Can and could

Can and Could

Can and could are modal verbs.They form sentences like this:

Can CouldAff I can read You could read

Neg He can’t write She couldn’t write

Int Can you swim? Could they swim?

“Could” is the past form of “can”.

We use “Can” to express abilities in the present. The things

someone can or knows how to do.For example:

“She can play the piano”She knows how to play or has the

ability to play the piano.

We use “Could” to express abilities in the past. The things someone could or

knew how to do in the past.For example:

“She couldn’t play the piano last year”She didn’t know how to play or didn’t have the ability to play the piano last

year. Now she can.

This is OliverHe is 17 years old

He lives in London

He can play the guitar, but he can’t play the piano.He can speak Spanish, but he can’t speak Russian.Can he play football? Yes, he can play very well.

This is Oliver againHe was 4 years old then

He lived in Cardiff

He couldn’t play the guitar, but he could swim.He couldn’t speak Spanish, but he could speak English.Could he play football? No, he couldn’t. But he could ride a bicycle.

The end