Ο προϊστάμενος είπε ότι η παρουσία στη σύσκεψη είναι υποχρεωτική και ότι αυτό είναι βασικό καθήκον όλων.

to be

Breakdown of Ο προϊστάμενος είπε ότι η παρουσία στη σύσκεψη είναι υποχρεωτική και ότι αυτό είναι βασικό καθήκον όλων.

• και: and
• αυτός: this
• σε: at

Questions & Answers about Ο προϊστάμενος είπε ότι η παρουσία στη σύσκεψη είναι υποχρεωτική και ότι αυτό είναι βασικό καθήκον όλων.

How do you pronounce προϊστάμενος, and what does the ϊ do?

It is pronounced roughly pro-i-STA-me-nos.

The diaeresis on ϊ shows that ο and ι are pronounced separately, not as one combined vowel sound. So:

• προϊ- = pro-i
• not a single sound like proy-

The stress falls on στά.

Why is it ο προϊστάμενος and not just προϊστάμενος?

Greek uses the definite article much more often than English does. In this sentence, ο προϊστάμενος means the supervisor / the manager / the person in charge.

Using the article is normal when referring to a specific person in a role. In English, you might sometimes say the boss said..., and Greek does the same very naturally here.

What tense is είπε?

Είπε is the aorist form of λέω or λέγω, meaning he/she said.

Here it refers to one completed act of speaking, so the aorist is the natural choice.

Compare:

• είπε = said once, as a complete event
• έλεγε = was saying / used to say / kept saying

So ο προϊστάμενος είπε means the supervisor said in a simple past sense.