Can – Could

May - Might
Susan Simonetti
TABLE OF CONTENTS
01 02
Ability Speculation
Can and could for present and past Might, may or could + have + past
ability participle for past , present and
future possibility

03 04
Certainty Making Concessions
Can’t or couldn’t for certainty May or might
 01
Ability
 Ability
Can and could are used for talking about present and past ability:
They can do it when they really put their mind to it.
She could play the piano by the age of five.

*Note that we don’t usually use could to talk about ability in a particular situation,
to ‘be able to’ is more common:
He was seriously ill, but the doctors were able to cure him.

Can is used to talk about a theoretical possibility or tendency:

The new electric car can travel 400 kilometres without a charge.
Temperatures in the summer can get up to 40 degrees.
 02
Speculation
 Speculation
We use might, may and could + inf for past, present and future possibility:
That might be the person who is going to teach us.

To express a past possibility, use might/may/could + have + past participle:

It might not have been possible without him.

We sometimes add ‘well’ to might, may and could in the affirmative to say that something
has a strong possibility:
They may well have been held up in traffic. They’re normally here by now.

Might and could are also used for a past possibility which did not happen:
They might have been good friends, but she moved away.
He could have been the greatest guitarist of his time.
 03
Certainty
 Certainty
We use can’t or couldn’t when we are fairly certain that something is or was true:

He can’t possibly think he is going to pass – he never shows up to class!

We can’t all fit in that car – it’s tiny!

She couldn’t have been the first woman to fly an aeroplane.

He couldn’t have broken the window, he was at school.
He can’t have passed his exam because he hadn’t studied.
 04
Making Concessions
 Making Concessions
May or might can be used to make concessions. This means that they add the meaning of ‘although’ to the
sentence:

She may be rich but she’s not happy (= although she is rich, she’s not happy)
London might be busy but there are lots of peaceful parks (= although London
is busy, there are lots of peaceful parks).
He might be clever but he isn’t very good with people. (= although he is clever,
he isn’t very good with people).
It might be a good method, but let’s try it first.
She may be the right person, but I’d like to meet her before we offer her the job.

‘May/might as well’ can be used to make a suggestion if we think where is no better alternative:
You might as well try. You’ve got nothing to lose.
Thank you!