Hi I am a beginner student with very little knowledge

Hi
I am a beginner student with very little knowledge of French. Am getting perplexed with this phrase Que puis-je faire pour vous? Does it mean, What then, can I do for you? Would love some help, especially with the ‘puis-je faire’ bit please! Many thanks

What can I do for you…There’s no “well”. “Puis” means “(I) can”.

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Bonjour !

Il s’agit ici du verbe “pouvoir” : Conjugaison pouvoir | Conjuguer verbe pouvoir | Conjugueur Reverso français

Ici, exceptionnellement pour des raisons d’euphonie (de sonorité agréable), la question ne sera pas “peux-je ?”, mais “puis-je?” à la première personne du singulier. “Je puis” est une forme ancienne du verbe “pouvoir”, qui n’est plus vraiment utilisée de nos jours.

Cette page web peut vous aider : puis-je - Traduction anglaise – Linguee

Le verbe ne change pas aux autres personnes.

Bonne continuation !

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Hello, Rheaa. Welcome to LingQ.

You do not know much French, and Bedy does not know much English, so perhaps some cooperation is called for here. Here is the gist in English of what Bedy says.

“Puis” is a form of the verb “pouvoir” (“to be able”).

Normally, the first person singular present of “pouvoir” is “peux.” But when the subject-verb order is reversed and the verb is immediately followed by “je” (meaning “I”), the spelling “puis” is used simply because “puis-je” sounds better to the French ear than “peux-je.” “Puis” is an outmoded spelling not much used anymore, except in this situation.

The form of the verb does not change in the other persons of the verb.

I hope this helps. If other explanations in French stump you, Google Translate is often, but not always!, helpful.

Good luck with your language learning!

Hi Donhamiltonx
Thank you very much for explaining the connotation of "puis je "so lucidly and for translating Bedy’s explanation.
Much appreciated!
I did learn French for a couple of years a long time ago, but have obviously forgotten a lot of it. Certain words/phrases I am encountering here are jogging my memory and bringing back some of the dusty knowledge from the past!
Once again, thank you for taking the time out to help me and also for the Rose :slight_smile:
Rhea

Hi Jingle
Thank you for your translation, much appreciated.
Rhea

Bonjour Bedy
Merci beaucoup pour votre explanation! If you need any help with any English, please feel free to ask me. :slight_smile:
Cheers
Rhea

Thank you very much for your translation donhamiltontx. My English is really poor. So I’m unable to explain properly what rheaa and the other English-speakers need to know about the French language.

I keep in mind your suggestion for helping me rheaa. Bye bye!

Merci beaucoup pour votre traduction donhamiltontx. Mon anglais est vraiment médiocre. Donc je suis incapable d’expliquer convenablement ce que rheaa et les autres anglophones ont besoin de savoir concernant le français.

Je garde à l’esprit votre proposition de m’aider rheaa. Salut !

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