Du kan fråga vilken lärare som helst.

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Breakdown of Du kan fråga vilken lärare som helst.

• kunna: be able to
• läraren: the teacher
• fråga: to ask

Questions & Answers about Du kan fråga vilken lärare som helst.

What does kan mean here? Is it can as in ability, or can as in permission?

It can be understood either way, depending on context.

In Swedish, kan often covers both:

• ability: you are able to ask
• permission/possibility: you may ask / you can go ahead and ask

In a sentence like Du kan fråga vilken lärare som helst, the most natural meaning is often something like You can ask any teacher, where English also leaves it a bit open between permission and practical possibility.

Why is it fråga and not att fråga?

Because fråga comes after the modal verb kan.

In Swedish, after modal verbs such as:

• kan = can
• ska = shall / will / should
• vill = want
• måste = must
• bör = should

the next verb is normally in the bare infinitive, without att.

So:

• Du kan fråga ... = You can ask ...

not:

• Du kan att fråga ...

This is similar to English, where we say can ask, not can to ask.

Why is it ? What does mean here?