What is the correct way to ask someone if he or she can do something?


I want to ask someone if he can translate something for me. However I do not
know what the correct way of asking is. I do not want to ask if he wants to do
it, but rather if he has the knowledge to do so. So something along the lines
of: Do you know how to translate this, but with 'can' instead of 'Do you know'

I thought of something like:

[code]

    これはできを訳しますか
    
[/code]

However I do not think it is right.

So my question will then be:

What is the correct way to ask someone if he or she can do something? With the
usage of `できます` (If possible)




One important grammar rule that pertains to this is how to ask for a favor
from someone. This requires the knowledge and use of 上｛あ｝げる・くれる・もらう verbs.

> 上{あ}げる -> I give to you
>
> くれる -> You give to me
>
> もらう -> I receive from you

Stemming from this, what you're asking for is for a translation, but you're
wondering if it is alright to ask for this. So, let's start with the English
variant of the question:

> Will you translate this for me?

If we examine this sentence first, you're asking for the favor of translation.
Basically, you're asking to be given a translation as a favor. Therefore,
you'd want to use くれる as your verb of request. To add additional politeness,
you may add よければ or any such phrase at the start of the question to further
indicate that you're asking this as a favor and not as a demand:

> (よければ、)これを訳して **くれません** か。  
>  (If it's alright with you,) will you ( **Won't you** ) translate this for
> me?

