Kan is the single most useful Norwegian modal, and it does more work than English "can." It covers ability, possibility and permission — and it has one extra trick English splits across two different verbs: with a bare skill or language noun, kan means know how to or have mastered. This page works through all four senses; for the shared modal mechanics (endingless present, bare infinitive), see the modals overview.
The forms at a glance
Kan is a "pure" modal, so its present takes no ending and it governs a bare infinitive (no å). Note the doubled n in the past forms.
| Present | Preterite | Infinitive | Supine (perfect) |
|---|---|---|---|
| kan | kunne | å kunne | kunnet |
| can / may | could | to be able | (have) been able |
One form serves every subject: jeg kan, du kan, hun kan, vi kan, de kan. There is no -r and no agreement.
Jeg kan svømme, men jeg kan ikke dykke.
I can swim, but I can't dive.
Sense 1: ability ("can / be able to")
This is the core meaning and the one that matches English most cleanly. Kan + a bare infinitive says someone has the skill or capacity to do something.
Hun kan spille gitar og piano.
She can play guitar and piano.
Kan du hjelpe meg med kofferten? Den er kjempetung.
Can you help me with the suitcase? It's really heavy.
In the past, kunne covers both "was able to" and the softened, polite "could." Like English, the preterite of a modal is a standard politeness device — Kunne du...? is gentler than Kan du...?.
Kunne du sendt meg adressen? Jeg finner den ikke.
Could you send me the address? I can't find it.
Sense 2: possibility ("might, may")
Kan also marks a possibility — that something may happen or may be true. Here the subject is often impersonal det, and English usually reaches for "might" or "may" rather than "can."
Det kan bli regn i ettermiddag, så ta med paraply.
It might rain this afternoon, so take an umbrella.
Det kan godt hende at toget er forsinket.
It may well be that the train is delayed.
Notice the contrast with English: where English switches verbs ("it might rain," not "it cans rain"), Norwegian keeps kan and lets context decide between ability and possibility. The little word godt ("well") is a common signal that you're in the possibility sense, not the ability sense.
Sense 3: permission ("may, can")
Kan gives or asks for permission in everyday, informal speech — exactly like the colloquial English "Can I...?" Strictly formal English prefers "may," but Norwegian kan is fully neutral here.
Kan jeg få et glass vann?
Can I have a glass of water?
Dere kan sitte hvor dere vil.
You can sit wherever you like.
Note Kan jeg få...? ("Can I have...?") — literally "can I get" — which is the standard way to ask for something at a café, shop or dinner table. The verb få ("get") does the lifting that English "have" does in "can I have." For permission specifically, få on its own is also a dedicated permission modal (Får jeg gå? "May I go?"), but in casual speech kan is just as common.
Kan jeg få regningen, takk?
Can I have the bill, please?
Sense 4: the special one — kan + noun = "know / have mastered"
Here is where kan breaks free of English "can." When kan is followed not by a verb but by a bare noun naming a skill, language or body of knowledge, it means know, have mastered, be good at. There is no verb at all — kan itself is the main verb.
Jeg kan norsk, men ikke så godt ennå.
I know Norwegian, but not so well yet.
Hun kan tysk flytende.
She knows German fluently.
Han kan matematikk bedre enn læreren.
He's better at maths than the teacher.
Kan du reglene, eller skal jeg forklare dem?
Do you know the rules, or shall I explain them?
English splits this idea in two. For a fact you "know" something (I know French); for a skill you "can" or "know how to" do it (I can swim). Norwegian unifies both under kan: the same verb that means "be able to" also means "have command of." So jeg kan norsk is not "I can Norwegian" (which is meaningless in English) — it is "I know Norwegian / I speak Norwegian."
This matters because Norwegian has another verb, vite, that also translates as "know" — but vite is for facts and information (Jeg vet at det regner "I know it's raining"), never for skills or languages. You can never say jeg vet norsk. A learned ability is always kan, a known fact is always vite.
Past and perfect
The preterite kunne is "could / was able to." The supine kunnet (double n, single t) builds the perfect with har, though it's far less common than the simple preterite.
Som barn kunne jeg ikke sykle i det hele tatt.
As a child I couldn't cycle at all.
Jeg har aldri kunnet sove på fly.
I've never been able to sleep on a plane.
Common Mistakes
❌ Jeg vet å svømme.
Incorrect — vite ('know a fact') used for a skill.
✅ Jeg kan svømme.
I can / know how to swim.
English "know how to" tempts learners toward vite, but a skill is always kan. Vite is only for facts and information.
❌ Jeg vet norsk.
Incorrect — a language is a mastered skill, not a fact.
✅ Jeg kan norsk.
I know / speak Norwegian.
Languages and bodies of knowledge take kan + the bare noun: kan norsk, kan tysk, kan matematikk, kan reglene.
❌ Jeg kan å spille gitar.
Incorrect — å inserted after the modal.
✅ Jeg kan spille gitar.
I can play guitar.
A modal takes a bare infinitive — no å. Kan spille, never kan å spille.
❌ Han kanner ikke komme i kveld.
Incorrect — an -r/-ner ending forced onto the modal.
✅ Han kan ikke komme i kveld.
He can't come tonight.
The present is endingless for every subject: jeg kan, han kan, de kan. Never kanner or kanr.
❌ Det kanner regne i morgen.
Incorrect on two counts — ending added, and English 'might' over-translated.
✅ Det kan regne i morgen.
It might rain tomorrow.
For an uncertain future event, plain kan already means "might." No separate word and no ending are needed.
Key Takeaways
- Forms: kan / kunne / kunnet — endingless present, bare infinitive, double n in the past.
- Four senses: ability (kan svømme), possibility (det kan regne "might"), permission (kan jeg få...?), and mastery (kan norsk "know").
- Kan
- a bare skill/language noun = know how to / have mastered: jeg kan norsk, han kan matematikk. No verb appears.
- Reserve vite for facts ("I know that…"), never for skills or languages.
- The preterite kunne is both "could" and a politeness softener (Kunne du...?).
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Start learning Norwegian→Related Topics
- Modal Verbs: OverviewA2 — The six core Norwegian modals (kan, vil, skal, må, bør, få), their endingless present forms, their preterites, and the bare infinitive they govern — no å.
- vil / ville: Want, Will, WouldA2 — The modal vil (ville / villet) — primarily volition ('want', vil ha = want), with a secondary prediction/future sense and the conditional 'would', plus the false-friend trap that vil is not neutral English 'will'.
- må / måtte: Necessity and Strong InferenceA2 — The modal må (måtte / måttet) — necessity and obligation ('have to'), strong logical inference ('must be'), and the high-stakes fact that må ikke is ambiguous: it can mean 'must not' OR 'don't have to', so the clear forms (trenger ikke, får ikke) carry the load.
- kunne (can — full paradigm)A2 — The complete conjugation of the modal kunne — present kan, preterite kunne (identical to the infinitive), supine kunnet — plus its senses of ability, possibility, permission, and the kan + language idiom.