¿Me puedes firmar aqui?

Question

I have a Spanish homework assignment for which I need to interview classmates (in Spanish) and write their answers down. To prove that I really interviewed them, I'm supposed to have them sign what I've written.

According to the modelo, I ask them ¿Me puedes firmar aqui? What I don't understand in this question is, why is "Me" needed here?

Any thoughts?

Gracias.

Good question. - JoyceM, Mar 2, 2012

Answer 1

"firmar" is a fairly common verb, but it normally is not reflexive. In this example though, I believe it can be translated as "Can you sign here for me ". The "for me" of course, would be the "me" part of this.

This is correct, and I voted for it. I just wanted to add that firmar is not being used reflexively here. You don't say it is, of course. I just wanted that to be clear, though. - webdunce, Mar 2, 2012

thank you webdunce; the "me" part of course is more correctly an obect pronoun rather than reflexive - t8805jg, Mar 2, 2012

And more specifically, an indirect object pronoun becuase the action is FOR me; the direct object here would be the form itself - t8805jg, Mar 2, 2012

Nice explanation - 005faa61, Mar 2, 2012

Answer 2

I don't think it is needed unless it's like a guest book where the paper says, literally, "sign me here." Otherwise, I think it should say "firma (or firme -informal) aquí por favor" or, more polite: "Podría (or podrías) firmar aquí, por favor." Or, even "pudiera (or pudieras) firmar aquí, por favor.

It's "Can you sign here for me?" It's not necessary in the same way that "for me" is not necessary. - webdunce, Mar 2, 2012

Not being a native speaker, I'm not sure if the ME can be used as a direct object, but in this context it is definitely being used as an indirect object (asking another to sign a paper confirming you did something). - webdunce, Mar 2, 2012

Well, definitely ME can be a DO, but I meant in the sentence "me puedes firmar aquí." - webdunce, Mar 2, 2012

Answer 3

Hmmmm...