Learn Hardcore Greek: Η υπάλληλος μου δίνει καλές πληροφορίες και γράφει ακριβώς την ώρα σε ένα σημείωμα. - The employee female gives me good information and writes the time exactly on a note.

The noun υπάλληλος ends in -ος, which is usually a masculine ending, but this is a common-gender noun: its gender is shown by the article.

Η υπάλληλος = the female employee (feminine article η)
Ο υπάλληλος = the male employee (masculine article ο)

So the form of the noun stays the same; the article tells you if it’s a woman or a man.

What exactly does μου mean here? Is it “my employee” or “gives me”?

Written as Η υπάλληλος μου δίνει…, this is ambiguous if you only look at spelling:

Possessive: “my employee gives…”
- In careful written Greek you’d see: Η υπάλληλός μου δίνει…
- The extra accent on -λός shows μου belongs to υπάλληλος:
  η υπάλληλός μου = my employee.
Indirect object: “the employee gives me…”
- In careful written Greek you’d see: Η υπάλληλος μού δίνει…
- The accent on μού shows it’s an indirect object pronoun:
  μου δίνει = gives me.

In everyday writing many people skip these extra accents and you rely on context and word order. In a beginner textbook, it’s very often intended as:

Η υπάλληλος μού δίνει καλές πληροφορίες = The employee gives me good information.

Why is πληροφορίες plural, when English usually says “information” in the singular?

In English, information is uncountable. In Greek, πληροφορία behaves like a normal countable noun:

μία πληροφορία = one piece of information
πολλές πληροφορίες = many pieces of information

Here we have καλές πληροφορίες (plural), which literally is good pieces of information, but is translated naturally as “good information” in English.

Why is the adjective καλές in that exact form?

The adjective καλός, -ή, -ό (good) must agree with the noun in gender, number, and case.

πληροφορίες is:
- feminine
- plural
- accusative (direct object)

So καλός must also be:

feminine, plural, accusative → καλές

Hence καλές πληροφορίες = good information (lit. good pieces of information).

What is the grammatical role of μου and καλές πληροφορίες with the verb δίνει?

In μου δίνει καλές πληροφορίες:

καλές πληροφορίες is the direct object: she gives (what?) → good information.
μου is an indirect object clitic pronoun: she gives (to whom?) → to me.

So structurally it is:

Subject: Η υπάλληλος (the employee)
Indirect object: μου (to me)
Verb: δίνει (gives)
Direct object: καλές πληροφορίες (good information)

Why is the verb δίνει used, and how is it formed?

The basic verb is δίνω (to give). In the present tense:

εγώ δίνω – I give
εσύ δίνεις – you give (singular)
αυτός/αυτή/αυτό δίνει – he/she/it gives
εμείς δίνουμε
εσείς δίνετε
αυτοί/αυτές/αυτά δίνουν(ε)

In the sentence, the subject is η υπάλληλος (she), so we use 3rd person singular:

η υπάλληλος δίνει = the employee gives.

Why do we say την ώρα with the definite article, and not just ώρα?

Greek uses the definite article much more than English. English often says:

“She writes down the time” or “She writes down the time exactly.”

Greek almost always puts an article with specific, concrete nouns in object position:

την ώρα (accusative, feminine singular) literally “the time”.

You would usually not say just γράφει ώρα here; it sounds incomplete or very telegraphic. The natural form is γράφει την ώρα.

What does ακριβώς mean here, and could it go in a different place?

ακριβώς is an adverb meaning exactly / precisely.

In γράφει ακριβώς την ώρα, it most naturally means:

She writes the time *exactly (without mistakes / very precisely).*

Common positions:

γράφει ακριβώς την ώρα (as in the sentence)
γράφει την ώρα ακριβώς (also natural)
At the very beginning: Ακριβώς γράφει την ώρα, but this sounds more marked / emphatic and is less neutral.

So ακριβώς can move, but its usual neutral spot is just before or just after the object.

What is happening grammatically in σε ένα σημείωμα? Why σε and ένα?

σε is a very common preposition meaning in, on, at, to, depending on context.
ένα is the indefinite article a/an (neuter singular here).

σε ένα σημείωμα = on a note / on a slip of paper.

Structure:

σε
- ένα
  - σημείωμα (accusative) → prepositional phrase.

If you said στο σημείωμα (σε + το = στο), it would mean “on the note” (a specific note both speakers know about). Using ένα here makes it indefinite: just a note, not a particular, previously mentioned one.

What exactly does σημείωμα mean? Is it the same as σημείωση?

Both are related but not identical:

σημείωμα: a short written note, memo, slip of paper with some writing on it.
- e.g. a note with the time, a reminder, a brief message.
σημείωση: more like a note/annotation/remark in writing or speech.
- e.g. a footnote, a comment, a remark a teacher writes.

In this context, σε ένα σημείωμα is correctly translated as “on a (little) note / on a slip of paper”.

Could the word order be different, like putting μου or καλές πληροφορίες in other places?

Greek word order is relatively flexible, especially with clitic pronouns like μου. Some possibilities:

Η υπάλληλος μού δίνει καλές πληροφορίες. (very natural)
Η υπάλληλος μού δίνει καλές πληροφορίες και γράφει ακριβώς την ώρα σε ένα σημείωμα. (almost same as your sentence, with the accent shown)
Η υπάλληλος δίνει σε μένα καλές πληροφορίες. (σε μένα instead of μου, more emphatic “to me”)
Καλές πληροφορίες μού δίνει η υπάλληλος. (fronts the object for emphasis: “It’s good information that the employee gives me.”)

Clitic μου normally goes right before the verb (unless another clitic is there too). Putting it after the verb in this sentence (δίνει μου) is incorrect in standard modern Greek.

How would I say this sentence in the past, like “The employee gave me good information and wrote the time exactly on a note”?

You need the aorist (simple past) of the verbs:

δίνω → έδωσα (I gave). 3rd person singular: έδωσε.
γράφω → έγραψα (I wrote). 3rd person singular: έγραψε.

So:

Η υπάλληλος μού έδωσε καλές πληροφορίες και έγραψε ακριβώς την ώρα σε ένα σημείωμα.

That means:
The employee gave me good information and wrote the time exactly on a note.

Why do we use και only once even though there are two actions (“gives” and “writes”)?

In Greek (and English) a single και can link two verbs with the same subject:

Subject: η υπάλληλος
Verb 1: δίνει καλές πληροφορίες
Verb 2: (η υπάλληλος) γράφει ακριβώς την ώρα σε ένα σημείωμα

So:

Η υπάλληλος μου δίνει καλές πληροφορίες και γράφει ακριβώς την ώρα σε ένα σημείωμα.

You could technically repeat the subject (Η υπάλληλος μου δίνει... και η υπάλληλος γράφει...), but it’s unnecessary and sounds heavy. The single και naturally connects the two actions of the same subject.