Breakdown of Mi potresti portare la lana che è vicino al pennello?
essere
to be
al
to the / at the
potere
can, to be able to
portare
to bring, to carry
Questions & Answers about Mi potresti portare la lana che è vicino al pennello?
Why use potresti instead of puoi here?
Potresti is the present conditional form of potere (to be able to/can). While puoi translates to 'can you', potresti means 'could you'. Using the conditional makes the request much softer and more polite, which is the standard way to ask for a favor in Italian.
Why is mi at the very beginning of the sentence?
Because this sentence uses a modal verb (potere) followed by an infinitive verb (portare), you have a choice! You can place the pronoun mi before the conjugated verb, as done here (Mi potresti portare...), or you can drop the final 'e' of the infinitive and attach it to the end (Potresti portarmi...). Both are perfectly correct and mean the exact same thing.
Why do we say vicino al pennello instead of just vicino il pennello?
Why do we use che in the middle of this sentence?