EXTRA English 18 Just the Ticket
Grammatik und Übungen
Can and can’t
We use can / can't in different ways.
A Ability: These sentences indicate ability or a lack of ability.
• I can swim.
• I can't drive.
B Possibility: These sentences indicate possibility or lack of possibility.
• From this hill, you can see the ocean.
• I can't get a job.
C Permission: In these sentences, can and can't indicate that something is or is not permitted.
• You can take your dog with you on the bus.
• You can't park here.
A) Are these A, B or C sentences?
1 I can ride a motorcycle.
2 They can't get a visa to go to the USA.
3 We can't go into the park after 6 pm.
4 My sister can't cook.
5 Because of her religion, she can't eat meat on Fridays.
6 We can't use our dictionaries during the examination.
7 I can get a signal on my cell phone here.
8 No one in this class can speak Chinese.
9 We can't drive down that street – it's one-way.
10 Can we go into the classroom now?
B) Complete these sentences about the laws in your country.
You can leave school when you're 15. You can't get married until you're 16.
1 You can drive a motorbike ________ ______ . 2 You can't drive a car _______ ______ . 3 You can join the army ________ _______ . 4 You can't vote ____________ ___ . 5 You can't drink alcohol in a bar ______ _______ .
© 4Learning / Schulfernsehen multimedial 2006 1
EXTRA English 18 Just the Ticket
Grammatik und Übungen
Could and couldn’t
We also use could in different ways. This sentence indicates a possibility now or in the future.
• I could enter the contest myself.
This sentence indicates an ability in the past.
• I could read when I was five years old.
• I couldn't swim until I was 10.
A) Match the questions and answers.
1 How are we going to get there? a) I could cook some spaghetti.
2 What are we going to eat? b) No, we could go by bus.
3 Was it hard to get to school when you were c) I could only cook spaghetti.
young?
4 Could you cook before you went to catering d) I could speak a few words.
college?
5 How was your English before you came to e) We could go by this train.
school?
6 How are we going to communicate with f) We could try speaking English.
the taxi driver?
B) Complete these sentences with real information about people's abilities, now and in the past. Add two sentences of your own at the end.
1 I can ______________________ _________________
2 I can't ___________________________________ ___
3 When I was a child, I could __________ _________
4 When I was a child, I couldn't ____ _____________ (but I can now).
5 My sister/brother/best friend can ______ ________
6 … but he/she can't ___________ ________________
7 Everyone in my family can ___ _________________
8 No one in my family can _____ _________________
9 _________________________ ___________________
10 _______________________ ____________________
© 4Learning / Schulfernsehen multimedial 2006 2
