"I know the city."
Translation:Jeg kjenner byen.
8 Comments
In context can you go further into why jeg kan norsk works, because it doesn't really make sense in english.
At a guess, it's similar to "Jeg skal til byen", "I shall (go) to the city". After modal verbs, you can often leave out the.... the other verb (don't know what it's technical name is).
That said, my Haugen's dictionary does list Deliciae's usage as the third meaning of "kunne": "know (eg a language, lesson, poem song, etc); know how to (eg perform a skill, play a game, etc): kan du norsk? do you know Norwegian; kan du spille sjakk? do you (know how to) play chess?"
"Hesten kan veien" but "Jeg kjenner byen" Why is it like that this time?
Non-native here, and this is a guess. Kjenner is more like know/have personal experience of. Vet is more like intellectually know. Kan is more like have the ability of/be capable of.
