Word
No puedes pasar ahora.
Meaning
You cannot come in now.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of No puedes pasar ahora.
no
no, not
ahora
now
poder
to be able to / can
pasar
to come in / to pass / to spend / have (time)
Questions & Answers about No puedes pasar ahora.
Why isn't pasar conjugated to match 'you'?
Doesn't pasar mean 'to pass'? Why is it translated as 'come in'?
Why is no placed before puedes instead of between the two verbs?
In Spanish, the negative word no almost always goes directly in front of the conjugated verb. Even though there are two verbs working together here, the no must come before the main conjugated one (puedes) to make the statement negative.
Is it wrong to say tú no puedes pasar ahora?
It is perfectly fine to say that! However, Spanish speakers usually drop subject pronouns like tú because the verb ending in puedes already makes it crystal clear that 'you' are the one who cannot come in. Adding tú would just add extra emphasis.