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    Can - Cannot - Can't

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    ledrac
    Can is a modal verb used to express ability or possibility. It is the same for all subjects and does not take an 's' in the third person. To form the negative, "not" is added after can to make "cannot" or the contracted form "can't". Questions are formed by changing the position of the subject and auxiliary verb, with the main verb remaining in the infinitive without "to". Can is also used impersonally to refer to people in general with sentences like "You can see..." rather than a specific person.

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    Can - Cannot - Can't

    Uploaded by

    ledrac
    16 views3 pages
    Can is a modal verb used to express ability or possibility. It is the same for all subjects and does not take an 's' in the third person. To form the negative, "not" is added after can to make "cannot" or the contracted form "can't". Questions are formed by changing the position of the subject and auxiliary verb, with the main verb remaining in the infinitive without "to". Can is also used impersonally to refer to people in general with sentences like "You can see..." rather than a specific person.

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    Can is a modal verb used to express ability or possibility. It is the same for all subjects and does not take an 's' in the third person. To form the negative, "not" is added after can to make "cannot" or the contracted form "can't". Questions are formed by changing the position of the subject and auxiliary verb, with the main verb remaining in the infinitive without "to". Can is also used impersonally to refer to people in general with sentences like "You can see..." rather than a specific person.

    Copyright:

    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    16 views3 pages

    Can - Cannot - Can't

    Uploaded by

    ledrac
    Can is a modal verb used to express ability or possibility. It is the same for all subjects and does not take an 's' in the third person. To form the negative, "not" is added after can to make "cannot" or the contracted form "can't". Questions are formed by changing the position of the subject and auxiliary verb, with the main verb remaining in the infinitive without "to". Can is also used impersonally to refer to people in general with sentences like "You can see..." rather than a specific person.

    Copyright:

    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
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    Can - Cannot - Can't

    Can is a modal verb. Can is used to express ability or to say that something is possible. Can is the same for all subjects. We don't add an 'S' in the third person (like other verbs) The verb that comes after Can is in the infinitive without to:

    I can speak Spanish. (= it is possible for me to speak Spanish = I have the ability to speak Spanish) He can swim well. We can see my neighbour in the garden. They can play the guitar.

    Negative

    To form the negative we add "not" after can to form one word: cannot. We can also contract the negative to form can't. (can't = cannot)

    I cannot play the piano. We can't go to the cinema tonight. She cannot speak French very well. He can't drive a car.

    Questions

    To from the question we change the position of the subject and the auxiliary verb. The main verb is still in the infinitive without to.

    Where can I buy an ice-cream? Can I go to the party, please? Can you speak Japanese? What can we do on Saturday?

    Remember that you can use short answers:


    Can I sit here please? Yes, you can. Can you speak Chinese? No, I can't.

    Impersonal Can

    Sometimes You can and Can you? are impersonal and refer to people in general.

    You can see many stars at night from here. (= people in general can see many stars)

    It doesn't necessarily refer to you but people in general.

    You can't run naked in the middle of the street.

    Not necessarily saying YOU can't run naked in the middle of the street but in general it is not possible for anyone.

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