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pouvoir

to be able to

verb poo-VWAR Common

Also means

can

Usage Note

Pouvoir covers both ability and permission, so je peux can mean either 'I'm able to' or 'I'm allowed to'. As a noun le pouvoir means power in the political sense, and les pouvoirs publics are the public authorities.

Examples

"Tu peux m'aider ?"

Natural Translation

Can you help me?

Literal Translation

You can me-help

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