"Te puedo ayudar?"

Question

This sounds like ''You can help'' but I am certain that's wrong. Am I trying to hard for literal translations? I am guessing it really means "May I help?" or something close to that but I don't know how I am misinterpreting it......

Edited to make the post more friendly to MS Internet Explorer. - pesta, Aug 21, 2011

Answer 1

"Te puedo ayudar?"

This means Can I help you?

It can alternatively be written as ¿Puedo ayudarte?

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This sounds like "You can help"

"You can help" would be written as Puedes ayudar.

You were editing as I was typing. :) - Tosh, Aug 21, 2011

Hey, great minds think alike, right? - SonrisaDelSol, Aug 21, 2011

Es verdad! - Tosh, Aug 21, 2011

Answer 2

And also can be written:

¿Puedo ayudarte?

Answer 3

Te Puedo Ayudar = May I help you?

I've had the same verb confusion problem, myself. Here's the breakdown:

The verb, poder is conjugated to the first person - "I am able"

The pronoun, Te indicates the recipient of the active verb. - "I am able (to) ____ you."

Finally, the verb active verb, "Ayudar" means "to help."

Without question marks, "Te puedo ayudar" would mean "I can help you." In this context, it might make more sense to say "Puedo ayudarte."

With question marks, "¿Te puedo ayudar?" means "May I help you?"
Hope that helps! - ¡Espero que te haya ayudado!

-Mateo

Answer 4

Can I help you?