The right translation for...

Question

Hi....

I¨d like to know what´s the more suitable traslation for this sentence...

¨él me preguntó si yo podía hablar inglés perfectamente¨

Can I translate it like:

• He asked me if I spoke English perfectly
• He asked me if I could speak English perfectly
• He asked me if I can speak English perfectly

Thanks a lot.

is it right to say "he asked me whether I can speak english or not?" - Haweir, Feb 7, 2014

It sounds better to say "He asked me whether or not I could speak English." - AlyssaLTerry, Feb 7, 2014

" podRía " - britisk, Feb 7, 2014

If we are talking best practice, I am pretty sure you should leave the 'or not' off 'whether'. "He asked me whether I could speak English" vs "He asked me whether or not I could speak English". Same deal. - Helado_eclectico, Feb 7, 2014

This is better amigo - I'd like to know what the most suitable translation for this sentence IS.. - ian-hill, Feb 7, 2014

@Helado_elect It is perfectly fine/grammatically acceptable to say "whether or not". See: http://afterdeadline.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/03/01/whether-or-not/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0 - AlyssaLTerry, Feb 7, 2014

Answer 1

He asked me if I could speak English perfectly.

Indeed. - Helado_eclectico, Feb 7, 2014

Answer 2

I believe AT has the right translation. Just something I want to add.

Podía and podría are not the same thing.

Podía is the imperfect form. You'd use podía to express ability and in some cases, to express doubt and probability.

él me preguntó si yo podía hablar inglés perfectamente

he asked me if I was able to speak English perfectly (when I was young, studied in school etc., when I was approached by a foreigner, whether it was possible for me to have learn to speak English)

La gran pared podía ayudar los soldados en la antigua China.

The great wall was able to help the soldiers of Ancient China.

---

Podría is the conditional mood/tense. You'd use podría for polite requests or for expressing doubt and probability.

¿Podría darme una taza de café?

Could you give me a glass of water? (I know you have the ability to give me a glass of water. I am doubting whether you will actually go ahead and do it).

él me pregunta si yo podría hablar inglés

He asks me whether I could speak English with him (he doesn't doubt my ability to speak English, but requests me to use it with him)

---

Podría probably can't be used in the past. Podía is almost always used for past probability. Your sentence, thus, uses podía and the podía cannot be replaced by podría (it sounds weird in my head).

:) - ian-hill, Feb 7, 2014

Answer 3

Deleted.