Making polite requests with "potresti"
When asking a colleague for a favor, a direct command can sound a bit harsh. To soften your request, use potresti ("could you"). This is the present conditional form of potere (to be able to).
Just like in English, you follow potresti directly with an infinitive verb. When working in an office, you'll notice that many technology terms—like il file and il link—are borrowed straight from English!
| Could you send the file to Marco? | Potresti mandare il file a Marco? |
| Could you send the link in the group, please? | Potresti mandare il link nel gruppo, per favore? |
Managing digital files
Let's put potresti to work with some common digital tasks. You will frequently need verbs like scaricare (to download), aggiornare (to update), and copiare (to copy).
While many tech words are borrowed, others are uniquely Italian, such as l'allegato (the attachment) and la cartella (the folder).
| Could you download the attachment from this message? | Potresti scaricare l'allegato da questo messaggio? |
| Could you update this folder tonight? | Potresti aggiornare questa cartella stasera? |
| Could you copy the file into the new folder? | Potresti copiare il file nella cartella nuova? |
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