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### 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!

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### 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).

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Polite requests (potresti)

adjective

adjective/adverb

adverb

conjunction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

preposition

pronoun

proper noun

sentence

verb

Subject pronouns and the verb to be (io sono)

Singular definite articles (il, la)

Singular demonstratives (questo, questa)

Basic verbal negation (non)

Yes/No questions

Coordinating conjunctions (e, ma, o)

Regular plurals and definite articles (-i, -e, i, le)

Plural verb to be (noi siamo, voi siete)

Plural demonstratives (questi, queste)

Nouns ending in -e

Special singular articles (lo, l')

The plural article (gli)

Special indefinite articles (uno, un')

Demonstrative adjectives (quello, quella)

Adjective endings (-o, -a, -i, -e)

Expressing quantity (molto, poco, tanto)

The verb to have (ho, hai, ha...)

There is / there are (c'è, ci sono)

The preposition of (di)

Singular possessives (il mio, la mia)

Numbers 1 to 10 (uno, due, tre...)

Numbers 11 to 20 (undici, dodici...)

Numbers 21 to 100 (trenta, quaranta...)

Idiomatic avere (avere fame, avere anni)

Plural possessive adjectives (i miei, le mie)

Possessives with family members (mio padre)

Formal address (dare del Lei)

Present tense of -are verbs (-o, -i, -a)

Question words (chi, cosa, dove)

Present tense of -ere verbs (-o, -i, -e)

Question words (quando, come, perché)

Question word agreement (quanto, quanta, quanti, quante)

Regular -ire verbs

Verbs with -isc- (capisco, capisci, capisce)

Pronouns after prepositions (me, te, lui)

The verb fare (faccio, fai, fa)

The verb andare (vado, vai, va)

The verb stare (sto, stai, sta)

The verb venire (vengo, vieni, viene)

The verb uscire (esco, esci, esce)

Location and destination (a, in)

Origin and movement (da)

Articulated prepositions with a (al, alla)

Articulated prepositions with in (nel, nella)

Articulated prepositions with di and da (del, dal)

Simple prepositions (con, per, su, tra)

Articulated prepositions with su (sul, sulla)

Months of the year

Telling time (sono le...)

Dates (il + number)

Ordinal numbers 1st to 10th (primo, secondo, terzo...)

The verb to want (volere)

The verb can (potere)

The verb must (dovere)

The verb to know (sapere)

Reflexive verbs (mi lavo, ti lavi)

Indirect object pronouns (gli, le, ci...)

Expressing preferences (mi piace)

Plural preferences (mi piacciono)

Comparatives (più... di, meno... di)

The passato prossimo with avere (ho parlato)

Irregular past participles (fatto, letto, preso)

The passato prossimo with essere (sono andato)

Reflexive verbs in the past (mi sono svegliato)

Time adverbs with the past tense (già, mai, ancora)

Third-person direct object pronouns (lo, la, li, le)

First and second-person direct object pronouns (mi, ti, ci, vi)

The four seasons

Prepositions of place (vicino a, davanti a)

Conversational words (beh, allora, davvero)

Indefinite adjectives for some (qualche, alcuni)

Indefinite adjectives for every and all (ogni, tutti)

Indefinite pronouns (qualcosa, qualcuno)

Noun suffixes (-ino, -one)

Adverbs of manner (-mente)

Comparisons of equality (così... come)

The relative superlative (il più)

The absolute superlative (-issimo)

Irregular comparatives (migliore, peggiore)

Present progressive (stare + -ando, -endo)

Imminent actions (stare per)

The locative pronoun (ci)

The partitive pronoun (ne)

Pronoun placement with modal verbs

Impersonal subjects (si)

Prepositions of time (da, per, tra, fra)

Past participle agreement with pronouns

Question	Answer
to send (general)	mandare
file	il file
Could you send the file to Marco?	Potresti mandare il file a Marco?
link	il link
Could you send the link in the group, please?	Potresti mandare il link nel gruppo, per favore?
to download	scaricare
attachment	l'allegato
Could you download the attachment from this message?	Potresti scaricare l'allegato da questo messaggio?
computer	il computer
You have to download these files onto the computer.	Devi scaricare questi file sul computer.
to update	aggiornare
password	la password
Could you update the computer's password?	Potresti aggiornare la password del computer?
folder	la cartella
Could you update this folder tonight?	Potresti aggiornare questa cartella stasera?
to copy	copiare
Could you copy the file into the new folder?	Potresti copiare il file nella cartella nuova?
How does one copy this link?	Come si copia questo link?
The password to open the attachment is very difficult.	La password per aprire l'allegato è molto difficile.
This is the folder. I put the important files there.	Questa è la cartella. Ci ho messo i file importanti.
Is there any useful link in this document?	C'è qualche link utile in questo documento?
I sat down quietly, but I forgot the password.	Mi sono seduto tranquillamente, ma ho dimenticato la password.