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Modal auxiliary verb

“CAN”
(https://englishstudypage.com/grammar/modal-verbs-can/)

Meaning
This modal auxiliary in Indonesian language means “mampu/dapat/bisa/boleh”

MODAL VERBS “CAN” can be used to express;

 Ability
 Possibility
 Permission
 Request
 Offer

General Structure of “CAN” in a Sentence

POSITIVE FORM (+) : Subject + CAN + Verb-infinitive ( first form of the verb )
NEGATIVE FORM (-) : Subject + CAN + NOT ( CAN’T ) + Verb-infinitive
QUESTION FORM (?) : CAN+ Subject + Verb-infinitive

(note: this modal can be used with any subject)

Examples:
 I can play basketball. (positive)
 I cannot ( can’t ) play basketball. (negative)
 Can I play basketball? (question)

Contraction for ” CANNOT “;

cannot –> can’t Ex: I can’t swim.

Using ” CAN “
1. It is used to express that someone is able (mampu) to do something.
( Present Ability )
Examples:
 I can speak four languages.
 She can drive a car.
 He can speak English fast.
 Fishes can swim.
2. It is used to express that something is possible
(kemungkinan). ( General Possibility )
Examples:
 Alcohol can cause canser.
 They can stay with us when they come.
 You can buy tickets from the dealers.
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3. It is used in a question, which is not a real question, to ask somebody to do

something. We want somebody to do our request (permintaan) (in an informal way,
especially between friends or family). (Informal Request)
Examples:
 Can you make me coffee?
 Can you hand me the pen?
 Can I have some tea, please?

4. It is also used to ask or give permission (ijin) for something.

( Informal Permission )
Examples:
 Can I use your book, please? ( ask for permission )
 If you want, you can go to the park. ( give permission )
 Can I ask you some questions? ( ask for permission )
 You can drive my bike. ( give permission )

5. It is used in offers (menawarkan) to help someone or to do something for

someone. ( Informal Offer )
Examples:
 Can I help you?
 If they like, I can carry some bags for you.
 There is nothing left in the fridge. Can I do some shopping for you?

Attention:
For ” CANNOT”;
1. It is used in negative saying ( when we are sure that something is not true or
something is surprising )
Examples:
 That can’t be John. He is in America.
 It can’t be raining. The sun is shining and there are no rain clouds.
 You can’t be 50! You look young.

2. It is also used in negative saying ( when something is forbidden or not

allowed )
Examples:
 You can’t park the car there.
 They can’t wear jeans at work.
 You can’t go on without us.
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Will
https://www.englishpage.com/modals/will.html

"Will" is a modal verb used with promises or voluntary actions that take place in the
future. "Will" can also be used to make predictions about the future.

Examples:

 I promise that I will write you every single day. (promise)

 I will make dinner tonight. (voluntary action)
 He thinks it will rain tomorrow. (prediction)

More Examples of "Will"

Positive Forms Negative Forms Also

Modal Use
use:

will The marketing director will be The marketing director will shall
future replaced by someone from the not be replaced after all.
action, New York office.
prediction Fred will not be there. He
Fred will be there by 8:00. has a previous obligation.

I will take care of everything for I will never forget you. shall
will you.
volunteering I will never give up the fight
, I will make the travel for freedom.
promising arrangements. There's no
need to worry.

General Structure of “will” in a Sentence

POSITIVE FORM (+) : Subject + will + Verb-infinitive ( first form of the verb )
NEGATIVE FORM (-) : Subject + will + NOT ( won’t ) + Verb-infinitive
QUESTION FORM (?) : Will+ Subject + Verb-infinitive?

(note: this modal can be used with any subject)

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Modal Auxiliary Verbs – Will

(https://www.thefreedictionary.com/Modal-Auxiliary-Verbs-Will.htm)

Definition
As a modal auxiliary verb, will is particularly versatile (serba guna), having several different functions
and meanings. It is used to form future tenses (untuk menyatakan waktu yang akan datang), to
express willingness (kesediaan/kemauan) or ability (kemampuan), to make requests (permintaan) or
offers (tawaran), to complete conditional sentences (untuk melengkapi kalimat bersyarat), to
express likelihood (menyatakan kemungkinan) in the immediate present, or to issue commands
(untuk memberi perintah).

Creating the future tense

One of will’s most common uses as a modal verb is to talk about things that are certain, very likely,
or planned to happen in the future. In this way, it is used to create an approximation of the future
simple tense and the future continuous tense. For example:

 “I will turn 40 tomorrow.” (future simple tense)

 “She will be singing at the concert as well.” (future continuous tense)

Will can also used to make the future perfect tense and the future perfect continuous tense. These
tenses both describe a scenario that began in the past and will either finish in or continue into the
future. For example:

 “It’s hard to believe that by next month we will have been married for 10 years.” (future
perfect tense)
 “By the time I get there, she’ll have been waiting for over an hour.” (future perfect
continuous tense)

If we want to make any of the future tenses negative, we use not between will and the main verb or
the next occurring auxiliary verb. We often contract will and not into won’t. For example:

 “I won’t be seeing the movie with you tonight.”

 “At this pace, she won’t finish in first place.”

If we want to make a question (an interrogative sentence), we invert will with the subject, as in:

 “What will they do with the money?”

 “Won’t you be coming with us?”

Ability and willingness

We also sometimes use will to express or inquire about a person or thing’s ability or willingness to
do something. It is very similar to the future tense, but is used for more immediate actions. For
example:

 “You wash the dishes; I’ll take out the trash.”

 “This darn washing machine won’t turn on.”
 “Won’t Mary come out of her room?”
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Requests and offers

We often create interrogative sentences using will to make requests or polite offers. They are usually
addressed to someone in the second person, as in:

 “Will you walk the dog, Jim?”

 “Will you have a cup of tea, Sam?”

However, we can use subjects in the first and third person as well. For instance:

 “Will Jonathan bring his truck around here tomorrow?”

 “Will your friend join us for some lunch?”

Conditional sentences
In present-tense conditional sentences formed using if, we often use will to express an expected
hypothetical outcome. This is known as the first conditional. For example:

 “If I see him, I will tell him the news.”

 “I won’t have to say goodbye if I don’t go to the airport.”

Likelihood and certainty

In addition to expressing actions or intentions of the future, we can also use will to express the
likelihood or certainty that something is the case in the immediate present. For instance:

 (in response to the phone ringing) “That will be Jane—I’m expecting her call.”

 Speaker A: “Who is that with Jeff?”

 Speaker B: “That’ll be his new husband. They were just married in May.”

Commands
Finally, we can use will to issue commands, orders, or maxims. These have an added forcefulness in
comparison to imperative sentences, as they express a certainty that the command will be obeyed.
For example:

 “You will finish your homework this instant!”

 “This house will not be used as a hotel for your friends, do you understand me?”

Substituting Modal Verbs

In many cases, modal auxiliary verbs can be used in place of others to create slightly different
meanings. For example, we can use the word shall in place of will in to express polite invitations.
Similarly, would can also be substituted for will in requests to make them more polite.
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Some examples of the Can and Will in dialogue.

Dialogue 1

Edo : Good morning everybody.

Friends : Morning too Edo.
Erlin : Hey, Edo what's up?
Edo : Fine, Erlin! By the way can you play the guitar?
Erlin : No, I can't! But I will study to play the guitar, why do you ask it to me?
Edo : Our class will perform in the school’s anniversary next week, maybe our class can
perform a vocal group.
Erlin : I think it's not good! It's hard for our friends, maybe we can perform drama
Edo : yeeah? It's right! Guys, we will perform drama in the school anniversary.
Friends : Drama will be alright.

Dialogue 2

Mike : Err, excuse me sir.

Librarian : Yes, please?
Mike : Can you do me a favor please?
Librarian : Sure, What can I do for you?
Mike : I would like to take that book, but I can’t reach it.
Librarian : Well, can you please wait a second?
Mike : absolutely sir.
Librarian : Here you are “How to become a wonderful magiciant”
Mike : Thank you very much sir.
Librarian : My pleasure

Dialogue 3

Dora : Excuse me sir.

Mechanic : Yes. May I help you?
Dora : Certainly. The chain of my bike is broken, and I can’t fix it. Can you please do
me a favor?
Mechanic : No problem at all miss. Can you please just have a sit and let me see your
bike?
Dora : Yes, sure.

Dialogue 4

Damian: Can you speak Korean?

Monica: No, not at all. What about you?
Damian: Just very little. What language can you speak?
Monica: Well, I can speak English and French. And you?
Damian: Wow, that sounds wonderful. I can only speak Indonesian.

Dialogue 5

A: “What are you doing?”

B: “I’m working on the agenda for tomorrow’s meeting.”
A: “What will you do tomorrow?” (pertanyaan untuk future tense)
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B: “I will meet Sue for lunch to discuss the contract.”
A: “That’s interesting. What contract will you two discuss?”
B: “We are working in the garden most of the weekend. So we are planning to make a
business about the interior of small garden in urban city.”
A: “So exciting! I hope that your plan will go well.”
B: “Thank you!”

Dialogue 6

A: “Emily, how was the meeting?”

B: “It went well. But I’m afraid I need to leave for London. I need to discuss with the manager
of our restaurant there.”
A: “How long will you be away?” (pertanyaan future tense karena belum terjadi)
B: “I won’t get back until Friday night or Saturday afternoon, at least.”
A: “Can you please try to come home on Friday? Our son is turning 1 next Friday.”
B: “Oh my God! I really forget about his birthday! Sure, I will try to come home before
Friday.” (mengindikasikan niat untuk pulang sebelum hari Jumat)
A: “Well you work too hard that your forget your own son’s birthday.”
B: “I work for you and our son. For us.”
A: “I know it. Will you also buy something for him as a present?” (kalimat pertanyaan future
tense terkait rencana will mencari kado ulang tahun)
B: “Of course. I look for something food in London before I come home.” (jawaban atas
pertanyaan future tense)
A: “That’s great. He will be very happy.”

Dialogue 7

A: “When will you go to New York?”

B: “I will go in August.”
A: “How long will you be there?”
B: “Just for 2 weeks.”
A: “What will you do there?”
B: “I will learn about political communication.”
A: “Is that exchange program?”
B: “Yes, it’s kind of short course. I got the scholarship last year, and will leave to New York
by this year.”
A: “That’s great. I hope you will have a great time there.”
B: “Sure do! Thank you.”

Dialogue 8

A: “We are going camping near Mt. Rainier this weekend. What will you do?”
B: “I am going to stay home.”
A: “Would you like to come along with us?”
B: “I don’t have any camping equipment.”
A: “Don’t worry. We will let you use ours.”
B: “Are you sure it won’t be an inconvenience for you?”
A: “No, not at all. We would love your company.”
B: “Do you think it is going to rain?”
A: “It’s not supposed to, but bring a rain jacket just in case.”
B: “Okay.”
A: “We will pick you up at 5 am Saturday morning.”
B: “I will be ready by then.”
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Assignment 1 – Do the following exercises!

Exercise on Can
(https://www.grammarbank.com/can-cant-exercises.html)

1. I only speak English. I don't know any other languages.

2. What sports you play the best?

3. A dog be man's best friend, but it can't help with the chores.

4. Narrow-minded people see the future very well.

5. Fish breathe outside the water.

6. you cook?

7. Denis doesn't want to go swimming with us because he swim.

8. It's really dark here, I see anything

9. You park your car here, it's forbidden.

10. I am very hungry I eat everything right now.

11. A cheetah run very fast.

12. you help me?

13. I do my homework, it's too difficult.

14. A baby drive a car.

15. The letters are very small. I read anything.

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Lesson by Caroline
https://www.ecenglish.com/learnenglish/lessons/can-or-cant

Choose the correct combination in the following sentences:

1. '___ you swim'? 'Yes, I ___'

Can/can

Can/can't
2. I'm sorry I ___ help you today, I'm really busy.

Can't

Can
3. Please ___ you buy some milk on your way home? I ___ leave the house because I'm
looking after the baby.

Can't/can't

Can/can't
4. I ___ ride a bike but I ___ drive a car.

Can/can

Can/can't
5. I just ___ manage to wake up on time, I'm always late.

can't

can
6. 'Hello, ___ I help you'? 'Actually, no you ___ this restaurant is awful and we've been
waiting here for half an hour. We're leaving'.

Can/can't

Can't/can
7. I have a special talent, I ___ touch my nose with my tongue ___ you?

Can/can

Can't/can
8. '___ I go to the bathroom please'? 'Yes, of course you ___.'

Can/can't

Can/can
9. Look! It's right there!___ you see it? It's so obvious!

Can't

Can
10. I've never been able to eat breakfast in the mornings. I ___ talk to anyone either!

Can't

Can
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Choose the correct answer (can or can't)

https://www.myenglishpages.com/site_php_files/grammar-exercise-can-can't.php

1. I speak French. I picked it up while I was in France.

2. I come to the party. I am really busy.

3. We hear you. The music is so loud.

4. Where are my keys? I find them.

5. I believe it. We won two million dollars.

6. We meet tomorrow if you want.

7. make me a cup of tea, please?

8. He jump. His leg hurt so much.

9. Illiterate people read and write.

10. Fish swim

Assignment 2
Have a partner, then, develop two dialogue to show ability and willingness using
modal auxiliary “can” and “will”.

Submit your dialogue to your teacher for the scoring and correcting.

Assignment 3
Memorize the dialogue that you have made with your friend and have been checked
and corrected by your teacher. Later, when possible, you are going to perform it.