Indirect object with "poder"+infinitive

I'm currently in lesson 2.7 of the first course. There's a phrase, “¿Me puede decir la hora, por favor?” From a Pimsleur course, I learned the form “¿Puede decirme la hora, por favor?”

Here's another example from an earlier lesson, “¿En qué le puedo ayudar?” I learned “¿En qué puedo ayudarle?” from Pimsleur.

Maybe I'm overthinking this, but it seems odd to me to put the indirect object where it seems to depend on puede/puedo rather than on what it should depend on, decir/ayudar. Or maybe the Rocket course just does it this way in early stages and will introduce the other form later.

Are these pairs just two acceptable ways of saying the same thing, or is there a real difference between them?

Welcome to Rocket Spanish Stan (I saw your other post as well). 

The fact you are thinking about this in lesson 2.7 means you are way ahead of most Rocket Spanish learners at that point. In module 5 they go over the direct and indirect pronouns, much to consternation to many, so you have a head start!

Either is acceptable - you can put the pronoun before the verb or attatched to the end of the infinitive (if there is one). Lesson 5.6 starts the teaching on that in the “Stuck on the infinitive” section of 5.6. The first part of that section:

Direct object pronouns can sometimes be placed somewhere other than in front of the verb. For instance, they can be attached to the end of an infinitive (i.e. the unchanged, default form of a verb).

To be complete, you can also put the pronoun on the end of a continous verb form.

Direct object pronouns can also be tacked on to the end of the verb in continuous verb forms (i.e. on the end of the present participle).

Now, if you've forgotten what some of these terms mean, don't worry - knowing what things are called isn't as important as knowing how to use them in a sentence! We'll refresh your memory so that you know what we're talking about.

Earlier in the course we discussed how in English, a continuous form is indicated by the ending "-ing" - for example, "running," as in "They are running." This "-ing" form is called a "present participle," and the Spanish equivalent of "-ing" is -ndo. One example of such a verb form used in a sentence is this phrase from above: Estoy comprando los zapatos "(I) am buying the shoes."

Hope that helps!

Thanks, Scott. Agreed, I'm ahead on some things, but in the beginner modules I'm picking up a lot of vocabulary, as well as refreshing things I already knew.

There's a catchphrase in Pimsleur, “Gracias por decirmelo” (thank you for telling me that), and it's my mnemonic for whether the direct or indirect object comes first when you have both.

¡Hola!

Thank you for your questions; you guys have raised some great points.

You’re absolutely right, Scott_C. Both the sentences ¿Me puede decir la hora, por favor? And ¿Puede decirme la hora, por favor? mean “Can you tell me the time, please?”

Direct object pronouns refer to the people or things that are receiving the action in a sentence. For example,  in the sentence “I want to send the letter,” the letter is the direct object pronoun and can be changed to “it.” Therefore, the sentence Quiero enviar la carta can become Quiero enviarla “I want to send it” or La quiero enviar “I want to send it.”

Attaching the direct object pronoun to the end of a verb can feel more natural to an English speaker as it more closely resembles the word order rules in English. However, in indicative sentences, attaching the direct object pronoun to the end of a verb is only possible when the sentence uses an infinitive verb, for example, decir “to say” or enviar “to send” or a present participle. The direct object pronoun must come before the verb when the sentence does not contain an infinitive verb or a present participle. For example, Siempre compra las verduras, “He always buys the vegetables," will become Siempre las compra, "He always buys them.”

As for the main difference between a direct object pronoun and an indirect object pronoun, the indirect object pronoun refers to the people or thing to or for whom an action is done. For example, in the sentence Quiero comprar un regalo para Teresa, “I want to buy a gift for Teresa,” the subject is “I,” the verb is “want,” the direct object is “a gift," and the indirect object is “Teresa.” Therefore, this sentence will become Le quiero comprar un regalo, “I want to buy her a gift.” As with a direct object pronoun, the indirect object pronoun can be placed before the conjugated verb or after the infinitive. So Quiero comprarle un regalo, “I want to buy her a gift" is also acceptable. However, neither the direct object pronoun nor the indirect object pronoun may come between the conjugated verb and the infinitive.
 

I hope this clarifies your question. As Scott_C pointed out, there is a more comprehensive explanation in lesson 5.6 “Me” and “He”: Direct Object Pronouns and in lesson 5.7 “To Me” and “For Her”: Indirect Object Pronouns. 

¡Hasta luego! 

Indy

Thanks, Indy!  

Edited to correct “affirmative indicative” to “affirmative imperative”

In addition to present participle and infinitive, don't pronouns attach to the affirmative imperative? Barron's 501 SpanishVerbs gives examples ¡Hágalo! and ¡Dímelo! among others. (I know, I'm jumping ahead. But I've studied several languages and I'm a grammar geek.)

¡Hola StanB-sweh!

It’s awesome to see you jumping ahead!

You’re absolutely right; in the imperative mood, you can also attach object pronouns to the end of the affirmative imperative, as in the examples you gave. However, when using object pronouns with the affirmative imperative, the object pronoun cannot come before the verb; it must be tacked onto the end. 

The second example you gave ¡Dímelo! “Tell me!” is a great example because it highlights the rule that indirect object pronouns should come before direct object pronouns when they are together. Namely, this example consists of Di “Say,” the affirmative imperative, me, the indirect object pronoun, and lo, the direct object pronoun. In addition, an accent is added to Di “Say” to maintain the original stress of the verb. 

If you want to find out more about using object pronouns with the imperative, feel free to check out the lesson Telling People What to Do. 

¡Saludos!

Indy