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P R E S E N T

A N D

P A S T

A B I L I T Y

Can and be able to are the most common ways of expressing ability. 1. EXPRESSING ABILITY WITH CAN I, you, PRESENT he / she / it, can we, they Positive Negative cannot / cant Question Can you swim? What can you do?

Can + infinitive is used to say that something or someone has the ability to do something now: I can help you now because I am not very busy. Can you see that bird in the tree?

and in general: We can speak French, but we cannot write it very well. His secretary can type ninety words a minute. Irene cant drive a car.

Pronunciation note: When people speak quickly it is sometimes difficult to know if they are saying can or cant. Listen to the sentence stress, that is, the words that are said most strongly.
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In positive sentences, the stress is on the infinitive after can: I can play the piano.

In negative sentences, the stress is on cant: I cant play the piano.

Practise this when you are speaking and you will find that people will understand you better.

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Could is the past form of can. In the positive form it is only used to express general past ability : Positive PAST I, you, he / she / it, could we, they Negative could not / couldnt Question Could you swim? What could you do?

My grandmother was a very intelligent woman. She could speak three languages. Peter could swim when he was just 2 years old. Fred could not do the exam because he was ill.

To talk about positive specific ability on one occasion or in a certain situation in the past, see the section on be able to. 2. EXPRESSING ABILITY WITH BE ABLE TO We use be able to + infinitive in the same way as can in the present and past tenses, but it is more formal and for this reason it is not as common in spoken English. However, be able to must be used in the tenses in which can is not possible: the future tenses and the perfect tenses. It may also be used in conditional constructions instead of can or could. To form the different tenses, the verb be must be written in the correct form. Positive am / is / are PRESENT able to was / were PAST able to PRESEN T have / has PERFECT been able to SIMPLE will be able to FUTURE Negative am / is / are not able to was / were not able to have / has not been able to will not / wont be able to Question Are you able to? What are you able to do? Were you able to? What were you able to do? Have you been able to? What have you been able to do? Will you be able to? What will you be able to do?

No animal is able to run faster than 60 miles per hour. She hasnt been able to help him study for the exam. In two years time, the baby will be able to speak perfectly.

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Lets look at the difference between could and was / were able to. a) In the negative and question, both forms may be used in most situations. Could is preferred as it sounds more natural and less formal: Henry could not find his car keys, so he could not drive to work. Henry was not able to study at university because his parents were not able to pay for it. Could the police find the criminal? No, they couldnt.

b)

In the positive form, you have to decide if the past ability was general or on one specific occasion / in a certain situation: General Ability Jack could run faster than anybody when he was at school. Jack was able to run faster than anybody when he was at school. Ability on particular occasion Jack was able to run faster than anyone else in the race, and he won it. Jack could run faster than anyone else in the race, and he won it.

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A S K I N G

Q U E S T I O N S

1. BASIC RULES FOR MAKING QUESTIONS. To form a question you need to follow two basic steps: a) b) if there is an auxiliary verb present, change the word order. if there is no auxiliary verb (be, have, can, could, will, etc.) in the construction or tense that you are using, add do / does / did. (See the section on Subject Questions for exceptions). Is she reading? Will he go shopping later?

She is reading. He will go shopping later.

In these examples it is not necessary to use does because there is already an auxiliary present in both cases. So, all you have to do is change the word order: invert the subject and the auxiliary verb. Below are some more examples of this type of question: She can play the piano. I have been to London. John was eating a sandwich. Can she play the piano? Have you been to London? What was John eating?

When you use a full verb, that is, a verb form that does not have an auxiliary verb (run, write, play, see, study, walk, etc.), to make the question you need do / does in the present simple tense and did in the past simple (in the same way as you need a form of do to make the negative). You do not need to change the word order, simply place the form of do before the subject. Next, change the verb to its infinitive form, this means that if the verb is in the present - no s with he / she / it. If it is in the past simple, change it to its infinitive form - no ed. I like travelling. She teaches at the school. Philip went to Athens last week. Do you like travelling? 3 Does she teach at the school? 3 Where did Philip go last week? 3

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Be careful not to make the following typical mistakes: I like travelling. Like you travelling? 7 She teaches at the school. *Does she teaches at the school? 7 Philip went to Athens last week. Where went Philip last week? 7 *A common error in the third person singular ( he / she / it) is to forget that the auxiliary does performs the work of the verb and therefore you do not need to put an s on the main verb. 2. YES / NO QUESTIONS. These are questions with the answer YES or NO: Do you like fish? Have you got a car? Did you walk to work today? Can you swim?

You can answer these questions with a Short Answer. The short answer is formed with Yes or No and the auxiliary verb that is used in the question: a) With do / does / did b) Do you want a drink? doesnt. Did she go out last night? Yes, she did / No, she did not / didnt. Yes, I do / No, I do not / dont. Does Robert live in Paris? Yes, he does / No, he does not /

With other auxiliary verbs Have you got a car? Can you drive? Yes, I have / No, I have not / havent. Yes, I can / No, I cannot / cant.

Have you seen Titanic? Yes, I have / No, I have not / havent. Will you be late home? Yes, I will / No, I will not / wont Were you born here? Yes, I was / No, I was not / wasnt.

Note: It is important to note that it sounds impolite, or expresses a lack of interest, to answer simply Yes or No, without the auxiliary at the end.

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The positive short answer cannot be formed with a contraction: Yes, shes Yes, Im No, she isnt Yes, she is Yes, I am No, Im not

The negative short answer can be formed with a contraction:

1. WH- QUESTIONS This is the name for questions that have a question word (who, what, why, etc.) at the beginning. They are formed in the same way as other types of questions: the question word goes at the beginning and the auxiliary verb is placed before the subject. Where does Peter study English? Here is a list of question words: Example Where...? What? How...? *Which...? When...? Why...? Who...? *Whose...? Where do you work? What is there for lunch? How did you find the money? Which car is hers? When are you going on holiday? Why does he always arrive late? Who is she talking to? Whose book is this?

*Which is usually used in preference to what when there is a limited selection. Compare: What are we going to have for tea? Which cake would you like for tea?

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*Whose refers to possession and means of whom. Whose car is this? 2. HAVE AND HAVE GOT Lets look at the difference between have and have got. Note the correct forms of these two verbs: to have is a full verb that expresses possession and needs the auxiliary do / does / did to form questions and short answers: Do you have any children? Yes, I do / No, I dont. have got does not need the auxiliary do to form questions or short answers because it is an auxiliary. Have you got any children? Yes, I have / No, I havent. Its Jeremys car.

Note:

Be careful not to confuse do as an auxiliary verb with the general verb to do: Where do you live? (auxiliary) She does a lot of homework on Saturdays. (general) 3. SUBJECT QUESTIONS There is one case when you do not use do, does or did in the present simple or past simple questions. This occurs with the question words what, which, whose and who when they are the SUBJECT of the question. Subject questions are those that ask about the person or thing that is doing the action: Example: Somebody broke the vase. subject object Who broke the vase? subject object

The question asks about the person who broke the vase. The person is the subject.

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Compare these subject and object questions in the table below: Subject who what which whose Who loves Peter? subject object What happened last night? subject Which bus goes to the market? subject Whose son comes to class? subject Object Who does Peter love? object subject What do you want for dinner? object subject Which sweet do you want? object subject Whose son did you see? object subject