- Joined
- Oct 14, 2010
- Member Type
- English Teacher
- Native Language
- British English
- Home Country
- Czech Republic
- Current Location
- Czech Republic
« Je serai capable de parler français à la fin de ce cours », not « Je peux parler […] ». I see you piked up some French during your stay. As said earlier, my first thought went for I will be able to. "Will" implies more a will to speak French while "can" implies more a capacity to speak French. Accordingly, I’d say that "can" could work but "will be able" would be my first choice if I were to pick up one.
Thanks for your corrections, I always make those mistakes.
The point is though, that you wouldn't say "Je peux parler français à la fin de ce cours" in French, so why would you want to say it in English?
Two points:
1. Although bhaisahab's original example was helpful, to me at least, I feel that it is usually unwise to assess the constructions of one language by comparing them with those in another. (To take a completely different example: Just because French and German might use a subjunctive form in certain circumstance, it does not mean that English should).
2. Philadelphia wrote: To make it clearer, one may rewrite it as follows: "[I strongly believe in myself] I can speak French at the end of that course." However, my thought went for "will be able to" at first. Others consider that this is not possible. Personally, I feel that it is highly unlikely, but that philadelphia is right to point out that it could be heard from certain speakers in certain circumstannces.
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