pouvoir in French: to be able to, can (verb)

Translation

to be able to, can

Word origin

From Vulgar Latin potere, a reshaping of the irregular Latin posse ('to be able'). The noun sense ('power') comes from the same verb used as a noun.

Verb typeirregular

Regular french-irregular conjugation. Pronouns: je, tu, il/elle, nous, vous, ils/elles.

Person	Present	Imperfect	Past historic	Future	Conditional
je	peux	pouvais	pus	pourrai	pourrais
tu	peux	pouvais	pus	pourras	pourrais
il/elle	peut	pouvait	put	pourra	pourrait
nous	pouvons	pouvions	pûmes	pourrons	pourrions
vous	pouvez	pouviez	pûtes	pourrez	pourriez
ils/elles	peuvent	pouvaient	purent	pourront	pourraient

, .

I cannot come this evening, sorry.

- ' ?

Can you help me with these suitcases?

.

We can meet up tomorrow if you like.

' .

She could not sleep because of the noise.

, j' .

I can't come on Saturday, I already have something else on.

vouloir

to want

devoir

to have to, must; duty

savoir

to know (facts, how to)

falloir

to be necessary, must, to need

avoir

to have

(15)

(13)

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