13 January 2012 / by Radmila Gurkova

Can...Auxiliary Verb subject + can + main verb

Can is an auxiliary verb, a modal verb:



  • talk about possibility and ability

  • make requests

  • asking for or giving permission


Can is invariable. CAN does not change. Remember that:

  • The main verb is always the bare infinitive.


Bare infinitive NEVER use CAN with TO

Correct - I can play the guitar

NOT - I can to play the guitar


Use of Can


can: Possibility and Ability


We use can to talk about what is possible, what we are able or free to do:

  • She can speak french

  • Peter can play the guitar


We can use CAN in the future

  • Sorry I cannot meet you today. But tomorrow I can come to the office


We use can for requests and orders (informal). We can use this to ask someone to do something.



  • Can you make a cup of tea, please.

  • Can you be quiet, please.


When we ask or give permission Can is informal



  • Can I go to the toilet?

  • You can go now.



Structure of Can


subject + can + main verb

I can swim

Can you swim?

I cannot swim or I can't swim


TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE



Click here to watch a video related to this issue.

10

April 2015
Be brainy: Multiple intelligences theory
by Vincent Chieppa
...
Read More...

07

April 2015
It's never too late to learn how to teach
by Elena Riches
As we grow older it’s all very easy to sit and wonder why we didn't do certain things before it became ‘too late’.  And whenever I hear people say, ‘I wish I’d done this’ my response is always, “What’s stopping you from doing it now?”, a question that usually stops a person in their tracks and makes them think. ...
Read More...

03

April 2015
How to... set up audio-visual discussion topics
by Vincent Chieppa
...
Read More...

30

March 2015
What is intonation and why teach it?
by Elena Riches
What is intonation? The term 'intonation' refers to the linguistic use of pitch to convey meaning of a sentence and/or word and during your life as a TEFL teacher you will come across students who will have difficulty using intonation and stress in the correct manner - this means they may not...
Read More...

27

March 2015
Task-based language teaching: 6 tools for task force teachers
by Vincent Chieppa
...
Read More...

24

March 2015
'Schwa' - unstressed syllables
by Elena Riches
Before I was taught how to teach English, by Oxbridge TEFL, I had no idea that the word "schwa" existed. Today, I'm writing about the 'schwa', which isn't (incidentally) about the pronunciation of words such as 'Schwartz' and 'Schwarzkopf'...it's about ...
Read More...

20

March 2015
New teaching techniques: Sparking inspiration
by Vincent Chieppa
The era of “chalk and talk” is over.  We as teachers know that we need to incorporate new teaching techniques seeing that nowadays simply presenting information to our students is just not enough.  Students have to engross themselves in what they are being taught, they need to discover the worth of what we teach them and it is our job to igni...
Read More...

17

March 2015
ESL - Common Mistakes Students Make
by Elena Riches
In my last blog post I listed a few 'false friends' - English words that students confuse with words from their own language - in this one, I'm going to talk about common mistakes. Every single day, at least one student ...
Read More...

12

March 2015
Games people play: No-prep ESL games for all ages
by Vincent Chieppa
...
Read More...

10

March 2015
False Friend
by Elena Riches
For anyone who's never taught English or taken an advanced English course, you could be forgiven for assuming that a 'false friend' is someone who pretends to like you when they don't. However, a false friend is in fact a word or phrase in two languages or dialects (or letters in two alphabets) that look...
Read More...
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20