Re: Grammar - Can

scott wrote:
> I'm starting to translate the New McGuffey First Reader. I have
> a question about the word can.
>
> I understand the purpose of 'can' in the sentence "I can run."
> ie. "I am able to run." Or in the sentence "I can see" would
> mean "I am not blind" or perhaps "There is enough light
> for me to see by" or something similar.
>
> But what is the purpose of 'can' in the sentence "I can
> see the cat"? How is that different than the sentence "I see
> the cat"?
>
> Thanks,
> scott
>
>
>
I hold that it means the same thing (to be able to) in all cases.

"I can run" means "I am able to run" just as "I can see" means "I am
able to see" ("I am not blind" fundamentally says something different,
though it has the same meaning as "I can see" in a colloquial sense).

Thus, in this case, "I can see the cat" means "I am able to see the
cat".  While the difference is subtle between that and "I see the cat"
there is a fundamental difference in verbal mood, and "can" is almost
always used in the sense of "being able to" though colloquially it has
gained much traction in the sense of "being allowed to" as well. (See
the classical first grade student asking "Can I go to the bathroom?" and
then having the teacher ask "I don't know, can you?")

In the language I'm currently working on (with the Gutenberg version of
the first volume) I ended up creating multiple modal particles, of which
an abilitative mood (translating to "can") happened to be one.

Pipian