤΑΤΕΣ ΕΥΧΕΣ) which means "Warm/Warmest Wishes".

Here's a bit more vocabulary associated with Christmas:

Upper	Lower	English
ΠΑΡΑΜΟΝΗ ΧΡΙΣΤΟΥΓΕΝΝΩΝ	παραμονή χριστουγέννων	Christmas Eve
ΠΑΡΑΜΟΝΗ ΠΡΩΤΟΧΡΟΝΙΑΣ	παραμονή πρωτοχρονιάς	New Year's Eve
ΧΡΙΣΤΟΥΓΕΝΝΙΑΤΙΚΟ ΔΕΝΔΡΟ	χριστουγεννιάτικο δένδρο	Christmas Tree
ΑΓΙΟΣ ΒΑΣΙΛΗΣ	άγιος βασίλης	Father Christmas (lit. Saint Basil)
ΚΑΛΑΝΤΑ	κάλαντα	Carols
ΓΑΛΟΠΟΥΛΑ	γαλοπούλα	Turkey

The above covered the kind of messages you might use at Christmas and see inside a card, but you would also need to add the usual personal comments when sending a card to someone. So here are some greetings and comments to use. And remember a greeting is for life - not just for Christmas, so these can be used where appropriate for all sorts of cards and letters.

In Greece the words equivalent to our "dear" and "dearest" both come from the Greek word for love (αγάπη/ΑΓΑΠΗ).

English	Lower	Upper
Dear	αγαπητ(ή/έ/οί)	ΑΓΑΠΗΤ(Η/Ε/ΟΙ)
Dearest	αγαπημέν(η/ε/οι)	ΑΓΑΠΗΜΕΝ(Η/Ε/ΟΙ)

The endings on these are in the order of Fem/Masc/Plural - note the last one is plural, not Neuter as the recipient of the card will always be either male female or a group - you should never be sending a card to an "it"!
In Greece αγαπημέν(η/ε/οι) - ΑΓΑΠΗΜΕΝ(Η/Ε/ΟΙ) is more often used for the immediate close family, whilst αγαπητ(η/ε/οι) - ΑΓΑΠΗΤ(Η/Ε/ΟΙ) would be used for friends and more distant relations.

If the card does not already contain the words you want you can always add them yourself (see previous post) and perhaps use "σου/σας έυχομαι..." (ΣΟΥ/ΣΑΣ ΕΥΧΟΜΑΙ...) to say "I wish you ..." in front. If the card is from two of you the plural (we wish you) would be "σου/σας ευχόμαστε" (ΣΟΥ/ΣΑΣ ΕΥΧΟΜΑΣΤΕ).

And perhaps sign off the card with:

English	Lower	Upper
with love	με αγάπη	ΜΕ ΑΓΑΠΗ
lots of love	με πολή αγάπη	ΜΕ ΠΟΛΗ ΑΓΑΠΗ
regards	χαιρετισμούς	ΧΑΙΡΕΤΙΣΜΟΥΣ