What Are Can and Could?
Two of the most common modal verbs in English grammar are 'can' and 'could'. These two are used to talk about abilities in the future and in the present, asking for or giving permission to someone, or the probability of an incident. Look at the following examples:
She's the kind of girl that
'Can' and 'could' can also be used in question tags. Look below:
Mary cannot come,
You couldn't talk to her,
In English, these two modal verbs are used in different contexts and are common among English speakers. Here are some of the important uses of these two modal verbs:
- Talking About Ability
- Talking About Possibility
- Requesting Something
- Asking for or Giving Permission to Someone
Talking About Ability
We can use these modal verbs to talk about abilities in the present or in the future.
'Can': this modal is used to talk about abilities we have in the present moment.
As you can see, the sentence is about what he can do in the present moment.
'Could': this modal is used to talk about abilities we had in the past but we no longer do.
Here, the sentence is about how things were before.
Notice the form of the verbs after both 'could' and 'can' in the examples. The simple form of the verb for all singular or plural forms is used.
He could speak… →
Talking about Possibility
If we want to make a statement about the probability of an event in the present, or in the future, we can use both 'can' and 'could'. Pay attention to the following examples:
With all these dark clouds, it
As you can see, the sentence is about the possibility of rain at the moment.
'Can' is sometimes used to make a request, but bear in mind that it is informal and is mainly used in friendly conversations.
Remember to use 'could' when you want to make a request, politely.
Here, the request is being made in the present moment.
Asking for or Giving Permission
'Can' is used to ask for permission from someone or when we want to allow someone to do something. Carefully study the following examples: