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- "Who can see bears?"
"Who can see bears?"
Translation:Kdo vidí medvědy?
9 Comments
The English phrase "to be able to see" often means the same thing as "to see." In English they are pretty much interchangable, but not in Czech. "Kdo může vidět medvědy?" would mean something like "Who is capable of seeing bears?"
I'm not a native Czech speaker though, so it would be great if a native could confirm this.
"Kdo může vidět medvědy? = Who can see bears?" is correct like all the comments suggest here.
The issue is with English, where "I see" equals "I can see" in many contexts.
In Czech, if you want to talk about the possibility, not the fact that you see, you have to say it. (Kdo může vidět medvědy? Who can see bears? Lidé v zoo, myslivci,... People in the zoo, gamekeepers,...)
the problem is that in practice "I can see bears." almost never means the ability but rather the actual act of observing. so if we recognize the czech answer with mohu/můžu, we are most likely hurting some learners, who will end up thinking that czech works just like english here, which it does not. and if we switch the english side to "Who sees bears?" to avoid the predicament, it will be a less idiomatic english sentence.