{"id":73716,"date":"2020-04-04T05:56:34","date_gmt":"2020-04-04T05:56:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/perfectyourenglish.com\/blog\/?p=73716"},"modified":"2020-04-04T05:56:34","modified_gmt":"2020-04-04T05:56:34","slug":"modal-auxiliary-verb-can","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/perfectyourenglish.com\/blog\/modal-auxiliary-verb-can\/","title":{"rendered":"Modal Auxiliary Verb Can"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><b>Can\u00a0<\/b>is a modal auxiliary verb. It is followed by an infinitive without to. There is no<b>\u00a0\u2013s<\/b>\u00a0in the third person singular.<\/p>\n<ul type=\"square\">\n<li>I can swim.<\/li>\n<li>She can sing. (NOT She cans \u2026)<\/li>\n<li>He\u00a0<b>can run\u00a0<\/b>a mile in four minutes. (<b>NOT\u00a0<\/b>He can to run\u2026)<\/li>\n<li>She\u00a0<b>can play\u00a0<\/b>tennis very well. (<b>NOT\u00a0<\/b>She can to play tennis\u2026)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Questions\u00a0and\u00a0negatives\u00a0are made without\u00a0<b>do.<\/b><\/p>\n<ul type=\"square\">\n<li><b>Can\u00a0<\/b>you speak French? (<b>NOT\u00a0<\/b>Do you can speak French?)<\/li>\n<li>I\u00a0<b>can&#8217;t\u00a0<\/b>swim. (<b>NOT\u00a0<\/b>I don&#8217;t can swim.)<\/li>\n<li>You\u00a0<b>can&#8217;t\u00a0<\/b>fool him. (<b>NOT\u00a0<\/b>You don&#8217;t can fool him.)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4>Uses<\/h4>\n<p><b>Can<\/b>\u00a0is used to talk about ability and possibility, to ask for and give permission, and to make requests and offers.<\/p>\n<h3>To talk about theoretical possibility<\/h3>\n<p>We can use\u00a0<b>can<\/b>\u00a0to talk about \u2018theoretical\u2019 possibility \u2013 to say that situations and events are possible theoretically.<\/p>\n<ul type=\"square\">\n<li>Glass\u00a0<b>can be\u00a0<\/b>blown. (It is theoretically possible to blow glass.)<\/li>\n<li>Wars\u00a0<b>can break out\u00a0<\/b>any time. (It is theoretically possible for wars to break out any time.)<\/li>\n<li>Smoking\u00a0<b>can cause\u00a0<\/b>cancer.<\/li>\n<li>Noise\u00a0<b>can be\u00a0<\/b>quite a problem when you are living in a city.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Note that we do not use\u00a0<b>can\u00a0<\/b>to talk about future probability \u2013 to say that something will happen in future. We express this idea with\u00a0<b>may\u00a0<\/b>or\u00a0<b>might.<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>It may rain this evening. (NOT It can rain \u2026)<\/li>\n<li>There may be a strike next week. (NOT There can be a strike \u2026)<\/li>\n<li>I may get a job soon.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Note that\u00a0<b>might\u00a0<\/b>expresses a less definite possibility than\u00a0<b>may<\/b>.\u00a0<b>Could\u00a0<\/b>is also used in the same sense.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>It could rain this evening. (= It might rain this evening.)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>To talk about logical possibility<\/h3>\n<p><b>Can\u00a0<\/b>is often used in questions and negatives to talk about the logical possibility that something is true.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>There is the doorbell? Who can it be?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>With this meaning\u00a0<b>can\u00a0<\/b>is not possible in affirmative clauses. Instead, we use\u00a0<b>could, may\u00a0<\/b>or\u00a0<b>might.<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Where is John? He could\/may\/might be in the garden. (NOT He can be in the garden.)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>To talk about ability<\/h3>\n<p>We can use\u00a0<b>can\u00a0<\/b>to talk about present or general ability \u2013 to say that we are capable of doing something.<\/p>\n<ul type=\"square\">\n<li>I\u00a0<b>can speak\u00a0<\/b>10 languages.<\/li>\n<li>She\u00a0<b>can cook\u00a0<\/b>well.<\/li>\n<li><b>Can you knit?<\/b><\/li>\n<li>If you are not satisfied with this product, you\u00a0<b>can send\u00a0<\/b>it back.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Note that\u00a0<b>be able to\u00a0<\/b>can often be used with similar meanings.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>He is able to support her. (= He can support her.)<\/li>\n<li>They were able to catch the thief. (= They could catch the thief.)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Cannot\u00a0<\/b>(also can\u2019t) shows inability.<\/p>\n<ul type=\"square\">\n<li>I\u00a0<b>can speak\u00a0<\/b>French, but I\u00a0<b>cannot write\u00a0<\/b>it.<\/li>\n<li>Most people\u00a0<b>cannot read\u00a0<\/b>traffic signals.<\/li>\n<li>I\u00a0<b>can&#8217;t\u00a0<\/b>drive.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>We do not use\u00a0<b>can<\/b>\u00a0to talk about future ability. Instead, we use\u00a0<b>will be able to\u00a0<\/b>or other words.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Someday scientists\u00a0<b>will be able to\u00a0<\/b>find a cure for cancer. (<b>NOT\u00a0<\/b>Someday scientists will can find a cure for cancer.)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>To ask for or give permission<\/h3>\n<p><b>Can\u00a0<\/b>is sometimes used to ask for and give permission. Some people, however, think that\u00a0<b>may<\/b>\u00a0is more correct than\u00a0<b>can.<\/b><\/p>\n<ul type=\"square\">\n<li><b>Can\u00a0<\/b>I use your car, John?<\/li>\n<li><b>Can\u00a0<\/b>we park over there?<\/li>\n<li><b>You can\u00a0<\/b>go out and play after you have finished your homework.<\/li>\n<li>You\u00a0<b>can\u00a0<\/b>park on either side of the road here.<\/li>\n<li><b>Can\u00a0<\/b>I go to the movies, mom?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Note that we can also use\u00a0<b>could\u00a0<\/b>to ask for permission. It is a more polite form of\u00a0<b>can\u00a0<\/b>.<\/p>\n<ul type=\"square\">\n<li><b>Could\u00a0<\/b>I speak to Mr. John, please?<\/li>\n<li><b>Could\u00a0<\/b>I have look at your newspaper?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Cannot<\/b>\u00a0is used to refuse permission.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Can I go to the movies, mom? No, you can\u2019t.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>To make requests and offers<\/h3>\n<p><b>Can<\/b>\u00a0is used in polite requests and offers of help.<\/p>\n<ul type=\"square\">\n<li><b>Can\u00a0<\/b>you turn that music down? I am trying to work.<\/li>\n<li><b>Can\u00a0<\/b>you get me a cup of coffee?<\/li>\n<li><b>Can\u00a0<\/b>I help you with those bags?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Note that\u00a0<b>Could\u00a0<\/b>is a more polite way of making requests and offers.<\/p>\n<ul type=\"square\">\n<li><b>Could\u00a0<\/b>you help me with my homework?<\/li>\n<li><b>Could\u00a0<\/b>you lend me some money?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Can\u00a0is a modal auxiliary verb. It is followed by an infinitive without to. There is no\u00a0\u2013s\u00a0in the third person singular. I can swim. She can sing. (NOT She cans \u2026) He\u00a0can run\u00a0a mile in&#46;&#46;&#46;<\/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":[1378,2473,2474,2475],"class_list":["post-73716","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-grammar","tag-can","tag-modal","tag-modal-auxiliary-verb","tag-using-can"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/perfectyourenglish.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73716","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=73716"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/perfectyourenglish.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73716\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":73717,"href":"https:\/\/perfectyourenglish.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73716\/revisions\/73717"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/perfectyourenglish.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=73716"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/perfectyourenglish.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=73716"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/perfectyourenglish.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=73716"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}