kunna
Faroese edit
Etymology edit
From Old Norse kunna, from Proto-Germanic *kunnaną, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵneh₃-.
Pronunciation edit
Verb edit
kunna (third person singular past indicative kundi, third person plural past indicative kundu, supine kunnað)
- can, to be able to
- to know
Conjugation edit
Conjugation of kunna (irregular) | ||
---|---|---|
infinitive | kunna | |
supine | kunnað | |
participle | — | — |
present | past | |
first singular | kann | kundi |
second singular | kanst | kundi |
third singular | kann | kundi |
plural | kunnu/kunna | kundu |
imperative | ||
singular | ! | |
plural | ! |
Icelandic edit
Etymology edit
From Old Norse kunna, from Proto-Germanic *kunnaną, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵneh₃-.
Pronunciation edit
Verb edit
kunna (preterite-present verb, third-person singular present indicative kann, third-person singular past indicative kunni, supine kunnað)
- to know (by heart), know a skill
- Hún kann enga þýsku.
- She doesn't know any German.
- Ég kunni þetta kvæði einu sinni utanað.
- I used to know this poem by heart.
- can: to know how to
- Um hvað ertu að tala? Auðvitað kann ég að synda.
- What are you talking about? Of course I can swim.
- Enginn er maður með mönnum nema hann kunni að skjóta.
- A man's not a man unless he knows how to shoot.
- may, might (denoting possibility)
- Þetta kann að vera of seint.
- It may already be too late.
- Viðbrögð hans kunna að virðast undarleg.
- His reaction might seem strange.
Conjugation edit
infinitive (nafnháttur) |
að kunna | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
supine (sagnbót) |
kunnað | ||||
present participle (lýsingarháttur nútíðar) |
kunnandi | ||||
indicative (framsöguháttur) |
subjunctive (viðtengingarháttur) | ||||
present (nútíð) |
ég kann | við kunnum | present (nútíð) |
ég kunni | við kunnum |
þú kannt | þið kunnið | þú kunnir | þið kunnið | ||
hann, hún, það kann | þeir, þær, þau kunna | hann, hún, það kunni | þeir, þær, þau kunni | ||
past (þátíð) |
ég kunni | við kunnum | past (þátíð) |
ég kynni | við kynnum |
þú kunnir | þið kunnuð | þú kynnir | þið kynnuð | ||
hann, hún, það kunni | þeir, þær, þau kunnu | hann, hún, það kynni | þeir, þær, þau kynnu | ||
imperative (boðháttur) |
- | - | |||
Forms with appended personal pronoun | |||||
- | - | ||||
* Spoken form, usually not written; in writing, the unappended plural form (optionally followed by the full pronoun) is preferred. |
Derived terms edit
Related terms edit
Norwegian Nynorsk edit
Alternative forms edit
Etymology edit
Inherited from Old Norse kunna, from Proto-Germanic *kunnaną, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵneh₃-. Akin to English can.
Verb edit
kunna (present tense kan, past tense kunne, past participle kunna)
- can, could
- Eg kan sjå deg.
- I can see you.
- might
- Eg kan komma, om eg får tid.
- I might come, if I can find the time.
- can (be able to)
- Eg kan spela fele.
- I can play the fiddle.
- to know
- Eg kan denne songen.
- I know this song.
References edit
- “kunna” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.
Old Frisian edit
Etymology edit
From Proto-West Germanic *kunnan.
Verb edit
kunna
Descendants edit
Old Norse edit
Etymology edit
From Proto-Germanic *kunnaną. Ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ǵneh₃- (“to know”).
Verb edit
kunna
- to know, understand, be able to
- to know (by memory)
- to know, be familiar with (a person)
Conjugation edit
infinitive | kunna | |
---|---|---|
present participle | kunnandi | |
past participle | kunnaðr | |
indicative | present | past |
1st-person singular | kann | kunna |
2nd-person singular | kannt | kunnir |
3rd-person singular | kann | kunni |
1st-person plural | kunnum | kunnum |
2nd-person plural | kunnuð | kunnuð |
3rd-person plural | kunnu | kunnu |
subjunctive | present | past |
1st-person singular | kunna | kunna |
2nd-person singular | kunnir | kunnir |
3rd-person singular | kunni | kunni |
1st-person plural | kunnim | kunnim |
2nd-person plural | kunnið | kunnið |
3rd-person plural | kunni | kunni |
imperative | present | |
2nd-person singular | kunn | |
1st-person plural | kunnum | |
2nd-person plural | kunnuð |
Related terms edit
Descendants edit
References edit
- “kunna”, in Geir T. Zoëga (1910) A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press
Old Swedish edit
Etymology edit
From Old Norse kunna, from Proto-Germanic *kunnaną.
Verb edit
kunna
Conjugation edit
present | past | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
infinitive | kunna | — | |||
participle | kunnandi | kunnit (ntr.) | |||
active voice | indicative | subjunctive | imperative | indicative | subjunctive |
iæk | kan | kunni | — | kunni | kunni |
þū | kant | kunni | kunn | kunni | kunni |
han | kan | kunni | — | kunni | kunni |
vīr | kunnum | kunnum | kunnum | kunnum | kunnum |
īr | kunnin | kunnin | kunnin | kunnin | kunnin |
þēr | kunnu | kunnin | — | kunnu | kunnin |
mediopassive voice | indicative | subjunctive | imperative | indicative | subjunctive |
iæk | — | — | — | — | — |
þū | — | — | — | — | — |
han | — | — | — | — | — |
vīr | — | — | — | — | — |
īr | — | — | — | — | — |
þēr | — | — | — | — | — |
Descendants edit
- Swedish: kunna
Swedish edit
Etymology edit
From Old Swedish kunna, from Old Norse kunna, from Proto-Germanic *kunnaną, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵneh₃-.
Pronunciation edit
Verb edit
kunna (present kan, preterite kunde, supine kunnat)
- "to can", to be able to
- att kunna göra något
- to be able to do something
- Jag kan göra det
- I can do it
- Hon kan spela dragspel
- She can play the accordion
- Hur länge har hon kunnat spela dragspel?
- How long has she been able to play the accordion?
- Jag hade också spelat dragspel om jag (hade) kunnat
- I would also have played the accordion if I had been able to
- Kan du komma imorgon?
- Can you come tomorrow?
- Jag kunde knappt vänta
- I could hardly wait
- to know (have proficiency in or deeper knowledge of)
- Kan du tyska?
- Do you know German?
- Jag kan karate
- I know karate
- Jag kan svaret på fråga 3
- I know the answer to question 3 (can also be expressed with veta (“know”))
- Han kan sina knep
- He knows his tricks
- Han kan sina skräckfilmer och vann frågesporten
- He knows his horror movies and won the quiz
- to possibly be able to, can, could, might, may
- Det kan hända vem som helst
- It can happen to anyone
- Kan han vara den skyldige?
- Could he be the culprit?
- Ja, det kan vara han som gjorde det
- Yeah, it might/could be him who did it
- att kunna vara skyldig
- to possibly ("to be able to") be guilty (somewhat awkward, but to illustrate the idea)
- Kan det vara Nisse som står där borta?
- Could that be Nisse standing over there?
- Det här kan vara det godaste jag ätit
- This may be the most delicious thing I've ever eaten
- to be given permission to, "to can", "to may"
- Ni kan komma in nu
- You can/may come in now
- Du kan gå nu
- You may leave now (sounds more like an order in this example, like in English)
Usage notes edit
The English verb know has several different translations in Swedish, and the correct choice is not always obvious:
- veta – This is used mainly about theoretical knowledge (to know individual facts), while kunna also assumes ability, or even proficiency in the use of the knowledge.
- veta om – To be aware of.
- känna – To know about a person or their intentions (also: to recognize someone, to know someone's name).
- känna till – About knowing a (small) specific piece of fact; be (loosely) aware of. May indicate that the facts are a bit distant or less important to the person.
Conjugation edit
Active | Passive | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
Infinitive | kunna | — | ||
Supine | kunnat | — | ||
Imperative | — | — | ||
Imper. plural1 | — | — | ||
Present | Past | Present | Past | |
Indicative | kan | kunde | — | — |
Ind. plural1 | kunna | kunde | — | — |
Subjunctive2 | kunne | kunde | — | — |
Participles | ||||
Present participle | kunnande | |||
Past participle | — | |||
1 Archaic. 2 Dated. See the appendix on Swedish verbs. |
See also edit
- skulle (often appears together with kunna, especially in polite phrases)
References edit
- kunna in Svensk ordbok (SO)
- kunna in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
- kunna in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)