Learn Hardcore Russian: Я уже могу печатать вслепую.

Я могу печатать вслепую – I can type blind (a simple statement of ability).
Я уже могу печатать вслепую – I already can type blind (I couldn’t do this before, but now I can; there was progress).

So уже highlights that this is a new or achieved ability, often after some learning or waiting period.

Can I move уже to another position, like Я могу уже печатать вслепую?

You can move уже, but the most natural place here is exactly as in the sentence: Я уже могу печатать вслепую.

Other options:

Я могу уже печатать вслепую – possible, but sounds less natural and a bit clumsy.
Уже я могу печатать вслепую – very marked, poetic or emotional word order; not normal in everyday speech.

In neutral everyday Russian, уже usually comes before the verb group it modifies, so Я уже могу… is the default.

Why is it могу and not умею? What’s the difference between мочь and уметь?

Both can refer to ability, but they are not identical:

Мочь = to be able / can (possibility, physical or external ability, permission, current state).
Уметь = to know how / to have the skill (learned ability, know-how).

Compare:

Я умею печатать вслепую. – I know how to touch type; I have this skill.
Я уже могу печатать вслепую. – I’m now able to do it (after practice / after some limit was removed).

In this context, умею would probably sound even more typical for “I know how to touch type”:

Я уже умею печатать вслепую.

But могу is still correct, and it puts a bit more focus on the “now it’s possible for me” aspect.

What exactly does печатать mean? Is it “to print” or “to type”?

Печатать has two main meanings:

To print (using a press, printer, etc.)
- Печатать газету – to print a newspaper
- Печатать книгу – to print a book
To type (on a keyboard or typewriter)
- Печатать на компьютере – to type on a computer
- Печатать быстро – to type fast

In Я уже могу печатать вслепую, it clearly means “to type”, because of вслепую – you don’t “print blindly” in the printing-press sense; you “type without looking”.

Why is it печатать (imperfective) and not напечатать?

Russian verbs come in aspect pairs:

печатать – imperfective (process, repeated action, ability)
напечатать – perfective (a completed act: to finish typing/printing something)

Here we are talking about a skill/ability, not one completed action, so Russian uses the imperfective:

Я уже могу печатать вслепую. – I (in general) can type blind.

If you used напечатать, you would usually be talking about finishing one specific job:

Я могу напечатать это письмо за 5 минут. – I can type this letter in 5 minutes.

What is вслепую exactly? Is it an adverb, and what does it literally mean?

Yes, вслепую is an adverb. It means:

blindly
without looking / without seeing what you’re doing
also more figuratively: without enough information / in the dark

Literally it comes from в + слепую (something like “in a blind way”), but in modern Russian it’s written together: вслепую.

Examples:

делать что-то вслепую – to do something blindly
Он действует вслепую. – He is acting blindly / in the dark.
печатать вслепую – to touch type, to type without looking at the keyboard.

Why is there no preposition before вслепую? Should it be в слепую?

Historically it was в слепую (two words), but in contemporary standard Russian this combination has merged into a single adverb вслепую, written as one word.

So:

вслепую – correct modern spelling (adverb)
в слепую – usually considered a spelling error in this meaning

You don’t add any extra preposition before вслепую; it already contains the old в.

Is the pronoun Я necessary here, or can I drop it?

You can drop it; Russian often omits subject pronouns because the verb form shows the person:

(Я) уже могу печатать вслепую.

Both versions are grammatically correct. The difference is mostly emphasis:

With Я – a bit more explicit, can slightly emphasize “I”.
Without Я – a bit more neutral, common in context where it’s already clear who is speaking.

In isolation (as a stand-alone sentence), learners are usually shown the version with Я.

How would I say this in the past or future: “I could already type blind” and “I will already be able to type blind”?

The verb мочь conjugates like this (1st person):

Present: я могу – I can / I am able
Past (masc./fem./neut.): я мог / я могла / оно могло
Future: я смогу – I will be able

Using that:

Я уже мог печатать вслепую. – I already could type blind. (speaker male)
Я уже могла печатать вслепую. – I already could type blind. (speaker female)
Я уже смогу печатать вслепую. – I will already be able to type blind.

Often, for the future, Russians would add a time reference:

Через месяц я уже смогу печатать вслепую. – In a month I will already be able to type blind.

How is the sentence pronounced? Where is the stress?

Stress (marked by capitals here):

Я ужЕ могУ печАтать вслепУю.

More precisely:

я – [ya]
уже – [u-ZHÉ] (stress on же)
могу – [ma-GÚ] (stress on гу)
печатать – [pye-CHÁ-tat’] (stress on ча)
вслепую – [vslye-PÚ-yu] (stress on пу)

A common learner mistake is to put the stress on the first syllable of могу (МОгу), but the correct stress is могУ.

Is this sentence formal, informal, or neutral?

Я уже могу печатать вслепую. is neutral and standard. You can say it:

in casual conversation with friends
in a classroom
even in a relatively formal context (for example, talking about your skills in an interview)

It is not slangy, not overly bookish, and completely appropriate in most situations.

How would I say “I still can’t type blind” to contrast with this? What’s the role of ещё vs уже?

To say “I still can’t type blind”, use ещё не:

Я ещё не могу печатать вслепую. – I still can’t type blind.

The contrast is:

Я уже могу печатать вслепую. – I already can.
Я ещё не могу печатать вслепую. – I still can’t (not yet).

So:

уже – already (a positive change has happened)
ещё не – still not / not yet (the change has not happened yet)

Could I say this with набирать instead of печатать?

Yes, but the nuance shifts slightly.

печатать – to type (on a keyboard), very common and straightforward.
набирать (текст) – literally “to enter / to key in (text)”; also very common in computer/phone contexts.

Possible variants:

Я уже могу набирать вслепую. – I can already type (key in) blindly.
Я уже могу набирать текст вслепую. – I can already type text blindly.

All are acceptable. Печатать вслепую is very idiomatic and immediately understood as “touch type”.