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¿Tú puedes dormir en el autobús?

¿Tú puedes dormir en el autobús?
Can you sleep in the bus?
From Lesson 38:Stem-changing verbs (o to ue)·Spanish (Latin America)

Questions & Answers about ¿Tú puedes dormir en el autobús?

Why is it puedes instead of "podes"?
Puedes comes from the verb poder (to be able to / can). It is a stem-changing verb. When conjugated for tú (informal you), the o in the stem changes to ue, making it puedes.
The lesson says dormir is also an "o -> ue" verb. Why isn't it changed to duermes here?
Because it directly follows another conjugated verb (puedes). In Spanish, when two verbs go together like this (can sleep), only the first verb is conjugated to match the subject. The second verb stays in its infinitive (unchanged dictionary) form: dormir.
In English we say "on the bus", but this sentence uses en. Doesn't en mean "in"?
En translates to both "in" and "on" depending on the context. For most forms of transportation (buses, trains, planes, cars), Spanish simply uses en.
Why doesn't the word order change to make it a question?
In English, we swap words to ask a question ("You can" becomes "Can you?"). In Spanish, you can usually just keep the same word order as a normal statement (Tú puedes...) and add question marks and an inquiring tone of voice.
Is it required to include the word tú here?
No, you can just say ¿Puedes dormir en el autobús? Since puedes is only ever used for "you", the subject is already built into the verb. Including tú just adds a little extra emphasis or clarity or emphasis.

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