French grammar · Beginner
Pouvoir in French: Can, May, and the Difference From Savoir
Pouvoir means can, may, or to be able to, and conjugates je peux, tu peux, il peut, nous pouvons, vous pouvez, ils peuvent. It covers physical ability, permission and possibility, but not learned skills, which take savoir instead.
Est-ce que je peux vous aider ?
Can I help you ?
What it is
English can does three jobs at once, and pouvoir does the same three: it says that circumstances allow something, that permission has been granted, or that an outcome is possible. What it does not do is describe a skill you acquired. That belongs to savoir, and the split between the two is the first thing worth getting straight.
Je ne peux pas venir ce soir, mais je peux passer demain. — I can't come tonight, but I can drop by tomorrow.
How to spot it
Ask whether the sentence is about circumstances or about training. Circumstances, permission, and likelihood all take pouvoir. Anything you learned how to do takes savoir.
- Tu peux ouvrir la fenêtre ? — Can you open the window ? (would you)
- Elle ne peut pas marcher depuis l'accident. — She hasn't been able to walk since the accident.
- Ça peut prendre une heure. — It may take an hour.
- Je sais conduire, mais je ne peux pas ce soir. — I can drive, but I can't tonight.
The last example holds both verbs in one sentence: savoir for the licence, pouvoir for the glass of wine.
Pouvoir Quick Reference
Pouvoir at a glance
| Form | Use | Example |
|---|---|---|
| je peux | ability or permission now | je peux le faire — I can do it |
| puis-je | formal question | puis-je entrer ? — may I come in ? |
| je pouvais | a standing ability in the past | je pouvais courir vite — I could run fast |
| j'ai pu | a single success | j'ai pu le joindre — I managed to reach him |
| je n'ai pas pu | a single failure | je n'ai pas pu venir — I couldn't come |
| je pourrais | polite request or suggestion | pourriez-vous m'aider ? — could you help me ? |
| j'aurais pu | a missed possibility | j'aurais pu t'aider — I could have helped you |
| il se peut que | possibility, with subjunctive | il se peut qu'il pleuve — it might rain |
Common Pouvoir Examples in French
The three meanings of pouvoir, kept apart:
Circumstances Allow It
- Je peux te déposer à la gare.
- I can drop you at the station.
- On ne peut pas passer, la route est fermée.
- We can't get through, the road is closed.
- Tu pourras me rappeler ce soir ?
- Will you be able to call me back tonight ?
- Elle a pu terminer avant la date limite.
- She managed to finish before the deadline.
This is the commonest use: nothing about skill, everything about whether the situation permits it.
Permission
- Est-ce qu'on peut payer par carte ?
- Can we pay by card ?
- Les enfants peuvent jouer dans le jardin.
- The children may play in the garden.
- Vous ne pouvez pas stationner ici.
- You can't park here.
- Puis-je vous poser une question ?
- May I ask you a question ?
French makes no distinction between can and may here; pouvoir covers both, and the register comes from the form you choose.
Possibility
- Ça peut arriver à n'importe qui.
- That can happen to anyone.
- Il peut y avoir des retards.
- There may be delays.
- Cette réponse pourrait être fausse.
- That answer might be wrong.
- Il se peut que je sois en retard.
- I might be late.
For pure likelihood, the conditional pourrait and the impersonal il se peut que are the most natural forms.
Requests and Offers
- Pourriez-vous parler plus lentement ?
- Could you speak more slowly ?
- Je peux vous renseigner ?
- Can I help you ?
- Tu peux me passer le sel ?
- Can you pass me the salt ?
- On pourrait aller au cinéma.
- We could go to the cinema.
The present is fine with friends; the conditional is what you use with strangers and in shops.
How Pouvoir Behaves
A short verb with a few habits that surprise English speakers.
Pouvoir Takes a Bare Infinitive
Nothing comes between pouvoir and the verb it governs, and object pronouns move in front of pouvoir rather than sitting next to the infinitive they belong to.
Je ne peux pas te le prêter.
I can't lend it to you.
pronouns + pouvoir + infinitive.
Peu- for the Singular, Pouv- for Nous and Vous
The present splits into two stems, with ils peuvent going back to the singular one. This boot-shaped pattern is shared with vouloir and devoir.
Nous pouvons attendre, ils peuvent partir.
We can wait, they can go.
peux, peux, peut, pouvons, pouvez, peuvent.
The Passé Composé Means Succeeded
J'ai pu is stronger than the English I could: it reports that the attempt worked. Negated, it reports that it failed on a specific occasion.
J'ai pu obtenir un rendez-vous.
I managed to get an appointment.
j'ai pu = I managed.
The Imparfait Means Was Able To
For an ability that lasted, the imparfait is the right tense, with no implication about whether you ever used it. À vingt ans, je pouvais travailler la nuit.
Enfant, je pouvais lire pendant des heures.
As a child I could read for hours.
Ongoing capacity → imparfait.
Pouvoir Has No Imperative
You cannot order someone to be able to do something, so the verb simply has no imperative forms. Where English says be able to, French uses another structure entirely.
Fais en sorte de pouvoir venir.
Try to be able to come.
No imperative exists.
Common Mistakes with Pouvoir
Incorrect: Je peux parler français. — I can speak French.
Correct: Je sais parler français. — I can speak French.
Speaking a language is a learned skill, which belongs to savoir. Je peux parler français would mean the circumstances allow it right now, for instance because everyone in the room understands.
Incorrect: Peux-je vous aider ? — May I help you ?
Correct: Puis-je vous aider ? — May I help you ?
Inversion with je uses the archaic form puis. Peux-je is not a possible French sentence, and the everyday alternative is est-ce que je peux vous aider.
Incorrect: Il se peut qu'elle vient demain. — She might come tomorrow.
Correct: Il se peut qu'elle vienne demain. — She might come tomorrow.
Il se peut que presents the event as no more than possible, which is a permanent subjunctive trigger. The indicative would assert that she is coming.
Incorrect: Je pouvais réserver une table hier soir. — I managed to book a table last night.
Correct: J'ai pu réserver une table hier soir. — I managed to book a table last night.
Hier soir points at a single moment, so the passé composé is required. The imparfait would describe a general capacity to book tables rather than one successful booking.
Pouvoir Conjugated
Three stems: peu- and peuv- in the present, pouv- in the imparfait, and the doubled pourr- in the future and conditional. The subjunctive uses puiss- throughout.
The Simple Tenses
The double r in pourrai and pourrais is pronounced, and it is the clearest audible difference between pouvoir and its neighbours.
| Pronoun | présent | imparfait | futur simple | conditionnel |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| je / j' | peux | pouvais | pourrai | pourrais |
| tu | peux | pouvais | pourras | pourrais |
| il / elle / on | peut | pouvait | pourra | pourrait |
| nous | pouvons | pouvions | pourrons | pourrions |
| vous | pouvez | pouviez | pourrez | pourriez |
| ils / elles | peuvent | pouvaient | pourront | pourraient |
There is a second je form, puis, used only in inverted questions: puis-je vous aider ?
Compound Tenses and the Subjunctive
Pouvoir takes avoir and its participle pu never agrees, since the verb has no direct object of its own. The subjunctive is completely regular once you know the stem.
| Pronoun | passé composé | plus-que-parfait | conditionnel passé | subjonctif (que…) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| je / j' | ai pu | avais pu | aurais pu | puisse |
| tu | as pu | avais pu | aurais pu | puisses |
| il / elle / on | a pu | avait pu | aurait pu | puisse |
| nous | avons pu | avions pu | aurions pu | puissions |
| vous | avez pu | aviez pu | auriez pu | puissiez |
| ils / elles | ont pu | avaient pu | auraient pu | puissent |
J'aurais pu is how French expresses a missed opportunity: j'aurais pu te le dire, I could have told you.
Pouvoir Against Savoir
The two verbs both translate as can, so seeing them together is the fastest way to keep them apart. Savoir is for skills, pouvoir for circumstances.
| Pronoun | pouvoir | savoir |
|---|---|---|
| je / j' | peux | sais |
| tu | peux | sais |
| il / elle / on | peut | sait |
| nous | pouvons | savons |
| vous | pouvez | savez |
| ils / elles | peuvent | savent |
Il sait nager mais il ne peut pas aujourd'hui: he can swim but he can't today, and English uses the same word twice.
Puis-je, Il Se Peut, and N'en Pouvoir Plus
Three uses of pouvoir that follow their own rules and cannot be worked out from the basic meaning.
Puis-je in formal questions
Peux-je does not exist. When you invert the je form of pouvoir, French uses the older form puis, which survives only in this position and only in a polite register.
- Puis-je vous être utile ?
- May I be of assistance ?
- Puis-je me permettre une remarque ?
- May I make a remark ?
- Que puis-je faire pour vous ?
- What can I do for you ?
In everyday speech you would say est-ce que je peux, which is entirely correct and much more common.
Il se peut que
The pronominal form gives an impersonal way of saying it may be that. It takes the subjunctive, because it presents the event as merely possible.
- Il se peut qu'elle soit déjà partie.
- She may already have left.
- Il se peut que nous arrivions en retard.
- We might arrive late.
- Ça se peut.
- That's possible.
Ça se peut on its own is a very common short reply, roughly equivalent to maybe.
N'en pouvoir plus and on ne peut plus
Two idioms built on pouvoir and plus. The first means to be at the end of your strength; the second is an intensifier meaning as … as can be.
- Je n'en peux plus de ce bruit.
- I can't take this noise any more.
- Elle est on ne peut plus claire.
- She could not be clearer.
- Il n'en pouvait plus de fatigue.
- He was exhausted.
N'en pouvoir plus always keeps the en, even though nothing in the sentence explains what it refers to.
Pouvoir FAQs
- How do you conjugate pouvoir in the present tense?
- Je peux, tu peux, il peut, nous pouvons, vous pouvez, ils peuvent. There is also a rare je form, puis, used only in inverted questions such as puis-je entrer. The past participle is pu.
- What is the difference between pouvoir and savoir?
- Savoir is for skills you learned, pouvoir is for circumstances and permission. Je sais nager means I know how to swim; je peux nager means nothing is stopping me from swimming right now.
- How do you say could in French?
- It depends on the meaning. A general past ability is the imparfait, je pouvais. A single success is the passé composé, j'ai pu. A polite request or a hypothetical is the conditional, je pourrais.
- Why is it puis-je and not peux-je?
- Because peux-je is unpronounceable in French and never established itself. The older form puis survived precisely in this inverted position, which is why it now sounds formal rather than archaic.
- What does il se peut que mean?
- It may be that, or simply might. It is impersonal and always takes the subjunctive: il se peut qu'il y ait du monde, there might be a crowd. The short reply ça se peut means that's possible.