"Puedo querer eso."
Translation:I can want that.
105 Comments
- 20
- 9
- 2
It is a bit of a weird phrase. Why Duolingo does this, I do not know. But it is technically correct English.
Imagine being at a restaurant with a friend. Your friend has eaten a huge meal, and then orders the super-deluxe-mega-sundae. You say to him, "You can't want that", to which he replies "I can want that".
That's a lot of mental gymnastics to justify a nonsensical "sentence" made up of only four words. On DL, you have to reconcile yourself to learning grammatically correct "sentences" that have no use in the real world.
- 25
- 10
- 7
- 4
- 4
- 3
- 2
- 3
That seems more reasonable. Since puedo can also translate as "I may", I may go with "I may want that" in the future.
- 25
- 10
- 7
- 4
- 4
- 3
- 2
- 3
@lynettemcw I'm not sure why you've gone off on me over this. I never said that "I can want that" is wrong. What I said was that it was less reasonable than "I may want that", on the grounds that the former is less common and requires very specific context.
Regardless, I must disagree with your first point, as it is apparent that poder can be used in the context I suggested.
Note the definitions given here. There are several which are equivalent to "might", some which use present tense and others which use the conditional: http://www.spanishdict.com/translate/poder
- 25
- 22
- 22
- 20
- 18
- 10
- 6
- 5
- 5
- 2
- 16
This one is totally gramatically correct. It is even one that I may have heard or said. My scenario is a little different though. You are at a job interview. The interviewer says "This job pays extraordinarily well, but you have to want to work long hours doing exacting work" You respond I can want that. The point is not the scenario, the point is that Duo doesn't teach a lot of vocabulary but does teach grammar and structure and optimizes the ways you can use your vocabulary.
- 17
- 14
- 13
- 7
The sentence makes perfect sense in Spanish, whether you can understand the concept or not.
- 25
- 22
- 22
- 20
- 18
- 10
- 6
- 5
- 5
- 2
- 16
OK. Good information, but can you give an example? In English you seldom refer to the ability to want.
- 22
xtempore ... Ha ha! - that's a great example! I thought the same as most other people - that that sounds really strange English ... but having read through the whole script of this conversation - actually Xtempmore's explanation is great! It definitely makes sense of this expression I think!
- 18
- 14
- 12
- 10
- 10
- 10
- 9
- 8
- 7
- 7
- 6
- 5
- 4
For the nay-sayers: I've used this phrase, and others like it, frequently for exactly the kind of situation xtempore gives. I can't even think of another way to say it!
- 18
- 18
- 10
- 9
- 9
- 6
- 4
- 3
- 67
Your personal use doesn't constitute a majority of the English-speaking world. The fact is that this phrase sounds unusual. Not bad. Not wrong. Just unusual.
- 25
- 567
I disagree as you're bringing up a sarcastic remark which may fit the vernacular but hardly represents common practice.
- 16
- 10
- 6
- 4
- 4
- 4
- 3
- 3
- 2
normally people in that situation would not say "i can want that" or "you can want that" Maybe "You dont want that" and he replies "i do want that
- 17
- 7
- 5
- 3
- 3
"I can want that" is not only grammatically correct English, there are also many situations in which it would make sense. For example:
(1) Bob (husband): "I hope that our son Frank makes it into Harvard. He certainly deserves it a lot more than most of his friends." Lucy (wife): "Bob! How unfeeling of you to say that!" Bob: "What? I just wish that my son be successful in life. He has worked hard at his education; he deserves the best the world has to offer. I can want that."
(2) Jack: "Fred is such a jerk! He sits behind me in history, and the whole time we were taking the test, he was looking over my shoulder and copying off me! It's so unfair! I studied for three hours last night, and he probably didn't do any work at all, but he still did as well as me! I hope the teacher gives him an F and he gets expelled." Jill: "Jack, I think you're jumping to conclusions. Maybe it was just your imagination, or maybe he was in love with the girl in front of you and couldn't take his eyes off her. He could have even been admiring your backpack! You shouldn't give him such a hard time." Jack: "What? Yeah, right. You don't just sit staring at a backpack for eighty minutes. He was definitely cheating. He was breaking the rules and looking at my paper! The teacher should flunk him and give him detention for the rest of the month. I can want that."
Out of context, "I can want that" sounds kind of awkward. However, these examples are just two of many that prove that the sentence makes sense in regular conversation.
Also, remember, the people who contribute to the Spanish language are almost definitely not native English speakers. It is very easy to miss such a subtle thing as this when you have only acquired English as a second language.
Please upvote if you found these examples helpful. I'd like to know whether I need to clarify this more.
- 23
- 11
- 9
- 3
I don't think anyone is debating that it's possible to combine the english words in that way. But look at the length of examples you have to give just to justify using it. Not to mention something like "I'm allowed to want that" would sound more natural. The point is that it's an unusual phrase that you wouldn't really hear. Which, IMO, is a moot point anyway since Duo is not always about learning a useful sentence but the underlying grammar and syntax of the language.
- 24
- 23
- 15
- 1051
I truly did like your examples; however, the pull-down menu did list the word "may" as well as "can" so either should be correct but mine was marked wrong when I used "may".
I thought she was saying "Puedo creer eso" because "querer" just didn't make sense
Very strange sentence,which unfortunately we see once in a while here in DL.
- 23
- 6
- 4
- 15
not really ---- I could want or could love "podria" would be better, but the present of poder was used.
- 25
- 14
- 8
- 192
Jumping in here because this discussion has gone WAY off the mark.
When some random phrase seems weird, like this one, it is often a good idea to go looking for how it is used. As you might expect, the problem here is a lack of appropriate context that suggests the correct translation.
In my experience this is more often a phrase of negation, and a quick internet search suggests this is generally true. It is not often that one says that "I can want that" in English or Spanish, but in Spanish it is reasonably common to say no puedo querer eso ("I cannot want that" is the literal translation, but the meaning is closer to "I don't want that").
-
Yo no puedo querer eso, ni soñarlo. (I can neither want that, nor dream it.)
-
Por q me responde feo q no puedo querer eso. (Why did she snub me, I don't want that)
-
Lo siento, pero no puedo querer eso. (I am sorry, but I don't want that)
and a variation on the idea that mixes it up.
- Ya no te puedo querer, eso no puedo, porque tu me mentiste.
Hope this helps.
- 11
- 3
Are there any examples of this used in the positive? I can understand it in the negative but still don't understand how this would be used as a positive. "I don't want that" makes more sense than "I can want that". It is much more common to use the phrase "I don't want that". All the other posts using "I can want that" seem like a stretch, they work but they are not common.
- 25
- 14
- 8
- 192
There are many examples of positive phrases with puedo querer, a very common one in song is cómo la puedo querer tanto (How can I desire/love her so much?). What is at issue here is the addition of the eso, which pretty much excludes this very common construction, and makes it a phrase of wanting something.
The most usual example of a positive eso usage that comes to mind is someone arguing a hypothetical point; Me gustaría que mis alumnos disfrutar de hablar de Borges. Puedo quiero eso; pero es muy raro. Because of its construction I have trouble imagining a common situation where it would not be immediately negated since the eso is to some degree unnecessary, and its inclusion is an emphatic repetition that stresses what it is that you want (I can want THAT). That construction is only common when you are about to emphasize that what it is you want isn't going to happen.
Another example that immediately comes to mind is someone muttering to themselves in a doorway while rocking back and forth Sí, puedo quiero eso...
- 18
- 14
- 12
- 10
- 10
- 10
- 9
- 8
- 7
- 7
- 6
- 5
- 4
Since folks are getting technical, my guess is that you and neet mean "I might want that", in the sense that it is possible. "I may want that", in the sense of "I am allowed", gets even weirder. I agree with ElCanguro that "I could want that" is a little more likely to pop up.
- 22
I don't understand how you can interpret "I may want that" as meaning "I am allowed". Huh? I think "I may want that" could very easily be used if, for example, one were making something and another person went to take one of your tools. You could say, "Leave it! I may want that, later."
- 24
- 2
I went with "I can love that". "Love" and "want" were both given as translations for "querer". It was marked wrong with this advice: 'Be careful not to confuse "want" and "love"!' In English we "love" inanimate objects like cars and pie and shoes. In Spanish do you "love" only people?
- 15
- 10
- 2
I believe "Me encanta _" would be used to say you really like or you love an inanimate object.
- 13
- 11
- 5
- 4
- 4
- 3
- 2
Not sure if this is still relevant to you (Duolingo needs to make timestamps public on comments), but "querer" is used to mean the type of way that you love a family member or close friend.
Quiero a mi hija muchísimo -> I love my daughter a whole lot
I agree. (Yes, I know that the app lacks the richer features of the full website, such as time stamps for comments.)
i think it would sound better if it was: I COULD love/want that. to me is more sensible like that
- 25
- 11
- 7
- 7
- 6
- 5
I thought about typing, "I can want that", but it sounded ridiculous, so instead I typed "I may want that". I think this is a pedagogical flaw in duoLingo's use of weird sentences. They want us to translate blindly word-for-word, and this type of rather nonsensical sentence punishes us if we try to translate meaning.
- 25
- 15
- 11
- 8
- 55
Look into how Duo works before whining about a free app that teaches you almost every language under the sun. For God's sake, bunch of libs.. let the above posts be a testament to the fact that people can't even accept free stuff without whining about it.
- 25
- 22
- 22
- 20
- 18
- 10
- 6
- 5
- 5
- 2
- 16
I am glad someone else is saying this. Some users even seem to get personally offended if their answer is not accepted. It is one thing if it were a human teacher perhaps, but it's a lot to expect from a computer.
- 24
- 16
- 10
- 10
- 10
- 10
- 9
- 7
- 5
- 5
- 3
The point of the exercise is to teach you the rules of grammar and sentence structure. The exact example sentence may not be practical for you to use, but you now know how to make your own sentences with different vocabulary using these same rules. If you want to focus on vocabulary and solely "practical" sentences, Duolingo probably isn't the best tool for you to use.
- 14
- 13
- 12
To teach rules of grammar in any language using nonsense sentences might work for Lewis Carrol, but not so in the real world. I do laugh at some of the twisted English constructs here, but " ha, ha, ha" goes just so far!! Especially when Duo says.......Nein!!!!!!!
- 14
- 13
- 12
See dictionary,- querer also means "accept" My response "I can accept that" marked wrong!!
This turn of phrase reminds me of a schmaltzy pop song of the late 60s. Baby I'm a want you... Who can remember Bread?
- 13
- 6
- 5
"Puedo querer" means I can want. "Podría querer" is I could want. "Posiblemente quiera" or "Puede que yo quiera" would be more like I may want.
I recall an old pop song from the seventies that ran 'Baby I'm a want you' (Bread). Those words were a lot worse than this, but similar.
- 14
- 6
- 4
Someone from the Duolingo staff needs to get on here and explain themselves. Poder usually means either may or can and I need to know why only can was accepted in this instance.
- 12
- 10
- 8
"Puedo querer eso" doesn't pass an idea of likelyhood too? That would make "I may/might want that" correct
I can WISH that. I can wish that wish would be accepted. I thought that was an accepted translation of querer. Why not?
- 25
- 22
- 22
- 20
- 18
- 10
- 6
- 5
- 5
- 2
- 16
Actually it is. There is absolutely nothing grammatically wrong with this sentence. That you may have never.heard or said this is not surprising. There are two basic.concepts behind the sentences Duo models. It models the correct way to express many of the common things you say, especially things that don't quite translate well. That is your basic phrasebook concept. But if you are going to end up really using Spanish in real life situations, you are going to need to say things that you might never expect to say. So Duo models unusual sentences where you are not able to rely on your memory from when you.may have heard such a sentence. You only rely on what you know. Duo doesn't teach a lot of vocabulary, but it does teach those words well.
They have so many crazy expressions I've never heard used in daily conversations it's unbelievable!