Στη ρεσεψιόν ρώτησα: «Μπορείτε να δείτε αν ο κούριερ άφησε το πακέτο μου;»

Στη is the contracted form of σε τη.

• σε = at / to / in
• τη = the (feminine accusative singular)

So:

• σε τη ρεσεψιόν → στη ρεσεψιόν

This is very common in modern Greek:

• στο = σε το
• στη = σε τη
• στην = σε την

You may also see στην before words beginning with a vowel or in more careful style, but στη ρεσεψιόν is completely normal.

Also, Greek uses σε + accusative both for movement (to) and location (at/in), so στη ρεσεψιόν can mean at the reception desk.

Ρεσεψιόν is a loanword, ultimately from English/French, and it is very commonly used in Greek for reception or front desk, especially in hotels or apartment buildings.

It is usually treated as an indeclinable noun, which means its form does not change across cases:

• η ρεσεψιόν
• τη ρεσεψιόν
• της ρεσεψιόν

So in this sentence, στη ρεσεψιόν is perfectly natural.

Ρώτησα is the aorist form of ρωτάω / ρωτώ and refers to a single completed action:

• ρώτησα = I asked

This fits the sentence because the speaker is referring to one specific moment: they asked something at the reception desk.

By contrast:

• ρωτούσα = I was asking / I used to ask

That would suggest an ongoing action or repeated action, which is not the idea here.

After μπορώ (can / be able to), Greek normally uses να plus another verb.

So:

• Μπορείτε να δείτε = Can you see/check

Here:

• μπορείτε = you can / can you (formal singular or plural)
• να δείτε = the verb that follows, in the subjunctive-type form

The particle να is extremely common in Greek. It often introduces an action that someone can, wants to, must, or should do.

Examples:

• Θέλω να πάω = I want to go
• Πρέπει να φύγω = I have to leave
• Μπορείτε να περιμένετε = Can you wait

Although βλέπω means see, Greek often uses forms of δω / δω, δείτε in polite requests with the meaning check / have a look / see whether.

So here Μπορείτε να δείτε αν... is very natural and often means:

• Can you check if...
• Can you see whether...

If you said Μπορείτε να βλέπετε..., that would not work here. Βλέπετε is a present indicative form meaning you see / are seeing, not the form needed after μπορείτε να.

Μπορείτε is the 2nd person plural form, but in Greek it is also used as the polite singular—just like French vous or German Sie.

So it can mean:

• you all can or
• can you addressed politely to one person

In this context, since the speaker is talking to reception staff, it is a polite form: Can you...

It is capitalized here because it begins the quoted sentence, not because it is formal.

Αν here means if / whether.

In this sentence:

• Μπορείτε να δείτε αν ο κούριερ άφησε το πακέτο μου;
• Can you check if/whether the courier left my package?

This is not a conditional if like If it rains, we’ll stay home.
It is an embedded question, closer to whether in English.

Greek commonly uses αν this way:

• Δεν ξέρω αν έρχεται = I don’t know if/whether he’s coming
• Ρώτησέ τον αν μπορεί = Ask him if he can

Yes, in this sentence κούριερ is treated as a masculine noun, so it takes the masculine article:

• ο κούριερ

Like ρεσεψιόν, κούριερ is a loanword. In everyday Greek, it is very common to say ο κούριερ for the courier / delivery person.

Because it is a borrowed word, many speakers keep it mostly indeclinable in casual use, though the article clearly shows its gender and role in the sentence.

Άφησε is the aorist form of αφήνω and means left.

It is used because the speaker is asking about a completed action:

• Did the courier leave the package or not?

So:

• ο κούριερ άφησε το πακέτο μου = the courier left my package

Greek often uses the aorist when referring to a single finished event in the past.

It could be, depending on context, but άφησε is very natural here.

Compare:

• άφησε = left / did leave
• έχει αφήσει = has left

In many everyday situations, Greek uses the simple past (aorist) where English might use either left or has left. So άφησε sounds normal and idiomatic.

If you said αν ο κούριερ έχει αφήσει το πακέτο μου, that would also be understandable, but άφησε is simpler and very common.

In Greek, possessive pronouns like μου (my) usually come after the noun:

• το πακέτο μου = my package
• το βιβλίο μου = my book
• η φίλη μου = my friend

So the normal order is:

• article + noun + possessive clitic

That is why το πακέτο μου is the expected phrasing.

It is in the accusative, because it is the direct object of άφησε:

• ο κούριερ = subject
• άφησε = verb
• το πακέτο μου = object

You can see this in the article:

• nominative neuter singular: το
• accusative neuter singular: also το

For neuter nouns, nominative and accusative often look the same, so the article does not visibly change here.

In Greek punctuation, the semicolon (;) functions as the question mark.

So:

• ; in Greek = ? in English

That is why the quoted question ends with ;

Examples:

• Τι κάνεις; = How are you?
• Πού είσαι; = Where are you?

This is one of the first punctuation differences learners notice in Greek.

The colon introduces the exact words that were asked.

So:

• Στη ρεσεψιόν ρώτησα: = At reception I asked:
• then the direct question follows

This works much like English. Greek also commonly uses the angle quotation marks « » for direct speech instead of English-style quotation marks.

A less formal version might use μπορείς instead of μπορείτε if speaking to one person informally:

• Μπορείς να δεις αν ο κούριερ άφησε το πακέτο μου;

Differences:

• μπορείτε = formal singular or plural
• μπορείς = informal singular

Everything else can stay the same.