Learn Hardcore Greek: Η υπάλληλος στη γραμματεία μου εξηγεί ότι η αίτηση και τα άλλα έντυπα είναι απαραίτητα μέχρι την Παρασκευή. - The employee at the office explains to me that the application and the other forms are necessary by Friday.

So the form υπάλληλος itself doesn’t change; you know it’s a woman because of the feminine article η (and possibly from context or adjectives referring to her).

What does στη γραμματεία literally mean, and how is στη formed?

στη is the contracted form of:

σε (in/at/to) + την (the, feminine accusative)

So:

σε την γραμματεία → στη γραμματεία

γραμματεία here does not mean “secretary (person)”; it means the secretariat / administration office / office of student services depending on context. So στη γραμματεία is “at the office (of the secretariat)”, not “in the secretary” or “to the secretary”.

Does μου mean my or to me in μου εξηγεί, and why is it in that position?

In this sentence, μου means to me, not my.

Greek uses the weak genitive pronouns (μου, σου, του, της, μας, σας, τους) for indirect objects:

μου εξηγεί = “she explains to me”

Key points:

As an indirect object, μου is a clitic and normally comes right before the verb in a main clause:
- μου εξηγεί, σου λέει, του δίνει.
If μου were possessive (“my”), it would attach to a noun:
- η γραμματεία μου = my office / my secretariat.

So in Η υπάλληλος στη γραμματεία μου εξηγεί…, μου belongs with εξηγεί (“explains to me”), not with γραμματεία (“my office”). Context and word order signal that.

What tense/aspect is εξηγεί, and how would I say “she explained” instead?

εξηγεί is:

Person/number: 3rd person singular
Tense: present
Aspect: imperfective (ongoing, repeated, general)

So μου εξηγεί = “she is explaining to me / she explains to me”.

Other key forms of εξηγώ:

μου εξήγησε = “she explained to me” (aorist: single completed event)
μου εξηγούσε = “she was explaining to me / she used to explain to me” (imperfect: ongoing or repeated in the past)
θα μου εξηγήσει = “she will explain to me”

So to talk about a completed explanation in the past, you’d say μου εξήγησε.

What is the function of ότι here? How is it different from πως and ό,τι?

Here ότι is a conjunction meaning that, introducing a subordinate clause of reported speech:

μου εξηγεί ότι… = “she explains to me that…”

Differences:

ότι (no comma): conjunction, “that”
- μου είπε ότι θα έρθει = he told me that he will come.
πως: in this use, basically synonymous with ότι in modern Greek:
- μου εξηγεί πως η αίτηση… (very similar meaning).
ό,τι (with comma and accent on ό): “whatever / anything that”
- κάνε ό,τι θέλεις = do whatever you want.

So in this sentence, you could almost always swap ότι with πως, but ό,τι would be wrong.

Why is απαραίτητα neuter plural when η αίτηση is feminine?

The subject of the verb είναι is two things together:

η αίτηση (the application) – feminine singular
τα άλλα έντυπα (the other forms) – neuter plural

When you have a compound subject of mixed genders, standard Greek grammar makes the agreement neuter plural:

Η αίτηση και τα άλλα έντυπα είναι απαραίτητα.

So:

είναι = 3rd person plural (are)
απαραίτητα = neuter plural, agreeing with the whole group (“the application and the other forms”), not just with η αίτηση.

If you only had the application as subject, you’d say:

Η αίτηση είναι απαραίτητη. (feminine singular)

What exactly are έντυπα? Is there a singular form?

Yes. έντυπα is neuter plural; the singular is έντυπο.

το έντυπο = the printed form/document
τα έντυπα = the forms/documents

In administrative or university contexts, έντυπα usually means the forms you have to fill out, printed or PDF – not just “any printed paper”, but standardized documents like applications, declarations, etc.

How does μέχρι work here, and does it include Friday or not?

μέχρι means until / up to and is followed by a noun phrase in the accusative:

μέχρι την Παρασκευή = until Friday

In the context of deadlines, μέχρι την Παρασκευή is normally understood as:

“by Friday (inclusive)” – you can still submit on Friday.

So practically it means: any time up to and including Friday, not “only before Friday begins”.

You can also see near-synonyms:

ως την Παρασκευή / έως την Παρασκευή – very similar usage.
Often μέχρι and ως are interchangeable in everyday speech in this sense.

Why does την Παρασκευή have the article την? In English we just say “on Friday”.

In Greek, days of the week normally take the definite article when you refer to a specific day, especially with time expressions:

την Δευτέρα = on Monday
την Παρασκευή = on Friday
μέχρι την Παρασκευή = until Friday

So την here is simply the feminine accusative definite article for Παρασκευή (which is feminine). There is no extra preposition “on”; the idea of “on” is carried by the overall construction.

You usually omit the article in more general expressions like:

κάθε Παρασκευή = every Friday
Παρασκευή βράδυ (more colloquial) = Friday night

Could I change the word order, e.g. say Η υπάλληλος μου στη γραμματεία εξηγεί…? Does it change the meaning?

You have to be careful, because word order and stress can change the meaning:

Η υπάλληλος στη γραμματεία μου εξηγεί ότι…
- Natural reading: “The employee at the office explains to me that…”
- μου is the clitic pronoun = to me, attached to εξηγεί.
Η υπάλληλός μου στη γραμματεία εξηγεί ότι…
- Here, with μου taken as a possessive (“my employee”) and usually stressed in speech (often written υπάλληλός μου with an extra accent), it means:
  - “My employee in the office explains that…”
For the clitic μου as an indirect object in a main clause, it should stay immediately before the verb:
- ✔ Η υπάλληλος στη γραμματεία μου εξηγεί ότι…
- ✘ Η υπάλληλος στη γραμματεία εξηγεί μου ότι… (wrong in standard Greek)

So moving μου away from the verb or interpreting it with the noun tends to shift the meaning from “to me” to “my”.

Where is the word “she” in the Greek sentence? Why is it not expressed?

Greek usually drops subject pronouns (this is called a pro‑drop language), because the verb ending already shows the person and number.

εξηγεί = (he/she/it) explains
Context + the noun η υπάλληλος tell you it’s “she”.

So:

Η υπάλληλος στη γραμματεία μου εξηγεί ότι…
literally: “The employee at the office explains to me that…”

You could add αυτή (“she”) for emphasis or contrast:

Αυτή η υπάλληλος στη γραμματεία μου εξηγεί ότι…
“This employee at the office explains to me that…”

but it’s not required for basic grammar.

What is the difference between γραμματεία and γραμματέας? Would I use γραμματεία if I mean “the secretary”?

No; they are different:

η γραμματεία
- the secretariat / administrative office / department office (an institution or office, often with several staff)
- Example: Πήγαινε στη γραμματεία του τμήματος. = Go to the department office.
ο/η γραμματέας
- the secretary (person) – again a common‑gender noun, article shows gender:
  - η γραμματέας = the female secretary
  - ο γραμματέας = the male secretary

So:

In this sentence, Η υπάλληλος στη γραμματεία… = “The employee in the office / at the secretariat…”
If you wanted “The secretary explains to me…”, you’d say:
- Η γραμματέας μου εξηγεί ότι… = The (female) secretary explains to me that…