Can, this word is about can and how we can use it. Jim and Linda can do many different things, Jim can cook Linda can't cook. Jim can speak French, Linda can't, Linda is a very good dancer, Jim can't dance very well. Let's look at these two words can and can't, can and can't tell us what Jim and Linda are able to do. Can tells about ability, you probably know a cheetah can run very fast. A Hawk can't run very fast but it can fly very fast, can tells us what these animals are able to do. Can never changes, let's look at some examples she can ride a unicycle, they can play the guitar. I can speak two languages, notice that can goes with she, it goes with they it goes with I, can never changes. You don't have to put a different ending on it or think about the form, it's always can and when you use can also notice that the verbs don't change. Ride, play, speak so you don't have to change anything. Here are some more examples, did you know a frog can close its ears. A flamingo can swim very well, elephants cannot jump, whales can't breathe underwater. Okay, now we have negatives cannot and can't they mean the same thing, can't is just a contraction. You know, we add not to form the negative so we have she can, we add not. We have, she cannot, she cannot speak French and notice cannot is one word, to make the contraction we just have an apostrophe t. She can't she can't speak French. Use cannot or can't for the negative, she cannot find her keys, Tim can't understand. There's so much rain I can't see clearly, notice in the negative also we've got cannot, can't and can't it doesn't change. It's just cannot or can't you don't change an ending or add anything. And again just like the others find, understand and see also don't change. Switch the word order to form a question, this might look familiar to you too. You can say she can ride a unicycle, and now if we want to ask the question, we are going to switch the subject. And can, so we get can she ride a unicycle? Yes, she can. Can Gina play the flute? Yes, she can, she plays very well. Can Tom sew a button on his shirt? Yes, he can. Can her daughter read? No, she can't, not yet. Okay, you try you have the subject they and you have the verb skate. Let's say yes, no and the question, yes they can skate, no, they cannot skate or they can't skate and the question, can they skate? Okay, same thing here the subject is he and the verb is play the guitar. Yes, he can play the guitar, no, he cannot play the guitar or he can't play the guitar, same thing and the question, can he play the guitar? Last one, you/ cook, yes, you can cook, no, you cannot cook or you can't cook and the question can you cook? I can, can shows ability and can never changes. So now you can say sentences like a flamingo can swim very well, elephants cannot jump, whales can't breathe underwater. Can you understand? I hope so.
