{"id":72203,"date":"2019-09-16T08:47:46","date_gmt":"2019-09-16T08:47:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/perfectyourenglish.com\/blog\/?p=72203"},"modified":"2019-09-16T08:47:46","modified_gmt":"2019-09-16T08:47:46","slug":"can-vs-could","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/perfectyourenglish.com\/blog\/can-vs-could\/","title":{"rendered":"Can vs. Could"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
We use can <\/b>to say whether situations and events are possible theoretically.<\/p>\n
    \n
  • Glass can <\/b>be blown.<\/li>\n
  • Can <\/b>gases freeze?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    We use could <\/b>to talk about past possibility.<\/p>\n

      \n
    • It was a place where anything could happen.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

      Cases where can is not used<\/h3>\n

      We do not use can<\/b> to talk about the chances that something will happen in future. We express this idea with may, might <\/b>or could<\/b>. Note that could<\/b> suggests a less definite possibility than that is implied by may or might<\/b>.<\/p>\n

      Compare:<\/p>\n

        \n
      • There may\/might<\/b> be a strike next week. (Future probability) (NOT There can be a strike —)<\/li>\n
      • Strikes can <\/b>happen any time. (Theoretical possibility)<\/li>\n
      • It could <\/b>rain later this evening. (Less definite future possibility) (NOT It can rain later this evening.)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
        Cases where can is used<\/h5>\n

        We use can <\/b>in questions and negative sentences, to talk about the logical possibility that something is true or that something is happening.<\/p>\n

          \n
        • \u2018There is the doorbell.\u2019 \u2018Who can<\/b> it be?\u2019 \u2018Well, it can\u2019t <\/b>be the postman. He has already been.\u2019<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

          Note that can<\/b> is not usually possible in affirmative sentences with this meaning. Instead, we use could, may<\/b> or might<\/b>.<\/p>\n

            \n
          • \u2018Where is Jane?\u2019 \u2018She could\/may\/might<\/b> be at Joe\u2019s place.\u2019 (NOT She can be –)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

            But can <\/b>is possible in affirmative sentences with words like only, hardly, never<\/b> etc. Can only<\/b> means must.<\/b><\/p>\n

              \n
            • \u2018Who can<\/b> it be at the door?\u2019 \u2018It can only<\/b> be the postman.\u2019 (= It must be the postman.)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

              We use can to say whether situations and events are possible theoretically. Glass can be blown. Can gases freeze? We use could to talk about past possibility. It was a place where anything could...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[251],"tags":[1378,1382,1380,1381,1383],"class_list":["post-72203","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-grammar","tag-can","tag-can-or-could","tag-can-vs-could","tag-could","tag-difference-between-can-and-could"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/perfectyourenglish.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72203","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/perfectyourenglish.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/perfectyourenglish.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/perfectyourenglish.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/perfectyourenglish.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=72203"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/perfectyourenglish.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72203\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":72204,"href":"https:\/\/perfectyourenglish.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72203\/revisions\/72204"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/perfectyourenglish.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=72203"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/perfectyourenglish.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=72203"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/perfectyourenglish.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=72203"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}