Kunnen: Can, Be Able, May | Dutch Grammar

Kunnen is the Dutch verb for can — and like English "can," it stretches across three jobs: ability (Ik kan zwemmen, "I can swim"), possibility (Dat kan kloppen, "That could be right"), and informal permission (Kan ik even bellen?, "Can I make a quick call?"). It is one of the most frequent verbs in the language, and it is irregular in a way that trips up nearly every learner: the jij-form has two competing shapes, jij kunt and jij kan, and in inversion it flips to kun je / kan je. This page sorts out that variation, lays out the full conjugation, and shows kunnen doing each of its three jobs in natural sentences. For when to choose kunnen over mogen for permission, see choosing/kunnen-mogen-permission; for a bare reference table, see verb-reference/kunnen.

Conjugation: present

Kunnen is irregular in the singular — note the missing -t in ik kan and hij kan, and the kan/kunt variation in the jij-form.

Subject	Form
ik	kan
jij	kunt / kan
hij / zij / het	kan
u	kunt / kan
wij / jullie / zij	kunnen

Ik kan goed koken, maar bakken lukt me niet.

I can cook well, but baking just doesn't work for me. — 'ik kan', no -t.

Hij kan ontzettend snel rennen.

He can run incredibly fast. — 'hij kan', third person, still no -t.

Wij kunnen je morgen wel helpen.

We can help you tomorrow, sure. — plural 'kunnen', the bare infinitive form.

The kan / kunt / kun je triple variation

Here is the point worth slowing down for, because it confuses even advanced learners. The jij-form of kunnen has three shapes depending on position and register:

Context	Form	Register
jij before the verb (statement)	jij kunt / jij kan	kunt = neutral-formal; kan = informal
verb before je (inversion / question)	kun je / kan je	both common; never "kunt je"

In a plain statement, both jij kunt and jij kan are correct. Jij kunt is the slightly more formal, "careful" form; jij kan is everywhere in informal speech and is fully standard. But the moment the verb comes before the pronoun — in a question or after a fronted element — the form changes: it becomes kun je or kan je, and crucially never kunt je. The -t drops in inversion, exactly as it does for ordinary verbs (jij werkt → werk je).

Jij kunt dat echt wel, hoor.

You really can do that, you know. — statement, formal-leaning 'kunt'.

Jij kan altijd bij me terecht.

You can always come to me. — statement, informal 'kan'.

Kun je me even helpen?

Can you help me for a sec? — inversion: 'kun je', never 'kunt je'.

Kan je dat herhalen?

Can you repeat that? — inversion variant 'kan je', equally common in speech.

💡

The trap: never write "kunt je." Before je, the form is kun je or kan je — the -t disappears in inversion. The -t only survives when jij comes first: jij kunt. So: jij kunt ✅, kun je ✅, kunt je ❌.

Conjugation: past

The simple past is kon (singular) / konden (plural). The past participle is gekund, but — as the overview warns — you'll rarely use it, because in the perfect with a following verb the modal becomes a double infinitive instead (see verbs/modals/double-infinitive-ipp).

Subject	Simple past
ik / jij / hij / zij	kon
wij / jullie / zij	konden

Ik kon hem gisteren niet bereiken.

I couldn't reach him yesterday. — simple past 'kon'.

Het kon niet anders, we moesten wel.

There was no other way, we had no choice. — 'kon', impersonal possibility in the past.

Ze konden niet komen door de file.

They couldn't come because of the traffic jam. — plural past 'konden'.

The participle gekund appears only when kunnen stands without a following infinitive, which is rare and slightly awkward:

Ik heb mijn best gedaan, meer heb ik niet gekund.

I did my best; I couldn't do more than that. — bare 'gekund', no following verb (uncommon).

Use 1: ability

The core meaning. Kunnen expresses being able to do something — a skill, a capacity, a possibility within one's power. The thing you can do goes into a bare infinitive at the end (no te; see word-order/verb-bracket).

Ik kan goed koken.

I can cook well.

Kun je autorijden?

Can you drive? — asking about the skill.

Mijn dochter kan al lezen, en ze is pas vijf.

My daughter can already read, and she's only five.

A note for English speakers: for learned skills involving knowledge — a language, an instrument — Dutch often prefers kennen ("to know") or a plain verb over kunnen. Ik kan Frans is understood but colloquial; the more standard "I know French" is Ik spreek Frans or Ik ken Frans. Use kunnen freely for physical abilities (kan zwemmen, kan fietsen) and for "be able to do X right now," but don't reflexively map every English "can" onto kunnen.

Ik kan zwemmen, maar ik durf niet van de hoge plank.

I can swim, but I don't dare jump off the high board. — physical ability, natural 'kunnen'.

Use 2: possibility

Kunnen also expresses possibility — that something might be the case, or might happen. This is the "could be" sense, often with an impersonal subject like dat or het.

Dat kan kloppen, laat me even checken.

That could be right, let me just check. — 'kan' = it's possible.

Het kan vanavond gaan regenen.

It might rain tonight. — 'kan' for a possible future event.

Dat kan niet, ik heb hem net nog gezien!

That's impossible, I just saw him a moment ago! — 'kan niet' = can't be, denying a possibility.

The fixed phrase Dat kan niet ("That's not possible / That won't do") is extremely common — for rejecting both factual claims and unacceptable behaviour. Dat kan echt niet is a standard mild reproach: "that's really not on."

Use 3: informal permission

Finally, kunnen can ask for or grant permission — but in an informal, practical way, closer to "is it okay if..." than to a formal "may I." The stricter permission verb is mogen (see choosing/kunnen-mogen-permission), but in casual speech kunnen is everywhere.

Kan ik even bellen, of stoor ik?

Can I make a quick call, or am I interrupting? — informal permission.

Je kunt hier gewoon binnenlopen, het is open.

You can just walk in here, it's open. — granting easy permission/possibility.

Kunnen we hier parkeren, denk je?

Can we park here, do you think? — asking whether it's possible/allowed, informally.

Note how kunnen blurs "is it allowed?" and "is it possible?" — Kunnen we hier parkeren? asks both at once, which is exactly why it feels casual. When permission is the strict point (rules, authority), Dutch reaches for mogen instead: Mag ik hier parkeren? asks specifically "am I permitted?"

Common Mistakes

❌ Kunt je me helpen?

Incorrect — in inversion the -t drops; it's 'kun je', never 'kunt je'.

✅ Kun je me helpen?

Can you help me? — inversion form 'kun je'.

❌ Hij kant heel goed tekenen.

Incorrect — 'kan' takes no -t in the third person; modals lose it in the singular.

✅ Hij kan heel goed tekenen.

He can draw really well.

❌ Ik kan te zwemmen.

Incorrect — no 'te' after a modal; the infinitive is bare.

✅ Ik kan zwemmen.

I can swim.

❌ Ik heb het niet gekund maken.

Incorrect — with a following verb, the modal is an infinitive, not the participle 'gekund'.

✅ Ik heb het niet kunnen maken.

I couldn't make it. — double infinitive 'kunnen maken'.

❌ Ik kan Frans heel goed. (in careful writing)

Colloquial — 'kunnen' + a language is informal; standard Dutch prefers 'spreek' or 'ken'.

✅ Ik spreek heel goed Frans.

I speak French very well. — the neutral way to claim a language.

Key Takeaways

Kunnen covers ability, possibility, and informal permission — like English "can."
Present singular is irregular: ik kan, jij kunt/kan, hij kan; plural kunnen.
The triple variation: jij kunt (formal-leaning) and jij kan (informal) in statements, but kun je / kan je in inversion — never kunt je.
Past: kon (singular) / konden (plural); participle gekund only when there's no following verb.
The infinitive after kunnen is bare and clause-final (Ik kan zwemmen); in the perfect it becomes a double infinitive (heb kunnen doen).
For strict permission, prefer mogen; for learned languages, prefer spreken/kennen over kunnen.

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