How to Say "What Is This?" in Greek

τι είναι αυτό;

ti eínai aftó?

To ask "what is this?" in Greek, say τι είναι αυτό.

τι είναι αυτό asks for the name or identity of an object.

What does it mean word for word?

The phrase is composed of τι (what), είναι (is) and αυτό (this).

Τι είν' αυτό is an abbreviated informal form of the same question.

It is pronounced ti eínai aftó?

αυτό is a neuter pronoun used for objects, so do not use this question to ask who a person is.

In Ancient Greek, the word τι was the neuter version of τίς, which meant 'who'. This shows that early Greek speakers categorized 'what' as a neuter form of 'who'.
The modern verb είναι might not originally have meant simply 'to be', but could have evolved from a Byzantine word meaning 'to be in'. This suggests the very concept of existence in the language may have once been tied to location.
Because αυτό is a neuter pronoun, using it to ask about a person can sound incredibly dehumanizing. In Greek, you must switch your pronouns to distinguish between an inanimate object and a human being.

Anastasia finds a strange object on the table.

Αναστασία Anastasia

Γιώργο, τι είναι αυτό;
Giórgo, ti íne aftó;
George, what is this?
Γιώργος Giorgos

Είναι ένα παλιό δώρο.
Íne éna palió dóro.
It is an old gift.
Αναστασία Anastasia

Είναι πολύ όμορφο.
Íne polý ómorfo.
It is very beautiful.
Γιώργος Giorgos

Ευχαριστώ, Αναστασία.
Efcharistó, Anastasía.
Thank you, Anastasia.

Sources

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