Learn Hardcore Greek: Ο τεχνικός είπε ότι θα επισκευάσει τον χαλασμένο εκτυπωτή μέχρι το βράδυ. - The technician said that he will repair the broken printer by tonight.

Both are natural and mean the same here. Ότι is a bit more neutral/formal; πως can feel slightly more conversational, but the difference is small.

Be careful not to confuse ότι with ό,τι (with a comma).

ότι = that (conjunction)
ό,τι = whatever / anything that (pronoun)

In this sentence it must be ότι (no comma), because it just means that.

What exactly is θα επισκευάσει? Is that a future tense or a subjunctive form?

Formally, επισκευάσει is an aorist (perfective) subjunctive form of επισκευάζω. In modern Greek, the simple future is built as:

θα + subjunctive form

So:

επισκευάσει (subjunctive, aorist stem)
θα επισκευάσει = future simple (he will repair)

So in practice here you can think of θα επισκευάσει as the normal future “will repair.” The fact that the form underneath is subjunctive mainly matters for grammar patterns; in meaning, this is just a straightforward future statement.

Why is it θα επισκευάσει and not θα επισκευάζει? What’s the difference?

Greek distinguishes aspect very clearly:

θα επισκευάσει (future simple, perfective) = he will repair it (as a completed action, focus on result)
θα επισκευάζει (future continuous, imperfective) = he will be repairing it / will repair it (repeatedly or over a period of time)

Because of μέχρι το βράδυ (“by tonight”), the sentence talks about finishing the job by a deadline. So Greek prefers the perfective:

…θα επισκευάσει… μέχρι το βράδυ.
→ He will have it repaired by tonight (one complete action, finished by then).

If you said θα επισκευάζει μέχρι το βράδυ, it would suggest he will be in the process of repairing it until tonight, without clearly stating it will be finished then. That’s not what we want here.

Why doesn’t the sentence explicitly say he (like “he will repair”)? Where is the subject of θα επισκευάσει?

Greek is a “pro‑drop” language: subject pronouns (εγώ, εσύ, αυτός, etc.) are often omitted because the verb ending shows the person and number.

θα επισκευάσει is 3rd person singular (he/she/it will repair).
From the context, the only 3rd singular person available is Ο τεχνικός.

So Greek doesn’t need to say αυτός θα επισκευάσει here. That would normally feel emphatic, like:

Αυτός θα επισκευάσει… = HE will repair it (not someone else).

In neutral sentences, you usually leave the pronoun out.

Why is it τον χαλασμένο εκτυπωτή? How do the article, adjective, and noun agree here?

Τον χαλασμένο εκτυπωτή is the direct object of the verb (what will be repaired), so it is in the accusative singular masculine:

ο εκτυπωτής (nominative) → τον εκτυπωτή (accusative)
χαλασμένος (masc. nom.) → χαλασμένο (masc. acc.)
Article: ο (nom.) → τον (acc.)

In Greek, all three — article, adjective, noun — match in:

gender: masculine
number: singular
case: accusative

And the normal word order is:

article + adjective + noun
τον χαλασμένο εκτυπωτή

So:

ο χαλασμένος εκτυπωτής = the broken printer (subject)
τον χαλασμένο εκτυπωτή = the broken printer (object)

Why is εκτυπωτή without ς at the end? I thought masculine nouns ended in -ης / -ος.

The nominative form is:

ο εκτυπωτής = the printer

In the accusative singular, many masculine nouns in -ης lose the -ς:

ο εκτυπωτής → τον εκτυπωτή
ο μαθητής (student) → τον μαθητή
ο οδηγός (driver) → τον οδηγό (here the ending just changes vowel, no final -ς anyway)

So εκτυπωτή is just the regular accusative form of εκτυπωτής, required because it’s the direct object of θα επισκευάσει.

What exactly does χαλασμένο mean? Is it the same as σπασμένο?

Both χαλασμένο and σπασμένο are often translated “broken,” but they differ slightly:

χαλασμένο
- from χαλάω = to break down / go bad / be out of order
- used for machines, food, systems, devices: not working, not functioning
- χαλασμένος εκτυπωτής = a printer that doesn’t work
σπασμένο
- from σπάω = to break (physically, into pieces or crack)
- suggests physical damage: broken glass, broken bone, snapped item
- σπασμένο τζάμι = broken window pane

A printer is usually described as χαλασμένος if it’s out of order. You’d use σπασμένος εκτυπωτής only if the printer is literally physically damaged (e.g. smashed).

How should I understand μέχρι το βράδυ? Does it mean “by tonight” or “until tonight”? Are there synonyms?

Μέχρι with a time expression means:

up to / until / by a certain time.

In this sentence, with a future action and a result, μέχρι το βράδυ is most naturally:

by tonight / by this evening (deadline: it will be done at or before that time).

If the context suggests an ongoing action, μέχρι can mean until:

Δούλεψε μέχρι το βράδυ.
He worked until the evening.

Here, because of θα επισκευάσει (a completed future act), we interpret it as a deadline: will have repaired it by tonight.

Common near‑synonyms:

ως το βράδυ
έως το βράδυ

All three (μέχρι / ως / έως) are fine in everyday Greek; έως is a bit more formal.

Why is it μέχρι το βράδυ and not just μέχρι βράδυ? Is the article το necessary?

With time-of-day nouns (το πρωί, το μεσημέρι, το απόγευμα, το βράδυ, τη νύχτα), Greek very often uses the definite article even when English doesn’t.

So:

μέχρι το βράδυ = literally “until the evening,” but idiomatically “until / by tonight.”

You might hear μέχρι βράδυ in very colloquial or dialectal speech, but μέχρι το βράδυ is the standard, natural form and what you should use.

Could Greek also say something like “The technician said he is going to repair…” with a present tense after είπε, like English often does?

English often uses a kind of “backshifted present” in reported speech:

He said he is going to repair it.

In Greek, you normally keep the same tense the person originally used, especially with future:

Direct: Θα επισκευάσω τον εκτυπωτή μέχρι το βράδυ.
Reported: Ο τεχνικός είπε ότι θα επισκευάσει τον εκτυπωτή μέχρι το βράδυ.

You wouldn’t normally change it to present (είναι να επισκευάσει etc.) just because the reporting verb (είπε) is in the past. So είπε ότι θα επισκευάσει is the normal, idiomatic pattern.

Can the word order change? For example, can μέχρι το βράδυ go earlier in the sentence?

Greek word order is fairly flexible, especially for adverbials like time expressions. All of these are grammatically correct:

Ο τεχνικός είπε ότι θα επισκευάσει τον χαλασμένο εκτυπωτή μέχρι το βράδυ. (neutral)
Ο τεχνικός είπε ότι μέχρι το βράδυ θα επισκευάσει τον χαλασμένο εκτυπωτή.
Μέχρι το βράδυ, ο τεχνικός είπε ότι θα επισκευάσει τον χαλασμένο εκτυπωτή. (more marked, topicalizing the time)

The first version (in the original sentence) is the most neutral and typical: subject → verb → ότι‑clause → time phrase at the end.

Should there be a comma before ότι after είπε, like in English “The technician said, that …”?

In modern Greek, you do not usually put a comma before ότι (or πως) when it introduces an object clause:

Ο τεχνικός είπε ότι θα επισκευάσει… ✅ (normal)
Ο τεχνικός είπε, ότι θα επισκευάσει… ❌ (usually wrong / unnatural)

So unlike English, Greek doesn’t want a comma here. You only use a comma if ότι starts a different kind of structure or if it’s ό,τι (“whatever”), which is not the case here.