Learn Hardcore Greek: Η φίλη μου λέει ότι χρειάζεται εμπιστοσύνη για να μιλάμε ανοιχτά στην τάξη. - My friend says that we need trust in order to speak openly in class.

ότι here has no comma and means that (introducing a clause).
It is different from ό,τι (with a comma), which means “whatever / anything that”.
In Greek, ότι is usually kept; dropping it (like English sometimes drops “that”) is less common and can sound abrupt:
- Natural: Η φίλη μου λέει ότι χρειάζεται εμπιστοσύνη…
- Possible but less smooth: Η φίλη μου λέει χρειάζεται εμπιστοσύνη…

You could also use πως instead of ότι here:

Η φίλη μου λέει πως χρειάζεται εμπιστοσύνη… (very common, same meaning).

Who is the subject of χρειάζεται in this sentence? Is it “she” or “it”?

In χρειάζεται εμπιστοσύνη, χρειάζεται is used impersonally, like English “it is needed / it is necessary”.

χρειάζεται εμπιστοσύνη ≈ trust is needed / you need trust / one needs trust

So:

It does not mean “she needs trust” here.
If you wanted “she needs trust”, you would normally say:
- Η φίλη μου χρειάζεται εμπιστοσύνη.

In our sentence, the structure is:

Η φίλη μου λέει ότι → my friend says that
χρειάζεται εμπιστοσύνη → trust is needed
για να μιλάμε… → in order for us to speak…

So the idea is: My friend says that trust is needed so that we can speak openly in class.

Why is there no article with εμπιστοσύνη? Could we say την εμπιστοσύνη?

εμπιστοσύνη is a feminine abstract noun meaning “trust”.

In χρειάζεται εμπιστοσύνη, there is no article because we are speaking about trust in general, as an indefinite / abstract quality.
- This is like saying “one needs trust” rather than “one needs the trust”.

You can use the article when you mean some specific trust, for example:

Χρειαζόμαστε την εμπιστοσύνη των μαθητών.
We need the students’ trust.

So both are correct, but:

(no article) → general, abstract: trust in general
με άρθρο (η / την εμπιστοσύνη) → some specific trust

What does για να do in για να μιλάμε ανοιχτά στην τάξη? Why not just να μιλάμε?

για να introduces a purpose clause:

για να μιλάμε ανοιχτά στην τάξη = “in order for us to speak openly in class” / “so that we can speak openly in class”

If you remove για, you change the structure:

χρειάζεται να μιλάμε ανοιχτά στην τάξη
= we need to speak openly in class (here the speaking itself is what is needed)

In the original sentence:

χρειάζεται εμπιστοσύνη → trust is necessary
για να μιλάμε… → for the purpose of us speaking…

So για links “trust” with its purpose: we need trust *so that we can speak openly.*

Why is it μιλάμε (1st person plural) and not μιλήσουμε? What’s the difference?

Greek distinguishes two aspects in the subjunctive:

μιλάμε → present / imperfective aspect
- Focus on ongoing / repeated / habitual action: that we (can) talk / speak (in general)
μιλήσουμε → aorist aspect
- Focus on one whole event, not on its duration or repetition: that we (once) speak

In this sentence, the idea is:

να μιλάμε = that we (generally) speak / talk openly whenever we are in class

If you said:

Χρειάζεται εμπιστοσύνη για να μιλήσουμε ανοιχτά στην τάξη.

that would lean more towards “trust is needed so that we can (at least) speak openly in class (on some particular occasion)”. The original with μιλάμε sounds more like an ongoing classroom culture.

Who does μιλάμε refer to? Just my friend and me, or the whole class?

μιλάμε is 1st person plural: “we speak / we talk”.

In context, this “we” is usually:

all the people in the class (students, sometimes including the teacher), or
a general “we” meaning people in our situation, students in class, etc.

It does not necessarily mean only my friend and I. Greek often uses “we” in this more general sense, especially when talking about group behavior, like classroom interaction.

Why is ανοιχτά used here, and what form is it grammatically?

ανοιχτά here is an adverb meaning “openly”.

It comes from the adjective ανοιχτός (open).
Greek often forms adverbs from adjectives using the neuter plural form:
- ανοιχτός → ανοιχτά (open → openly)
- γρήγορος → γρήγορα (fast → quickly)

So:

μιλάμε ανοιχτά = we speak openly

You could replace it with other adverbs like:

ειλικρινά = honestly
ελεύθερα = freely

but ανοιχτά is very natural here.

What does στην τάξη literally mean, and why is it written as one word?

στην τάξη = σε + την τάξη.

σε = in / at / to (general preposition)
την τάξη = the class / the classroom (τάξη is feminine)

In normal speech and writing, σε + την contract to στην:

σε την τάξη → στην τάξη

Literally: “in the class” / “in class”.
Depending on context, τάξη can mean:

the group of students (the class), or
the room (the classroom)

English usually just says “in class”, which corresponds well to στην τάξη.

Can I change the word order, e.g. say να μιλάμε στην τάξη ανοιχτά instead?

Yes. Modern Greek word order is quite flexible. All of these are acceptable, with small differences in emphasis:

να μιλάμε ανοιχτά στην τάξη (original)
- neutral, very natural: focus on speaking openly, then adding in class
να μιλάμε στην τάξη ανοιχτά
- puts a bit more weight on in class, then clarifies openly

You could also move the prepositional phrase earlier:

για να μιλάμε στην τάξη ανοιχτά

All are grammatically correct. The original order (μιλάμε ανοιχτά στην τάξη) is probably the most idiomatic in everyday speech.

Why is it λέει (present) and not είπε (past)? Does Greek use backshifting like English?

λέει is present tense: “(she) says”, suggesting something that:

she says regularly, or
she is saying now / generally claims

If you used είπε (aorist past), you’d mean a specific past occasion:

Η φίλη μου είπε ότι χρειάζεται εμπιστοσύνη…
= My friend said that trust is needed… (she said this at some point)

English often does tense backshifting:

She said that trust *was needed*

Greek is less strict about this. Even with είπε, you can still say:

είπε ότι χρειάζεται εμπιστοσύνη… (said that trust is needed…)

and it’s perfectly natural. The choice between λέει and είπε is mainly about time reference (now / generally vs one event), not about forcing the next verb into the past.