can and could

Can
الفعل يستطيع

Can is an auxiliary verb, a modal auxiliary
verb.
هو فعل ناقص



We use can to:
talk about possibility and ability
make requests
ask for or give permission
نستخدمه للتحدث عن امكنية حدوث شيىء
او لطلب الاذن لشيىء


Structure of Can
تكوينه
subject + can + main verb
الفاعل -can-الفعل الاساسى

The main verb is always the bare infinitive (infinitive without "to").
subjectauxiliary verbmain verb
الفعل الاساسى ياتى دائما فى المصدربدون اى اداه مثل to
امثلة
I can play tennis.-
He cannot play tennis.can't
Can youplay tennis?


Notice that:



لاحظ ان
Can is invariable. There is only one form of can.
لا يوجد اشكال متنوعه للفعل can
The main verb is always the bare
infinitive.
الفعل الاساسى دائما يكون فى المصدر
The main verb is always the bare infinitive (infinitive without "to"). We cannot say:

لانستطيع ان نقول:



Use of Can
استخدامات can
can: Possibility and Ability
احتمال وامكانية حدث الشيىء

We use can to talk about what is possible,
what we are able or free to do:
للحديث عن امكانية ما يمكنا فعله



امثلة
She can drive a car.
John can speak Spanish.
I cannot hear you. (I can't hear you.)
Can you hear me?
Normally, we use can for the present. But it is possible to use can when we make

present decisions about future ability.


عاده يستخدم can للحديث عن المضارع ولكن يمكننا ايضا نستخدمه لنتكلم عن قرارات ناخذها فى المضارى وتخص المستقبل
(present)


Can you help me with my homework?
هل ممكن تساعدنى فى عمل الواجد(مضارع)
Sorry. I'm busy today. But I can help
you tomorrow. (future)
اسف انا مشغول الان ويمكن ان اساعدك غدا
can: Requests and Orders
يستخدم لطلب شيىءوالامر بشيىء

We often use can in a question to ask somebody to do something. This is not a real question - we do not really want to know if the person is able to do something, we want them to do it! The use of can in this way is informal (mainly between friends and family):
نستخدمه حين نريد من شخص ان يفعل شيىء



ولا يكون سؤال ولكنه استفسار اذا كان الشخص يستطيع ان يفعل هذا ام لا
Can you make a cup of coffee, please.
ممكن تعملى فنجان قهوه من فضلك


Can you put the TV on.
ممكن تشغل التليفزيون
Can you be quiet!
ممكن تهدا



can: Permission
لطلب الاذن

We sometimes use can to ask or give permission for something:



نستخدمه لما نحب ناخد الاذن لعمل شيىء
Can I smoke in this room?
ممكن ادخن فى الغرفة
You can't smoke here, but you can
smoke in the garden.
لاتستطيع التدخين هنا اتفضل فى الحديقة
(Note that we also use could, may, might for permission. The use of can for permission is informal

ولطلب الاذن نستخدم ايضا
could --may--might
Could
يستطيع فى الماضى



Could is an auxiliary verb, a modal auxiliary verb. We use could to:
talk about past possibility or ability
make requests
يستخدم للتعبير عن امكاميه حدوث اشياء كانت فى الماضى




Structure of Could
تكوينه


subject + could + main verb
الفاعل - could -الفعل الاساسى


The main verb is always the bare infinitive (infinitive without "to").
subjectauxiliary verbmain verb+
الفعل الاساسى ياتى دائما فى المصدربدون اى اداه مثل to
امثلة
My grandmothercould swim.
-She could not walk.couldn't?
Could your grandmother swim?



Notice that:
Could is invariable. There is only one
form of could.
لا يوجد اشكال متنوعه للفعل could
The main verb is always the bare
infinitive.
الفعل الاساسى دائما يكون فى المصدر



The main verb is always the bare infinitive. We cannot say:

من الخطا ان نقول






Use of Could
استخدامه

could: Past Possibility or Ability

We use could to talk about what was possible in the past, what we were able or free to do:

للتعبير عن اشاء كان ممكن حدوثها فى الماضى امثله
I could swim when I was 5 years old.
انا استطعت العوم ونا عندى 5 سنوات
When we arrived home, we could not open the door. (...couldn't open the door.)
عندما وصلنا للبيت لم نستطيع فتح الباب


We often use could in a question to ask somebody to do something. The use of could in this way is fairly polite (formal):

وايضا نستخدمه لطلب شيىء فيكون اسلوب مؤدب لطلب المساعده
Could you tell me where the bank is, please?
ممكن تقولى فين البنك من فضك
Could you send me a catalogue, please?
ممكن ترسل لى الكتالوج من فضلك