Polyglot Dictionary

können

/ˈkœnən/

modal verb A1

der (masc.) die (fem.) das (neut.)

Underline = a spelling pattern that usually signals that gender.

V Register Neutral Era Current Frequency Core Domain General Tone Neutral

Forms

ich/er
kann
du
kannst
wir/sie
können
past (er)
konnte

Meaning

  1. can, to be able to

    • Kannst du mir helfen?

      Can you help me?

V Category State Concreteness Concrete Agency Voluntary Duration Durative Transitivity Transitive

Similar words

dürfen

The classic mix-up: können is about ability — whether you're capable of something. dürfen is about permission — whether you're allowed to, regardless of ability. "Kann ich rauchen?" oddly asks whether you're physically able to smoke; "Darf ich rauchen?" asks whether it's allowed.

Practice

1 What does können mean?

2 Fill the gap: ___ du mir helfen?

See also

Usage notes

German has six modal verbs, each with its own flavour of "should/must/can": können (ability), dürfen (permission), müssen (necessity), sollen (obligation from outside), wollen (desire), mögen (liking). English "can" is often used loosely for both ability and permission — German keeps them strictly apart.

verbmodal-verbirregularcore-vocabularygrammar

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