Learn Hardcore Greek: Ο διευθυντής μου λέει ξεκάθαρα ότι ο πρώτος κανόνας στη δουλειά είναι να φτάνουμε στην ώρα μας. - My manager tells me clearly that the first rule at work is that we arrive on time.

Ο διευθυντής μου λέει ξεκάθαρα ότι ο πρώτος κανόνας στη δουλειά είναι να φτάνουμε στην ώρα μας.

My manager tells me clearly that the first rule at work is that we arrive on time.

Breakdown of Ο διευθυντής μου λέει ξεκάθαρα ότι ο πρώτος κανόνας στη δουλειά είναι να φτάνουμε στην ώρα μας.

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Questions & Answers about Ο διευθυντής μου λέει ξεκάθαρα ότι ο πρώτος κανόνας στη δουλειά είναι να φτάνουμε στην ώρα μας.

What exactly does Ο διευθυντής μου mean, and why is μου placed after the noun instead of before it like in English (my manager)?

Ο διευθυντής μου literally means “the manager of me”, i.e. “my manager / my director / my boss.”

In Greek, possession is very often shown with a genitive pronoun after the noun:

ο φίλος μου = my friend
το σπίτι σου = your house
η μητέρα του = his mother

So:

ο διευθυντής = the manager
μου = of me / my (possessive, 1st person singular, genitive)
ο διευθυντής μου = my manager

Putting μου after the noun is the normal way to say “my X” in Greek. You don’t normally say μου διευθυντής.

But I’ve also seen μου after verbs (e.g. μου λέει). In this sentence, is μου “me” or “my”?

Here, in Ο διευθυντής μου, μου is possessive = “my”.

Greek uses the same form μου both for:

Possession (after a noun):
- ο διευθυντής μου = my manager
- το βιβλίο μου = my book
Indirect object (after or before a verb):
- μου λέει = he/she tells me
- μου έδωσε = he/she gave me

In your sentence, μου is clearly attached to διευθυντής, not to λέει, so it means “my”, not “to me”.

Compare:

Ο διευθυντής μου λέει… = My manager says…
Ο διευθυντής μού λέει… (or Ο διευθυντής μου λέει εμένα…) = The manager says to me…

Context usually makes the function clear.

What tense and person is λέει, and how would I say “he said clearly” instead of “he says clearly”?

λέει is:

verb: λέω (to say / to tell)
tense: present
person: 3rd person singular
meaning: he/she/it says or he/she/it is saying

To say “he said clearly that…” you would use the aorist (simple past):

Ο διευθυντής μου είπε ξεκάθαρα ότι…
= My manager said clearly that…

So:

λέει = he says / is saying
είπε = he said (once, completed action)

What does ξεκάθαρα mean exactly, and where can I put it in the sentence?

ξεκάθαρα is an adverb meaning “clearly” / “in a clear way”.
It comes from the adjective ξεκάθαρος (clear).

In your sentence:

λέει ξεκάθαρα = he clearly says / he says it clearly

Adverbs like this are quite flexible in position. All of these are possible:

Ο διευθυντής μου λέει ξεκάθαρα ότι…
Ο διευθυντής μου ξεκάθαρα λέει ότι… (more emphatic)
Ο διευθυντής μου λέει ότι ξεκάθαρα ο πρώτος κανόνας… (emphasizing the clarity of the rule itself)

The most natural and neutral is usually the one you have: verb + adverb → λέει ξεκάθαρα.

What is the role of ότι here, and how is it different from πως and ό,τι?

In this sentence, ότι is a conjunction meaning “that”, introducing a reported statement:

…λέει ξεκάθαρα ότι ο πρώτος κανόνας…
= …says clearly that the first rule…

You can usually replace this ότι with πως without changing the meaning:

…λέει ξεκάθαρα πως ο πρώτος κανόνας…
= …says clearly that the first rule…

The tricky one is ό,τι (with a comma):

ό,τι = “whatever / anything that” (pronoun)
ότι = “that” (conjunction, no comma)

Example:

Κάνε ό,τι θέλεις. = Do whatever you want.
Ξέρω ότι θέλεις. = I know that you want (it).

In your sentence, it must be ότι (conjunction “that”), not ό,τι.

Why do we say ο πρώτος κανόνας and not just πρώτος κανόνας? Is the article ο necessary?

Yes, the article ο is natural and normal here.

ο = the (masculine, singular, nominative)
πρώτος = first (masculine adjective)
κανόνας = rule (masculine noun)

So ο πρώτος κανόνας = “the first rule.”

Greek uses the definite article more often than English, especially with:

general concepts and rules:
- Ο πρώτος κανόνας είναι… = The first rule is…
titles, positions, and roles:
- Ο διευθυντής = the manager
- Η δασκάλα = the (female) teacher

You can find πρώτος κανόνας without the article in some very telegraphic or headline-like styles, but in normal speech and writing ο πρώτος κανόνας is what you want.

Why is it πρώτος κανόνας and not πρώτο κανόνα or something else? How is the form of πρώτος decided?

πρώτος must agree with κανόνας in:

gender: masculine
number: singular
case: nominative

The pattern is:

masculine: πρώτος
feminine: πρώτη
neuter: πρώτο

Since κανόνας is masculine singular nominative, we choose:

ο πρώτος κανόνας (masc. nom. sg.)

Examples with different genders:

ο πρώτος κανόνας (masc.) = the first rule
η πρώτη μέρα (fem.) = the first day
το πρώτο βήμα (neut.) = the first step

What does στη δουλειά literally mean, and why is it στη and not στην here?

στη δουλειά comes from:

σε = in / at / to
τη = the (feminine accusative singular)
δουλειά = work / job

σε + τη contracts to στη (or στην), meaning “at the / in the / to the”.

So στη δουλειά literally means “at the work” and in context is “at work / in the workplace.”

About στη vs στην:

Before vowels and certain consonants (κ, π, τ, ξ, ψ, μπ, ντ, γκ, τσ, τζ), Greek usually keeps the -ν:
- στην ώρα (ώρα begins with a vowel)
- στην κουζίνα (κ)
Before other consonants (like δ), the -ν is often dropped:
- στη δουλειά (δ) is the usual form, not στην δουλειά.

So στη δουλειά is the standard spelling and pronunciation in modern Greek.

What is the difference between δουλειά and εργασία? Could I say στην εργασία instead of στη δουλειά?

Both mean “work”, but with different register / feeling:

δουλειά
- everyday, informal / neutral
- can mean job, workplace, and the act of working
- πάω στη δουλειά = I’m going to work
εργασία
- more formal, often used in administrative, academic, or legal language
- can mean work, task, assignment
- χώρος εργασίας = workplace
- γραπτή εργασία = written assignment

You could say στην εργασία, but it sounds more formal and is less common in everyday speech when talking about going to your job. In normal conversation, στη δουλειά is what people say.

What is the structure είναι να φτάνουμε? Why do we use να and this verb form instead of something like a plain infinitive?

Modern Greek does not have a real infinitive like English “to arrive.”
Instead, it uses να + verb to express many functions that English handles with an infinitive or a subjunctive.

In your sentence:

είναι να φτάνουμε στην ώρα μας
literally: “is that we (should) arrive on time”
functionally: “is to arrive on time”

να φτάνουμε here is in the subjunctive mood, present (imperfective) aspect, 1st person plural. The particle να is what marks the subjunctive.

This pattern [είναι + να + verb] is very common for rules, plans, and instructions:

Ο στόχος είναι να πετύχουμε.
The goal is to succeed.

So, Greek uses να + verb where English would often use to + verb (infinitive) or “that we/we should …” (subjunctive).

How can I tell that φτάνουμε here is subjunctive and not just present indicative, since the form looks the same?

For many verbs, especially -ω verbs like φτάνω, the present indicative and the present subjunctive look identical in most persons.

Forms of φτάνω (present):

Indicative:
- (εγώ) φτάνω
- (εσύ) φτάνεις
- (αυτός) φτάνει
- (εμείς) φτάνουμε
- (εσείς) φτάνετε
- (αυτοί) φτάνουν(ε)
Subjunctive (with να):
- να φτάνω
- να φτάνεις
- να φτάνει
- να φτάνουμε
- να φτάνετε
- να φτάνουν(ε)

So φτάνουμε by itself is indicative, but να φτάνουμε is subjunctive.
You know it’s subjunctive because it is introduced by να, and because of the structure είναι να + verb.

Why is it να φτάνουμε and not να φτάσουμε? What’s the difference?

This is about aspect (imperfective vs perfective), not tense:

να φτάνουμε
- imperfective aspect (ongoing, repeated, habitual)
- here: “(that) we arrive (habitually / whenever we work)”
- fits well with a rule that applies every day
να φτάσουμε
- aorist / perfective aspect (single, complete action)
- usually: “(that) we arrive (once, at some point)”
- used for specific occasions:
  - Πρέπει να φτάσουμε στις 8. = We must arrive at 8 (this time).

Because a rule at work is something that applies repeatedly (every day, always), the imperfective να φτάνουμε is more natural than να φτάσουμε.

What does στην ώρα μας literally mean, and how does it come to mean “on time”?

Literally:

στην = in/at the (σε + την, feminine)
ώρα = hour / time
μας = our (genitive plural)

So στην ώρα μας = “at our time”.

Idiomatically, with verbs of arrival or appearance, στην ώρα μου / σου / του… means “on time, at the proper time”:

Φτάνω στην ώρα μου. = I arrive on time.
Να είσαι στην ώρα σου. = Be on time.
Να φτάνουμε στην ώρα μας. = (that) we arrive on time.

Similar expressions:

στην ώρα του τρένου = at the train’s time (i.e. at the scheduled time)
Όλα στην ώρα τους. = Everything in its (proper) time.

Why is it στη δουλειά (“at work”) but στην ώρα μας (“on time”)? Why do we have μας here but not after δουλειά?

Two separate issues:

στη vs στην
- δουλειά starts with δ, so we normally drop -ν: στη δουλειά.
- ώρα starts with a vowel, so we keep -ν: στην ώρα.
μας vs nothing after δουλειά
- στη δουλειά = at work (at the workplace in general).
  We don’t need a possessive pronoun because it’s understood we’re talking about our workplace in context.
- στην ώρα μας = on our time → on time (for us, as workers).
  Here μας is part of the fixed pattern “be/arrive on one’s time.”

You could say στη δουλειά μας (“at our work / at our workplace”) if you wanted to stress our workplace (as opposed to someone else’s), but it’s not required in this sentence.

Who is included in φτάνουμε and μας? Why does the sentence start with my manager but later use our?

φτάνουμε = “we arrive” (1st person plural).
μας = “our / us” (1st person plural genitive).

So να φτάνουμε στην ώρα μας = “(that) we arrive on our time” = “that we arrive on time.”

The sentence shifts like this:

Ο διευθυντής μου… = my manager (1st person singular possession)
…says clearly that…
ο πρώτος κανόνας… είναι να φτάνουμε στην ώρα μας = we (the employees and likely including the speaker) must arrive on time.

So:

μου refers to who owns the manager (me).
μας / φτάνουμε refer to the group of people the rule applies to (we, the staff).

This mix is natural: “My manager says that the first rule at work is that we get there on time.”