English Translation
You’re the only one who can do it.
So why is the translation the opposite of the literal translation?
君しか (only you) それをできない (can’t do it)
Is it something like: Only you (can, but everyone else) can’t do it. ?
1 Like
しか takes a negative verb.
You should think of しか more like “except for you” than only. Then it makes sense:
Except for you, (people) can’t do that. Anybody that is not you can’t do it. → Only you can do it.
4 Likes
Interesting question, indeed!
@mike-lima has already explained, but let me try to make you easier.
君しかそれをできない is a shorten (and somehow grammatically broken) version of
君しかそれをできる人はいない。or それをできるのは君しかいない。= There is NO ONE who can do that, except you.
The negation ない is not connected to the verb “do”, but to “people”. しか is usually followed by ない (not/no).
If you don’t want to use the negation, the alternative expressionf would be:
それができるのは君だけだ。= You are the only one who can do that.
4 Likes