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### The verb *potere* (can)

To express ability, possibility, or to ask for permission, use the irregular verb **potere** (can, to be able to). Like *volere*, it is a modal verb. This means you conjugate **potere** to match the subject, but you leave the action verb that follows it in the infinitive (the dictionary form).

Present tense of **potere**:

| Pronoun | Potere |
| --- | --- |
| io | posso |
| tu | puoi |
| lui / lei / Lei | può |
| noi | possiamo |
| voi | potete |
| loro | possono |

Notice how the second verb (**lavorare**, **viaggiare**, **restare**) remains unchanged:

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### Asking for permission

You will frequently use **potere** to ask if you are allowed to do something, or to grant and deny permission to others.

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### Formal vs. informal requests

When asking for a favor, pay attention to who you are talking to. Use the informal **puoi** for friends and family. Use the formal **può** (the **Lei** form) for strangers or in a professional setting. Words like **Scusi** (Excuse me) or titles like **Signore** (Sir) are strong hints that you should use the formal form.

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The verb can (potere)

adjective

adjective/adverb

adverb

conjunction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

preposition

pronoun

proper noun

sentence

verb

Definite articles and gender (il, la, l')

Indefinite articles (un, una)

Singular demonstratives (questo, questa)

Basic verbal negation (non)

Yes/No questions

Coordinating conjunctions (e, ma, o)

Regular plurals and definite articles (-i, -e, i, le)

Plural verb to be (noi siamo, voi siete)

Plural demonstratives (questi, queste)

Nouns ending in -e

Special singular articles (lo, l')

The plural article (gli)

Special indefinite articles (uno, un')

Demonstrative adjectives (quello, quella)

Adjective endings (-o, -a, -i, -e)

Expressing quantity (molto, poco, tanto)

The verb to have (ho, hai, ha...)

There is / there are (c'è, ci sono)

The preposition of (di)

Singular possessives (il mio, la mia)

Numbers 1 to 10 (uno, due, tre...)

Numbers 11 to 20 (undici, dodici...)

Numbers 21 to 100 (trenta, quaranta...)

Idiomatic avere (avere fame, avere anni)

Plural possessive adjectives (i miei, le mie)

Possessives with family members (mio padre)

Formal address (dare del Lei)

Present tense of -are verbs (-o, -i, -a)

Question words (chi, cosa, dove)

Present tense of -ere verbs (-o, -i, -e)

Question words (quando, come, perché)

Question word agreement (quanto, quanta, quanti, quante)

Regular -ire verbs

Verbs with -isc- (capisco, capisci, capisce)

Pronouns after prepositions (me, te, lui)

The verb fare (faccio, fai, fa)

The verb andare (vado, vai, va)

The verb stare (sto, stai, sta)

The verb venire (vengo, vieni, viene)

The verb uscire (esco, esci, esce)

Location and destination (a, in)

Origin and movement (da)

Articulated prepositions with a (al, alla)

Articulated prepositions with in (nel, nella)

Articulated prepositions with di and da (del, dal)

Simple prepositions (con, per, su, tra)

Articulated prepositions with su (sul, sulla)

Months of the year

Telling time (sono le...)

Dates (il + number)

Ordinal numbers 1st to 10th (primo, secondo, terzo...)

The verb to want (volere)

The verb must (dovere)

The verb to know (sapere)

Reflexive verbs (mi lavo, ti lavi)

Indirect object pronouns (gli, le, ci...)

Expressing preferences (mi piace)

Plural preferences (mi piacciono)

Comparatives (più... di, meno... di)

The passato prossimo with avere (ho parlato)

Irregular past participles (fatto, letto, preso)

The passato prossimo with essere (sono andato)

Reflexive verbs in the past (mi sono svegliato)

Time adverbs with the past tense (già, mai, ancora)

Third-person direct object pronouns (lo, la, li, le)

First and second-person direct object pronouns (mi, ti, ci, vi)

The four seasons

Prepositions of place (vicino a, davanti a)

Conversational words (beh, allora, davvero)

Indefinite adjectives for some (qualche, alcuni)

Indefinite adjectives for every and all (ogni, tutti)

Indefinite pronouns (qualcosa, qualcuno)

Noun suffixes (-ino, -one)

Adverbs of manner (-mente)

Comparisons of equality (così... come)

The relative superlative (il più)

The absolute superlative (-issimo)

Irregular comparatives (migliore, peggiore)

Present progressive (stare + -ando, -endo)

Imminent actions (stare per)

The locative pronoun (ci)

The partitive pronoun (ne)

Pronoun placement with modal verbs

Impersonal subjects (si)

Prepositions of time (da, per, tra, fra)

Past participle agreement with pronouns

Past tense of modal verbs

Question	Answer
can, to be able to	potere
now	adesso
I can work now.	Posso lavorare adesso.
We cannot travel today.	Non possiamo viaggiare oggi.
to stay, to remain	restare
The children can stay in the park.	I bambini possono restare nel parco.
to enter	entrare
Can I enter?	Posso entrare?
certainly	certamente
Certainly, you can enter now.	Certamente, puoi entrare adesso.
to use	usare
Can I use your pen?	Posso usare la tua penna?
You cannot use the phone in the museum.	Non puoi usare il telefono nel museo.
to pay	pagare
the card, paper	la carta
Can we pay with the card?	Possiamo pagare con la carta?
Certainly, you can pay with the card.	Certamente, potete pagare con la carta.
to explain	spiegare
Excuse me, can you explain the problem?	Scusi, può spiegare il problema?
I cannot explain the secret.	Non posso spiegare il segreto.
to bring, to carry	portare
Sir, can you bring the luggage into the room?	Signore, può portare il bagaglio nella stanza?
Marco, can you carry the heavy box for me?	Marco, puoi portare la scatola pesante per me?
My parents can stay in this hotel.	I miei genitori possono restare in questo albergo.
We can arrive at eight.	Possiamo arrivare alle otto.
the mobile phone, the cell phone	il cellulare
Can I use your mobile phone?	Posso usare il tuo cellulare?
My mobile phone is old.	Il mio cellulare è vecchio.
the credit	il credito
I have no credit on my phone.	Non ho credito sul cellulare.
I buy credit for the phone.	Compro credito per il telefono.
the credit card	la carta di credito
I pay the bill with the credit card.	Pago il conto con la carta di credito.
Do you use the credit card at the supermarket?	Usi la carta di credito al supermercato?

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