# aspect with modal verbs



## Orreaga

Hello again,

I was wondering if there are any particular rules or tips for using modal verbs with aspect.  i can't seem to find any, so maybe there is nothing special about it.

Example:

*Nemůžu otevřít okno.
Nemůžu otvírat okno.*

I can see in the 1st (perfective) example how it makes sense, something like "I can't get the window open."  But I can't think of a case where someone would use the 2nd sentence... "I can't be opening the window"?  Is there a case where the 2nd sentence makes sense?  Maybe, "I can't open the window (or else the rain will pour in)."  Or am I misunderstanding the whole thing?

Thanks,

Orreaga


----------



## Interfector

Both sentences have specific use*.
Nemůžu otevřít okno. - *I can't open the window. (perfective), I can't open it right now. (For example, it is stuck.)
* Nemůžu otvírat okno. - *imperfective, I can't open it repeatedly. It is often used for prohibition. Example:* Je zakázáno otvírat okna. - *Opening of windows is forbidden. It's permanent state. Another example: _*Je bouřka, nesmíš otevírat okna.-*_It's storm, you musn't open the windows.
So we can say that the aspect among other things expresses continuousness, as it is in this case.
BTW: I've never met sentence similar to this - _*I can't be opening the window*_. - what tense is that?


----------



## werrr

Orreaga said:


> I was wondering if there are any particular rules or tips for using modal verbs with aspect.  i can't seem to find any, so maybe there is nothing special about it.


I don’t think so, you have to grasp the idea of aspects in general, there is nothing special about the use with modal verbs.



> Example:
> 
> *Nemůžu otevřít okno.
> Nemůžu otvírat okno.*
> 
> I can see in the 1st (perfective) example how it makes sense, something like "I can't get the window open."  But I can't think of a case where someone would use the 2nd sentence... "I can't be opening the window"?  Is there a case where the 2nd sentence makes sense?  Maybe, "I can't open the window (or else the rain will pour in)."  Or am I misunderstanding the whole thing?


Both the sentences make sense in Czech. And yes, “I can’t get the window open.” could be a natural translation for the first sentence, though not a universal one. The other translation are more confusing than helpful.
A common misconception of foreigners is that aspect could be expressed using different verbal tenses while in fact it is a completely different concept. In English you mostly don’t care about the idea expressed by expects, thereof your problems. But in fact you can practically always express the idea using some periphrasis. Whenever you can restilize the verb for “to do something” with something like “to finish/complete/stop something” it indicates you should use a perfective verb in Czech. Whenever you can replace it with something like “to stay in the process of something” or “to repeat something / to do something repeatedly” it indicates an imperfective verb.

Back to your examples:

*Nemůžu otevřít okno.*

This stays for any meaning suitable to “I can’t complete the process of opening the window”, that is “I can’t get/make the window open” for example. But mostly you use simply “I can’t open the window”.

*Nemůžu ot(e)vírat okno.*

This could stay for “I can’t stay in the process of opening the window” or “I can’t repeat the process of opening the window”, and even here you mostly use the simple “I can’t open the window”.
For the first meaning think of a situation where you are interested in the mere fact of staying in the process, not in the actual result of the process, e.g. “I can’t stay in the process of opening the window while staying in another process”, the latter repetitive meaning is trivial, I guess.


----------



## Orreaga

Thanks again to you both for your comments, they are very helpful!

The example of _*I can't be opening the window*_ simply follows the model I've seen in textbooks which translate Czech imperfectives into English, "to be doing something."  So, _*I can't be opening the window*_  isn't likely to be used very much in English, but it expresses the imperfective more than _*I can't open the window.*_


----------

