is there a difference between using Puedes vs Podría when making a request

Question

Often in English we interchange Can you? and Could you? when making a request. I know Puede is the 3rd person singular person conjugation of Poder in the Present tense and Podría is the 3rd person singular conjugation of the Conditional tense. Is there a "literal difference" in Spanish between, Can you help me with something? and Could you help me with something? ¿me puede ayudar con algo? ¿me podría ayudar con algo?

Thanks

Answer 1

Being polite.

Answer 2

Me puede ayudar? Can you help me?

Me podría ayudar? Would you be able to help me?

Thanks. Right, but we often interchange the phrases in English, is it ok to do it in Spanish also? - bfpsu, Apr 7, 2013

You can use both interchangeably - francobollo, Apr 8, 2013

Answer 3

In Spanish we use the word poder to mean ability to do something and for asking permission. We do not use it to ask someone to do something for us. Here is a recent thread that Mariana started on the subject

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So if you ask "¿Me podría ayudar?", the listener could say "Sí, como no" and then walk away having answered your question and it would be polite. This probably wouldn´t happen, but you would certainly sound like a tourist by speaking this way. For your intended result, you should ask "¿Me ayuda por favor?" "Political correctness" thank God does not exist in the Spanish language, but we can be just as polite while being direct and without all the silly nicey-nicey words.

Thank you, a very helpful answer. - annierats, Apr 8, 2013

Answer 4

I think puede and podría are used in much the same way as we use can and could - so you could go with either. But if you wanted to be reaaalllly polite you could say ... ¿sería tan amable de ayudarme con...? jeje

Just as a little extra, I could be wrong but I believe - me puede/podría ayudar - sounds a bit more demanding and less polite than - puede/podría ayudarme.

Hi Kiwi.. Me podría or me puede does not influence the level of politeness. It just tells the other person it's you who needs the help without leaving room for misinterpretation - francobollo, Apr 8, 2013

Thanks Franco I was just referring to the placement of me, not its use as I have it in both examples. More than one native speaker has mentioned that no them it sounds more demanding placed at the beginning of the phrase and more polite place at the end. - Kiwi-Girl, Apr 8, 2013

But this may just be their personal feeling or a regional thing. Just though I'd mention it. - Kiwi-Girl, Apr 8, 2013

Answer 5

Intonation plays a bigger part than the verb tense. Both can be polite forms.

Franco what do you think about the placement of the me (above)? - Kiwi-Girl, Apr 8, 2013