"Eles podem sofrer um acidente."

Translation: They can have an accident.

[MRMsys]

Well that is one way to "eliminar meus inimigos!"

[BonecoBiru]

In English this would usually take the conditional "could"

[yimantuwingyai]

yes, it is confusing using this tense

[emeyr]

"Can" is also used to express a supposition.

Why don't you want your kid to play football? ->> Well, he can hurt. He can get a concussion, and he can end up being permanently disabled.

https://www.englishpage.com/modals/can.html

[2dwight]

Emeyr, in each of your examples, a native american English speaker would most likely choose "could" rather than "can".

[emeyr]

DL's sentence is correct, "Can" can be used to express a "generalization" as stated in the last section in the above link. (from Boston, Mass and ESL teacher.)

[2dwight]

Yes, of course, it is grammatically correct. It just isn't the most likely way native speakers would choose to speak. Of course, (and I want to be clear, this is intended to be a humorous jibe) amongst we midwesterners, there is a lingering suspicion whether Boston and other Eastern cities still speak American.

[emeyr]

There is an advantage to having a Boston accent. It is immediately clear who is a Red Sox fan. ;)

[mcxW91]

In all of the examples you give emeyr, "could" sounds natural and "can" sounds awkward to me.

(Also "hurt" can be a transitive verb or a participle- he could hurt himself or he could get hurt, equally common ways of saying the same thing.)

[r_i_l_e_y]

Does this really mean "they can suffer an accident"? or is there an alternative translation.

[Paulenrique]

As it shows a possibility, poder would be better translated as "may/might"

[Ketutsf]

Yes, "They could have . . ." "They might have . . ." and "They may have . . ." would all be better translations than "They can have . . ."

[KTKee-EnglishEng]

Suffer an accident is quite normal in English, I don't know what people are complaining about. http://tinyurl.com/q2839gz

[TobyBartels]

I think that they're complaining about ‘can’ here, not about ‘suffer an accident’.

[P-ank.tron]

I think it's weird that the given answer to "sofrer um acidente" is "have an accident". I think "suffer" is more natural.

[TobyBartels]

They can have an accident if you like, I don't care. Just as long as they're dead when you're done.

[Tony979198]

They could suffer an accident should also be correct.

[LyricalWordsmith]

This makes no sense...

[Paulenrique]

They might have an accident?

[ThanKwee]

Yes, that sounds natural. Thanks!

[mcxW91]

Yes but does our green owl friend accept this, or do we lose a heart for speaking our native language in a natural-sounding way?

[G.P.Niers]

Maybe the speaker is worried about them because they've taken up formula one racing as a hobby.

I agree with Paulenrique, ‘podem’ should be translated ‘might’ in this case.

[ChrisGull]

In normal sense this is weird.. Maybe you would hear it in a movie about gangsters plotting an "accident" against someone else.

Or, as pointed out, use a better word.