Learn Hardcore Greek: Η δασκάλα λέει ότι ο τρόπος που μιλάμε μπορεί να είναι θετικός, ουδέτερος ή αρνητικός. - The teacher says that the way we speak can be positive, neutral or negative.

In English you can say either The teacher says… or Teacher says… (especially to children).
In Greek, the version without the article (δασκάλα λέει…) is possible but sounds either:

like a name or title (e.g. calling someone Teacher), or
more informal/colloquial and less standard.

For a normal, neutral sentence, Η δασκάλα λέει… is the natural form.

What is λέει exactly? What tense and person is it?

λέει is:

verb: λέω / λέγω = to say
tense: Present
person/number: 3rd person singular (he/she/it)

So λέει means he says / she says / it says.
Here it matches Η δασκάλα (she), so: The teacher says…

What does ότι do here? Is it the same as English that?

Yes. In this sentence ότι is a conjunction meaning that, introducing a reported clause.

λέει ότι… = (she) says that…

So the structure is:

Η δασκάλα λέει ότι…
The teacher says that…

This is similar to English She says that the way we speak can be…

Note: ότι here (no accent on the τι) is the conjunction that, not the pronoun ό,τι (with a comma), which means whatever / anything that.

I also see πως used like ότι. Could we say Η δασκάλα λέει πως ο τρόπος… instead?

Yes, you can. In modern Greek:

ότι and πως can both mean that (introducing reported speech).

So:

Η δασκάλα λέει ότι ο τρόπος…
Η δασκάλα λέει πως ο τρόπος…

are both grammatically correct and mean the same thing in this context.

Very roughly:

ότι feels a bit more neutral/formal/written.
πως feels slightly more colloquial/spoken.

But in everyday usage, both are very common, and in many cases interchangeable.

What does ο τρόπος mean, and why is the article ο?

τρόπος means way / manner (as in the way we speak).

τρόπος is a masculine noun.
Nominative singular masculine article is ο.

So:

ο τρόπος = the way / the manner

Because it is the subject of the verb είναι (can be positive etc.), it is in the nominative:
ο τρόπος … μπορεί να είναι θετικός…

How does the phrase ο τρόπος που μιλάμε work? What is που doing here?

ο τρόπος που μιλάμε literally is:

ο τρόπος = the way
που μιλάμε = that we speak / in which we speak

Here που works like a relative pronoun in English:

ο τρόπος που μιλάμε ≈ the way (that) we speak

So που here is like that / which / in which in English relative clauses.

A more formal version would be:

ο τρόπος με τον οποίο μιλάμε = the way in which we speak

But in everyday Greek, ο τρόπος που μιλάμε is the normal, natural form.

Why is it μιλάμε (we speak) instead of μιλάω (I speak) or μιλάς (you speak)?

μιλάμε is:

verb: μιλάω / μιλώ = to speak
tense: Present
person/number: 1st person plural = we speak

In Greek, using we (εμείς) like this can have a general meaning:

ο τρόπος που μιλάμε = the way we speak (people in general / we as a group)

It’s similar to English when you say:

The way we talk can be positive, neutral or negative.

The teacher is probably including herself and/or people in general: the way we (people) speak.

The subject εμείς (we) is not written because in Greek it’s usually dropped; the ending -με in μιλάμε already tells you we.

What is the function of μπορεί να είναι? Why do we say να είναι and not just είναι?

μπορεί να είναι is a very common structure:

μπορεί = it can / it may / it might
να είναι = (that it) be → subjunctive of είμαι after να

Together:

μπορεί να είναι = can be / may be / might be

In modern Greek, the verb μπορώ (I can / may) is usually followed by να + subjunctive, not by a bare infinitive (since Greek has no infinitive anymore).

So:

Ο τρόπος… μπορεί να είναι θετικός…
= The way… can be positive…

If you said just είναι θετικός, it would mean is positive (a simple statement of fact), without the idea of possibility.

Why are θετικός, ουδέτερος, αρνητικός all in the masculine form?

These adjectives describe ο τρόπος:

ο τρόπος is masculine, singular, nominative.
Adjectives must agree in gender, number, and case.

So you get:

θετικός (masc. sg. nom.)
ουδέτερος (masc. sg. nom.)
αρνητικός (masc. sg. nom.)

If the noun were feminine or neuter, the adjectives would change:

η στάση (fem.) → η στάση μπορεί να είναι θετική, ουδέτερη ή αρνητική.
το ύφος (neut.) → το ύφος μπορεί να είναι θετικό, ουδέτερο ή αρνητικό.

Could we also say θετικά, ουδέτερα ή αρνητικά instead of θετικός, ουδέτερος ή αρνητικός?

Those forms exist, but they would not be correct here.

θετικός / ουδέτερος / αρνητικός = adjectives (masc. sg. nom.)
→ matching ο τρόπος (the way).
θετικά / ουδέτερα / αρνητικά can be:
- neuter plural adjectives, or
- adverbs (e.g. μιλάει θετικά = he talks positively).

Here we are describing the way (ο τρόπος), which is a singular masculine noun, so we need masculine singular adjectives:

ο τρόπος … μπορεί να είναι θετικός, ουδέτερος ή αρνητικός.

If we wanted adverbs describing μιλάμε, we would say something like:

Μιλάμε θετικά / ουδέτερα / αρνητικά.
= We speak positively / neutrally / negatively.

In the list θετικός, ουδέτερος ή αρνητικός, why is there a comma before ή?

In Greek, when you have a list of three or more items, it is usual to put commas between items, even before ή (or) or και (and):

Α, Β ή Γ
Α, Β, Γ και Δ

So:

θετικός, ουδέτερος ή αρνητικός

has a comma after θετικός to separate the first item from the second. This is normal punctuation in Greek lists, similar to English:

positive, neutral or negative.

Can the word order change? For example, could we say Ο τρόπος που μιλάμε, η δασκάλα λέει, μπορεί να είναι…?

Yes, Greek word order is flexible, but not all orders sound equally natural or clear.

The given sentence:

Η δασκάλα λέει ότι ο τρόπος που μιλάμε μπορεί να είναι θετικός, ουδέτερος ή αρνητικός.

is the most natural, neutral word order.

Variants like:

Ο τρόπος που μιλάμε μπορεί, λέει η δασκάλα, να είναι…
Ο τρόπος που μιλάμε, λέει η δασκάλα, μπορεί να είναι…

are possible and can appear in more advanced or literary text, often to emphasize ο τρόπος που μιλάμε.

For a learner, it’s best to stick to the original order until you’re very comfortable with Greek syntax.

Could we say με τον τρόπο που μιλάμε instead of ο τρόπος που μιλάμε? What’s the difference?

You could say:

Με τον τρόπο που μιλάμε, μπορεί να είμαστε θετικοί, ουδέτεροι ή αρνητικοί.
= With the way we speak, we may be positive, neutral or negative.

But that actually changes the structure and meaning a bit.

In the original:

ο τρόπος που μιλάμε = the way in which we speak
→ that way (the manner) can be positive etc.

If you say με τον τρόπο που μιλάμε (= with the way we speak), that phrase is now an adverbial phrase (with the way we speak / by the way we speak), not the subject of μπορεί να είναι.

So:

Original: The way (we speak) itself can be positive, neutral or negative.
With με: By the way we speak, we (ourselves) may be positive, neutral or negative.

Both are correct Greek, but they’re slightly different statements.