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- "¿Puedo ver la revista?"
31 Comments
The translation is see, but it's assumed you're going to probably read it. It's like if your reading the newspaper and some asks to see it, instead of saying can I read that? There's a bit of a connotation that it will be a quick look. Puedo Leer LA revista ? Ignoring the unnecessary caps that my phone added haha, would technically be can I read the magazine. Rather than think the person is asking if they have the ability to read the magazine, or if they have permission to read it (both could be accurate if the context was a child asking) the normal translation is can I read it and it's interchangeable with ver since the assumption is that your not going to just look at it, but read it.
I have only ever encountered revista
as magazine, but maybe duolingo has used a vernacular; stick with revista
and you'll be fine. Furthermore, maybe thinking of it as the|a review
will help commit it to memory.
You will see the re
prefix throughout Spanish, sometimes it makes sense and other times less so.
Examples: http://info.openanswers.org/the_spanish_verb_prefix_re
Since I'm not sure which version of the exercise you saw (several feed into the same comment at times), I can only answer from the POV of English grammar. "I can" (subject verb) signals a sentence, while "can I" (verb subject) signals a question.
In either English or Spanish, you can use the verb subject ordering in a question ("I can have this cookie?") without too much change in meaning, because of the 'magic' of a question mark overriding the sentence structure meaning. If the phrase were spoken, you would have to end with an upward inspection.
Yeah, I agree wholeheartedly. See my comment here, for example. I would always use may, but other natives do not make this distinction.
I remember years ago being on a bus when a lady asked me 'Can you press the [STOP] button?' I said yes and, after a pause, my friend told me I was an ass and pressed it for her.
Yes, can
and may
are two different words, but many people do not use them as such. The answer to this question should be: 'May I see the magazine?', with 'Can' as an acceptable substitute.