Lesson 1.4 Audio Grammar wrong?

Hello
I have just started with Spanish, but I am having a question in the Audio part of Lesson 1.4, at 19:00 minutes.

How would you say that it's okay, you can take the photo?
Solution -->
Está bien, puedes sacar la foto. 

Since I am talking to a gentleman/woman I think the correct form of poder should be puede (usted), not puedes. It would be correct if I was talking to my friend.  But the lesson was between adults who do not know each other.  

Is the audio part wrong, or am I wrong :)?

Thanks for your help
Simon

and I have a follow up question to the same lesson:

¿Puedo sacar su foto? -> Can I take your photo?

My girlfriend (Colombian) told me that this does not make a lot of sense. It's correct if someone posseses a photo and you would like him/her to hand it over to you, but not to take an actual picture with a camera (like in the lesson).  Instead you should say: Puedo tomar un foto de usted?

Would be very helpful to me the understand why this lessons claims something different. Maybe because we are still in early stages?

¡Hola SimonS29!

Thank you very much for your questions! I've broken them up into headings below to make them easier to read.

1. PUEDES vs. PUEDE

You're right: the tú form puedes would most commonly be used among friends and family, while in the conversation the speakers are strangers who are politely using usted. So the answer should indeed be puede, to fit the context.

Our apologies for the confusion this has caused! I will pass this on to our audio team to see about getting this fixed.

2. SACAR vs. TOMAR 

One of the tricky things about Spanish is how many different regional variations there are! Both sacar una foto and tomar una foto are valid translations for "to take a picture" in Spanish, but it is possible that one or the other won't be used in particular countries or regions. (In fact, in Spain, hacer una foto is also possible, but you're not likely to hear that in Latin America.)

The best strategy is to listen to the people in the region you visit and to follow the terminology that they tend to use. Sacar una foto shouldn't cause problems with understanding in most Spanish-speaking countries (it is commonly used in Spain, Chile, and Argentina, for instance), but if you find people giving you odd looks, you can certainly use tomar una foto instead.

I hope that this is helpful! Do let me know if anything is still unclear.

Saludos,

Liss

Thanks a lot Liss, much appreciated!

Thanks for the clarification in #1.  I still do not understand the reason for “su” photo instead of “tu” photo.  
Thank you!
Libby Murphy

@ Libby: do you refer to my question, or the lesson in general? I am just a beginner, but you use su instead of tu, because you are talking to an eldery or unkown person. 

usted - su
tú - tu

 

Hola Simón,
I had not picked up on that grammar rule.  Muchas gracias para su ayuda!
Libby Murphy
 

¡Hola SimonS29 y Libby112!

¡De nada, SimonS29! :) 

Libby112, if you would like further clarification on when to use tú and when to use usted, our Language & Culture lesson on pronouns should be helpful. Also, if you'd like to learn more about the words tu and su ("your"), our lesson on possessives should help clear everything up. 

Don't hesitate to ask if you have any more questions!

Saludos,

Liss