Some Important Uses of Can
Definition of can:
Can is called a modal verb. It doesn't have all of the tenses that verbs usually have. It has the simple past tense could, but no past participle. We use can frequently in our daily life conversation . So we must know at least the main uses of it.
Normally can refers to ‘be able to' / ‘ be permitted to' etc.
I can speak Spanish. ( ability)
You can go to park now if you want. ( permission)
Affirmative (+) Form:
Subject + can + base form of verb + extension.
I can listen some music now.
Jubayer can run very fast.
Note: Can is never used with another modal verb.
He can might hear the music from his room. or He might can hear the music from his room.( these sentences are wrong).
Negative (–) Form:
Subject + cannot + base form of verb + extension.
I cannot hear your voice.
I cannot believe you said that!
Note: The negative form of can is can’t / cannot. We never use don’t/doesn’t/didn’t with can.
I don’t can believe you said that!
Question (?) Form:
Can + subject + base form of verb + extension+?
Can I go outside now?
Can it really be true?
Can't you ask for another day off work?
*We can use can and can't in question tag
You can’t take photos inside the museum, can you?
Abby can speak Japanese, can’t she?
Permission:
We often use can to ask for or give permission:
Can I take Daisy and Dolly for a walk?
Students can use calculators during the exam.
*We use can’t to forbid (say what you must not do)
You can’t park there.
You can’t just take the day off work. You have to have permission in advance.
Ability:
We often use can to talk about ability to do something in the present or future:
I can sing English and Urdu song well.
He can lift 100 kg.
I can walk 10 miles a day.
*We often use can with verbs of perception such as hear, see, smell, taste, and mental process verbs such as guess, imagine, picture, understand and follow (in the sense of ‘understand’):
I can hear you.
Can you smell something burning?
I can guess why you’re angry.
I can feel your pain.
General Truth:
We use can to talk about things which we think are usually, but not always, true:
Reducing cholesterol through diet can be difficult. (It’s not always difficult for everyone, but in general it is difficult.)
Fireworks can frighten pets.
Swans can be very vicious.
Possibility:
We use can to express possibility or to question possibilities:
We can visit to Rome in June because both of us have a week off work. (It is possible for us to go to Rome because we don’t have to work in June.)
How can you be on a diet if you eat so much fast-food? (I don’t think it’s possible that you are on a diet because you still eat lots of fast-food.)
Guessing and predicting: can’t as the negative of must:
When we want to guess or predict something, we use can’t as the negative form of must. We use can’t have + past participle form of verb as the negative form of must have + past participle form of verb.
Can’t and can’t have + -past participle form of verb express strong possibility:
Nitu: Who owns this red coat? It must be yours.
Mitu: It can’t be mine. It’s too big. (A uses must to guess that the coat belongs to B. He sees this as a strong possibility. B uses can’t to express strong negative possibility. The coat is too big, so it isn’t his.)
A:Roy must have made a lot of money.
B:He can’t have done. He doesn’t even own a house. (A makes a deduction that Roy has made a lot of money. B sees this as very unlikely and so expresses it as a negative possibility.)
Requests:
We use can as a question form to make requests:
Those cakes look so good. Can I try one?
Can I have your surname?
Can you help me to solve this math?
Can give me a pencil?
Reproaches:
We use can’t as a question form to ask people to stop doing something we don’t want them to do, or to do something they are not doing which we want them to do:
Can’t you stop making that awful noise?
Can’t you go to market alone?
Why can’t you just be nice to her instead of upsetting her?
Offers:
We use can as a question form to make offers:
Can I help you lift that?
Can we do anything for you?
Typical Errors:
- We write cannot or can't as one word.
- Never write can not / cant .
The children cannot be left unsupervised at any time.
Not: The children can not be left unsupervised at any time or the children cant be left ...........