When you look up a verb in the dictionary what you find is the ... Können means ‘to be able’. Ich kann - ‘I am able’ or ‘I can’. Ich kann schwimmen - I can swim.

Modal verbs are easy to spot because there are so few of them. In addition to must, shall, will, should, would, can, could, may and might, we can add ought to and have to. If we are told that we ...