Can and can't

What's in the lesson

1. 1Warm-up
2. 2In this lesson
3. 3Listen: the skill swap boardListening comprehension
4. 4What does it mean?Grammar exercise
5. 5Find can and can'tGrammar exercise
6. 6can and can'tGrammar rule
7. 7Questions and short answersGrammar exercise
8. 8Alvin's cardGrammar exercise
9. 9Find the mistakeGrammar exercise
10. 10Questions for your teacherGrammar exercise
11. 11Say it naturallySpeaking practice
12. 12The skill swapSpeaking practice
13. 13About youGrammar exercise
14. 14Wrap-up

Homework

1. 1Homework: the Quebec Winter CarnivalGrammar exercise
2. 2Homework: choose the right wordsGrammar exercise
3. 3Homework: make sentencesGrammar exercise
4. 4Homework: my skill swap postDiscussion

Two slides from the lesson

Warm-up

A few questions about you before we start.

1. Can you fix a bike?
2. What dish can you make for ten people?
3. What is a useful skill for every person?

Grammar rule

can and can't

can = able to · can't = not able to

	I / you / he / she / it / we / they
Positive	My dad can knit.
Negative	Our son can't whistle. (can't = cannot, one word)
Question	Can your boss speak Arabic?
Short answers	Yes, she can. / No, she can't.
With a question word	How far can you swim?

Watch out

• can is the same for every person: he can, she can (not he cans).
• The verb after can has no -s and no to: She can knit. (not She can knits, She can to knit)
• No do: Can you knit? (not Do you can knit?) · I can't knit. (not I don't can knit)
• Answer a Can…? question with can: Can you knit? — Yes, I can. / No, I can't. (not No, I don't)

How they sound

In a sentence, can is short and weak: I kun KNIT. In a short answer, it is strong: Yes, I KAN. can't is always strong, with the a in "cat": I KANT KNIT. Americans often don't say the t of can't, so listen for the strong a.