Breakdown of Μπορείτε να μου πείτε σε ποιο γκισέ πρέπει να δείξω το αποδεικτικό της πληρωμής;
μπορώ
to be able
να
to
σε
at
πρέπει
to have to
Questions & Answers about Μπορείτε να μου πείτε σε ποιο γκισέ πρέπει να δείξω το αποδεικτικό της πληρωμής;
Why is the sentence using Μπορείτε instead of Μπορείς?
Μπορείτε is the formal singular or plural form of you.
So this could mean:
- Can you tell me... said politely to one person
- Can you tell me... said to more than one person
If you were speaking informally to one friend, you would normally say:
- Μπορείς να μου πεις...
This is one of the first things English speakers notice, because Greek distinguishes between informal you and formal/plural you.
Why are there two occurrences of να in the sentence?
Because there are two different verb phrases that depend on other words:
- Μπορείτε να μου πείτε = Can you tell me
- πρέπει να δείξω = I must / need to show
In Modern Greek, να introduces this kind of dependent verb form. It often corresponds to English to, but not always exactly.
So here:
- να πείτε depends on μπορείτε
- να δείξω depends on πρέπει
English does something similar with separate verb phrases: Can you tell me where I need to show...
Why is μου placed before πείτε?