"Nie mogę być idealna."

Translation: I cannot be perfect.

[deactivated user]

I wrote, "I am not able to be perfect," but it was rejected. It gave "I cannot be perfect" as the correct answer. These two answers seem to be saying the same thing. What am I missing?

[Jellei]

Well, you can get closer to "not being able" by saying "Nie jestem w stanie być [idealny/idealna]", but yeah, that can work. Added.

[Julie141120]

Can this be translated as 'I may not be perfect.'?

[Jellei]

Would this mean that it's impossible to be perfect? Because I read it as "I may not be perfect, but at least I'm a great driver" = "Może nie jestem idealna, ale przynajmniej jestem świetnym kierowcą".

[LeeJurga]

The distinction between Musieć/Móc/Umieć is quite difficult in these exercises. Given "can" is Umieć, why would this example not be:

Nie umiem być idealna

Especially given the English translation is - I cannot be perfect.

[JanKLinde]

Good point! We learned that 'umiem' refers to someone's personal ability, 'mogę' to the circumstances... I understand your thought, but I think 'umieć' is only about things we can learn, about knowing how, and nobody knows how to be perfect.

[jack307754]

is 'idealna' male? or would that be 'idealny' in this case?

[Jellei]

A guy would say 'idealny' indeed.

[RonWackowski]

Why is "I am unable to be ideal" marked wrong?

[Jellei]

Our native English advisor said that this seems too strange in this sentence. This would rather really need to be "Nie jestem w stanie być idealna".

[RonWackowski]

Thank you!

[JanKLinde]

Hmmm..... "I am not able" (as above in the first comment) is okay, but "I am unable" isn't? Maybe you should think about it once more ;-)

[Jellei]

Actually when rejecting "I am unable" we also removed "I am not able" ;)