N.

B Ho indicato a quale pagina trovate le spiegazioni nel caso non fosse chiara la
fotocopia. Se no, vi basta quanto indicato.
TABELLA RIASSUNTIVA A PAG. 185

1. ABILITÀ, CAPACITÀ: potere, riuscire, saper fare, essere in grado, essere capace.

CAN – forma al presente. I can play the guitar / We can talk about that later / (pag. 186)

COULD – forma al passato abituale/ condizionale/ congiuntivo imperfetto (potrei, potevo, potessi)
I could play the guitar when I was 6 / If only I could predict the future. (pag.186)

TO BE ABLE TO - per le altre forme verbali (pag. 186)

Present perfect: I have never been able to remember dates.
Past perfect: I wish he had been able to do his homework by himself!
Simple future: If he doesn’t study he won’t (will not) be able to pass the test.
Base form: I want to be able to decide everything by myself.
-ing form: I like being able to do crosswords.
Having been able to see the house, he decided to buy it.

WAS/WERE ABLE TO – alla forma affermativa indica una abilità specifica nel passato, una capacità dimostrata in
una particolare occasione. (pag. 188). Anche Managed to ha lo stesso significato
Though he was hurt, he was able to swim safely and reach the shore.
I was able to find his house even if I didn’t know the address.

COULD è tuttavia possibile se la frase è negativa

I wasn’t able to/ couldn’t find his house since I didn’t have the address

ALTRE FORME PER ESPRIMERE CAPACITÀ: (pag.188)

TO MANAGE TO He managed to see/ he succeeded in seeing me thought there were many people.
TO SUCCEED IN Can you manage (to do that) all by yourself?
TO BE CAPABLE OF I’m perfectly capable of doing this translation!

COULD HAVE/ COULDN’T HAVE + PAST PARTICIPLE – forme passate del congiuntivo e condizionale
If only I could have imagined! / I could have made a cake, but I didn’t have a time.
Why didn’t you tell me you needed money? I could have lent you some! (pag. 324, 2^ punto)

Shall I help you? Shall we go out tonight?(pag.212)

2. RICHIESTE - pag. 191
Can I go to the bathroom? Informal – very basic
3. PERMETTERE O VIETARE - pag. 192
Of course you can/ No, I’m sorry, you can’t!
Can you open the door, please? (informal) ▲ (yes, you may forma non usata)

Could I go to the bathroom? You can/may use my portable computer.

Could you open the door , please? (+gentile)
May/Might I sit at your table? (+ formale)
▲May you help me? (forma non possibile)
Will/Would you repeat that please? (cortese)
Will/Would you stop talking in class! (irritazione)
Will you come with us? (Will I = non si usa)
Will you marry me? (invito, esortazione)
Won’t you come with us?
Do you mind waiting a second?
Would you mind looking for my car keys?
Could you possibly lend me 5 £?
I wonder if you could lend me 5 £?
Allow - My boss allows me to use the telephone for
private calls
To be allowed – You aren’t allowed to smoke in here
▲It is not allowed to smoke in here (forma
impersonale non possibile) MISTAKE!!!
SMOKING IS not allowed - correct
Students cannot smoke in the classroom
Passengers may leave the luggage in this room
Passengers must not /may not smoke during the
flight.
4. DEDUZIONI E PROBABILITÀ – SUPPOSIZIONI pag. 194 -

 Probabilità o supposizione: may, might, could, to be likely/unlikely:

My sister may arrive early tomorrow. (possibilità bassa nel presente e nel futuro)

My sister might arrive early tomorrow. (possibilità più incerta)

My sister could arrive early tomorrow. (possibilità media)

It may, might, could snow tomorrow (significati simili = Perhaps, maybe, it will snow tomorrow)

John may be studying at the moment (forma progressiva= maybe John is studying at the moment)

To be likely/unlikely → altra forma per esprimere probabilità presente e futura (pag. 219)

The weather is likely to get worse. (= The weather will probably get worse)
Ron is unlikely to be at home at this time. ( = Probably he is not at home …)

 Deduzione logica, quasi certezza: must, can’t

That must be John’s girlfriend over there. [=I’m (almost) sure that the girl over there is John’s girlfriend]

No, It can’t be her. John’s girlfriend has got dark hair. (= I’m sure she is not John’s girlfriend…..) (PAG. 320, punto 6)

Attenzione alle forme negative:

Can’t / can’t have (per il passato) esprimono sempre una impossibilità (reale o ritenuta tale)
Couldn’t = è preferibile non usarlo nelle deduzioni
May not/might not esprimono un dubbio su un fatto negativo

It can’t be him (= non può esser lui) / It may not be him (= Potrebbe non essere lui.)
They couldn’t find us= (Non sono riusciti a trovarci / They might not find us = (Potrebbero non trovarci)

 Nel caso di deduzioni e supposizioni riferite al passato si usa la forma: (pag.218)

verbo modale + have + participio passato (o verbo modale + have been +_ing per la forma progressiva)

It must have been 2 o’clock when we got home. (= I’m almost sure it was 2 o’clock when we got home)
No, it can’t have been that late! (= I’m sure it wasn’t that late!)

“Her eyes are all red. She must have been crying” (=Deve aver pianto!)
“She may/might/could have been peeling onions” (=Forse stava pelando/Può anche aver pelato cipolle)

“Why is it so wet here?” “It may/might/could have rained!” (Perché è così bagnato qui? Potrebbe aver piovuto!)

Could have/might have oltre a un suggerimento o un’ipotesi possono esprimere anche un rimprovero, o un fatto
possibile che non si è avverato:

“Hey Jim! You could/might have helped me!” (“Hey Jim! Avresti potuto aiutarmi)!
You shouldn’t have swum in the river! You could/might have drowned! (=Non avresti dovuto nuotare nel
fiume! Avresti potuto affogare!)
NB. Per tradurre l’espressione “lasciar fare qualcosa a qualcuno” si usa LET + OGG + FORMA BASE
EX. Lasciatemi spiegare – Let me explain.