¿Puedes responder la pregunta, por favor?

to be able

Breakdown of ¿Puedes responder la pregunta, por favor?

• por favor: please
• la pregunta: the question
• responder: to answer

Questions & Answers about ¿Puedes responder la pregunta, por favor?

Why is there an upside-down question mark at the beginning, and does it include “por favor”?

Spanish always uses an initial inverted question mark (¿) and a closing one (?) to mark where the question starts and ends. The whole interrogative part is inside, so since por favor is part of the request here, it stays inside: ¿Puedes responder la pregunta, por favor?

• If you front the courtesy phrase, you can write: Por favor, ¿puedes responder la pregunta?
• You can also place it in the middle with commas: ¿Puedes, por favor, responder la pregunta?
• You might see it after the question as a separate sentence: ¿Puedes responder la pregunta? Por favor.

Why is the subject pronoun “tú” missing?

Spanish normally drops subject pronouns because the verb ending shows the subject. Puedes already means “you (tú) can.” You could say Tú puedes responder… for emphasis (e.g., contrasting with someone else), but it isn’t required.

Is ¿Podrías…? more polite than ¿Puedes…?

Yes. ¿Podrías…? (conditional) is softer/more tentative than ¿Puedes…? (present). Both are polite, especially with por favor, but ¿Podrías responder la pregunta, por favor? often feels extra courteous, like “Could you… please?”

How do I make it formal or plural in Latin America?