Can you hand me...? Can you get me...?

[Perikles]

You're welcome. It's not intuitive. There is an archaic form which is different, where you use a genitive for the person being asked:

I ask this one thing of you

but that is obscure, I think.

[poli]

Originally Posted by Awaken

Perfect. Thanks. Is conseguir used often? Is there a most verb used in Spanish for "get" that can be used in most all situations?

"I am going to get the tickets"
"Let me get my shoes" etc...

If you mean I am going to buy the tickets you would say Voy a comprar
los boletos ( or billetes in Spain) but if you mean I am going to look for
the tickets you would say busco los boletos.
If you mean I am going to pick up the tickets (like at the box office) I would say voy a coger los boletos coger is seen as a very vulgar
word is some countries like Argentina so perhaps you can use recoger
instead

[chileno]

Ookami:

En este caso ask = pedir.

[AngelicaDeAlquezar]

@Awaken: "Conseguir" is used very often, but it implies some sort of effort to get something.

"Voy a conseguir los boletos" means you're going to buy them, but you know you might face some difficulties: perhaps they're sold out, or you'll have to make a long "city-safari" to go buy them, or you'll have to talk to someone in order to get the places you want... (whatever you can think of.)

If "I'm going to get the tickets" means you're heading to the box office to buy them, you'd simply say "voy por los boletos" or "voy a comprar los boletos", as Poli said.


As for "let me get my shoes" (I assume it means "I'll put my shoes on") in Spanish we might say "voy por mis zapatos", "voy a ponerme los zapatos".

"Voy a conseguir mis zapatos" sounds strange and it would suggest that for some kind of reason you can't have the shoes you want and you're determined to do whatever it takes to get them.


"Obtener" is often a synonym of "conseguir", but it's also used in different contexts, like to get something you deserve or for which you have worked, or to get something from some material or source:

Obtuve mi diploma de la escuela. -> I got my diploma from school.
Juan aspira a obtener un buen trabajo. -> Juan aims to get a good job.
Michael Phelps obtuvo varias medallas de oro. -> Michael Phelps got many gold medals.

Obtenemos vitamina A de las zanahorias. -> We get vitamin A from carrots.
Los paneles solares obtienen energía del sol. -> Solar panels obtain energy from the sun.
En la fábrica obtienen aceite de las semillas de soya. -> In the factory they get oil from soja beans.



@Poli: "Buscar los boletos", at least in Mexico, means that you lost them and you're looking for them. It doesn't mean that you'll pick them up, which would rather be "voy a recoger los boletos" or simply "voy por los boletos".
"Coger los boletos" is not to pick them up from a box office, but from a table maybe. They have already been in your hands after being bought. And the verb doesn't have a vulgar meaning if you're using it in a clear and specific context.

[poli]

voy por of course!
Thanks for the info regarding coger. Context changes everything although I've been told not to say voy a coger el taxi.

[AngelicaDeAlquezar]

@Poli: You can actually say it with a neutral connotation, but there are some people who will make jokes on that. Unavoidable, I think, despite the fact that it's a correct use of language. ;(