Can

Can is an auxiliary verb, a modal auxiliary verb. We use can to:

talk about possibility and ability

make requests
ask for or give permission

Structure of Can
subject + can + main verb
The main verb is always the bare infinitive (infinitive without "to").
subject

auxiliary verb

main verb

can

play

tennis.

He

play

tennis.

Can

play

tennis?

cannot
can't
you

Notice that:

Can is invariable. There is only one form of can.

The main verb is always the bare infinitive.

The main verb is always the bare infinitive

(infinitive without "to"). We cannot say:

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

She can drive a car.

John can speak Spanish.
I cannot hear you. (I can't hear you.)
Can you hear me ?

Normally, we use can for the present. But it is possible to use can when we make
present decisions about future ability.

A. Can you help me with my homework ? (present)

B. Sorry. I'm busy today. But I can help you tomorrow. (future)
Requests and Orders
We often use can in a question to ask somebody to do something. This is not a real
question - we do not really want to know if the person is able to do something, we
want them to do it! The use of can in this way is informal (mainly between friends
and family):

Can
Can
Can
Can

you make a cup of coffee, please.

you put the TV on.
you come here a minute.
you be quiet!

Permission
We sometimes use can to ask or give permission for something:
A. Can I smoke in this room?
B. You can't smoke here, but you can smoke in the garden.
(Note that we also use could, may, might for permission. The use of can for
permission is informal.)

Could
Could is an auxiliary verb, a modal auxiliary verb. We use could to:

talk about past possibility or ability

make requests

Structure of Could
subject + could + main verb
The main verb is always the bare infinitive (infinitive without "to").

subject

auxiliary verb

main verb

My grandmother

could

swim.

She

Could

could not
couldn't
your grandmother

walk.

swim?

Notice that:

Could is invariable. There is only one form of could.

The main verb is always the bare infinitive.

The main verb is always the bare infinitive.

We cannot say:

Use of Could
Past Possibility or Ability
We use could to talk about what was possible in the past, what we were able or
free to do:

I could swim when I was 5 years old.

My grandmother could speak seven languages.
When we arrived home, we could not open the door. (...couldn't open the
door.)
Could you understand what he was saying?

We use could (positive) and couldn't (negative) for general ability in the past. But
when we talk about one special occasion in the past, we use be able to (positive)
and couldn't (negative). Look at these examples:
Past
General

Specific Occasion

My grandmother could speak

Spanish.

A man fell into the river yesterday. The police

were able to save him.

My grandmother couldn't
speak Spanish.

A man fell into the river yesterday. The police

couldn't save him.

Requests
We often use could in a question to ask somebody to do something. The use of
could in this way is fairly polite (formal):

Could you tell me where the bank is, please?

Could you send me a catalogue, please?
Can - Could

Can and could are modal auxiliaries used to:

1. express ability.
2. express requests in the sense of a favor.
3. ask for or give permission.
The negative forms of can are cannot(just one word) or can't(the contraction).
The negative forms of could are could not or couldn't(the contraction).
Auxiliaries
We use can to express ability.

Mary can speak Chinese.

Bill can play the piano very well.
Can John drive a truck? Yes, he can.
You can learn English if you study hard.

Bill cannot go to the meeting.

Can you go to the party? No, I can't.

We use can or could to make a request which is more like asking a small favor.
This expression is usually informal. Although the expression may seem like a
question, it is not really a question. It is more like a request which is not exactly a
question.

Can you turn on the radio?

Can you bring me a cup of coffee, please?
Can you come here a second? I want to show you this.
Could you turn down the music?
Could you take a look at this newspaper article?
It is common to use can to ask permission but in an informal sense. If we want to
ask permission in a formal sense, we use may.

Can I smoke?
Can I turn on the TV?
Can I have another piece of cake?
We use could to express a past ability.

My grandfather could speak German as a child.

Bill was sick. He couldn't go to the concert.

It is common to use could in a question to ask for information or to tell a person

to do something. This form is polite and somewhat formal.

Could you tell me where the museum is, please?

Could you send me a catalog, please?
We use could as the past tense of can in indirect speech.

Mary said, "I can help you."(direct speech)

Mary told me that she could help us. (indirect speech)
We use could as a possibility as a substitution of might.

Where is Helen? She could be at home.

The ticket could be in your purse.
It could rain.
We use the structure could have + past participle to express an ablility or
opportunity of an event happening but for some reason, it did not happen.

I could have gone to the conference but I was sick.

You were lucky. You could have had an accident.
I could have played tennis yesterday but I had to go to a meeting.