# Can: poder vs saber

> id: usage.ability-poder-saber · category: usage · depth: standard · levels: A2 · review: internally_reviewed

**Summary.** Saber + infinitive = learned skill (sé manejar); poder = possibility, permission, or circumstance (hoy no puedo manejar). English 'can' covers both — Spanish splits them.

Sé nadar means I learned how; puedo nadar hoy means circumstances allow it. The classic error: *puedo hablar español for ability — say sé hablar español or just hablo español.

Poder also requests and permits: ¿podés venir?, acá no se puede estacionar. In the preterite, pude = managed to, no pude = failed to.

Keep the split in mind across tenses: the preterite pude means 'managed to' (a one-off success), while no pude is 'failed to / couldn't manage'; the imperfect podía just describes a standing ability or circumstance. Saber stays for skills only — never *puedo nadar to mean you know how.

## Examples
- Sé cocinar, pero hoy no puedo: no hay gas. — I know how to cook, but today I can't: there's no gas.
- ¿Sabés manejar moto? — Do you know how to ride a motorcycle?
- Sé conducir, pero ayer no pude llegar a tiempo por el tráfico. — I know how to drive, but yesterday I couldn't get there on time because of traffic.

Related: usage.permission, grammar.verbs.periphrases-overview

License: CC BY-SA 4.0 — Spanish Rules Library — spanishruleslibrary.com