19 Comments
Уме́ть means having a certain skill.
- Я уме́ю гото́вить. 'I can cook.' = 'I know how to cook.'
- Я уме́ю пла́вать. 'I can swim.'
- Я уме́ю игра́ть в футбо́л. 'I know how to play f̶o̶o̶t̶b̶a̶l̶l̶ soccer.'
- Я уме́ю чита́ть мы́сли. 'I can read [other people's] mind.'
Мо́чь refers to general possibility, often the possibility to do action at the moment. When used without any context, it usually sounds as an offer:
- Я могу́ гото́вить. 'I can cook', 'I could cook'.
We don't say things like «я могу готовить» often, because, well, who doesn't? I think it's used with «не» much more often than in positive sentences.
- Я не могу́ гото́вить, не́ из чего. 'I can't cook, I don't have anything to cook!'
- Я не могу́ пла́вать без пла́вок. 'I can't swim without swimming trunks.'
- Я не могу́ игра́ть в футбо́л без мяча́. 'I can't play soccer without a ball.'
- Я не могу́ чита́ть его мысли, пока́ он но́сит ша́почку из фольги́. 'I can't read his mind while he wears a tinfoil hat.'
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In this option must be: "knows". Because when he sick he can't, although he knows.
Умеет means to be able to.. and know how to. Therefore, 'He is able to cook is correct??' Oн умеет готовит?? Совет пожалуйста.
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The way the woman is pronouncing it, it sounds like "умед". Would a Russian speaker not really pronounce the two "e"s separately?
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Yeah the pronunciation of уметь is totally off. Should be more like "umeejet" and not "umeet" here.
We used to have a TV show here in Australia titled «Ян умеет готовить, а вы тоже умеете!». A bit catchier in English.
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Ah... one of the few sentences that are shorter in English than in Russian!
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Hey! I think I have just written my first Russian poem: он умеет готовить что он делает он там спит
hahaha does it make sense? Is my grammar right?
