Las muchachas comen las zanahorias con
los cuchillos.
Mientras yo bebo un café, tú
bebes una
coca cola.
El jardín está en la ciudad.
Voy a comer.
Vamos a comer una paella.
Yo quiero escribir una carta.
Nosotros queremos comprar una casa.
Nosotros podemos ir a Venezuela.
*
In Spanish the difference between being
able to do something and to
know how to do something is used actively. In
English you can always use can
to describe both. If it's said:
The boy can write - it can be meant that he knows
how to write or also that he is fit to do so. If it's
said: The boy cannot write
- it can be meant that the boy doesn't know how
to write or just that he knows but he has broken his
arm so he is not able to do so at the moment. In Spanish
the idea of knowing how to do things are described with
the verb saber. The idea
of being able (in means of time, possibility etc.) is
described with the verb poder.
He is drunk but he can walk.
= Está borracho, pero
puede andar.
(He is drunk, but he is still able to walk. He's not
too drunk to walk)
I would be kind of weird to translate:
He is drunk, but he can walk
= Está borracho, pero sabe
andar.
(For the Spaniard it means: He is drunk but knows how
to walk; at some point he has learned how it is done,
maybe he even remembers now that he is so drunk)
Please note: The personal pronouns (yo, tú,
él, ella, nosotros, nosotras, vosotros, vosotras,
ellos, ellas) are usually not used. In some of the examples
the personal pronoun is left out as you probably noticed.
