Learn Hardcore French: Pourriez-vous me donner un reçu, s’il vous plaît?

Using the conditional pourriez makes the request more polite and less direct, like English “Could you…?” Pouvez-vous (“Can you…?”) is still polite, just a little more direct. Both are fine at a counter or in a shop; pourriez is the safest, most courteous choice.

Do I have to use the inverted question (Pourriez-vous), or are there other ways to ask?

You have three common options, from most to least formal:

Pourriez-vous me donner… ? (inversion; formal/polite)
Est-ce que vous pourriez me donner… ? (neutral)
Vous pourriez me donner… ? (spoken, friendly; just raise intonation)

All are correct; choose based on context and tone.

Where does the pronoun me go, and why isn’t it donner me?

With verbs like pouvoir followed by an infinitive (donner), object pronouns go right before the infinitive: me donner. Saying ✗ donner me is ungrammatical. So: Pourriez-vous me donner un reçu…

Why me and not moi?

Me is the unstressed object pronoun used before verbs (clitic): me donner. Moi is the stressed/disjunctive form, used for emphasis or after prepositions: à moi, Donnez-le-moi, C’est pour moi.

Why un reçu and not le reçu?

You’re asking for “a” receipt in general, not a specific one already identified, so the indefinite article un fits. Use le only if a specific receipt has already been established in context.

What exactly does reçu mean, and how is it different from ticket, ticket de caisse, facture, or addition?

un reçu: a receipt acknowledging payment (generic, official-ish).
un ticket / un ticket de caisse: the till/checkout receipt you get in stores.
une facture: an invoice (often with your details and VAT; you can request one for expenses).
l’addition: the bill in a restaurant (what you ask for to pay: L’addition, s’il vous plaît.) After you pay at a restaurant, the printed slip you take away is typically a ticket or reçu.

Is the spelling reçu with a cedilla (ç) important?

Yes. It’s reçu (with ç), not recu. The cedilla keeps the soft “s” sound before u. Plural: des reçus. Feminine doesn’t apply because reçu as a noun is masculine.

How do you pronounce the tricky parts?

Pourriez-vous: roughly “poor-ree-AY voo” (the -ez is like “ay” and links to vous).
me donner: “muh doh-NAY”.
un reçu: “uh(n) ruh-SYU” (the final “u” is a tight/fronted sound).
s’il vous plaît: “seel voo PLEH” (the circumflex on plaît doesn’t change much in modern pronunciation). Natural flow: “poor-ree-AY voo muh doh-NAY uh(n) ruh-SYU, seel voo PLEH”.

What does s’il vous plaît literally mean, and who is il?

Literally: if it pleases you. s’ is si + il contracted; il is an impersonal “it.” So you’re saying, “if it pleases you,” i.e., “please.”

When do I use s’il te plaît instead?

Use s’il te plaît with people you’re on tu terms with (friends, children). Use s’il vous plaît for politeness, strangers, service staff, groups, or formal contexts.

Is the comma and spacing before the question mark correct in French?

A comma before s’il vous plaît is common when it’s added parenthetically, but it’s optional.
Traditional French typography inserts a (narrow) space before ? ! : ;. Many people omit it online; both are widely seen. In careful writing: s’il vous plaît ?

Could I just say Donnez-moi un reçu, s’il vous plaît?

Yes. The imperative Donnez-moi… is perfectly acceptable with s’il vous plaît, though it sounds more direct than the conditional. In very polite contexts, many prefer Pourriez-vous…

Is Je peux avoir un reçu, s’il vous plaît? acceptable?

Yes, very common in speech: Est-ce que je peux avoir un reçu, s’il vous plaît ? More formal: Puis-je avoir un reçu, s’il vous plaît ? The conditional remains the softest: Est-ce que je pourrais avoir…

Can I put s’il vous plaît at the beginning?

Yes: S’il vous plaît, pourriez-vous me donner un reçu ? It sounds very courteous. Keep the comma after the opening phrase.

Are there shorter, natural ways to ask?

In context (e.g., at a counter), you can say: Un reçu, s’il vous plaît. It’s brief but still polite. You can also ask just Le reçu, s’il vous plaît if both of you know which receipt you mean.

What if I need a named or VAT invoice for expenses?

Ask for a proper invoice: Pourriez-vous me faire une facture au nom de [votre nom], s’il vous plaît ? You can add: avec la TVA et mon adresse if required.

Why is there a hyphen in Pourriez-vous but not in s’il vous plaît?

The hyphen is mandatory with subject–verb inversion in questions: Pourriez-vous…. In s’il vous plaît, there’s no inversion; it’s a fixed expression, so no hyphen between vous and plaît.

Why no de before donner (e.g., de me donner)?

After pouvoir, you use a bare infinitive: pouvoir + infinitive. So it’s pourriez… donner, not ✗ pourriez… de donner. No de is needed.

Does the vous in s’il vous plaît have to match the vous I’m using to address the person?

Yes, for consistency and tone. If you’re using vous to address them, say s’il vous plaît. With tu, switch to s’il te plaît.

Any common mistakes to avoid with this sentence?

Spelling: reçu (with ç), s’il (apostrophe), plaît (with circumflex: î).
Word order: me donner, not ✗ donner me.
Politeness mismatch: avoid tu with strangers; prefer vous.