"Он умеет готовить."
Translation:He knows how to cook.
November 24, 2015
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[deactivated user]
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.'
werothegreat
438
The way the woman is pronouncing it, it sounds like "умед". Would a Russian speaker not really pronounce the two "e"s separately?
Siipko
481
Can this be used as a compliment? Like someone cooks you a meal and you say, "Dang, he knows how to cook!"