Συγγνώμη για την ενόχληση, αλλά μπορείτε να μου πείτε αν αυτό το γραφείο είναι ανοιχτό;

Συγγνώμη means sorry or excuse me. In this sentence, it works like an independent expression, so there is no verb you need to add.

Greek often uses Συγγνώμη by itself in situations where English might say:

• Sorry
• Excuse me
• I’m sorry

So Συγγνώμη για την ενόχληση is literally Sorry for the disturbance/bothering.

για means for, and it is followed here by a noun phrase in the accusative case:

• η ενόχληση = the disturbance / the bothering
• accusative singular = την ενόχληση

So:

• για = for
• την = the
• ενόχληση = disturbance / bothering / inconvenience

Together, για την ενόχληση means for the inconvenience or for bothering you.

ενόχληση comes from the idea of disturbing, bothering, or causing inconvenience.

Depending on context, Συγγνώμη για την ενόχληση can sound like:

• Sorry to bother you
• Sorry for the inconvenience
• Sorry for disturbing you

In this sentence, it is a polite way to begin a question.

αλλά means but.

The sentence has this structure:

• Sorry for bothering you, but...
• Συγγνώμη για την ενόχληση, αλλά...

It softens the request. The speaker first apologizes, then asks the question politely.

μπορείτε is the 2nd person plural form of μπορώ (can / be able to). It can be used in two ways:

1. for you all
2. as a polite singular you

Here it is polite singular: the speaker is addressing one person respectfully.

Compare:

• μπορείς = you can (singular, informal)
• μπορείτε = you can (plural or singular polite)

So μπορείτε να μου πείτε... is a polite way to say can you tell me...

να introduces a dependent verb form, often corresponding to English to or sometimes part of structures like can ..., want to ..., need to ...

So:

• μπορείτε = you can
• να πείτε = say / tell

Together:

• μπορείτε να πείτε = you can say / you can tell

In this sentence:

• μπορείτε να μου πείτε = can you tell me

A useful thing to notice: after να, Greek uses a special verb form, not the plain dictionary form.

Yes, πείτε can look like the plural imperative (say! / tell!), but here it is not an imperative because it follows να.

After να, the form is understood as part of a dependent clause. So in:

• μπορείτε να μου πείτε

it means can you tell me, not you can! tell me!

This is very common in Greek: the same form may look identical in different contexts, and the surrounding words tell you how to understand it.

μου means to me.

It is a weak object pronoun, and in Modern Greek these pronouns usually come before the verb they belong to.

So:

• να μου πείτε = to tell me
• literally: to me tell

This word order is normal in Greek, even though English puts me after the verb.

Yes, αν can mean if, but in this sentence it is best understood as whether.

So:

• αν αυτό το γραφείο είναι ανοιχτό = whether this office is open

English often says:

• Can you tell me if...
• Can you tell me whether...

Greek uses αν in this kind of indirect yes/no question.

In Modern Greek, demonstratives like αυτός / αυτή / αυτό usually appear together with the definite article.

So Greek says:

• αυτό το γραφείο = this office

not normally:

• αυτό γραφείο

Here:

• αυτό = this
• το = the
• γραφείο = office / desk

This is the standard pattern: demonstrative + article + noun.

γραφείο is a neuter singular noun.

Because of that, words agreeing with it also appear in the neuter singular:

• αυτό = this (neuter singular)
• ανοιχτό = open (neuter singular)

So:

• αυτό το γραφείο = this office
• το γραφείο είναι ανοιχτό = the office is open

If the noun were masculine or feminine, those forms would change.

It can mean either, depending on context.

Common meanings of γραφείο include:

• office
• desk
• sometimes bureau or department/office counter, depending on the situation

In this sentence, office is the most natural meaning because something being ανοιχτό suggests a place or service that can be open or closed.

Because it agrees with γραφείο, which is neuter singular.

The adjective ανοιχτός (open) changes form by gender:

• ανοιχτός = masculine
• ανοιχτή = feminine
• ανοιχτό = neuter

Since το γραφείο is neuter, Greek uses:

• το γραφείο είναι ανοιχτό

In Greek punctuation, the symbol ; is the question mark.

So:

• Greek ; = English ?

This is one of the first punctuation differences learners notice. A Greek semicolon-looking mark at the end of a sentence usually means it is a question.