📸❓

How to Say ‘Could I take a picture?’ in Traditional Chinese

我可以拍一張照片嗎？

wǒ kě yǐ pāi yī zhāng zhào piān ma

[wo kuh-yee pāi ee zhāng zhàopiàn ma]

🇹🇼 In Taiwan: Asking before photographing someone's home is polite in Taiwan, and most people will happily say yes to a curious foreigner.

Phrase Breakdown

我可以

wǒ kě yǐ

may I

我可以 (wǒ kěyǐ) means 'I can' or 'may I'. It is a polite way to ask permission.

Example

我可以坐這裡嗎？

May I sit here?

Words in this phrase

我

wǒ

[wo]

I; me

The first-person pronoun used to talk about yourself.

Example

我想多了解你們公司的制度，所以先自我介紹。

I want to learn more about your company’s system, so I’ll introduce myself first.

可以

kě yǐ

[kuh-yee]

can; may

Used to express ability, permission, or that something is possible.

Example

你如果想加這位主管的聯絡方式，現在可以先自我介紹。

If you want to add this manager's contact information, you can introduce yourself first now.

拍一張照片嗎？

pāi yī zhāng zhào piān ma

take a photo?

拍一張照片 (pāi yì zhāng zhàopiàn) means 'take one photo'. 嗎 (ma) makes it a question.

Example

你要拍一張照片嗎？

Do you want to take a photo?

Words in this phrase

拍

pāi

[pāi]

to take (a photo)

Used with photos to mean shooting a picture.

Example

我們一起拍照吧。

Let's take a photo together.

一

yī

[ee]

one; a

A number word that helps form the phrase for category.

Example

你想找哪一類工作？

What kind of job do you want to look for?

張

zhāng

[zhāng]

piece, sheet

A measure word for flat objects like paper.

Example

這張字由殘劍親手寫成。

This piece of calligraphy was written by Broken Sword himself.

照片

zhào piān

[zhàopiàn]

photo

A photograph, such as an ID photo needed for documents.

Example

我需要兩張照片。

I need two photos.

嗎

[ma]

question particle

A sentence-final particle used to turn a statement into a yes-no question.

Example

你喜歡這個活動嗎？

Do you like this event?

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