Ability – Can & Could

We use Can and Could to talk about ability.

According to the website dicionário Cambridge, “ability” means to able of doing something, a talent ( physical, mental ) to do something.

Such as the ability or swimming, cooking, driving, etc.

Can and Could are auxiliary verbs known as modal verbs, their function is to indicate the ability to do something or not.

• Bianca can swim.
• Andy can’t sing.
• Ana’s kids could play musical instruments.
• I couldn’t drive well.

Present ability

Affirmative form

We use the modal verb “Can“ to talk about ability in the present tense. The structure of the sentence is:

Subject    +    can   + verb

Examples:

• Marianne and I can speak Italian.
• My daughter can dance beautifully.
• Karl can run fast.
• Cats can jump walls.
• My mom can cook.

Past ability

Affirmative form

To talk about past abilities, we use the modal verb Could.

Subject    +    could   + verb

Examples:

• Simon could speak before he was one year old.
• My grandmother could knit beautiful sweaters.
• I could drive when I was 17 years old.
• The students could speak English during the trip.
• Sarah could dance when she was 10.

Can & Could – Negative form

To express the lack of ability or difficulty to do something we use the negative form of Can and Could.

Subject + can/could + NOT + verb

Examples:

• Fish can’t fly.
• Tortoises can’t run fast.
• I can’t read in Greek.
• Brian couldn’t play basketball when he was a kid.
• Ellen’s sister couldn’t drive before.
• My brother couldn’t do karate until now.

Cannot = Can’t

Could not = Couldn’t

Can & Could – Interrogative form

To make questions just put the auxiliar at the beginning of the sentence:

Can / Could + subject + verb + complement

• Can you speak Italian?
• Can the boys play soccer?
• Can dogs fly?
• Could David swim?
• Could they cook well?
• Could Jackie drive before?

Do you need help with another grammar subject?

• Subject Pronouns
• Verb to be
• Articles A An The
• Possessive Adjectives
• WH Questions
• Possessive Case
• There is There are
• Prepositions In On At
• Adverbs of Frequency
• Plural
• Simple Present
• Time
• Some Any
• Much Many
• Demonstratives
• Imperatives
• Comparatives

Let’s practice!

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