Et elle sait chanter? Why not "Et elle peut chanter"?

Question

The English sentence says "She can sing", not "She knows how to sing". I know how to sing but I can't sing because my voice is terrible. Can all French people (or Quebecoise) who know how to sing, actually sing???

Cécile Janty-Davies · Accepted Answer

Hi Gilberts, 
You will use 'savoir + infinitif ' as you say, to convey that you know how to do something -

Je sais jouer aux échecs = I know how to play chess
Je sais parler espagnol = I can speak Spanish 
etc.

'Elle sait chanter' in this context is something like -
Golly, can she sing!
We could have said 
elle chante bien 
or the opposite 
elle chante faux / elle chante comme une casserole 
Hope this helps!