¿Puedes traer flores, por favor?

to bring

Breakdown of ¿Puedes traer flores, por favor?

• la flor: the flower
• ¿puedes: can you
• por favor: please

Questions & Answers about ¿Puedes traer flores, por favor?

Why is the verb in the form “puedes” and not another conjugation?

In Spanish, puedes is the second-person singular form of the verb poder (“to be able to”). Since the speaker is talking directly to one person (using the informal “you”), puedes is used. If you were speaking to someone formally, you might use puede, and if you were talking to multiple people, you would say pueden.

Why isn’t the pronoun “tú” included before “puedes”?

In Spanish, it’s common to drop the subject pronoun (like tú, él, ella) because the verb form already shows who’s doing the action. Saying Tú puedes traer flores is also correct, but the shorter ¿Puedes traer flores? sounds more natural and is perfectly clear.

Can I say “¿Por favor, puedes traer flores?” instead?

Yes, you can place por favor at the beginning, middle, or end of the sentence. Spanish word order is flexible, so ¿Por favor, puedes traer flores?, ¿Puedes, por favor, traer flores?, or ¿Puedes traer flores, por favor? are all acceptable.

What does the upside-down question mark mean in Spanish?

In Spanish, question marks are used at both the start (¿) and the end () of a question. The upside-down question mark is a cue that a question begins, which helps with clarity when reading or speaking.