no poder
/no podeɾ/from spelling rules
The Spanish phrase for 'cannot' is no poder.
In Spanish, the negation no is placed directly before the conjugated form of the verb poder to express inability or impossibility.
Meaning: cannot (verb)
How does it change in a sentence?
The phrase no poder must be conjugated to match the subject, such as no puedo for 'I cannot', no puede to say 'he/she/it cannot' or 'you (formal) cannot' and no pueden to say 'they cannot' or 'you all cannot'.
How do you pronounce it?
/no podeɾ/
Did you know?
- While no puedo means 'I cannot', adding the word más to create no puedo más changes the meaning to 'I can't take it anymore' or 'I am exhausted'.
- In some Spanish-speaking cultures, saying no puedo when invited to an event is considered too blunt. People often use the conditional no podría to soften the refusal.
- In legal Spanish, the word poder refers to a 'power of attorney', a document that allows one person to act on behalf of another.
Examples in context
- No puedo asistir a la reunión mañana.I cannot attend the meeting tomorrow.
- Lamentablemente, no soy capaz de ayudarte con eso.Unfortunately, I am not able to help you with that.
- No puedo ir a la fiesta esta noche, lo siento.I cannot go to the party tonight, sorry.
- No puedo visitarte mañana.I cannot visit you tomorrow.
- No tengo posibilidad de salir esta tarde.I have no possibility of going out this afternoon.
- No puedo encontrar mi teléfono.I cannot find my phone.
- No puedo creer lo que estás diciendo.I cannot believe what you're saying.
- No soy capaz de recordar su nombre.I am not able to remember their name.
- No tengo posibilidad de llegar a tiempo.I have no possibility of arriving on time.
- No poder salir ahora es un problema.Not being able to go out now is a problem.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “cannot” translations, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- IPA marked “from spelling rules” is derived from standard Spanish spelling, where Wiktionary gives none.
