Word
Non posso spiegare il segreto.
Meaning
I cannot explain the secret.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Lesson
Breakdown of Non posso spiegare il segreto.
non
not
il segreto
the secret
potere
can, to be able to
spiegare
to explain
Questions & Answers about Non posso spiegare il segreto.
Why is non placed before posso instead of before spiegare?
Why is spiegare left in its full dictionary form (the infinitive)?
Because it comes right after posso, which is a modal verb (verbs like can, want, or must). When you use a modal verb, only the modal gets conjugated to match the subject (posso = I can). The action verb that follows it stays in the infinitive (spiegare = to explain).
Where is the word for 'I' in this sentence?
In Italian, you usually leave out subject pronouns like io (I) because the verb's form already tells you who is doing the action. The verb posso can only mean 'I can', so adding io is not necessary unless you want to add special emphasis.