Learn Spanish (Spain): ¿Me das una hoja de papel? - Can you give me a sheet of paper?

In English, we usually say "Can you give me...?" to ask for things. In Spanish, it is very common to just use the present tense for requests. Asking ¿Me das...? (literally "Do you give me...?") is a perfectly natural and polite way to ask someone to hand you something in Spain.

I thought hoja meant leaf. Why is it used here?

You are right! Hoja means leaf when talking about plants, but it is also the standard word for a sheet of paper. Just like a leaf on a tree, a sheet of paper is flat and thin.

Could I just ask for un papel instead of una hoja de papel?

Yes, but the meaning changes slightly. Una hoja de papel specifically means a full, blank sheet of paper, like you would put in a printer. Un papel usually refers to a piece of paper that already has writing on it, like a receipt, a document, or a small scrap with notes.

Why does Me come before the verb?

Me is an object pronoun here, meaning "to me." In Spanish, these short pronouns must go directly before the conjugated verb. So, while English says "You give me," Spanish structures it as "To me you give" (Me das).