Can    assistir ao vídeo Lesson 3 Basic Can 'poder' físico e 'poder' mental; ou ainda permissão informal. Poder físico: I can walk - Posso andar; Poder mental: I can speak English - Sei falar inglês; Permissão informal: Can I come in? - Posso entrar? Nas negativas podemos usar can para sugerir proibição: You can not go in there - Você não pode entrar aí. exercises Q&A = Question and answer Lesson 4 Could Advanced In everyday conversation, can is used much more commonly than may to talk about permission: You can go now (=you are allowed to go). Some people say that may is more correct, however its use tends to be limited to formal contexts. When talking about permission in the past, people often use was/were allowed to or change the sentence and use let: He was allowed to leave at 10.] I let him leave at ten (=I allowed him to go and he did). When you are asking permission, could (also might, especially in American English) is often used instead of can because it seems less direct and more polite: Could I borrow your car? May is more formal, and is used especially by officials. For example, at an airport: May I see your passport, madam? In everyday English people often say Do/would you mind if... or Is it all right if... when asking permission: Do you mind if I smoke? Can is also used to say that you have the ability to do something: I can swim now (=I am able to swim). To talk about something you will have the ability to do in the future, you use will be able to: I'll be able to speak better if I practise more. For past ability either could or was/were able to is used, but sometimes with slightly different meaning. Could often suggests more someone's ability that they had for some time (but perhaps did not use): I could swim when I was eight (I knew how to) She couldn't buy a ticket (=She didn't have enough money). Was/were able to may suggest more that the situation allowed someone to do something (perhaps with effort): By arriving at two I was able to swim for an hour (=The pool was open long enough to allow this). I wasn't able to buy a ticket (=There were none left / I didn't manage to get one). Used to be able to is used to talk about something that you could do before, but can no longer do now: He used to be able to run a 100 metres in under 10 seconds, but he's getting a bit old these days. When you are talking about something that is not certain, you often use may, or, with more doubt, might or could: The road may / might / could be blocked (=Perhaps / It is possible the road is blocked) The road could be blocked (=It is possible to block the road). For past time may have / might have / could have are used: There may have been an accident (=Perhaps there was an accident). Might or could have would be more often used here when we now know that there was no accident. Can is usually used to ask whether something is possible: Can this really be true? (=Is it possible this is true?) and to say that something is not possible: That can't be true. Again could shows more doubt (and is commoner in American English): Could that really be true? Can is often used with verbs related to the senses and the mind, such as see, hear, feel, believe: Look at this photo - can you see somebody famous in it? Remember can, could, may and might are never used with the 'to' infinitive of a verb: I can help you (NOT Ican to help you). home