Μπορείτε να μου πείτε τον ταχυδρομικό κώδικα αυτής της διεύθυνσης;

Μπορείτε means you can or can you... and is the 2nd person plural / polite singular form of μπορώ (I can).

In this sentence, it is being used politely, like English Could you... or Can you... when speaking respectfully to one person.

• Μπορείς = informal singular you can
• Μπορείτε = plural you can or polite singular you can

So this sentence is politely addressed to someone.

In Greek, after verbs like μπορώ (can), you usually use να before the next verb.

So:

• Μπορείτε να πείτε = You can tell / Can you tell

The word να introduces the following verb in a subjunctive-type construction. English does not have a direct equivalent here, so it often feels natural just to think of μπορείτε να + verb as can + verb.

μου means to me.

So:

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

Greek often uses a weak pronoun like μου where English would use me.

Here μου is an indirect object pronoun:

• μου = to me / me
• σου = to you
• του / της = to him / her

Because in Modern Greek, weak object pronouns usually come before the verb in these kinds of constructions.

So Greek says:

• να μου πείτε

not:

• να πείτε μου

Compare:

• Μπορείτε να μου πείτε... = Can you tell me...

But after an imperative, Greek often puts the pronoun after the verb:

• Πείτε μου. = Tell me.

So the position changes depending on the structure.

πείτε is the form used here from λέω / λέγω (to say, tell). In this sentence it means tell.

The full structure μπορείτε να πείτε means can you tell.

This form is an aorist subjunctive form, which is very common after να. In many everyday sentences, learners can first understand it as the normal form used after να with this meaning.

So:

• Μπορείτε να μου πείτε... = Can you tell me...

τον is the masculine accusative singular definite article, meaning the.

The phrase τον ταχυδρομικό κώδικα means the postal code.

Greek uses articles more regularly than English, so where English might say tell me the postal code, Greek also uses the here.

Because this noun phrase is the direct object of πείτε, it appears in the accusative case:

• nominative: ο ταχυδρομικός κώδικας
• accusative: τον ταχυδρομικό κώδικα

Because the phrase is in the accusative case, not the nominative.

Dictionary forms are usually nominative:

• ο ταχυδρομικός κώδικας = the postal code

But after a verb, when it is the direct object, it becomes accusative:

• τον ταχυδρομικό κώδικα

Both the adjective and the noun change:

• ταχυδρομικός → ταχυδρομικό
• κώδικας → κώδικα

This is normal agreement in Greek:

• article + adjective + noun all match in gender, number, and case

Because it means of this address.

Greek expresses this idea with the genitive case:

• η διεύθυνση = the address
• της διεύθυνσης = of the address

And with the demonstrative:

• αυτή η διεύθυνση = this address
• αυτής της διεύθυνσης = of this address

So the whole part:

• τον ταχυδρομικό κώδικα αυτής της διεύθυνσης

literally works like:

• the postal code of this address

Because Greek often uses a demonstrative + article + noun pattern.

So:

• αυτής της διεύθυνσης literally = of this the address

But in natural English, that becomes simply:

• of this address

This is very common in Greek:

• αυτό το βιβλίο = this book
• αυτή η πόρτα = this door
• αυτής της διεύθυνσης = of this address

The demonstrative (αυτής) and the article (της) both agree with the noun.

Yes, Greek word order is more flexible than English, but not every change sounds equally natural.

The given sentence:

• Μπορείτε να μου πείτε τον ταχυδρομικό κώδικα αυτής της διεύθυνσης;

is very natural and standard.

You might also hear slight variations, but the original is probably the safest version for a learner.

What usually should stay the same:

• μου should stay before πείτε in this structure
• τον ταχυδρομικό κώδικα stays together as a noun phrase
• αυτής της διεύθυνσης stays together as another phrase

In Greek, the question mark looks like an English semicolon:

• Greek question mark: ;

So:

• Μπορείτε να μου πείτε τον ταχυδρομικό κώδικα αυτής της διεύθυνσης;

is a normal Greek question.

This often surprises English speakers at first.

Yes. ταχυδρομικός κώδικας is the standard expression for postal code.

You may also see the abbreviation:

• Τ.Κ. = ταχυδρομικός κώδικας

For example:

• Ποιος είναι ο Τ.Κ.; = What is the postal code?

If you are speaking to Americans learning Greek, it helps to remember that Greek uses the equivalent of postal code, not specifically ZIP code.

If you are speaking to one person informally, you would usually change Μπορείτε to Μπορείς:

• Μπορείς να μου πεις τον ταχυδρομικό κώδικα αυτής της διεύθυνσης;

Changes:

• Μπορείτε → Μπορείς
• πείτε → πεις

That gives you the informal singular version:

• Can you tell me the postal code of this address?

A helpful pronunciation guide is:

Bo-REE-te na moo PEE-te ton ta-hee-dro-mee-KO KO-thee-ka af-TEES tees thee-EF-thin-sees?

A few useful pronunciation notes:

• αι sounds like e
• ει / οι / υ usually sound like ee
• δ sounds like the th in this
• θ sounds like the th in think
• χ is a rough sound, like a soft throat h or the German ch
• Stress matters a lot in Greek, so pay attention to:
  • Μπορείτε
  • πείτε
  • ταχυδρομικό
  • κώδικα
  • αυτής
  • διεύθυνσης