Μπορείς να συλλαβίσεις αυτή τη λέξη αργά;

A natural word-by-word breakdown is:

• Μπορείς = you can / are you able to
• να = a particle used before the next verb
• συλλαβίσεις = say/read/split into syllables, i.e. syllabify
• αυτή = this
• τη = the
• λέξη = word
• αργά = slowly

So the structure is basically:

Can you + syllabify + this word + slowly?

Yes. Μπορείς is the 2nd person singular form of μπορώ (I can), so it means you can when speaking to one person informally.

You would use it with:

• a friend
• a classmate
• a child
• someone you address with εσύ

If you want the formal or plural version, use:

Μπορείτε να συλλαβίσετε αυτή τη λέξη αργά;

That can mean either:

• Can you (plural) syllabify this word slowly?
• Can you (formal singular) syllabify this word slowly?

Because in Modern Greek, verbs like μπορώ normally take να + verb.

Greek does not use an infinitive the way English does. So where English says:

• Can you syllabify...?

Greek says, more literally:

• Can you that you syllabify...?

That is why να is required here:

• Μπορείς να συλλαβίσεις...

Without να, the sentence would be ungrammatical.

It is not past tense here.

After να, Greek often uses different aspects rather than English-style tense distinctions.
In this sentence, συλλαβίσεις is the perfective form, which fits a single complete action:

• Can you syllabify this word?
  = Can you do that whole action once, from start to finish?

If you used να συλλαβίζεις, that would be the imperfective form, which usually suggests something ongoing, repeated, or habitual, and it would sound less natural in this context.

So:

• να συλλαβίσεις = to syllabify it once, as a complete act
• να συλλαβίζεις = to be syllabifying / to syllabify habitually

Not exactly in the usual English sense of spell letter by letter.

συλλαβίζω means to syllabify or to say/read something syllable by syllable.

So if someone says:

• Συλλάβισέ το

  they mean something like:

• Say it in syllables
• Break it into syllables

If you want spell it letter by letter, Greek may use other wording depending on context, for example:

• πες το γράμμα γράμμα = say it letter by letter
• ορθογράφησέ το = spell it correctly / write its correct spelling

So συλλαβίζω is specifically about syllables, not individual letters.

Because Greek normally uses the pattern:

demonstrative + definite article + noun

So:

• αυτή η λέξη = this word (subject form / nominative)
• αυτή τη λέξη = this word (object form / accusative)

To an English speaker, it may feel like Greek is saying this the word, but that is simply the normal Greek pattern.

So in this sentence:

• αυτή τη λέξη = this word

This is about the final -ν.

In Modern Greek, the final -ν in words like:

• την
• αυτήν

is often dropped before many consonants, especially in everyday speech and standard writing.

Since λέξη starts with λ, it is very normal to say:

• τη λέξη
• αυτή τη λέξη

You may also see or hear:

• την λέξη
• αυτήν τη λέξη

but αυτή τη λέξη is extremely common and natural.

It can mean either one, depending on context.

• αργά = slowly
• αργά = late

In this sentence, it clearly means slowly, because it goes with συλλαβίσεις:

• Can you syllabify this word slowly?

If the context were time, it could mean late, for example:

• Ήρθες αργά. = You came late.

So the meaning comes from the situation and the verb it goes with.

Yes, Greek word order is fairly flexible.

The version here:

• Μπορείς να συλλαβίσεις αυτή τη λέξη αργά;

sounds natural and neutral. Putting αργά at the end makes it sound like the final instruction: slowly.

Other orders are possible, for example:

• Μπορείς να συλλαβίσεις αργά αυτή τη λέξη;

That is still understandable, but the original order is probably the most natural in everyday speech.

Greek often moves words around for:

• emphasis
• rhythm
• focus

But not every possible order sounds equally natural.

A rough pronunciation guide is:

bo-REES na see-la-VEE-sees af-TEE tee LEK-see ar-GHA

A syllable breakdown:

• Μπορείς → μπο-ρείς
• να → να
• συλλαβίσεις → συλ-λα-βί-σεις
• αυτή → αυ-τή
• τη → τη
• λέξη → λέ-ξη
• αργά → αρ-γά

A few useful pronunciation points:

• μπ at the start of Μπορείς sounds like b
• υ sounds like ee
• αυ in αυτή sounds like af here, because the next sound is τ
• ξ in λέξη sounds like ks
• γ in αργά is not a hard English g; it is a softer Greek sound, often approximated as gh

The stressed syllables are:

• μπορείς
• συλλαβίσεις
• αυτή
• λέξη
• αργά

Use the plural/formal form:

Μπορείτε να συλλαβίσετε αυτή τη λέξη αργά;

This is what you would say to:

• a teacher
• a stranger
• an older person
• more than one person

So the contrast is:

• Μπορείς να συλλαβίσεις... = informal singular
• Μπορείτε να συλλαβίσετε... = formal singular or plural

Because in Greek, the question mark is written as ;

So:

• ; in Greek = ? in English

That means:

• Μπορείς να συλλαβίσεις αυτή τη λέξη αργά;

is a normal Greek question.

A very common beginner mistake is to think Greek ; is a semicolon. In Greek punctuation, it usually marks a question instead.