7B Unit7 Abilities(Grammar)

smoke v.

take an X-ray

camera n.

— By the way, may I borrow your camera? — No problem.

ride a horse

I could not ride a horse at five. Now I can.

ride a bike

... could not ...

Now ... can ...

play tennis

... could not ...

Now, ... can ...

swim / go swimming

... could not ...

Now, ... can ...

fly a kite

... could not ...

Now, ... can ...

ski v.

... could not ...

Now, ... can ...

skate v.

... could not ...

Now, ... can ...

Using can or could to talk about ability. 1. We use can to talk about present ability. We use could to talk about ability in the past. e.g. Millie can speak good English. Shirley cannot ride a horse. The old man could swim across the Yangtze River.

2. We use can, could or may to ask for permission. ‘Could’ sounds more polite than ‘can’. ‘May’ is formal. e.g. — Can I borrow your bike, Millie? — Yes, you can. Here you are. — Could I smoke here? — Sorry, I’m afraid you can’t. — May I use your mobile phone? — Of course you may/can.

1. can 与 could can 常用于口语中，表示非正式的请 求，请求对象一般是家人或朋友。

e.g. — Can I borrow your book, Simon?西蒙, 我可以借一下你的书吗？

— Of course.当然可以。

— Can I have some milk, sister?姐姐，我可以喝点牛奶吗？

— Yes, you can. 好的。could是can的过去式。在口语中，could 常用来代替can向对方更委婉地提出请 求，用法上比can正式，可以用于向老 师或长辈提出请求，这时could不表示 过去，回答一般还是用can。

e.g. — Could I use your computer, please? 请问，我可以用一下你的电脑吗？ — Yes, you can. 可以。 — Could I hand in our homework later, Mr Lin? 林老师，我可以稍后交作业吗？ — No, you can’t/mustn’t. 不，不行。

2. may

may也可以用来征求对方意见，意为“可以”,相当于could,用法也

比can更正式，更礼貌，一般用于向陌生人或所尊敬的人请求许可。