Diapositiva 1

Modal verbs: Can and cant.Could and couldnt.

CanCan is an auxiliary verb, a modal auxiliary verb. We use can to:Talk about possibility and ability. Make requests.Ask for or give permissionWe use can to talk about what is possible, what we are able or free to do.Normally, we use can for the present. But it is possible to use can when we make present decisions about future ability.

Positive sentences:

Structure of Can

Subject + can + Main verb + Complement.

Example:

My mother can dance very well. S Aux. V C

I You We They CAN dance salsa. He She It

Luis can use the computer.

Rony can drive a car.

They can cook together.

Micaela can make a cake.

They can dance very well.

My friends can dance pretty well.

Lucia can dance alone in the disco.

My sister can play golf.

Natalia can give good advices.

Romina can play volleyball.

Henry can play soccer.

negative sentences:

Structure of Cant

Subject + cant + Main verb + Complement.

Example:

My mother cant dance very well. S Aux. V C

I You We They CANT dance salsa. He She It

Etty cant play basketball.

Ana cant understand the game.

lucas cant swim.

He cant sing very well.

He cant talk by cell phone.

Lucas cant talk slowly.

They cant make a dialogue.

QuestionsCan you dance?Yes, I can. / No, I cant.Can your sister cook?Yes, she can. / No, she cant.*Can they play soccer?Yes, they can. / No, they cant.

Can they dance very well?Yes, they can.

CouldAnd Couldnt.

Could Could is an auxiliary verb, a modal auxiliary verb. We use could to:Talk about past possibility or ability.Make requests.We use could to talk about what was possible in the past, what we were able or free to do.We often use could in a question to ask somebody to do something. The use of could in this way is fairly polite (formal).

positive sentences:

Structure of Could

Subject + could + Main verb + Complement.

Example:

My mother could dance very well. S Aux V C

Micaela could dance ballet.

When she was 22 years old, she could sing very well.

Two years ago,Nikita could swim pretty well.

My grandmother could swim fast.

They could swim very fast.

El cholo Sotil could play soccer.

negative sentences:

Structure of coulnt

Subject + couldnt + Main verb + Complement.

Example:

My mother couldnt dance very well. S Aux. V C

I couldnt understand English.

Lucas couldnt cook very well.

My little baby couldnt sleep very well.

His father couldnt sleep well.

Could you be in silence?

Could you close the door?

COULD YOU CLOSE THE WINDOWS?

Could you LOOK AT ME, please?