Learn Spanish (Latin America): No puedo leer el documento nuevo.

No puedo leer el documento nuevo.

I cannot read the new document.

Breakdown of No puedo leer el documento nuevo.

Questions & Answers about No puedo leer el documento nuevo.

Why isn't the verb leer conjugated here?

When we use poder ("can" or "to be able to") to talk about an ability, we only conjugate poder to match the person. Here, we use puedo for "I can". The second verb always stays in its infinitive (dictionary) form, which ends in -ar, -er, or -ir. That is why we use leer ("to read") right after it.

Where does the no go when there are two verbs together like puedo leer?

The negative word no always goes in front of the conjugated verb. Even though there are two verbs working together here, the no stays at the very beginning of the phrase, making it no puedo leer ("I cannot read").

Why does puedo have a ue in the middle when the dictionary form is poder?

Poder is a stem-changing verb. This means that when you conjugate it for most people (like "I", "you", "he", "she"), the o in the middle changes to ue. Because of this rule, "I can" is puedo, not podo.

Why does nuevo come after documento?