Sí, se puede

How can this mean, "yes, we can"? I'm pretty new at this, but isn't "we can" usually translated as "podemos"? Just when you think you understand something. . . . . :?

__http://spanish.about.com/b/a/257357.htm?nl=1__ This gives a little insight, but it didn't answer all my questions.

You are right!, "Sí, se puede" literally means "Yes, it can" or to make more sense, "Yes, anyone can" But it can be used by someone to say "Yes, we can" but in more of a general anyone can, not just us or me, sort of way. Remember not everything can be translated literally. If you give me a more specific sentence I might be able to tell you more about it. Mauricio

I would translate si se puede as If one can. For example ¿Cómo se puede encontrar un banco? Where can one find a bank (or a bench :D )? As Mauricio pointed out "one" literally means anyone. Hope it helps Sal2 Nev

[quo]*Quote from * nevjohnson I would translate si se puede as If one can. [/quo] Hola Nev. Yes, what you say may be true of *si se puede*, but the phrase being discussed is *sí se puede*. Si without an accent on the i means "if," but sí with an accent means "yes." The phrase *sí, se puede* was used by Cesar Chavez, I think, and by the Mexican soccer team, as well as by the people demonstrating recently in support of U.S. immigrants. In these cases, I think the phrase means something like "yes, we can!" or "yes, it can be done!"

In fact, "¡Sí, se puede!" is one of my favorite phrases, as the Ecuadorian fútbol team used to chant it when they made it for the first time in their history to the World Cup, los Mundiales de Fútbol en Corea/Japón 2002. Soccer is so important to the culture that they actually closed down Congress so that all the politicians could go.

Does anyone know when this phrase was first used as a chant? Or, does anyone know some other groups that have used it for other reasons or causes? By the way "nohablo", you better change your name to "YoHabloPrettyDarnGood".