Five-minute Spanish Lessons - Lesson 38.

Common mistakes with "poder".

Normally, Spanish and English coincide in the use of the modal auxiliary poder / can:

Requests:

Can you help me with my homework?

¿Me puedes ayudar con los deberes?

Giving permission:

You can't leave until you've cleared up all this mess!

¡No puedes ir hasta que hayas recogido todo este desorden!

Deductions in the negative:

He can't be at home because he doesn't answer the phone.

No puede estar en casa porque no contesta el teléfono.

Note, however, how the Spanish "puede que + subjunctive" does not refer to "can" in English:

Puede que no funcione el teléfono.

In English, this construction must use could / may / might:

It could / may / might be that his phone doesn't work.

or better,

Maybe / Perhaps his phone doesn't work

When talking about what we are or aren't capable of doing the Spanish usually choose the verb "saber":

I can't swim; I've never been able to.

No sé nadar; nunca he sabido.

Can you play the piano?

¿Sabes tocar el piano?

There is another use of "can" which does not translate directly and therefore results in errors. This is when we use verbs of the senses: see / ver; hear / oír, escuchar; smell / oler; taste / saber; feel / sentir. Here, learners of Spanish should note that it's better not to use "poder":

Can you see that bird?

¿Ves ese pájaro? (and not usually "¿Puedes ver...?)

No, I can't see a thing.

No, no veo nada.

I can't see the point of going all that way.

No veo de qué va a servir que se emprenda un viaje tan largo.

I could hear noises last night.

Escuchaba / Oía ruidos anoche.

It smells pretty bad here.

I can't smell anything.

Aquí huele mal.

Yo no huelo nada.

I can't taste the herbs in this stew.

Este estofado no me sabe a hierbas.

He couldn't feel his toes.

No sentía los dedos de los pies.

In fact, with most verbs which talk about perception "can" is omitted in Spanish:

I can't understand a word of what he's saying.

or,

I don't understand...

No entiendo ni palabra de lo que dice.

I can't find out how this is done.

No averiguo cómo se hace esto.

In very colloquial or slang English "can" may be omitted when referring to the senses but, as in Spanish, ambiguity may result. Here is a well-known joke based on this:

A man goes into a pub with his dog. The dog hasn't got a nose.

Another man, sitting at the bar, asks the first,

"Your dog's got no nose. How does he smell?" (with "How can he smell" the joke doesn't work)

The first man answers,

"Very bad! He never has a bath!"

Un hombre entra en un bar con su perro. El perro no tiene hocico.

Otro hombre, sentado en la barra, pregunta al primero:

-Su perro no tiene hocico. ¿Cómo huele?

Contesta el primero:

-¡Muy mal! ¡Como nunca se baña!

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