Word
La meva filla no pot dormir perquè el telèfon és al costat del llit.
Meaning
My daughter cannot sleep because the phone is next to the bed.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Lesson
Breakdown of La meva filla no pot dormir perquè el telèfon és al costat del llit.
ser
to be
no
not
meu
my
la filla
the daughter
Questions & Answers about La meva filla no pot dormir perquè el telèfon és al costat del llit.
Why is it la meva filla and not just meva filla?
In Catalan, possessives usually go with the definite article:
- el meu pare
- la meva filla
- els nostres amics
So la meva filla is the normal way to say my daughter.
This is different from English, where you normally just say my daughter without the. Catalan usually keeps the article.
What does pot mean here?
Pot is the 3rd person singular form of the verb poder, which means can / to be able to.
So:
- jo puc = I can
- tu pots = you can
- ell / ella pot = he / she can
In La meva filla no pot dormir, pot agrees with la meva filla, which is singular.
Why is no placed before pot?
In Catalan, the usual way to make a sentence negative is to put no before the conjugated verb.
So:
- pot dormir = can sleep
- no pot dormir = cannot sleep
That is the normal Catalan word order for negation.
Why do we say pot dormir and not a second conjugated verb?