Learn Hardcore Greek: Το νέο πρόγραμμα έχει ήδη γραφτεί και θα σας το στείλουν αύριο. - The new schedule has already been written and they will send it to you tomorrow.

Γράφτηκε is aorist passive (“it was written”), focusing on the past event as a single, completed action, without highlighting its present result.

So:

Το νέο πρόγραμμα έχει ήδη γραφτεί = the program is in a written state now (present relevance).
Το νέο πρόγραμμα γράφτηκε = the act of writing happened (simple past), present result is less emphasized.

What exactly is the form γρα-φτεί? Is it a participle, a past tense, or something else?

Γραφτεί is the perfect passive participle of γράφω.

Verb: γράφω (I write)
Aorist passive stem: γραφ-
Perfect passive ending: -τεί

So γρα-φτεί literally means “(having been) written” in a passive sense.
When combined with έχω (here έχει), it forms the present perfect passive: έχει γραφτεί = “has been written.”

Could we also say Το νέο πρόγραμμα έχει ήδη γραφεί instead of γραμμένο or γραμμένο?

Yes:

Το νέο πρόγραμμα έχει ήδη γραφεί is correct but more formal / written style. Γραφεί is another (more katharevousa / formal) passive participle form.
Το νέο πρόγραμμα είναι ήδη γραμμένο is also correct; here είναι γραμμένο expresses a state (“is written”), rather than the “has been written” event.

Nuance:

έχει ήδη γραφτεί = emphasizes the completed action with present result.
είναι ήδη γραμμένο = emphasizes the current state of being written.
έχει ήδη γραφεί = same meaning as έχει ήδη γραφτεί, but more formal / literary.

Why is it Το νέο πρόγραμμα (nominative) and not Το νέο πρόγραμμα as an object? What is its role in the sentence?

Το νέο πρόγραμμα is the subject of the first clause.

In Το νέο πρόγραμμα έχει ήδη γραφτεί:

Το νέο πρόγραμμα = subject (what has been written)
έχει ήδη γραφτεί = passive predicate (“has already been written”)

Even though in English we often think “The program has been written” with “the program” as a kind of logical object, in Greek passive constructions the “thing affected” is in the nominative and acts as the grammatical subject.

What does ήδη mean, and where can it go in the sentence? Can I move it around?

Ήδη means “already.”

In this sentence, common placements are:

Το νέο πρόγραμμα έχει ήδη γραφτεί
Το νέο πρόγραμμα ήδη έχει γραφτεί
Το νέο πρόγραμμα έχει γραφτεί ήδη

All three are grammatical. The default, most neutral is έχει ήδη γραφτεί.
Moving ήδη can slightly change the rhythm or emphasis, but the basic meaning “already” stays the same. Greek allows quite a bit of flexibility with adverb placement.

Why do we use θα σας το στείλουν (third person plural “they will send it”) instead of a passive like “it will be sent to you”?

Greek very often uses a vague third person plural instead of a passive, where English would use “it will be done” or similar.

Θα σας το στείλουν αύριο = literally “They will send it to you tomorrow,” but the “they” is indefinite / impersonal: the people responsible, the company, the office, etc.
English might more naturally say “It will be sent to you tomorrow.”

Greek certainly can use passives (e.g. Θα σας σταλεί αύριο), but they often sound more formal. The third person plural is very natural and common in everyday speech.

Who is σας and what is το in θα σας το στείλουν? What are their functions?

In θα σας το στείλουν:

σας = to you
- 2nd person plural, or formal singular
- Indirect object (recipient): “to you”
το = it
- 3rd person singular neuter
- Direct object: refers back to το νέο πρόγραμμα

So θα σας το στείλουν literally = “they will send it to you.”
Structure: [to-you] [it] [they-will-send].

Why is the order σας το and not το σας? Can we change the order of the pronouns?

No, in standard Greek the order of clitic pronouns before a verb is fixed.

With combinations of indirect + direct object pronouns, the usual order is:

Indirect object (me, you, him, her, us, you(pl), them)
Direct object (it, him, her, them, etc.)

So:

θα σας το στείλουν (correct)
θα το σας στείλουν (incorrect)

This fixed order applies whenever both pronouns appear before the verb: μου το έδωσαν, θα σου το πω, θα σας το δείξω, etc.

Why are the pronouns σας and το placed before the verb (στείλουν) and not after it?

Greek object pronouns like σας, το are clitics, and their position depends on the verb form:

With finite verbs (present, past, future with θα, etc.), they usually come before the verb:
- θα σας το στείλουν
- σας το στέλνουν τώρα
With positive imperatives and some infinitive-like forms, they come after:
- στείλτε μας το πρόγραμμα = send us the program
- στείλ’ το μου = send it to me

Because θα στείλουν is a future form, the pronouns are proclitic (placed before): θα σας το στείλουν.

Who is the subject of θα σας το στείλουν? There is no explicit noun like “they” in the Greek sentence.

The subject is an understood / implicit “they”, encoded in the verb ending:

στείλουν is 3rd person plural (they will send).

Greek often drops subject pronouns when they are clear from the verb ending. Here, the subject could mean:

the company,
the staff,
some unspecified people.

Since it’s indefinite, English tends to translate it as a passive (“it will be sent to you”) or sometimes as “they will send it to you” if it’s clear who “they” are.

Could we say Θα σας σταλεί το νέο πρόγραμμα αύριο instead? How does that differ from θα σας το στείλουν αύριο?

Yes, Θα σας σταλεί το νέο πρόγραμμα αύριο is grammatical. It uses a future passive:

θα σταλεί = “will be sent”

Differences:

Θα σας το στείλουν αύριο
- More colloquial / conversational
- Uses vague “they” as the subject.
Θα σας σταλεί το νέο πρόγραμμα αύριο
- More formal / official / written
- Uses a passive construction (“will be sent”).

Meaning is very similar; the choice is mostly one of style and register.

Can the word order in the second clause change? For example, is Θα σας το αύριο στείλουν acceptable?

No, Θα σας το αύριο στείλουν is not natural.

In the second clause, the normal word order options are:

Θα σας το στείλουν αύριο. (most natural)
Αύριο θα σας το στείλουν.
Θα το στείλουν αύριο σε σας. (if you want to stress “to you”)

Adverbs of time like αύριο are fairly flexible, but the pronoun cluster (σας το) should stay directly next to (and before) the verb in this kind of sentence.