Questions & Answers about Možeš li da mi daš ovu košulju?
What does each word in Možeš li da mi daš ovu košulju? mean?
A natural word-by-word breakdown is:
- Možeš = you can / are you able
- li = a question particle used in yes/no questions
- da = to / that, introducing the next verb phrase
- mi = to me
- daš = give (specifically you give)
- ovu = this
- košulju = shirt
So the whole sentence is literally something like:
Can you give me this shirt?
or, depending on context,
Could you hand me this shirt?
Why is možeš used here? What person is it, and is it informal?
Možeš is the 2nd person singular present form of moći = to be able / can.
So it means you can when speaking to one person informally.
This sentence is therefore addressed to:
- one person
- in an informal ti relationship
If you wanted the formal or plural version, you would say:
Možete li da mi date ovu košulju?
That means Can/Could you give me this shirt? when speaking politely or to more than one person.