Learn Hardcore Greek: Στη γραμματεία της σχολής ρωτάω αν χρειάζεται αίτηση στο γραφείο ή ηλεκτρονικά. - At the school office I ask whether an application is needed in person or electronically.

So σε τη γραμματεία becomes στη γραμματεία.
It’s the same preposition (σε, “at/in/to”) plus the definite article; it just fuses in speech and writing.

Grammatically:

σε = preposition “at / in / to”
τη = feminine accusative singular article
γραμματεία = feminine accusative singular noun

So στη γραμματεία literally = “at the office/secretariat”.

What exactly does γραμματεία mean here? Is it “secretary”, “office”, or something else?

Η γραμματεία in this context is not a single “secretary” but the administrative office / registrar’s office / secretariat of a department or faculty.

η γραμματεία της σχολής ≈ “the faculty office / department secretariat”
It’s a place / service, not a person.

If you wanted to refer to the person, you’d typically say η γραμματέας (“the secretary” – the person who works there).
Here, you’re going to the office as an institution / service.

What is the difference between σχολή and σχολείο?

Both involve “school”, but they’re used differently:

το σχολείο = school in the general sense
- primary school, high school, etc.
- e.g. πάω σχολείο = I go to school
η σχολή = usually a faculty / college / specialized school
- a faculty in a university (e.g. η Νομική Σχολή = Law School)
- a school of some discipline or specialty (e.g. σχολή χορού = dance school)

In universities, η γραμματεία της σχολής is the faculty’s administration office, not the front desk of a normal school building.

Why is it της σχολής and not something like η σχολή after γραμματεία?

Της σχολής is the genitive form of η σχολή and it shows possession or association:

η γραμματεία της σχολής = “the secretariat of the faculty”
Literally: “the secretariat of the school/faculty”

Structure:

η γραμματεία (nominative) = the subject / head noun
της σχολής (genitive) = “of the faculty” (whose secretariat?)

Greek uses the genitive this way very often where English uses “of” or a compound noun:

η πόρτα του γραφείου = the door of the office / the office door
ο διευθυντής της σχολής = the director of the faculty / the faculty director

Could I also say Ρωτάω στη γραμματεία της σχολής… instead of starting with Στη γραμματεία της σχολής ρωτάω…? Is there a difference?

Yes, you can say both:

Στη γραμματεία της σχολής ρωτάω αν…
Ρωτάω στη γραμματεία της σχολής αν…

Both are grammatical and natural.

The difference is emphasis / focus:

Version 1 (as in the sentence) puts the location first: “At the faculty office, I ask whether…”. It subtly emphasizes where this is happening.
Version 2 puts the action first: “I ask at the faculty office whether…”. Slightly more neutral, focused on the act of asking.

In everyday speech, both word orders are common and correct. Greek allows more flexibility with word order than English, mainly to play with emphasis.

Why is it ρωτάω and not ρωτώ or some other form? Are ρωτάω and ρωτώ different?

Ρωτάω and ρωτώ are two acceptable present-tense forms of the same verb ρωτάω / ρωτώ (“to ask”).

ρωτάω is more colloquial / common in everyday speech.
ρωτώ is a bit more formal or “bookish”, but still very normal.

Both mean “I ask” in the present:

εγώ ρωτάω / ρωτώ – I ask
εσύ ρωτάς / ρωτάς – you ask
αυτός ρωτάει / ρωτά – he asks

In this sentence, ρωτάω is simply the common spoken form:
Στη γραμματεία της σχολής ρωτάω… = “At the faculty office, I ask…”

Is ρωτάω here “I am asking now” or “I (usually) ask”? How does Greek express that difference?

Greek present tense usually covers both:

ρωτάω can mean:
- “I am asking (now)” – present, ongoing action
- “I (usually) ask / I ask (in general)” – habitual

Context decides which reading makes more sense.

In this sentence, it can be understood as:

a specific present action (“I’m asking at the office whether…”), or
a typical procedure (“I (generally) ask at the office whether…”).

If you want to be clearly in the past, you’d use aorist:

Ρώτησα στη γραμματεία της σχολής αν… = I asked at the faculty office whether…

For very explicit “right now, this very moment” you often just use the same present, sometimes supported by time expressions:

Τώρα ρωτάω στη γραμματεία… = Right now I’m asking at the office…

What does αν mean here? Is it “if” or “whether”, and how does it work with ρωτάω?

Here αν means “if / whether” introducing an indirect question:

ρωτάω αν χρειάζεται αίτηση…
= “I ask if / whether an application is needed…”

After verbs of asking, knowing, wondering, etc., Greek commonly uses:

αν for “if / whether”
- Ρωτάω αν… = I ask if/whether…
- Ξέρω αν… = I know if…

So the structure is:

ρωτάω (I ask)
αν (if/whether)
χρειάζεται αίτηση… (an application is needed…)

In English we’d translate αν here more naturally as “whether”, but “if” also works.

Why is χρειάζεται in the 3rd person singular? What is the subject? Is something missing?

In this sentence χρειάζεται is being used impersonally, like English “it is needed / it is necessary”.

Greek often uses 3rd person singular with no explicit subject:

χρειάζεται αίτηση
Literally: “An application is needed / It requires an application / It is necessary (to have) an application.”

There is no separate “it” in Greek; the structure is just:

χρειάζεται (it is needed / is necessary)
αίτηση (application – the thing that is needed)

Compare:

Χρειάζεται βοήθεια. = Help is needed. / He/She needs help. (ambiguous from context)
Χρειάζεται να κάνεις αίτηση. = It’s necessary that you make an application.

Why is there no article before αίτηση? Could I say μια αίτηση or την αίτηση?

You could add an article, but each choice changes the nuance:

αν χρειάζεται αίτηση
→ if (any / in general) application is needed
(generic, like English “if an application is needed” without stressing which one)
αν χρειάζεται μια αίτηση
→ if an application is needed
Slightly more “countable” and concrete, similar to English “if you need to submit an application form (one application)”.
αν χρειάζεται την αίτηση
→ if (he/she/it) needs the application
This would normally refer to a specific, known application that’s already been mentioned.

So the bare noun αίτηση here is really the most natural way to say:

“if an application is required / if an application is needed”
in a general procedural sense.

What is the difference between γραμματεία and γραφείο in this sentence? We already have γραμματεία, so why στο γραφείο?

They are not synonyms here:

η γραμματεία = the secretariat / administrative office as a service/institution
το γραφείο = literally “office / desk / workplace”, but in this context it’s:
- the physical office, or
- the in-person, at-the-office way of submitting something

So the contrast is:

αίτηση στο γραφείο = submitting your application at the office / in person
ή ηλεκτρονικά = submitting it electronically / online

You might imagine a sign:

“Application at the office or electronically”
That’s exactly what αίτηση στο γραφείο ή ηλεκτρονικά conveys.

What part of speech is ηλεκτρονικά here, and why is it neuter plural in form?

Ηλεκτρονικά here is an adverb, meaning “electronically / online”.

Morphologically, it looks like neuter plural adjective (from ηλεκτρονικός, -ή, -ό), but in modern Greek many adverbs are formed this way:

καλός (good) → καλά (well)
τυπικός (typical) → τυπικά (typically)
ηλεκτρονικός (electronic) → ηλεκτρονικά (electronically)

So:

στο γραφείο = at the office (prepositional phrase)
ηλεκτρονικά = electronically (adverb)

Together they express the two possible modes of submitting the application:

στο γραφείο ή ηλεκτρονικά
= “(either) at the office or electronically.”

How would this sentence change if I wanted to talk about the past or the future?

You mainly need to change ρωτάω and possibly adjust χρειάζεται depending on nuance.

Past (I asked):

Στη γραμματεία της σχολής ρώτησα αν χρειάζεται αίτηση στο γραφείο ή ηλεκτρονικά.
= At the faculty office I asked if an application is needed at the office or electronically.
(You asked at some point; the rule may still be current.)

If you want to imply it was about a past requirement (no longer necessarily valid), you could say:

…ρώτησα αν χρειαζόταν αίτηση… = I asked if an application was needed…

Future (I will ask):

Στη γραμματεία της σχολής θα ρωτήσω αν χρειάζεται αίτηση στο γραφείο ή ηλεκτρονικά.
= At the faculty office I will ask if an application is needed at the office or electronically.

Here θα ρωτήσω is the simple future (“I will ask”).
Χρειάζεται can stay in the present, because it refers to a general rule that will still be in effect when you ask.