Learn how to request permission
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| INTRODUCTION | |
| Eric: Hi everyone, I'm Eric. | |
| Alex: And I'm Alex. | |
| Eric: And welcome to Must-Know Spanish Sentence Structures, Season 1, Lesson 15. Requesting Permission. | |
| Eric: In this lesson, you'll learn how to use a sentence pattern to ask for permission. | |
| PATTERN | |
| Eric: Here’s an example. "May I see your identification card?" | |
| Alex: ¿Puedo ver su identificación? | |
| Alex: [slow] ¿Puedo ver su identificación? | |
| Eric: The pattern for requesting permission has 3 elements. First, “May I.” | |
| Alex: Puedo. | |
| Eric: Second, the verb "see." | |
| Alex: ver. | |
| Eric: Third, the complement "your identification card.” | |
| Alex: su identificación. | |
| Eric: Altogether, we have... "May I see your identification card?" | |
| Alex: ¿Puedo ver su identificación? [slow] ¿Puedo ver su identificación? [normal] ¿Puedo ver su identificación? | |
| Eric: Use the verb | |
| Alex: puedo | |
| Eric: "may I" to ask for permission. The verb conjugation shows that the speaker is the one requesting permission. It’s followed by a verb which is always in infinitive form. At the end, you can add more details about what you want to do, such as an adverb, noun, or phrase. | |
| Alex: ¿Puedo ver su identificación? | |
| Eric: So remember: To request permission, begin with "may I..." | |
| Alex: puedo | |
| Eric: ...add a verb in infinitive form, plus a complement for more details. | |
| Eric: Here’s another example, meaning "May I go out today?" First, “May I.” | |
| Alex: Puedo. | |
| Eric: Second, the verb "go out." | |
| Alex: salir. | |
| Eric: Third, the complement "today." | |
| Alex: hoy. | |
| Eric: Altogether we have... | |
| Alex: ¿Puedo salir hoy? [slow] ¿Puedo salir hoy? [normal] ¿Puedo salir hoy? | |
| Eric: "May I go out today?" | |
| [pause] | |
| Alex: ¿Puedo salir hoy? | |
| Eric: How do you say - "May I eat the last slice of pizza?" To give you a hint, "the last slice of pizza" is... | |
| Alex: el último pedazo de pizza. [slow] el último pedazo de pizza. [normal] el último pedazo de pizza. | |
| Eric: "May I eat the last slice of pizza?" | |
| [pause] | |
| Alex: ¿Puedo comer el último pedazo de pizza? [slow] ¿Puedo comer el último pedazo de pizza? [normal] ¿Puedo comer el último pedazo de pizza? | |
| [pause] | |
| Alex: ¿Puedo comer el último pedazo de pizza? | |
| REVIEW | |
| Eric: Let's review the sentences from this lesson. I’ll give you the English equivalent of the phrase, and you’re responsible for shouting it out loud in Spanish. Here we go. | |
| Eric: "May I see your identification card?" | |
| [pause] | |
| Alex: ¿Puedo ver su identificación? | |
| [pause] | |
| Alex: ¿Puedo ver su identificación? | |
| Eric: "May I go out today?" | |
| [pause] | |
| Alex: ¿Puedo salir hoy? | |
| [pause] | |
| Alex: ¿Puedo salir hoy? | |
| Eric: "May I eat the last slice of pizza?" | |
| [pause] | |
| Alex: ¿Puedo comer el último pedazo de pizza? | |
| [pause] | |
| Alex: ¿Puedo comer el último pedazo de pizza? | |
| OUTRO | |
| Eric: Okay. That's all for this lesson. You learned a pattern for requesting permission, as in... | |
| Alex: ¿Puedo ver su identificación? | |
| Eric: meaning "May I see your identification card?" | |
| Eric: You can find more vocab or phrases that go with this sentence pattern in the lesson notes. So please be sure to check them out on SpanishPod101.com. Thanks everyone, and see you next time! | |
| Alex: Hasta la próxima. |
21 Comments
HidePractice requesting permission using this pattern.
Hola Norimasa,
Please review the following corrections.
Podría decirme en donde esta el museo de Purado ?
Podría pasarle la sal a tu hermana?
Puedo pagar con tarjeta de crédito?
Sigamos practicando!
Saludos,
Carla
Team SpanishPod101.com
Hola Jim,
Thank you for your comment.
The words "escoger" and "elegir" are synonyms.
Sigamos practicando!
Saludos,
Carla
Team SpanishPod101.com
Hola Joe,
Thank you for your questions.
You can say "puedes" or "tu puedes".
As for "escoger" and "elegir" they are synonyms.
Please let us know if you have any more questions.
Sigamos practicando!
Saludos,
Carla
Team SpanishPod101.com
Hola Gerald Olson,
Thank you for your comment.
You can look up for the words on the word bank and add them to your flashcard.
Sigamos practicando!
Saludos,
Carla
Team SpanishPod101.com
Asking where it is
Podoria decirme en donde el museo de Purado ?
Asking something to do
Podoria pasarle el sale a tu hermana?
Puedo pagar la contarjeta de credito?
Como Joe, tengo la misma pregunta: ¿Cuál es la diferencia practica entre de "escoger" y "elegir"?
@Joe: I think you would only say "Tú puedes" if you felt it was important to emphasize the "you", not for clarity (since, as you imply, second person has a unique conjugation) but for emphasis. For example "I know everyone in the room can speak Spanish, but can *you*?" -> "Sé que toda la gente en la sala pueden hablar español, pero puedes tú?"
Hi! Is it always ok to say puedes for you can? Or are there times you need to say tú puedes?
Also, qué es distinto escoger y elegir?
Mucho gracias de antemano por tu ayuda!
Hola Wendy,
Thank you for your comment.
We're happy to have you here, please let us know if you have any question or doubt.
Sigamos practicando!
Saludos,
Carla
Team SpanishPod101.com
I am new student. How do you create your own flash card deck with words you pick up in the dialogue that are not part of the new vocabulary?
Hola Sylvia,
Thank you for your question.
It's just a matter of formality, "podrias" is informal and "podria" is formal in this context for "could you".
Sigamos practicando!
Saludos,
Carla
Team SpanishPod101.com