Breakdown of Necesito una servilleta limpia. ¿Me la traes ahora?
una
a, an (feminine)
necesitar
to need
ahora
now
limpio
clean
traer
to bring
me
to me / me (direct object)
la
it / her (direct object)
la servilleta
the napkin
Questions & Answers about Necesito una servilleta limpia. ¿Me la traes ahora?
Why is the order me la in the second sentence? Can I say la me?
In Spanish, when you use two object pronouns together, the indirect object (who it is for, like me) always comes before the direct object (what is being handled, like la). A handy trick is to remember 'people before things'. It must be me la traes, never la me traes.
Why do we use la to mean 'it' here?
The translation says 'Will you bring', but isn't traes present tense?
Yes, traes is the present tense of traer (to bring). In Spanish, it is very common to use the present tense for polite requests or things happening in the immediate future. Asking ¿Me la traes ahora? is a perfectly natural way to ask 'Will you bring it to me now?' in Spanish.
Just to review, why is it servilleta limpia instead of limpia servilleta?
In Spanish, descriptive adjectives like limpia (clean) almost always come right after the noun they describe (servilleta). Instead of the English 'clean napkin', the structure is 'napkin clean'.
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