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- "You know that I cannot."
"You know that I cannot."
Translation:Tu sai che non posso.
33 Comments
744
I've never seen the word 'posso' before and there is no dictionary help or offer to let me see it conjugated, which would be helpful. I assume it is the first person singular of the verb meaning 'to be able to'.
"Posso" is the first person singular of the verb "potere", and yes, it means "to be able to" (:
POTERE: Io posso/ Tu puoi/ Lei può/ Noi possiamo/ Voi potete/ Loro possono/
"Posso" was introduced in the present verb 1 lessons. I had to open a new window to go back and look at the conjugation though. I agree that it would be helpful to have!
You know, everytime I see a new verb I open Word and conjugate it so I can use it always when I need it xDD It's really useful x)
Actually, you can use Wiktionary. The conjugated forms will direct you to the infinitive form.
Aah this is like 'essere' and 'stare', there's two words in Italian (and the other romanic languages) but only one in English, so I guess it's difficult for you to understand the difference. 'Tu sai' is more like 'you know', 'you have the knowledge'; 'tu conosci' means the same, but also has the connotation of 'you meet someone or learn something for the first time'. Like you have the knowledge of the existance of that thing/person. Is this clear enough? D:
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The way i have had it explained is that conosci is about knowing people, sai is about knowing things
- 377
"You know that I cannot"
"̶̶̶̶̶̶̶V̶̶̶̶̶̶̶o̶̶̶̶̶̶̶i̶̶̶̶̶̶̶ ̶̶̶̶̶̶̶s̶̶̶̶̶̶̶o̶̶̶̶̶̶̶ ̶̶̶̶̶̶̶c̶̶̶̶̶̶̶h̶̶̶̶̶̶̶e̶̶̶̶̶̶̶ ̶̶̶̶̶̶̶n̶̶̶̶̶̶̶o̶̶̶̶̶̶̶n̶̶̶̶̶̶̶ ̶̶̶̶̶̶̶p̶̶̶̶̶̶̶u̶̶̶̶̶̶̶ò̶" ← WRONG
• "tu sai che non posso" ← RIGHT ("you" singular informal)
• "Lei sa che non posso" ← RIGHT ("you" singular formal)
• "voi sapete che non posso" ← RIGHT ("you" plural)
- voi sapete che lui/lei non può = you know that he/she cannot
- io so che lui/lei non può = I know that he/she cannot
It says that possible correct answers are "Sa che non posso.".... but I thought that means 'He/She knows that I cannot'..is this a duolingo error, or some Italian phrase?
It could be the formal conjugation of "you". I speak spanish and we have it too.
The polite form when addressing someone is to use third person singular. The polite form of "you" is Lei.
Two correct solutions are proposed : "Tu sai che non posso" and "Sa che non posso". The "tu" is optional, all right, but why is the verb conjugated differently in the two sentences? Btw, I thought "Sa" was the third person form, meaning "he knows"... is that right? What is the correct translation of "you know"? "Sai" or "Sa"?
The second correct solution is a more formal way to say "you know that I cannot." "Lei" is used for a more respectful and formal way of saying "you." They are just dropping the "lei" in the second solution.
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Duo is so arbitrary about whether it will accept Lei verb conjugations, I never use it. That probably is a disservice to me, because I'm certain that it is used in instances like this. But there are no guidelines for using it. So I don't.
'Tu lo sai che non posso' was given as the correct answer. Where does the'lo' come from?
- 377
̶T̶u̶ ̶s̶a̶i̶ ̶c̶h̶e̶ ̶n̶o̶n̶ ̶p̶o̶s̶s̶o̶ ̶i̶o ← WRONG
maybe "tu sai che io non posso"
Why can't I drop the 'tu' in 'Tu sai que non posso'? Duolingo didn't accept the version without 'tu'. Normally it works without the personal pronoun.
