Use of ことはできません in this sentence


I am trying to translate this sentence:

> 日本の名所と言えば、温泉も忘れることはできません

So the first part can be translated as `'Talking about famous places in
Japan,'.

The second part is more confusing, I know that the `こと` modifier after a verb
can be used to indicate an action but how can we translate it here? Also I
don't understand the relationship with `できません` which means to be able to.

I would translate the sentence as something like 'I also forgot to talk about
onsens' but that seems off to me.




Firstly, ~と言えば literally means "~ speaking of", but there's an idiomatic usage
where you use it to present things that are typical, are representative, or
come to your mind in regards of ~. For example:

> スペインと言えば、パエリアと闘牛です。 Literal translation: "Speaking of Spain, paella and
> bullfights." What it really means: "Paella and Bullfights are typical
> Spanish things."

I think this is the usage in your sentence. So, if the sentence starts
日本の名所といえば, what I expect would follow are things representative/typical of
famous places in Japan. One of such places is the 温泉.

As regards も, here it is signalling that there are other (unmentioned, or
perhaps mentioned previously in the conversation) 日本の名所 besides 温泉.

Finally, as you noticed, ~ことができる means "to be able to ~", so the negative form
would mean "not to be able to ~" or "can't ~". For this reason, 忘れることはできません
can be translated as "[We] can't forget".

All in all, I would translate it as

> Onsen is another famous Japanese place we can't forget about.

or

> When it comes to Japanese famous places, we can't forget about onsen,
> either.

Whatever clicks better for you.




Firstly, ~と言えば literally means "~ speaking of", but there's an idiomatic usage
where you use it to present things that are typical, are representative, or
come to your mind in regards of ~. For example:

> スペインと言えば、パエリアと闘牛です。 Literal translation: "Speaking of Spain, paella and
> bullfights." What it really means: "Paella and Bullfights are typical
> Spanish things."

I think this is the usage in your sentence. So, if the sentence starts
日本の名所といえば, what I expect would follow are things representative/typical of
famous places in Japan. One of such places is the 温泉.

As regards も, here it is signalling that there are other (unmentioned, or
perhaps mentioned previously in the conversation) 日本の名所 besides 温泉.

Finally, as you noticed, ~ことができる means "to be able to ~", so the negative form
would mean "not to be able to ~" or "can't ~". For this reason, 忘れることはできません
can be translated as "[We] can't forget".

All in all, I would translate it as

> Onsen is another famous Japanese place we can't forget about.

or

> When it comes to Japanese famous places, we can't forget about onsen,
> either.

Whatever clicks better for you.

