Questions & Answers about Извините, Вы можете разменять эту купюру?
Why is Вы capitalized? Do Russians always write it with a capital letter?
Capital Вы is a polite form used especially in letters, emails, forms, and customer-service style writing to show respect to one person. In everyday printed text (books, signs, chats), you’ll very often see вы in lowercase even when it’s polite.
So: capitalization is optional stylistic politeness; the meaning (formal you) comes from using вы/Вы instead of ты.
What’s the difference between Вы and ты here? Could I say ты?
Вы is the formal/polite you (also used for strangers, staff, older people, etc.). ты is informal (friends, family, children).
In a shop, bank, or when stopping a stranger to ask for change, Вы is the normal choice. Using ты could sound rude or overly familiar.
Why does it say можете and not можешь or можете ли?