Could and can are modal auxiliary verbs used to talk about ability and possibility. [1] Could is used to talk about ability in the past, such as "I could swim when I was 5." [2] Can is used to talk about present ability and possibility, such as "She can drive a car." [3] Both could and can take the bare infinitive form of the main verb and are invariable, having only one form.

4. Notice that:
• Could is invariable. There is
only one form of could.
• The main verb
is always the bare
infinitive.

6. • We use could to talk about what
was possible in the past, what we
were able or free to do:
• I could swim when I was 5 years
old.
• My grandmother could speak
seven languages.
• When we arrived home, we could
not open the door.
(...couldn't open the door.)
• Could you understand what he was
saying?

9. CAN
• Can is an auxiliary verb, a modal
auxiliary verb. We use can to:
• talk about possibility and ability
• make requests
• ask for or give permission
• Structure of Can
• subject + can + main verb
• The main verb is always the bare
infinitive (infinitive without "to").

10. Notice that:
Can is invariable. There is only
one form of can.
The main verb is always the bare
infinitive.

11. c a n:
Pos s i bi l i t y
a n We use can to t l a il kt ayb o u t
•
d Ab i
wh a t i s p o s s i b l e , wh a t
we a r e a b l e o r f r e e t o
do:
• She can drive a c a r .
• John can speak S p a n i s h .
• I cannot hear you. (I can't hear y o u .)
• Can you h e a r m e ?
Normally, we use can for the present. But it •
is possible to use can when w e m a k e
pr e s e nt de c i s i ons

13. can: Requests and Orders
We often use can in a question to •
ask somebody to do something.
This is not a real question - we do
not really want to know if the
person is able to do
something, we want them to do
it! The use of can in this way is
informal (mainly between friends
and family):

14. Can you make a cup of
coffee, please.
Can you put the TV on.
Can you come here a
minute.
Can you be quiet!

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