"我可以跟我的朋友一起来吗？"
Translation:Can I come with my friend?
71 CommentsThis discussion is locked.
From a Chinese grammar wiki:
会 means "know how to," 能 means "to be able to," and 可以 means "to have permission to."
"Can I come with a friend?" should be accepted since it is assumed it is your friend. You do not have to say "my friend" in English
A rare example of where English doesn't throw in "me"—probably because of the indefinite article.
"My friend" is so non-native.
Chinese (especially formal Chinese) really loves these coordinated constructions, where there's a marker showing just where each part begins and ends.
'Is it OK for me to bring a friend?'. I know this is not a literal translation, but it gets away from the Chinese-y English of the accepted answer.
"can i come together with my friend" was rejected but I think it's fine
It's accepted now. It takes time for the volunteers to short through all the possible translations, but they're doing a great job!
I'm not understanding why "一起" is even in the sentence. If you're coming with a friend, then of course, you're coming together. What? Are you and your friend not so close that you want to come separately?
It's a common phrasing in Chinese. It feels redundant in English, but I've heard "一起来/去" used a lot; it doesn't feel redundant in Chinese.
Human languages are full of such collocations.
I left it out, but will not try to remember to throw it in—just as I did with 每...都.
'Can I come with my friend' sounds like trying to wheedle an invite to a party your friend is going to. Is there a different way to say 'can I bring a bring a friend?' Or is that the implied meaning of this hideously awkward sentence?
"Can I come along with my friend(s)" and "Can I come together with my friend(s)" are both now accepted. 14.1.18
Does this construction specify who is the uncertain party? Is it implying "my friend is coming and I'd like to go with them" or "I'm coming and I'd like to bring my friend with me"? Or is it ambiguous?
Can I come together with my friend should be accepted becaus一起 indicates together. It's very frustrating where some sentences are so literal but some are tagged as wrong when you're literal
Fairly sure this is correct, yes. Because it implies the structure "Can my friend and I come together to x." which sounds perfectly fine to me.
866
No it has a different meaning that means we're both coming but we're not sure whether we're able to arrive together, versus on the other hand just one person being invited and can ask to bring an extra person along.
i know it's not technically grammatically correct but many people would still say "can me and my friend come together?"
Colloquially you can say that in American English. I don't think it should be accepted in a language course though. That is perhaps debatable, but best to stick with gramatically correct sentences.
How is it not grammatically correct?
It definitely sounds natural, at least in British English
It is grammatically incorrect because the pronoun "me" cannot be used as the subject of a verb (you need to use "I"). You should also always place the third person (my friend) before yourself, so it should be "My friend and I" not "Me and my friend" if you want to be grammatically correct.
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it can't be used as the subject, but it can be used as part of the subject. Which is why tens of millions of us say it that way every single day.
This sounds so strange to me. I have never said "can i come along with my friend." In all 30 years of my native English speaking, this sounds wrong and potentially insulting.
Then you should provide an alternative, so everybody else can learn how the native speaks.
absolutely, I translated to: - Can my friend come with me? and it was not accepted
"Can I come with a friend of mine" was rejected but I think it is fine.
Rant- Such stilted and rigid transliteration. "Can my friend come with me?" marked wrong. Reported it.
It is very frustrating that Duolingo is so picky on translations with Mandarin! On this phrase I translated it as "May I come with my friend?" and I was marked wrong because the answer is supposed to, "Can I come with my friend?" Maybe my English is not good enough either but to me both would appear to be reasonably acceptable translations.
If I'm completely out in left field please let me know what is the difference!
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I think you're correct. If you feel that your answer should be accepted please use the feedback button.
The course is fairly new and it is a work in progress, only with your help and feedback it can be improved!
Thank you!
If it's any consolation, "may" is most appropriate here. Or was before Microsoft banished "may" because if its "maybe" associations.
"Ke yi" is "can", not "may"... But you can suugest your option to be accepted.
What makes you say it is not "may"? It's asking permission here, not the ability to do something. I would have thought either translation is fine, though "may" is more accurate.
- 1448
May I come together with my friend is correct English. You are asking permission not checking ability， although colloquially they are interchangeable
