Breakdown of ¿Puede firmar el documento, por favor?
poder
to be able to / can
por favor
please
firmar
to sign
el documento
the document
Questions & Answers about ¿Puede firmar el documento, por favor?
Why isn't the verb firmar conjugated here?
When you use poder (can / to be able to) to make a request, only the first verb is conjugated. The second verb, which is the action you are asking someone to do (firmar, meaning "to sign"), stays in its infinitive (dictionary) form. This is exactly like English: we say "Can you sign", not "Can you signs".
The English translation says "Can you...", but where is the Spanish word for "you"?
In Spanish, the subject pronoun is usually left out because the verb already tells us who is doing the action. Here, puede is the formal "you" (usted) form of poder. You could say "¿Puede usted firmar...?", but dropping usted is very common and sounds natural.
Why use puede instead of puedes?
Using puede (the usted form) makes the request polite and formal. You would use this when speaking to a client, a boss, or someone you don't know well. If you were asking a friend or family member to sign something, you would use the informal tú form: "¿Puedes firmar...?".
How do I remember that firmar means "to sign"?
Think of the English word "firm". When you sign a document, you are making an agreement firm or official! A "signature" in Spanish is a firma.
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