29. Can できます

There are a few of ways to say “I can…” in Japanese. The easiest is できます dekimasu. Let’s look at how to form some sentences.

CAN + NOUN [できます]

日本語　が　できます。
nihongo ga dekimasu.
I can (speak) Japanese. [I can do Japanese.]

漢字　が　できます。
kanji ga dekimasu.
I can (read/write) kanji. [I can do kanji.]

スカイダイビング　が　できます。
sukaidaibingu ga dekimasu.
I can skydive.

CAN + VERB [こと　が　できます]

Actually, the above are all shortened versions without the verb. Let’s add the verb + koto. koto means thing, but here it is used to make a verb a noun phrase so it will work with dekimasu.

Let’s look at the same examples, but with the verb.

日本語　を　話す　こと　が　できます。
nihongo o hanasu koto ga dekimasu.
I can speak Japanese.

漢字　を　読む　こと　が　できます。
kanji o yomu koto ga dekimasu.
I can read kanji.

Be creative and come up with things you can do!

FOR MORE ON THIS …

100 GRAMMAR POINTS

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

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