I can: kar sakta hoon — ability through "can"
Ability is a sandwich: the main verb, then sakna in its person, gender and number. Main gaari chala sakta hoon — I can drive a car, literally "I car driving able-am". A woman says sakti hoon; the polite you — sakte hain. For example: “میں گاڑی چلا سکتا ہوں” — I can drive a car. A rule from the Urdu course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
Ability is a sandwich: the main verb, then sakna in its person, gender and number. Main gaari chala sakta hoon — I can drive a car, literally "I car driving able-am". A woman says sakti hoon; the polite you — sakte hain.
The main verb does not change at all: it stands in its dictionary form, and all the grammar falls on sakna. Negation slips in front of the sandwich: main nahin ja sakta — I cannot go.
The question is built by moving kya to the head: kya aap madad kar sakte hain? — can you help? The sandwich itself stays whole.
Table
| who | the sandwich | example |
|---|---|---|
| I (m.) | سکتا ہوں | main tair sakta hoon — I can swim |
| I (f.) | سکتی ہوں | main tair sakti hoon — I can swim (she) |
| you | سکتے ہو | tum kar sakte ho — you can do |
| he, she | سکتا ہے / سکتی ہے | woh aa sakta hai — he can come |
| we, you, they | سکتے ہیں | hum madad kar sakte hain — we can help |
By example
- میں گاڑی چلا سکتا ہوںmain gari chala sakta hunI can drive a car
- میں یہ کام کر سکتی ہوںmain ye kam kar sakti hunI can do this work
- کیا آپ مدد کر سکتے ہیں؟kya ap madad kar sakte hain?Can you help?
How the rule settles in your head
A rule is not memorized from an explanation. It is memorized from an attempt to use it and a mistake — that is why the app delivers it mixed in with words, not as a separate lesson: it resurfaces exactly where you forgot it.
Frequently asked
I can: how does it work in Urdu?
Ability is a sandwich: the main verb, then sakna in its person, gender and number. Main gaari chala sakta hoon — I can drive a car, literally "I car driving able-am". A woman says sakti hoon; the polite you — sakte hain.
What does it look like in a Urdu example sentence?
“میں گاڑی چلا سکتا ہوں” (main gari chala sakta hun) — I can drive a car. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.