Yes, I can!

Ability & possibility

Can you..?
Can you..?
Can you..?
Can you..?
Can you..?
Can you..?
Can you..?
Can you..?
Tell us:
1 thing you can do
1 thing you can’t do
1 thing you could do when you were 10
1 thing you couldn’t do when you were 10
Listen

You can’t use ____ in the infinitive or present perfect.

Be able to means the same as _____.
40
 Uses
Can Can’t
Ability in the Absence of ability
present in the present

Could Couldn’t
Ability in Absence of ability
the past in the past
 Uses

Can
Possibility

● Anyone can win this competition. All

the participants are very good.
● I can’t come to the party next week.
 Uses
Can Can’t
Something is Something isn’t
allowed allowed

Could Couldn’t
Something was Something wasn’t
allowed allowed
 Uses

Can/Could
Requests

● Can you help me?

● Could you speak more slowly, please?
 Uses
Can
Verbs of perception: See, smell, hear,
feel, taste

● Can you hear that? (NOT Are you hearing

that?)
● I can smell gas! (NOT I’m smelling
gas!)
 Uses
Be able to
Be able to is often similar to can and we
may use it instead of can to talk about
ability.

● They are able to do the job faster than

anyone else.
 Uses
Be able to
For all other verb forms (infinitive, gerund, present perfect,
etc.) we should use be able to.

● I haven’t been able to study for the exam. (present

perfect)
● I’d like to be able to talk to her more often.
(to-infinitive; NOT to can)
● I don’t like loud music in pubs. I like being able to
talk with my friends. (-ing form)
● Will we be able to talk to the singer after the concert?
(infinitive)
Can/could vs be able to
We can use can and be able to to talk about general ability in
the present.

● She can speak five languages.

● She’s able to speak five languages.

We can use could and be able to to talk about general ability

in the past.

● My son could walk when he was 11 months old.

● My son was able to walk when he was 11 months old.
Can/could vs be able to
But if we want to say that someone did something in a specific situation,
we must use was/were able to + infinitive.

● There was a fire in the office but all the workers were able to escape.
(NOT could escape)
● He lost his maps but after driving around for a long time, he was able
to find the place. (NOT could find)

In negative sentences, both couldn’t and be able to can be used to say

that we were not capable of doing something on a specific occasion.

● It was very dark and they couldn’t find the exit. (Or They weren’t able
to find the exit.)
Let’s
Practice

139
Let’s Play!
Quiz!
In pairs, complete both
worksheets and send them.
Your quiz grade will be the
average of both activities. You
can only send each worksheet
once.
Extra Practice
Extra Practice
Pronunciation

40
Read the
topics & think
about 3
answers.
You can make sentences in
your notebook using the
correct modal:
can/could/be able to

40
What’s the 10,000 hour rule?
Let’s read!

41
Let’s read!

41
-ed/-ing

42
42
ING or ED?
Embarrassing, annoying, exciting..
Use these adjectives to describe the
ING thing, situation, person, event,
etc, that makes you feel that way.

Embarrassed, annoyed, excited..

Use these adjectives to describe how
ED you feel about a thing, situation,
person, event, etc.
What do you think is the -ing form of these adjectives?
ING or
ED?

42
 what is
happening?
What is the
girl doing?
How is she
feeling?
What do you
think is going
to happen at
the end?
About the video
1. Watch the T.V add and talk about how the girl felt...
● when she came out of the school.
● when she gave her dad the talent show leaflet.
● when her dad answered the call.
Click to on the pic to
● when she rehearsed at home, in the street. open the video.

2. How did her dad feel when he saw her jumping on the
escalators?

3. Why did she slam the door?

4. How did she feel when she ...

● drew the curtains?
● couldn´t remember the dance?
● when her dad came out of the audience to help?
● the dance finished?
Answer the question in a word document and send it to my email.