Question 1

Why is llamar not conjugated like puedes?

Accepted Answer

This is the standard pattern for making requests with poder (to be able to / can). When combining it with another action, only the first verb is conjugated to match the person. The second verb stays in its infinitive (unconjugated dictionary) form, which is llamar here. It literally translates to 'Are you able TO call'.

Question 2

What is the a doing before mi padre?

Accepted Answer

This is known as the personal a. In Spanish, when the direct object receiving the action of a verb is a specific person (like a family member or a named friend), you must put an a right before it. It does not translate to anything in English, but leaving it out sounds incorrect to a native speaker!

Question 3

Where is the word for 'you' (tú) in this sentence?

Accepted Answer

Spanish speakers usually drop the subject pronoun because the verb ending already tells us who is doing the action. The -es ending in puedes specifically means 'you can'. You could say ¿Tú puedes llamar...?, but leaving out the tú is the most natural way to ask.

Question 4

Doesn't mañana mean 'morning'? How do we know it means 'tomorrow' here?

Accepted Answer

It actually means both! When used with a feminine article like la mañana, it means 'the morning'. But when used on its own as a time word, like in this sentence, it means 'tomorrow'. If you ever want to say 'tomorrow morning', you just combine them: mañana por la mañana.

¿Puedes llamar a mi padre mañana?

Breakdown of ¿Puedes llamar a mi padre mañana?

Questions & Answers about ¿Puedes llamar a mi padre mañana?

Learn ¿Puedes llamar a mi padre mañana and more in Spanish