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Main Kar Saktā Hūṉ · I Can The power word saknā — say what you can (and can't) do
One little verb unlocks a hundred sentences. Saknā (to be able) rides on the stem of any verb you already know: bol saktā hūṉ, ā saktī hūṉ, kar sakte haiṉ. Learn the pattern once, apply it to everything.
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The phrases
🔊 Listen میں اردو بول سکتا ہوں maiṉ urdū bol saktā hūṉ — I can speak UrduThe proudest sentence on this site. Women say bol saktī hūṉ.
🔊 Listen کیا آپ مدد کر سکتے ہیں؟ kyā āp madad kar sakte haiṉ? — Can you help?Madad = help. The polite āp always takes sakte haiṉ.
🔊 Listen میں کل نہیں آ سکتا maiṉ kal nahīṉ ā saktā — I can't come tomorrowNahīṉ slots in before the verb pair — L8's kal doing tomorrow-duty.
🔊 Listen ہم کل مل سکتے ہیں hum kal mil sakte haiṉ — We can meet tomorrowMilnā = to meet, from L2's khushī huī family.
🔊 Listen آپ یہاں بیٹھ سکتے ہیں āp yahāṉ baiṭh sakte haiṉ — You can sit hereOffer a seat like a host. Baiṭhnā = to sit.
🔊 Listen کیا میں اندر آ سکتا ہوں؟ kyā maiṉ andar ā saktā hūṉ? — May I come in?Andar = inside. L6's kyā turns ability into permission.
🔊 Listen وہ اچھا گا سکتی ہے woh achhā gā saktī hai — She can sing wellGānā = to sing; saktī agrees with her, not you.
🔊 Listen آپ یہ کر سکتے ہیں āp yeh kar sakte haiṉ — You can do thisThe pep-talk sentence. Say it to the mirror before role-play.
Good to know
✨ Saknā never stands alone — it always leans on another verb's bare stem: bol saktā, ā saktī, kar sakte. Steal the stem, add your power word.
✨ The ending carries the person: saktā (he/I-male), saktī (she/I-female), sakte (we/you-polite). The verb stem itself never changes.
✨ In fast speech 'nahīṉ ā saktā' often shrinks to 'nahīṉ ā saktā yār' — the yār at the end softens the refusal between friends.
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