Page 64 - Basic English Usage

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Can has no infinitive or participles. When necessary, we use other
words.
I'd like to be able to stay here.(NOT ... te-ean-siay ...)
You'll be able to walk soon. (NOT -¥errHtear .. . )
I've always been able to play games well. (NOT +ve-atways-eould .. .)
|'ve always been allowed to do what | liked.
(NOT +ve-always-eoutd ...)
Could is the ‘past tense’ of can. But we use could to talk about the past,
present or future (see 78-80).
{could read when! was four. You could be right.
Could | see you tomorrow evening?
Could also has a conditional use.
! could marry him if | wanted to.
= /t would be possible for me to marry him .. .)

Contracted negative forms (see 90) are can't (/ka:nt/) and couldn't *
(/kodnt/).
Cannot is written as one word.
For ‘weak’ and ‘strong’ pronunciations of can, see 358.
w Can and could are used in several ways. The main uses are:

fp to talk about ability
FF to talk about possibility

0 to ask, give and talk about permission
ao
to make offers and requests, and to tell people what to do.
For details, see the following sections.

78 can and could: ability

Present
We use canto talk about present or ‘general’ ability.
Lock! lean doit!!eandoit! | ean read Italian, but | ean’t speak it.

Future
We use will be able to to talk about future ability.
ll be able to speak good English in a few months.
One day people will be able to go to the moon on holiday.
We use canif we are deciding now about the future.
/ havent got time today, but | can see you tomorrow.
Can you come to a party on Saturday?