The grammar behind お願いできる


Lesson 1 of みんなの日本語中級I teaches that

> 何とかお願いできないでしょうか

can be used to insist on a request while acknowledging that it is
unreasonable. Regarding the grammar behind お願いできる, is the following
understanding correct?

The (type-1) 謙譲語 for 願う is お願いする, which looks like a サ変動詞. Given that the
potential form of サ変動詞 is constructed by replacing する with できる, is it correct
to say that お願いできる is the potential form of お願いする?

In general, if I want to politely say that I can do something, or to politely
ask whether I can/may do something, can I use the construction お/ご＋マス形＋できる?
For example, if I want to ask about something I that I don’t understand, can I
say

> わからないことがあるんですが、お聞きできないでしょうか。




> The (type-1) 謙譲語 for 願う is お願いする, which looks like a サ変動詞. Given that the
> potential form of サ変動詞 is constructed by replacing する with できる, is it
> correct to say that お願いできる is the potential form of お願いする?

Yes, this is correct.

> In general, if I want to politely say that I can do something, or to
> politely ask whether I can/may do something, can I use the construction
> お/ご＋マス形＋できる? For example, if I want to ask about something I that I don’t
> understand, can I say

> > わからないことがあるんですが、お聞きできないでしょうか。

For some reason, this phrase sounds like "Can I ask **them** a question?" and
not "Can I ask **you** a question?" (or it might be understood as "Can **you**
please ask **them** a question?"). This being said, yes, this phrase is
correct and depending on the context, it might be understood correctly.

