Italian Verbs Sapere, Potere and Riuscire a

Potere, sapere or Riuscire a

Today we are actually going to compare 3 verbs that we use when we talk about the ability of doing something. These verbs are potere, sapere, riuscire. As always you can download the entire lesson in PDF format by clicking on this link!

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Let’s first look at the verb Potere –  this verbs will translate to the English verb “can” it’s a modal verb and it’s used when the ability of doing or not doing something doesn’t depend from us. So 

For example if I say:

• Non posso guidare la macchina perché ho dimenticato le chiavi in ufficio! 
• You are saying “I can’t drive the car… not because I’m physically not able to but simply because I left the keys in the office”. So your ability of doing something depends on another situation that you are not controlling.
• Non posso venire alla festa perché sono ammalata. Same here… I can’t come to the party because I’m sick. You didn’t choose to be sick… so you can’t go due to a problem that you couldn’t control yourself.
• Posso venire da te alle 17, non prima perché ho lezione. I can come to your house at 5, not before because I have a lesson.

The next verb is Sapere  – this verb describes that you can or are able to do something and it’s linked to the idea that you have learned to do it. For this reason we will use this verb when you talk about being able to play an instrument:

So suonare la chitarra. I can play the guitar… if you know how to play it it means you learn how.

Same thing goes for the following examples:

• Laura sa guidare la macchina 
• Sai cucinare gli gnocchi?
• Non so nuotare

The last verb is Riuscire (a) - now be careful here because you will need to remember this formula:

Riuscire + a + verb in the infinitive form.

Take note that the previous verbs potere and sapere will follow the formula:

• potere + verb in the infinitive form
• sapere + verb in the infinitive form

--> without the preposition A!!!

So, riuscire a describes the mental of physical ability of a person to do something.

• Non riesco a venire alla festa, sono troppo stanca (I can’t come to the party because I’m too tired) so you are taking being physically not able to do something

Let’s look at some more examples:

• Sono riuscita a vedere il film senza addormentarmi sul divano!
• Mi fa troppo male il piede! Non riesco a camminare!
• Non riesco a capire il problema!
• Sono riuscita a superare le mie paure e ho accarezzato un cane!

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