Learn Spanish (Latin America): El profesor puede explicar el tema.

El profesor puede explicar el tema.

The teacher can explain the topic.

Breakdown of El profesor puede explicar el tema.

Questions & Answers about El profesor puede explicar el tema.

Why is explicar left in its infinitive (dictionary) form instead of being conjugated?

In Spanish, when you use poder (can / to be able to) to talk about an ability, only the first verb is conjugated. The second verb, which is the action being performed (explicar), stays in its infinitive form. This is exactly like English, where we say 'can explain' instead of 'can explains'.

Why is the verb puede spelled with a 'ue' if the dictionary form is poder?

The verb poder is a stem-changing verb. This means that for most forms (I, you, he, she, they), the -o- in the middle of the word changes to -ue-. Because the subject of this sentence is el profesor (he), the verb changes to puede.

Since tema ends in an 'a', shouldn't it be feminine (la tema)?

Normally, Spanish words ending in '-a' are feminine, but tema is a rule-breaker. Many words ending in '-ma' that come from Greek are actually masculine. This is why we say el tema (the topic). Another very common exception you will see at this level is el problema.