Brian Burton

Italian Tip #2: Riuscire vs. Potere

“_Riuscire_” and “_potere_” are two words that I continue to mix up in conversation and none of my Italian books effectively explain the difference. Both verbs basically mean “to be able to do something”, but the usage is very different.

For example:

*_Riuscire_*
*”Non riesco a venire da te questa sera.”* – I can’t come to your house this evening.

*_Potere_*
*”Non posso venire da te questa sera.”* – I can’t come to your house this evening.

They appear to say the same thing, but there is significant difference in their meanings. _Riesco_, more or less, means that you are or are not physically able to do something. If you’re too tired or injured or there’s some other physical reason that you can’t do something, you’d usually use _riuscire_.

On the other hand, _posso_ is used to mean that you do or don’t have permission to do something. For instance, if you have other plans or have to watch your kids or your mother won’t let you go out for the evening, you’d use _potere_.

A “slang” alternative to _Riuscire_

I had a hell of a time learning to pronouce “riesco” smoothly in a sentence without having to stop and pronounce each syllable. What I learned later on is that

_riuscire_ = _farcela_ or _fare ce la_

Now, what the hell does that mean? Basically, if you want to say that you are or are not able to do something in a phrase where you’d use _riuscire_, you can use one of the phrases:

*”Ce la faccio”* – I can do it
*”Ce la fai”* – You can do it
*”Ce la fa”* – He/She/It can do it
*”Ce la facciamo”* – We can do it
*”Ce la fate”* – You all can do it
*”Ce la fanno”* -They can do it

By conjugating _fare_ and adding “_ce la_” before it, you express the same sentiment as using _riuscire_, but in a much easier to pronounce form.

So instead of:
*”Non riesco a venire da te questa sera.”*

You can simply say:
*”Non ce la faccio a venire da te questa sera.”*