German

Noun

Können n ‎(genitive Könnens, no plural)

1. gerund of können; skill, ability

Declension

See also

• Dürfen
• Wagen
• Mögen
• Denken

German

Verb

können ‎(irregular, third-person singular simple present kann, past tense konnte, past participle können or gekonnt, past subjunctive könnte, auxiliary haben)

1. (auxiliary, with an infinitive, past participle: “können”) To be able (to do something); can.

   Kannst du ihm helfen? — “Are you able to help him?”

   Ich hätte das machen können. — “I could have done that.”

2. (auxiliary, with an infinitive, past participle: “können”) To be allowed (to do something); to be permitted (to do something); may.

   Kann ich mitkommen? — “May I come along?”

   Er hat nicht ins Kino gehen können. — “He was not allowed to go to the cinema.”

3. (transitive, past participle: “gekonnt”) To know how to do (something); to know; to understand; to be able to do (something); to be capable of; can do (something).

   Ich kann Deutsch und Englisch. — “I know German and English.”

   Kannst du es? — “Can you do it?”

   Das hätte ich nicht gekonnt. — “I couldn’t have done that.” or “I wouldn’t have been capable of that.”

4. (intransitive, past participle: “gekonnt”) To be able to do something implied; can.

   Nein, ich kann nicht. — “No, I can’t.”

   Er hat gekonnt. — “He was able to [do it].”

5. (intransitive, colloquial, usually in negation) to be possible, to make sense

   Nächstes Jahr is’n Schaltjahr. – Das kann nich’. Letztes Jahr war doch Schaltjahr!

   Next year is a leap year. – That’s not possible. Last year was a leap year!

Usage notes

• As with all modal verbs, the auxiliary können is used with a following bare infinitive (see examples above).
• In the perfect tense, when können is used as an auxiliary verb, the past participle must be können (or more accurately speaking: the infinitive is used instead of the past participle). When used as a main verb, the past participle gekonnt is standard usage. However, especially among southern speakers, the infinitive may also occur (Er hat nicht können. Instead of more correct: Er hat nicht gekonnt.)

Conjugation