this is New York in slow English today I
want to talk to you about six different
ways that we use the verb can this is a
modal verb and sometimes it's a little
bit confusing hi my name is Connie and
before we begin please be sure to click
on the subscribe button I went to
Hoboken New Jersey a few days ago to
visit a friend and go out to dinner and
while we were talking I noticed that we
were using the word can a lot so I have
quite a few examples to show you I'm
here with my friend Marta and I'm hoping
that she can explain to us about what
makes Hoboken such a special place to
live the first way that we use the word
can is to say ability in this first
example I'm saying I hope that she can
explain or in other words I'm hope I'm
hoping that she is able to explain
Hoboken is very easy to get to from
Manhattan you can take the ferry or you
can take the PATH train or you can take
a bus so there are various parts of the
city of Hoboken or the town of Hoboken
that you can get to buy different forms
of transportation you can take the ferry
or you can take the PATH train or you
can take a bus all of these are examples
of ability in other words you could put
the words you are able to and the
sentence would still make sense use
number two for the word can is
permission we have two dogs beloved dogs
and you can walk them endlessly on leash
and you can also find a dog park where
you let them off the leash where they
can have a rumpus with their dog pals in
this case it's the city of Hoboken who
has given permission to its residents to
walk their dogs on a leash or they can
go to a dog park where they have
permission to let their dogs run free a
rumpus is a really fun word about having
a like a noisy argument or a big fight
but sort of in a fun way and the word
pal is an informal word for friend it's
something that you would use when you're
talking about your very close friends
are your pals the third way that we use
the word can is to show possibility it
can be very beautiful to live on the
river the light in the morning or to see
the moonlight coming across shimmering
across however it can also storm here we
had hurricane sandy in which case living
along the river proved to be fairly
devastating and treacherous so that can
be a little nerve-racking she's chosen
to use can in the present tense here
indicating to me that she thinks this is
a real possibility if she had decided to
use the word could here then she would
be introducing a lot more uncertainty
into what she is saying the expression
nerve-racking is a pretty common
expression and it means something that
makes you feel very stressed or a very
stressful situation or something that is
maybe very frightening
what happened well the water just
decided to come on into town luckily our
house wasn't affected but we did lose
power but there was for example a
sailboat that was deposited onto an ear
I Street upon which someone wrote global
warming is real can I ask you a question
the fourth way that we use can is when
we make a request now this is related to
permission right because permission is a
statement giving you the right to do
something and a request is the is the
question asking if you have permission
so they're related where do you think we
should go for dinner tonight the fifth
way that we use can is for suggestions
now this is also related to possibility
but the interesting thing about
suggestions is this happens when you are
giving your opinion there's a lot of
possibilities we can go for pizza for
which Hoboken is famous or we could go
to a fancier spot like Amanda's for
delicious food or the steak house up on
14th Dean and Harry's I like Amanda's
because it's cozy there's another
possibility which is we could go to
Augustine O's which is a super old-world
Italian place but you sometimes have to
be connected to get in this case she
begins by saying we can go for pizza
she is indicating here that this is a
very easy and very likely thing for us
to do she then starts talking in the
past tense why does she do this it's
because she's introducing a little bit
more doubt and at this point she
switches from can to could notice how in
her last example she uses the word could
indicating that there's a little bit of
doubt in her mind and in this case she
really stresses that word hard
indicating that there's even more doubt
and even less of a possibility that we
will go to this restaurant for dinner so
before we go to dinner I wonder if you
could give me a hand
here she is using number four requests
but notice what she does here she begins
by saying I wonder if she introduces
this as a question which makes this
request much softer and then she uses
the word could because she's asking me a
favor and she wants to make sure that
she is very very polite when she asks it
I need to bring a bunch of packages in
from my car sure I can help you with
that fizz six the way that we use can is
to make an offer this is very closely
related to request right because
requests are the question and the offer
is often the answer in this case I
offered her help to unload her car
before we left for dinner she told me
the incredible story of the day when the
plane crashed into the Hudson River and
the pilot Sully Sullenberger landed it
and everybody lived there were no
injuries
it was then made into a movie starring
Tom Hanks maybe you've seen it the plane
I guess the insulin there was an engine
failure which I believe they attributed
to Canada Goose yeah I think it was
burped and I think it was maybe more
than one because both engines gave out
and Sully Sullenberger landed the plane
in the Hudson River I was coming out of
New York City and as soon as I got out
of the Lincoln Tunnel there was a
massive traffic I parked my car and
heard what was going on
and I thought can I see this I ran over
to the river and I could and they
actually used the waterways ferries to
rescue people who were jumping out of
the plane into the river this is a very
interesting example to me because I'm
not really certain what she's trying to
say here when she says first can I see
this and I ran over to the river and I
could I'm not really certain if she's
saying can I see this
meaning ability in other words was it so
crowded that I wouldn't be able to get
close to the river and see it or was she
saying can I see this because of
permission meaning did the police have
the whole area blockaded and no one was
allowed in to see I'm not really sure
which of these she was saying
interestingly she has chosen to use
direct speech in the first half when she
says can I see this and past tense in
the second half which was I ran over to
the river and I could this is an
interesting combination that she
selected and it makes her story a little
bit more vivid when she used the present
tense by the time we finished talking
the Sun was setting and the view was
absolutely magnificent
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I'll see you next time on New York in
slow English