How to ask someone if it is okay to do something?


I often find myself wanting to ask if I can do something ie. "Is it okay if I
ask you a question?" or "Can I switch seats with you?" Along those lines. I'm
not sure if this is something naturally asked in Japanese.

**My attempts are:** 「質問をしたい、これはいいですか？」but I can imagine this in no way sounds
natural.

Are there any alternatives that act as softening a question? as I often feel
uncomfortable just straight up asking a question since I'm worried it will
seem interrogative. Thanks in advance.




A very standard and polite way of asking permission for something in Japanese
is to use the construction `VERBてもいいですか`.

See these answers for reference:

  * [Why でも is used rather than も in this sentence?](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/39825/why-%e3%81%a7%e3%82%82-is-used-rather-than-%e3%82%82-in-this-sentence)
  * [貸してもいいですか versus 借りてもいいですか](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/24615/%e8%b2%b8%e3%81%97%e3%81%a6%e3%82%82%e3%81%84%e3%81%84%e3%81%a7%e3%81%99%e3%81%8b-versus-%e5%80%9f%e3%82%8a%e3%81%a6%e3%82%82%e3%81%84%e3%81%84%e3%81%a7%e3%81%99%e3%81%8b)

In your sentence, you could use this construction and say:

> 質問してもいいですか。 May I ask a question?

For an even more polite version, you can use `VERBていただけませんか`. For example,

> 私と席を替わっていただけませんか？ Could you change seats with me?

