22 Comments
"Could you open that, please?" is accepted. "Open that, please?" is not. The Spanish almost appears to be more of command than a request but it's not. I wondered why didn't they use the imperative "abre eso" or "abra eso"? The following answered my question and was very helpful.
You can drop poder and still be polite as long as you add por favor.
"One major difference between English and Spanish is that the latter ... doesn't need auxiliary verbs to construct tenses, as English does (in this case, "would"). Now, this conditional form, omitting the verb "poder"...is ...the preferred usage. Still, the form preceded by the verb poder is not uncommon, as a way to emphasize politeness.
"¿Me da una servilleta?" The approximate English correspondance would be: "Do you give me a napkin?", which would not be used in that situation. Now, in Spanish, this option is used at least as much as the conditional..., if not more. This one sounds closer to the imperative form, but it's not ...(which would be "Deme una servilleta").
A slight and curious difference between the usage of the conditional and non-conditional form for making a request:
"¿Me da una servilleta, por favor?" and "¿Me daría una servilleta?" sound similarly polite. If you omit "por favor" (please) in the first case, you risk sounding a bit impolite (obviously, depending on your general attitude and tone)."
https://www.123teachme.com/learn_spanish/make_polite_requests_1
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Still what he said is not wrong and it is more correct even, why is it considered a wrong answer!!
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The new tree has several sentences where the present tense is translated "Can I ...?" or "Can you ...?" Its like "No encuentro mis llaves" I can't find my keys.
"Open that" is a command. Duo would express that as "Abre eso" or "Abra Ud. eso" probably.
"Can you" or "could you" are not exactly wrong translations here. But the simple "Open that, please?" should clearly be considered correct. The implied request is obvious.
Nachotime had a good explanation of how to make requests using poder (although poder has been dropped from the Duolingo sentence):
"I recommend reserving podría (conditional, usted) for very polite requests (or for asking favors that make you feel slightly guilty), and making puedes (present, tú) your default, since it sits somewhere in the middle of the politeness ladder:"
—¿Le podría decir a su hijo que deje de tirarme patatas fritas? “(conditional, usted): Could you tell your son to stop throwing (at) me French fries?”
—¿Le puede decir a su hijo que deje de tirarme patatas fritas? “(present, usted): Can you…”
—¿Le puedes decir a tu hijo que deje de tirarme patatas fritas? “(present, tú): Can you…”
—Dígale a su hijo que deje de tirarme patatas fritas. “(imperative, usted): Tell your son…“
—Dile a tu hijo que deje de tirarme patatas fritas. “(imperative, tú): Tell your son…“
Why can´t I copy these anymore? I use to be able to extract the most relevant responses to my mistakes so I don't have to look /read all the response again, or type them myself...why not now. It shouldn't be a copywrite issue. The Duo lessons are incomplete. My way of thanking eliza for the answer. Thanks
I'm an American primary teacher. "Can you open that?" is asking whether "you" are able to open that. However, many Americans use poor grammar, and use "Can" for requests, though most often requests for permission, as "Can I go to the nurse's office?" (cringe, but it's common.) Most Americans asking someone to open something would say either "Would you open that?" or, far more commonly, just "Open that, please."
As in another exercise, I'd be quite happy for friend or family to say "open that, please"
"We sometimes use can you and will you to make requests but they are more informal"
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/grammar/british-grammar/functions/requests
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Just looks like "you open that" I don't see any way there is a "can" antplace
I don't understand "can". If it were not a question, it would be "you open that", correct? Does the question mark imply ability as in "are you able to open that" or does the question mark imply a request as in "are you willing to open that" or is it merely a plea "could you please open that". In English, "can you open that" is a very unclear way of speaking.
