Can, Could, Can't, Couldn't - Exercises and Answers

Hello!

In today's post, I'm gonna give you some exercises, so you can pratise what we learned in the previous post. You remember it, right?

Na aula de hoje, irei postar alguns exercícios para treinar o que aprendemos na aula passada. Você se lembra, né?

1. Complete these sentences with can or can't:
a) Mark _____ play badminton fairly well, but his brother _____ play at all.
b) Marathon runners _____ normally run fast, but they _____ run for a very long time.
c) Most people _____ ride a bike but they _____ play golf.
d) You _____ play soccer in the rain, but you ____ play tennis.
e) Everybody _____ do it.
f) I _____ read this book because I forgot my glasses.

2. Use can, can't, could or couldn't:
a) Garrincha _____ dribble better than anybody.
b) Volleyball players _____ normally jump very high.
c) Until 1968, men _____ run 100 meters in less than ten seconds. Then Jim Hines broke the world record to 9.9 seconds.
d) Women still _____ run 100 meters in less than ten seconds. The world record of 10.49 seconds belongs to Florence Griffith Joyner.
e) I _____ talk very fast, but my mother _____.
f) When I was child, I _____ swim at all, but now I _____.

Answers:
1.
a) can/ can't
b) can/ can't
c) can/ can't
d) can/ can't
e) can
f) can't

2.
a) could
b) can
c) could
d) can't
e) can or can't/ can or can't
f) couldn't/ can

Now, one question
Agora, uma pergunta:

   I can talk very fast. I can't talk very fast.

"In oral language, the /t/ sound in the contraction can't is rarely noticed. So how do we know if the sentence is negative or affirmative?"

"Na linguagem oral, o som /t/ na contração can't raramente é percebido. Então, como sabemos se a frase é negativa ou afirmativa?"
Globetrekker, pg. 31, Marcelo Baccarin Costa

Pesquisem sobre isso, por favor.
Search about it, please.

Por hoje é só...
That's all for today...

See you!

Can, Could, Can't, Couldn't

What's up?

In this class, we're going to teach you the verb Can, its past and present forms, and also de negative form. We call thi kind of verb a Modal Verb. Pay close attention to it:

> The Verb Can, differently from other verbs, doesn't take the word "to", neither before nor after it. It expresses abilities and/or capabilities.
Also, for the third people singular (He/She/It), we don't add -s, -es or -ies.
Giba can play volleyball very well.
Africans can run the marathon better than anybody else.

Its negative form is Can't or Cannot:

Shaquile O'neil can't play basketball so well anymore.

In a question, Can comes before the subject:

Can you throw the discus?
What position can they play?

> Could expresses abilities and/or capabilities in the past. Its negative form is Couldn't.

In questions, Could comes before the Subject:

Mark Spitz could swim like a fish.
Could Airton Senna speak English?
I couldn't swim at all when I was a child.

+ We can use some adjectives to intensify the verb. Observe:
I couldn't swim at all. - No chance for you to do that.

0%     - not at all
20%   - a bit/ a little
40%   - quite well/ fairly well
60%   - pretty well
80%   - very well
100% - extremely well

Rodrigo Pessoa can ride a horse pretty well.
Zico could play soccer extremely well.

Adaptaded from the book Globetrekker

See you!

____________________

What's up?

Na aula de hoje, ensinarei o Verbo Poder, no passado e o presente, e sua forma negativa. Preste muita atenção:

> O Verbo Can (Poder, Conseguir), diferentemente dos outros verbos, não aceita o "To", nem antes, nem depois dele. Ele expressa habilidades e/ ou capacidades.
Para a terceira pessoa do singular, não usamos terminação em -s.
Giba can play volleyball very well.
Africans can run the marathon better than anybody else.

A Forma Negativa é Can't ou Cannot:
Shaquile O'neil can't play basketball so well anymore.

Em perguntas, Can vem antes do sujeito:
Can you throw the discus?
What position can they play?

> Could expressa habilidade/ capacidade no passado. A forma negativa é Couldn't. Pode significar Poderia, Pude, Pôde, Pudesse...

Em perguntas, Could vem antes do sujeito:
Mark Spitz could swim like a fish.
Could Airton Senna speak English?
I couldn't swim at all when I was a child.

+ Podemos usar alguns advérbios para dar intensidade ao verbo. Observe:
Quando você não pode fazer alguma coisa de nenhum jeito, você pode usar o advérbio "at all":
I couldn't swim at all.

0%     - not at all
20%   - a bit/ a little
40%   - quite well/ fairly well
60%   - pretty well
80%   - very well
100% - extremely well

Rodrigo Pessoa can ride a horse pretty well.
Zico could play soccer extremely well.

Adaptaded from the book Globetrekker

See you!