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- "Ich kann jetzt lesen."
20 Comments
If the predicate consists of a modal verb (e.g. can, must, may) and another verb, only the modal verb is inflected ("changed"). For the second verb you use the infinitive: ich kann lesen, du kannst lesen, er kann lesen, wir können lesen, ihr könnt lesen, sie können lesen.
That is incidentally also the case in English, although it's not as obvious as in German. You say "He can read" and not *"He can reads".
BenYoung84
285
It's exactly the same as in English. E.g. we say: He can be there tonight, not He can is there tonight.