can in the Oxford Spanish Dictionary

Translations for can in the English»Spanish Dictionary

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can1 <pt could> [Am kæn, Brit kan, kən] VB mod When can means to be capable of or to be allowed to, it is translated by poder: he can't eat no puede comer; can you come out tonight? ¿puedes salir esta noche?
When can means to know how to, it is translated by saber: can you swim? ¿sabes nadar?; she can already read and write ya sabe leer y escribir.
When can is used with a verb of perception such as see, hear, or feel, it is often not translated: can you see her from here? ¿la ves desde aquí?; she couldn't feel anything no sentía nada.

View verb table

1. can:

can (indicating ability)
poder
can (referring to particular skills)
saber
can you come to the dance this evening?
¿puedes venir al baile esta noche?
she couldn't answer the question
no pudo contestar la pregunta
the house can accommodate six people
en la casa se pueden alojar seis personas
I'll do what I can
haré lo que pueda or lo que esté en mi mano
they did all they could
hicieron todo lo que pudieron
no can do inf
no puedo
I can't stay long
no me puedo quedar mucho rato
can't you keep still?
¿no puedes estarte quieto?
I cannot believe she said that
no puedo creer que dijera eso
we can but try
con intentarlo no se pierde nada
will things improve? — we can but hope so
¿mejorarán las cosas? — esperemos que sí
I can't but agree
no puedo menos que estar de acuerdo
can you swim/speak German?
¿sabes nadar/(hablar) alemán?
she could read music when she was four
a los cuatro años ya sabía leer música

See also could

could [Am kʊd, kəd, Brit kəd, kʊd] VB mod

2. could (indicating possibility):

could
poder
if I took a taxi, I could get there on time
si tomara un taxi, podría llegar a tiempo
I would help you if I could
te ayudaría si pudiera
we could be a little late this evening
puede (ser) que or tal vez lleguemos un poco tarde esta noche
that could be him now
puede (ser) que sea él
you could have killed us all!
¡podrías or podías habernos matado a todos!
you could be right
puede (ser) que tengas razón
that could be the case, but we have no evidence
podría or pudiera ser, pero no tenemos pruebas
well, I daresay I could, but I don't want to
bueno, tal vez podría or pudiera, pero no quiero
I couldn't possibly agree to that
de ninguna manera podría acceder a eso
she couldn't have got there before six because she didn't leave until quarter to
no pudo or no puede haber llegado antes de las seis porque no salió hasta menos cuarto
she couldn't have got there before six even if she'd tried
no podría haber llegado antes de las seis aunque lo hubiera intentado
it could have been better
podría or podía haber estado mejor
was the soup OK? — it could have been hotter
¿qué tal la sopa? — no estaba muy caliente que digamos
he couldn't have treated us more kindly
no podría or no podía habernos tratado mejor
they couldn't be happier
están contentos a más no poder
I couldn't agree more
estoy completamente de acuerdo

I.can2 [Am kæn, Brit kan] N

II.can2 <pres part canning; pt, pp canned> [Am kæn, Brit kan] VB trans

View verb table

can-do [Am ˌkænˈdu, Brit] ADJ inf

can in the PONS Dictionary

Translations for can in the English»Spanish Dictionary (Go to Spanish»English)

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II.can1 <-nn-> [kæn] VB trans

can2 <could, could> [kən] VB aux

can opener [ˈkæn·ˌoʊ·pə·nər] N

watering can [ˈwɔ·t̬ər·ɪŋ·ˌkæn] N

Translations for can in the Spanish»English Dictionary (Go to English»Spanish)

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British English

Monolingual examples (not verified by PONS Editors)

English
These ripple effects can eventually affect even diurnal plants and animals.
en.wikipedia.org
And how that can carry or drag down a show.
www.macleans.ca
It can be served alone, with white rice, or with rice vermicelli.
en.wikipedia.org
Also, finding the first free pty master can be racy unless a locking scheme is adopted.
en.wikipedia.org
When hydrocarbons are concentrated in a trap, an oil field forms, from which the liquid can be extracted by drilling and pumping.
en.wikipedia.org
The rings can be isomerized to 1,3-dienes and for this reason polybenzvalene has been investigated as a precursor to polyacetylene.
en.wikipedia.org
The eighteen dhtus can be arranged into six triads, where each triad is composed of a sense object, a sense organ, and sense consciousness.
en.wikipedia.org
The concept becomes a variable capacity of good governance and can no longer be accepted as an absolute right.
en.wikipedia.org
Because of this, students can now attend both sessions of the course, and the age bracket has been increased to include up to age seventeen.
en.wikipedia.org
But heavy rain can turn to torrents sluicing off sun-baked desert or pavement into miles of flood channels constructed to protect homes and businesses.
www.metronews.ca

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