Ola Amigos

Workshop: can – can’t + could – couldn’t.
Chris: could – couldn’t.
Sports in general.
Chris: Parkour.
Jose: Basketball.

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").

subjectauxiliary verb main verb
+ My grandmother could swim.
- She could not walk.
couldn't
? Could your grandmother swim?
Notice that:

Could is invariable. There is only one form of could.
The mainverb is always the bare infinitive.
The main verb is always the bare infinitive. We cannot say:

Use of Could

could: Past Possibility or Ability

We use could to talk about what was possible inthe 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 thedoor.)
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 beable 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 tosave him.
- My grandmother couldn't speak Spanish. A man fell into the river yesterday. The police couldn't save him.
could: Requests

We often use could in a question to ask somebody to dosomething. 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?

Fuck this shit !.

Can

Can is an auxiliaryverb, 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...