"Er kann nicht schlafen."
Translation:He cannot sleep.
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he is unable to sleep.
this was marked incorrect although the meaning in English is identical
the verb konnen means: to be able to / can / allowed to /
What about "He is not able to sleep"? DL marked this translation as incorrect.
I am doing Duolingo because I have my sleep cycle messed up and can't sleep. It's near 4 AM here.
Because that is not how you conjugate "können". No other reason. You wouldn't conjugate "to be" in English like this either: "I be", "you be", "he bes" etc. ;)
Because "kannt" sounds weird, the conjugation would be ich kann, du kannst, er kann, wir können, ihr könnt, sie können
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Modal verbs are conjugated differently from standard verbs. With almost all modal verbs, the third person singular form is the same as the first person singular form. Actually, scratch the "almost" - I believe it is so with all modals.
It is an irregular verb, you just have to learn that it's different! :) It is however "könnt" in 2nd person plural (ihr könnt)!
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When I tapped the highlighted word kann it gave the meaning able to play??? Did anyone else see this?
"He can not sleep" and Duolingo tells me there is an extra space between can_not. Seriously?
Yes, the contracted word "cannot" is three times more common than the previous form. Try to report the variation "can not" if it is used in your dialect. Include these links in your report. http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cannot http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/cannot
Some would argue that "can not X" doesn't mean "is unable to X", but rather "is able to not X", as in has the ability to go without sleep in this instance.
How do you best distinguish between "she is not able to sleep" and "she is able to not sleep" in German? The latter implying that she can do without sleep in situations where others would need sleep.