Hi guys! I'm Arnel, and today we're going to look at CAN COULD BE ABLE TO.
Can and Could - these two words are like a giant umbrella because they
cover so many different things. We have ability, possibility, permission, suggestions, requests,
offers. So we're going to look at all of these and I'll speak about 'be able to' here
and there. Before we get started with all of this, we need to look at two important things.
Can and Could are modal verbs. Can and Could can be confusing because they often mean the
same thing. The differences are between past and present, informal and formal, strong and weak.
In English we have - can could may might must would will
should and shall. Modal verbs are like a special verb club because they have their own rules.
First, modal verbs are always followed by that bare infinitive. The bare infinitive is verb
number one, without TO. give gave given, 'give' is my verb number one. I could dance all night.
I could dancing. I could to dance. He could dances. Even if your subject is he she or it,
we use that bare infinitive. He could dances - he could dance. Let's look at the negatives.
As you can see the full forms cannot could not are mainly used in writing
.If you're speaking, just contract: can't
couldn't. And you can see, cannot is written as one word and could not as written as two.
can can can - these are the strong forms you can hear these are very full, very clear but normally
when we're speaking naturally it sounds like we're completely removing that vowel sound. cn. I can do
it. I cn do it .You can do it. You can do it. We can do it. So in this lesson you might hear me say
CAN if I'm trying to be very clear but you'll also hear me say cn if I'm speaking quickly.
can't can't can't
Could. Notice the L is silent - could could couldn't couldn't couldn't
Okay let's move on to the uses. So here on the side you can see, I have all the different uses
for can and could. And I know it might look a bit small, but don't worry this is just so we
can organize the lesson. Let's begin with ability. Ability is our skills our talents.
Present: I can run 15 miles. I can't run 15 miles. Can you run 15 miles? Do you can run 15 miles?
What's the past of can? Could. When I was a teenager, I
could run 15 miles. I couldn't run 15 miles. Could you run 15 miles? Did you could run 15 miles?
Okay and I'm sure we've all had this experience on Skype or Zoom. Hi,
can you hear me? Can you see me? Yeah i can hear you, I can see you. Everything is clear.
Now i can't hear you...
and now she's she's frozen. Again ability. Can and could are not only for people, we can use them for
things as well. Container ships can carry a lot of cargo. Container ships can't move on land.
Old cell phones couldn't take pictures. I mean, they they couldn't really do anything
and that looks like my first phone. Well
actually, this was my first phone. It was great, I never had any problems.
So we have present ability past ability. What about be able to? Be able to gives us more
flexibility and it means the same thing as can and could. It has the same meaning. Let's take a look.
Will you be able to fix this? Being able to speak two languages is useful.
I would like to be able to sing. You can see here 'be able to' gives me more options.
I can use be able to with will. Will you can fix this? That doesn't work.
Canning to speak two languages.. canning speak two languages... that doesn't work. I would like
to can sing. So normally we use can and could to speak about our abilities and the abilities
of different things, but you can see here be able to can give you more options grammatically
We can't move on to possibility yet. Let's get a little bit more specific.
We know could is used for past abilities.
Here is one of my earlier examples: When I was a teenager I could run 15 miles no problem.
Here I'm talking about ability in general, things I could do in the past whenever I wanted to.
I could run 15 miles in the morning, in the afternoon, in my sleep haha! But if someone
had the ability to do something one time in an affirmative sentence use a different expression.
A man was trapped under a car and a young boy was able to lift the car to free the man.
Wow. a=A young boy managed to lift the car ...good. A young boy could lift the car.
Not so natural. Let's compare again - general past ability: 15 years ago
I could speak German. I could speak German in the morning, in the afternoon, in my sleep.
One time past ability: We all worked together and were able to finish the homework early. Yes.
Managed, we all worked together and managed to finish the homework early. Good.
...could finish the homework early. Not so natural.
Possibility. stronger possibility /weaker possibility.
Can Could. Both of them refer to the present. If we want to speak about the future,
we normally use could. So in this case COULD is not about the past.
Do you need me? I can be at your house in 30 minutes - strong possibility.
What is this supposed to be? I don't know, it it could be a painting of
the ocean, maybe. You can see - weaker possibility. You're on the phone: Hello, I'd like
to cancel the tickets I have to the performance on the fifth. Okay, I can give you a full refund
or I can give you a gift card to use at a later date. You can see here - two possibilities.
I don't want to put any cream on my rash because it could get worse. I'm not a doctor.
This is a maybe. What's a rash? A rash is a red mark you get on your skin because of some
some type of irritation. You don't want a rash nobody, wants a rash.
That ham sandwich can't be Elena's. She's a vegetarian - impossible. Earlier in the lesson
I said: Can and could can be confusing because they often mean the same thing .We often use can
for strong possibilities because they are true in general and because of personal experience.
Holidays like Christmas can be stressful.
So you can see COULD is is softer, it's a little weaker. That's why we use could for
suggestions. We use could because we're suggesting something, we're not demanding something.
I don't know what to do with all these old clothes.
You could donate them.
I hate sitting next to the AC. I get so cold. We could switch desks, I don't mind.
Mini review: can present ability, could past ability, be able to both,
a little bit more flexible. Can stronger possibility, could weaker possibility, could
suggestions. Now I'm sure some of you are thinking: What about past possibilities?
Sabrina could have gone home. Oh no, I could have deleted that email by mistake. could have plus
past participle. The past participle is verb number three. Could have go, could have went,
no could have gone. Gone is my past participle. Here i mean maybe this happened in the past.
You can see I'm not so sure. I'm 50% sure. You could have been killed! Never cross the street
looking at your phone. I could have gone to the party, but I decided to stay home.
Could have plus past participle. Here I mean this was a past possibility, but it did not happen.
This person wasn't killed by a car, but it was a possibility. I didn't go to the party,
but it was a possibility. So two meanings. Could have + past participle. One: something that
maybe happened in the past.. Two: something that didn't happen, but was a possibility.
And in the negative - I don't think that's true. I heard Lena called me fat. What?
She couldn't have said that. Lena is the nicest person I know. Okay, if you want to know more
about past modal verbs, I have a video which covers all of them. I'll put the link here...
.. or is it here? I've never added a link to a video so somewhere around here there
should be a link. Let's move on to permission. Permission - you're asking someone: Is this okay?
In terms of rules and laws? Child to mom: Can I have some chocolate? Yes you can, No you can't.
Student to teacher: Can we use our phones in class? Yes you can, no you can't.
CAN, kind of like possibility, it's stronger and it's more informal. So can is not rude, it's not
impolite, it's just very casual. How do we make this a little bit more formal? Change it to could.
Imagine you go to someone's house for the first time. Could I use your bathroom? Yes, you could.
Yes you could. When we give permission or refuse permission we use can and can't. Could
I use your bathroom? Yes you can, no you can't. Imagine you message your boss and you write:
Could I leave work early on Wednesday? Yes you can, no you can't.
Okay normally when we refuse permission we don't say 'no you can't'. It's grammatically correct,
but it's very direct we would usually explain why something isn't allowed.
Excuse me, can I take this chair? Sorry I need it. No I'm afraid it's taken.
We would be a little bit softer We wouldn't really say 'no you can't'.
I can't play that game. This could mean ability - I can't play that game. It's in Spanish. I can't
speak Spanish. This could mean possibility - I can't play that game. I need a password. I don't
have a password. It's not possible. This could also mean permission - I can't play that game.
My mom says I'm too young. I have to wait until I'm 13. So if you're reading something or if
you're watching a movie and you hear can or could, don't just focus on that one sentence .Look at
everything around it and this will really help you. Great, let's keep going. Let's move on to
offers, and I think by this point you might already know the rules.
Can and could, which one can I use for a stronger offer?
Can. Which one for a kind of weaker, softer offer? Could. That's right. Can I help you?
You look really busy. I wasn't at the meeting yesterday. Is there anything I need to know?
Oh i can send you the minutes. I think there are a few things you need to look at.
Minutes? What are minutes? Of course you know one minute is 60 seconds. But minutes in a
business sense are the notes someone writes during a meeting. You can see in this picture the lady is
taking minutes. Today Janine is taking minutes. Whose turn is it to take minutes next week?
Minutes are useful because of course they can be saved and emailed to everyone. Usually
only one person in a meeting takes minutes. A bit softer, a bit weaker - I could water your plants
for you while you're on vacation. Great, last one, last one there: requests. Informal? Formal?
Can or could? Which one do you think is informal? Can you close the window please?
Can you mail this letter for me? Could you possibly send me the link?
Wow there's been a lot of information in this lesson so I'm going to end with a joke.
Student: Excuse me, Mr Wilson. Can I go to the bathroom?
I don't know. Can you? Okay, so this joke is very silly, it's very immature, isn't it?
Let me explain it, and this can be used in any situation
:Can I go to the bathroom? Can I ask you a question? Can I use your phone? The first
person is using can in terms of permission - Can I go to the bathroom? The second person
is joking and is translating can into ability, as in do you have the ability to go to the bathroom?
So if you didn't like this joke, it's not my joke. But i hope you liked this video,
I hope it was useful. Thank you very much for watching and I'll see you next time. Byyyyeeee!!!