Learn Hardcore Greek: Στο γραφείο έχουμε απλούς κανόνες, αλλά στην τράπεζα οι κανόνες είναι πιο αυστηροί. - At the office we have simple rules, but at the bank the rules are stricter.

Έχουμε απλούς κανόνες
- κανόνες is the direct object of έχουμε (we have).
- Direct objects in Greek take the accusative case.
- So the adjective must agree: απλούς κανόνες (not απλοί κανόνες).

If κανόνες were the subject, you’d say:

Οι κανόνες είναι απλοί. = The rules are simple.
Here απλοί is nominative plural, agreeing with subject οι κανόνες.

Why is the article οι used with κανόνες in the second part, but not in απλούς κανόνες?

This shows a common pattern in Greek (and in English):

First mention: often no article, more general:
- έχουμε απλούς κανόνες
  = we have simple rules (not specific ones; just describing the system)
Second mention: with article οι, referring back to known/specific rules:
- οι κανόνες είναι πιο αυστηροί
  = the rules are stricter (the ones we’ve just been talking about: the bank’s rules)

So:

απλούς κανόνες feels like some simple rules / rules in general.
οι κανόνες = the (specific) rules in that context.

Why is the adjective after the noun in οι κανόνες είναι πιο αυστηροί? Is that normal?

In οι κανόνες είναι πιο αυστηροί:

οι κανόνες = the rules (subject)
είναι = are
πιο αυστηροί = stricter (predicate adjective)

This is a predicate structure:
Subject + “to be” + adjective

In Greek, as in English:

The rules are stricter.
Οι κανόνες είναι πιο αυστηροί.

Here the adjective does not go before the noun because it’s not directly modifying it in a noun phrase; it’s describing the subject via the verb to be.

When you use the adjective inside a noun phrase (no “to be”), it generally comes before the noun:

απλός κανόνας = a simple rule
αυστηρός κανόνας = a strict rule

How does the comparative πιο αυστηροί work? Where is the “than” part?

πιο αυστηροί literally means more strict → stricter.

αυστηρός = strict
πιο αυστηρός / πιο αυστηροί = more strict / stricter

In Greek, the regular comparative is usually formed with:

πιο + adjective

In this sentence, the comparison (“than what?”) is understood from context:

στο γραφείο έχουμε απλούς κανόνες, αλλά στην τράπεζα οι κανόνες είναι πιο αυστηροί.
= At the office the rules are simple, but at the bank the rules are stricter (than at the office).

If you want to say it explicitly, you could add:

… οι κανόνες είναι πιο αυστηροί από το γραφείο.
(the rules are stricter than at the office)

Can σε mean “in”, “at”, and “to”? How do I know which is meant in στο γραφείο and στην τράπεζα?

Yes, σε covers several English prepositions. It typically means:

The exact English translation depends on the verb and the context.

In this sentence:

Στο γραφείο έχουμε απλούς κανόνες
→ best understood as At the office we have simple rules
(place where the statement applies)
… αλλά στην τράπεζα οι κανόνες είναι πιο αυστηροί.
→ but at the bank the rules are stricter.

So here σε (merged as στο / στην) is being used in the sense of at (location/situation).
With motion verbs like go, it would usually be translated as to:

Πάω στην τράπεζα. = I’m going to the bank.

Why is it έχουμε απλούς κανόνες but οι κανόνες είναι πιο αυστηροί? Could I also say η τράπεζα έχει πιο αυστηρούς κανόνες?

Both structures are possible; they just present the information differently.

In the original:

Στο γραφείο έχουμε απλούς κανόνες
= At the office we have simple rules.
… αλλά στην τράπεζα οι κανόνες είναι πιο αυστηροί.
= but at the bank the rules are stricter.

You could say:

Στην τράπεζα η τράπεζα έχει πιο αυστηρούς κανόνες. (more natural: Η τράπεζα έχει πιο αυστηρούς κανόνες.)
= The bank has stricter rules.

Differences:

έχουμε focuses on “we” (we have rules).
είναι πιο αυστηροί focuses on the quality of the rules.
έχει πιο αυστηρούς κανόνες focuses on what the bank has.

Grammatically, all are fine; it’s more about style and focus.

Can I change the word order and say Έχουμε απλούς κανόνες στο γραφείο? Does it change the meaning?

Yes, you can say:

Έχουμε απλούς κανόνες στο γραφείο.

This is perfectly correct and very natural.

Greek word order is relatively flexible. Both:

Στο γραφείο έχουμε απλούς κανόνες
Έχουμε απλούς κανόνες στο γραφείο

mean essentially the same thing: At the office we have simple rules.

Nuance:

Putting Στο γραφείο first slightly emphasizes the location (as for the office…).
Putting Έχουμε first is more neutral, like standard English word order.

How do the endings in οι κανόνες είναι πιο αυστηροί agree with each other?

Agreement in that part:

οι = the (masculine nominative plural article)
κανόνες = rules (masculine nominative plural noun)
είναι = are (same form for all persons in the present third person plural)
πιο αυστηροί = stricter (masculine nominative plural adjective phrase)

Since κανόνες is the subject (nominative plural), the article and the adjective must also be masculine nominative plural:

οι κανόνες (not τα κανόνες or ο κανόνες)
πιο αυστηροί (not πιο αυστηρός or πιο αυστηρούς here)

How do I pronounce the sentence?

One possible rough pronunciation (stress marked with CAPITAL letters on the stressed syllable):

Στο γραφείο έχουμε απλούς κανόνες, αλλά στην τράπεζα οι κανόνες είναι πιο αυστηροί.

Pronounced approximately:

Sto gra-FI-o É-chou-me a-PLÚS ka-NÓ-nes, a-LÁ stin TRÁ-pe-za i ka-NÓ-nes Í-ne pio af-sti-RÍ.

Key points:

ει in γραφείο and είναι sounds like English ee.
ου in έχουμε sounds like English oo in food.
Stress is important in Greek; it can change meaning, so try to match the stressed syllables.