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.
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.
🔊 Listen جی ہاں، بالکل jī hāṉ, bilkul : Yes, absolutelyBilkul is the wholehearted yes: completely, totally, of course.
🔊 Listen معاف کیجیے، میں نہیں کر سکتا muāf kījiye, maiṉ nahīṉ kar saktā : Sorry, I can'tMuāf kījiye = forgive me. A woman says nahīṉ kar saktī.
🔊 Listen کیوں نہیں! kyūṉ nahīṉ! : Why not! (of course)A question shaped like a refusal that means the opposite.
🔊 Listen ایک منٹ، میں دیکھتا ہوں ek minaṭ, maiṉ dekhtā hūṉ : One minute, let me seeDekhnā is to see, and also to check or look into something.
🔊 Listen مجھے تھوڑی اردو آتی ہے mujhe thoṛī urdū ātī hai : I know a little UrduLanguages are not learned in Urdu, they COME to you: urdū ātī hai.
🔊 Listen کیا آپ آہستہ بول سکتے ہیں؟ kyā āp āhista bol sakte haiṉ? : Could you speak slowly?The single most useful sentence a learner owns.
🔊 Listen میں سمجھ سکتا ہوں لیکن بول نہیں سکتا maiṉ samajh saktā hūṉ lekin bol nahīṉ saktā : I can understand but I can't speakThe diaspora sentence. Lekin = but.
🔊 Listen مجھ سے نہیں ہو گا mujh se nahīṉ ho gā : I won't manage itLiterally 'from me it will not happen'. The honest, humble no.
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.