Breakdown of Kannst du Englisch verstehen?
du
you (informal singular)
verstehen
to understand
können
can / to be able to
Englisch
English
Questions & Answers about Kannst du Englisch verstehen?
Why is it kannst instead of könnst?
The modal verb können (can/to be able to) is irregular. For the singular forms (ich, du, er/sie/es), the vowel changes from ö to a. So for du (you), it becomes kannst.
Why is verstehen at the very end of the sentence?
This is a classic example of the German sentence bracket (Satzklammer). When you use a modal verb, the conjugated modal verb (kannst) takes the normal verb position, and the main action verb (verstehen) gets pushed to the very end of the sentence.
Why doesn't verstehen have an -st ending to match du?
Because the modal verb kannst is already doing the work of matching the subject du. The main verb at the end of the sentence stays in its basic dictionary form (the infinitive), which typically ends in -en.
Why is Englisch capitalized?
In German, names of languages are nouns, and all nouns are always capitalized. So words like Englisch, Deutsch, and Spanisch must start with a capital letter.