pouvoir se permettre
afford
The French expression 'pouvoir se permettre' is the equivalent of 'afford' in English. It is used to express the ability to pay for or have something, often due to financial means. For example, 'Je peux me permettre cette voiture' means 'I can afford this car'.
Example sentences using: pouvoir se permettre
Je ne peux pas me permettre d'acheter cette voiture.
I cannot afford to buy this car.
This sentence expresses that the individual does not have enough financial resources to buy the car. The phrase 'pouvoir se permettre' is used here to convey the idea of affordability.
Elle peut se permettre de prendre des vacances.
She can afford to take a vacation.
This sentence states that the woman has enough resources or opportunity to take a vacation. So here, 'pouvoir se permettre' means having enough resources or opportunity to do something.
Nous ne pouvons pas nous permettre de faire des erreurs.
We cannot afford to make mistakes.
In this context, 'pouvoir se permettre' means that making mistakes has potentially serious consequences and therefore should be avoided. So this phrase isn't necessarily referring to financial affordability but more to the fact that there's too much at stake to allow for errors.