CAN OR COULD

Hello there. You know, I get this question all the time – both from my students in my classes and on
YouTube – what is the difference between ‘can’ and ‘could’?

Well, in this lesson, I will teach you the three main differences between these modal verbs and I’ll
show you how to use them correctly without making mistakes. As always, there is a quiz at the end
of the video to test your understanding.

The very first thing you should know is the basic use of ‘can’. This verb is used to show ability. Here
are some examples: I can play the guitar. He can lift heavy weights. She can beat anyone at chess!
So, all of these express ability. What about what ‘could’ then? Well, ‘could’ is just the past tense of
can. I can say: I could play the guitar when I was in school. That means, I had the ability in the past,
but now I can’t play the guitar because it’s been a long time and I’m out of practice.

Here a couple more examples: He could lift heavy weights until he had the accident. She could beat
anyone at chess in her prime! ‘In her prime’ means in her best years. Maybe when she was younger
and was playing competitively. So in these sentences – ‘can’ shows present ability, and ‘could’
shows past ability. This is the first difference between the two words. The second difference is when
we want to talk about possibility. To talk about what is possible, we normally use ‘could’ and not
‘can’. Now, imagine that you and me, we’re both waiting for a train at a train station. It’s time for the
train to arrive but we don’t see it. So I might say: Hmm, the train could be late. So I’m making a
guess about the current (or the present) situation, saying what is possible.

Here’s another one: If you don’t study, you could fail the exam. Are you sure to fail the exam? No.
You could pass. But I’m saying that it’s possible that if you don’t study, you’ll fail. Notice that this
sentence talks about future possibility. Ah, but I have a question – we just talked about present and
future possibility. Can we talk about past possibility? Yes, we can. Here’s an example: Robert could
have gotten the job if he had gone to the interview. So what do we understand from that? Well, there
was a job interview. It was possible for Robert to go to the interview and get the job. But he didn’t go.
So he didn’t get the job. Now, as I said before, we use ‘could’ in all these sentences to talk about
what’s possible in the past, present, and future, but there is one situation where you can use ‘can’
and that is when you want to talk about general possibility.

For example: You can catch a cold if you go out in the rain. Traveling across Europe can be quite
expensive. You can see that these are just general statements about what is possible in the world. In
this case, it’s OK to use ‘can’, but this use is less common. Normally, when we talk about possibility
in our lives we use ‘could’. Remember that. Alright, let’s now move on to the final use of ‘can’ and
‘could’, and this is in polite expressions when we talk to people.

There are four situations you need to know about. The first is making suggestions. For this purpose,
we use ‘could’. Here are some examples: We could try that new Italian restaurant tonight. You could
ask your sister to lend you some money. In the first sentence, I’m making a suggestion about where
we can have dinner. In the second, I’m suggesting that if you need money, why don’t you ask your
sister? Using ‘could’ just makes it very polite. The second situation is making requests. Here, both
‘can’ and ‘could’ are possible: Can you pass me the salt? Could you pass me the salt, please? Or on
the phone: Can I speak to Rahul? Could I speak to Rahul, please? Did you notice that I said ‘please’
at the end of the sentences with ‘could’? That’s because ‘could’ is more polite than ‘can’. So if you
are in a formal situation, like if you’re talking to your boss or other superior and you want to be very
polite, use ‘could’. If you’re with friends or family, then ‘can’ is fine. Our next function is making
offers: Can I get you something to drink? Could I get you something to drink, sir? Can I help you with
that? Could I help you with that, madam? Again, notice the extra politeness with ‘could’.

Finally, the last conversational situation is when we want to ask for permission. Here are some
sentences: Can I borrow your pen? Could I borrow your pen, please? Can I take the day off
tomorrow? Could I take the day off tomorrow? If you’re very friendly with your boss at work, you
would use ‘can’, but if your boss is very strict, then you would use ‘could’.

GOT AND GOTTEN

Hello and welcome. My name is Ganesh

I'm from LearnEnglishLab.com and in this lesson we're going to talk about
the difference between got and gotten. Now if you ask people, many of them including
many teachers will tell you one of two things:
they'll either tell you that got is right and gotten is wrong or they'll tell
you that got is British and gotten is American. Who is correct?

As it turns out, both of those views are kind of correct because the word gotten
is only used in American and Canadian English
it's not used in British or Australian English. Now that also means that if
you're a speaker of or if you're learning
British English or, say, New Zealand English then gotten is wrong in your
variety of English. So gotten is wrong for you
Now if you're only interested in British English or Australian English or New
Zealand English the good news for you is you don't have to worry about the word
gotten. For the rest of your life you can just use got. But if you want to learn
American English or if you want to communicate with speakers of American or
Canadian English then it's important for you to know the difference between got
and gotten.

Now let's back up for a moment and let's be clear what we're talking about
Take a look at this chart I have over here

Now as you can see for the most part this chart looks exactly the same
so in the present tense everybody says get and in the past tense as well
the common form is got. So a Brit would say "I got my salary yesterday" and an
American would also say "I got my salary yesterday"
so you see there's no difference there.
These forms are common in both the
present and the past tense the difference is when you look at the past participle form of the verb
get Here BrE means British English and in British English the past participle of
get is got and the past participle in American English is gotten - remember that
every verb has three forms present. past. past participle - like do,
did, and done. Done is that third form - that past participle form. In the same way
go, went, gone are the three forms of the verb go
so gone is the past participle. In the same way gotten is the past participle
of get in American English and got is in British English
Pretty simple right? Well actually the picture is a little more complicated
than that
Take a look at these examples: I've got interested in mountain climbing
this sentence is in British English. In American English
I've gotten interested in mountain climbing. So here we are using gotten
because this is the past participle of get. The sentences in the present perfect
tense
so we're using gotten. But take a look at this sentence
I've got a question. This is British English but in American English the
sentence is exactly the same
I've got a question. Or how about this example
Lois says she's got to leave. This is the same in British and in American English
But how can that be?
We just discussed that in American English we use gotten but I just showed
you two examples where in American English
we're using got as the past participle. Well all that confusion stems from the
fact that the verb get has many meanings
Now if you take your dictionary and you go to the entry on get
you will see many many different meanings. Well thankfully for us
we only need to worry about five meetings. Alright you'll see here that
I have another chart and I've written gotten up here and got over here
that's because when we use the verb get in any of these meanings
we use gotten. So when we say get to mean
receive or obtain something or we say get to mean become or to enter a place or
move then we use gotten as the past participle form
take a look at these examples: They've gotten a lot of complaints about their
pizzas lately now in the sentence we're using gotten to mean
receive so when I say they've gotten a lot of complaints
I mean they've received a lot of complaints about their pizzas. In this next example
Todd has gotten a lot more confident since his last presentation. Here the
meaning is become so Todd has become a lot more confident since his
last presentation. In this example: I had just gotten into my hotel room when I
heard footsteps on the corridor. Here when I say gotten into
I mean enter so I had just entered my hotel room when I heard footsteps on the
corridor
But when we use get to mean
possess like when we say 'have got': I've something or when we use get to mean
must. so I've got to go for example. In those cases we don't use gotten even in
American English we use got. Have a look at these examples: We've got two kids. Here
what I'm saying is that we have two kids. Have got is just a way of saying have in
this sentence
That's why we're not using gotten. Now this form is a little less common in
American English
we usually just say We have two kids but you can say we've got that's not wrong
and in this next example: If you want to retire at 50
you've got to start saving up now. Here got to means must or you should
so you should start saving up now or you must start saving up now
can both be used in the place of got to. In our original examples here's the
first one: I've gotten interested in mountain climbing
can you see why we're using gotten here? We're using it because I'm saying
I've become interested. In the second example
I've got a question. Now this is in American English
we're using got or rather have got to mean have: I have a question
And in the third example Lois says she's got to leave. Here got to means she has
to leave or she must leave
OK I hope that clarifies the difference between God and gotten for
you
Now let me give you a small test to see if you can use got and gotten correctly
Now on the screen I've got five sentences and your job is to fill the
blank in each one with got or gotten. Take a moment to pause this video and
think about your answers. When you're ready
resume the video and check your answers. Alright let's discuss them
Number one is: The conference room looks terrible
We've got to repaint it. We're using got here because the meaning is must or we
have to repaint it
Number two: Allen has gotten into a lot of debt in the past couple of years
because of his struggling business here we are using gotten because the meaning
here is to enter so he's entered into a lot of debt
Number three: Ruth has got a
beautiful swimming pool in her backyard
We're using got here because has got means to have so Ruth has a beautiful
swimming pool in her backyard. number four: My daughter has gotten really good
grades this year
I'm so happy. In this sentence, we're using gotten because the meaning is received
My daughter has received really good grades. And in this last sentence
I used to suck at golf but I've gotten a lot better at it now with practice. Here
we're using gotten because the meaning is become. Alright I hope you got all of
those answers correct
just remember that gotten is only used in American English. If you're learning
or speaking British English or Australian English or any other variety
just use got all the time. Alright I hope you enjoyed this lesson
I'll see you in another lesson soon