Learn Hardcore Greek: Θα μπορούσες κι εσύ να βοηθήσεις λίγο, αλλά δεν έχεις την ίδια υποχρέωση. - You could help a bit too, but you don’t have the same obligation.

Word

Θα μπορούσες κι εσύ να βοηθήσεις λίγο, αλλά δεν έχεις την ίδια υποχρέωση.

Meaning

You could help a bit too, but you don’t have the same obligation.

Part of speech

sentence

Pronunciation

Course

Lesson

Breakdown of Θα μπορούσες κι εσύ να βοηθήσεις λίγο, αλλά δεν έχεις την ίδια υποχρέωση.

What exactly does Θα μπορούσες mean here, and why do we have both θα and a past tense (μπορούσες)?

Θα μπορούσες is the usual way in Greek to say you could (in the sense you would be able to / it would be possible for you to).

μπορούσες on its own is past tense: you were able (to).
When you add θα in front of that past form (θα μπορούσες), it becomes a hypothetical / conditional idea: you could / you would be able to.

So:

Μπορούσες να βοηθήσεις → You were able to help (in the past).
Θα μπορούσες να βοηθήσεις → You could help (now or in general, hypothetically, as a suggestion).

In this sentence it is a soft suggestion: You could (always) help a bit…

What is the difference between Θα μπορούσες and Μπορείς?

Both involve the verb μπορώ (can / be able to), but the nuance is different:

Μπορείς να βοηθήσεις λίγο
→ You can help a bit (stating ability; also easily felt as a request, more direct).
Θα μπορούσες να βοηθήσεις λίγο
→ You could help a bit (more hypothetical / tentative, often more polite or softer, like a suggestion).

In English we also use could as a softer form of can; Greek does something similar with θα + past form (θα μπορούσες).

What does κι mean in κι εσύ, and how is it different from ?