Can (could)

I. Ability, capability (mental, physical)

e.g. He can speak fluent English

(ability resulting from knowledge, skill)

He can lift heavy weight.

(ability resulting from physical strength)

Exercise 1.

a) Will you praise your/smb else’s ability to do smth.

Model: My friend can speak English like a native. She’s a fourth-year student at the Institute of Foreign languages.

b) Will you praise your/smb else’s ability to do smth when a child/when he/she was young.

Model: In his youth my Dad could ski very well. He went in for skiing.

c) Say what you can do now and what you couldn’t do some years/some time ago.

Model: Now I can speak French a little but when I studied at school I couldn’t speak French at all.

Exercise 2.

Ask your fellow student if he/she can …

1. . …….. drive a car.

2. ……… read English books in the original.

3. ………speak German fluently.

4. ……… write the ABC in English.

5. ……… stand the heat well.

6. ……… make salads.

7. ……… cook dishes of meat.

8. ……… tame wild animals.

9. ……… ride a horse.

10. ……… count from one to a hundred in German.

11. ……… play tennis.

12. ……… read and write French.

II. Possibility due to circumstances.

e.g. You can borrow the book from the library.

We can see the mountain from here in clear weather.

Exercise 1.

Make up sentences so as the express the meaning of possibility.

You can You can’t You can have You can’t have

buy a dress buy pencils buy a sofa buy a fur coat buy buttons and needles buy powder and lipstick press your dress do your nails read a paper clean your dress comb your hair regulate your watch your suit mended a shave a haircut your shoes mended your watch regulated your photo taken your hair done

at the stationer’s. at the ready-made clothes shop. at the furrier’s . at the furniture house. at the perfumer’s. at the haberdasher’s. at home. at the barber’s. at the tailor’s. at the hairdresser’s. at the watchmaker’s. at the photographer’s. at the shoemaker’s.

Exercise 2.

Recast the following sentences using the verb 'can’.

1. We shall go to the country if the weather is fine.

2. He will come if he has time.

3. If you take a taxi, you’ll be in time.

4. If she has enough money, she’ll go to the Crimea.

5. They won’t come unless you ask them to come.

6. You will pass your examination if you work properly.

7. He will attract their attention if his lectures are interesting.

8. They will get ready if they decide to go there.

Exercise 3.

Ask your fellow-student what/where he/she can …

1. ….what kind of work the students can do in a language laboratory.

2. …. where she can have a bite.

3. …. what books and newspapers she can get in our library.

4. …. What vegetables we can grow in our kitchen-garden.

5. …. what fruits we can grow in our orchards.

6. …. what animals we can find at the Zoo.

7. …. where we can rest in summer.

8. …. what she can do at a post office.

9. … where one can buy ready-made clothes.