A2 · Can, want, must
सकना: can
ability and permission with सकना
Bare stem + सकना in any tense: मैं तैर सकता हूँ, “I can swim”; मैं नहीं आ सका, “I couldn’t come”.
At a glance
- Remember
- Bare stem, then sakna in the tense you need — and never ne.
- Form
- बोल सकता है / बोल सकती हैcan (m / f)
- Signal words
- सकता
- सकती
- सकते
- सका
- क्या मैं
- Trap
- Wrong:मैंने यह काम नहीं कर सका।Right:मैं यह काम नहीं कर सका।
Your turn
10 exercises on this topic. Your answers are checked in the browser; none of them leaves your device.
The form
The forms side by side
All the forms in one overview: first what each one stands for, then the form in Hindi, so you can compare them directly.
| can (m / f) | बोल सकता है / बोल सकती है |
| can, plural | बोल सकते हैं |
| cannot | नहीं बोल सकता / बोल नहीं सकता |
| could, managed (past) | आ सका / आ सकी |
| will be able to | आ सकूँगा, आ सकेगी |
| may I …? | क्या मैं … सकता हूँ? |
The rules one by one
The form this topic is about
सकना follows the bare stem and carries the tense.
मैं थोड़ी हिंदी बोल सकता हूँ।I can speak a little Hindi.
It also asks for and gives permission.
क्या मैं अंदर आ सकती हूँ?May I come in?
It can express a possibility.
आज बारिश हो सकती है।It may rain today.
सकना never takes ने, even in the past.
मैं वह काम नहीं कर सका।I couldn’t do that job.
Example sentences
मैं थोड़ी हिंदी बोल सकता हूँ।I can speak a little Hindi.
क्या आप मेरी मदद कर सकते हैं?Could you help me?
मेरी बहन तैर नहीं सकती।My sister can’t swim.
क्या मैं अंदर आ सकती हूँ?May I come in?
कल मैं दफ़्तर नहीं जा सका।I couldn’t go to the office yesterday.
आज शाम को बारिश हो सकती है।It may rain this evening.
6 more example sentences
हम कल सुबह आ सकते हैं।We can come tomorrow morning.
तुम यहाँ बैठ सकते हो।You can sit here.
वह बहुत तेज़ दौड़ सकती है।She can run very fast.
क्या मैं आपका फ़ोन इस्तेमाल कर सकता हूँ?May I use your phone?
शोर की वजह से हम सो नहीं सके।We couldn’t sleep because of the noise.
मैं कल तक यह काम ख़त्म कर सकूँगी।I will be able to finish this by tomorrow.
The trap English speakers fall into
Watch out
करना takes ने on its own, but here the verb that carries the tense is सकना, and सकना is intransitive. The subject stays मैं, and सका agrees with it.
The full explanation
Read it all · about 1 min
सकना stands after the bare stem of the main verb, and it is सकना that carries tense and agreement: मैं हिंदी बोल सकता हूँ, “I can speak Hindi”; वह तैर सकती है, “she can swim”; हम कल आ सकते हैं, “we can come tomorrow”. The main verb never changes, and it is never an infinitive: not बोलना सकता.
It covers ability (“I can swim”), possibility (आज बारिश हो सकती है, “it may rain today”) and permission (क्या मैं अंदर आ सकता हूँ?, “may I come in?”). A request with सकना is polite: क्या आप मेरी मदद कर सकते हैं?.
In the past, सका means “was able to, managed to” and, in the negative, “couldn’t”: मैं कल नहीं आ सका. सकना is intransitive, so it never takes ने, even after a transitive verb: मैं वह काम नहीं कर सका, not मैंने.
In the present negative the auxiliary usually goes, as with any habitual: वह तैर नहीं सकती. नहीं may stand before the stem or between stem and सकना; मैं नहीं आ सकता and मैं आ नहीं सकता are both normal.
A closer look
पाना: to manage to
Next to सकना stands पाना, used the same way after a bare stem. It stresses succeeding against difficulty and is especially common in the negative: मैं रात को सो नहीं पाया, “I couldn’t get to sleep last night”. Like सकना, it takes no ने.
In practice नहीं सका and नहीं पाया are often interchangeable; पाना sounds a shade more personal and regretful.
Knowing how to
For a learnt skill, Hindi often says “to come” instead of “can”: मुझे तैरना आता है, “I can swim” — literally “swimming comes to me”. मुझे हिंदी आती है, “I know Hindi”. सकना is also correct, but the आना form is what you will hear for languages and skills.
Worth knowing (1)
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हो सकता है: maybe
The neutral form हो सकता है, “it can be”, is an everyday “maybe”: हो सकता है कि वह आज न आए, “maybe he won’t come today”. On its own it answers a question: हो सकता है, “could be”.
हो सकता है कि दुकान आज बंद हो।Maybe the shop is closed today.
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