Can and Could

Isramiharti, S.Kep., M.Pd

General Structure of  “CAN” in a Sentence

POSITIVE FORM (+) :  Subject + CAN + Verb (  first form

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

Examples:
I can play basketball. ( positive form )
I can not ( can’t ) play basketball. ( negative form )
Can I play basketball? ( question form )
Contraction for ” CAN NOT “;
can not –> can’t   Ex: I can’t swim.
General Structure of  “COULD” in a Sentence

POSITIVE FORM (+) :  Subject + COULD + Verb (  first form of the

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

Examples:
I could say something. ( positive form )
I could not ( couldn’t ) say something. ( negative form )
Could I say something? ( question form )
Contraction for ” COULD NOT “;
could not –> couldn’t   Ex: I couldn’t speak to Mr. Big.

Not:
The negative form “couldn’t” is generally used in spoken English
 Modal
Verb Example Uses
They can control their own budgets. Ability / Possibility

We can’t fix it. Inability / Impossibility

Can
Can I smoke here? Asking for permission
Can you help me? Request

Could I borrow your dictionary?

Asking for permission.
Could you say that again more slowly?
Request
We could try to fix it ourselves.
Could Suggestion
I think we could go to war again.
Future possibility
He gave up his old job so he could work for
us. Ability in the past