Learn Romanian: Puteți veni acasă devreme?

Puteți veni acasă devreme?

Can you come home early?

Breakdown of Puteți veni acasă devreme?

to come / to feel like (dative + vine să)

putea

can / to be able to

Questions & Answers about Puteți veni acasă devreme?

Since this lesson is about formal politeness, is this sentence spoken to one person or multiple people?

It could be either! The verb puteți is the second-person plural form (you all). However, in Romanian, you use this exact same plural verb form to speak formally and respectfully to just one person, acting as the hidden formal pronoun dumneavoastră.

Where is the word for you in this sentence?

It is hidden in the verb ending. The ending -eți in puteți tells us the subject is either voi (you all) or dumneavoastră (formal you). You can include the pronoun before the verb for emphasis, but it is perfectly normal to leave it out.

Why doesn't the second verb have a să in front of it?

This is a special rule for the verb a putea (can / to be able to). While most Romanian verbs connect to a second action using să (for example, vreți să veniți means you want to come), a putea connects directly to the short dictionary form of the verb. That is why it is simply puteți veni.

Why is the word for home acasă instead of casa?

Casa refers to the physical building itself (a house). Acasă is used for the concept of home, especially when talking about location or direction. Because the sentence is about traveling homewards, you must use acasă.