Практикум по грамматике английского языка

Авторы составители:

Н.Д.Голякевич, О.Д.Селюк

Могилев

МГУ им. А.А. Кулешова

Рецензент

старший преподаватель кафедры

фонетики и практики английского языка

МГУ им. А.А. Кулешова

Л.В. Сыромолотова

Практикум предназначен для работы со студентами II курса факультета иностранных языков, а также может быть использован в учебном процессе студентами неязыковых специальностей для ознакомления с употреблением в речи модальных глаголов английского языка.

 

CAN

Meaning	Forms of the modal verb	Ways of rendering in Russian	Forms of the Infinitive	Kinds of sentences	Some other ways of expressing the same meaning	Sentence patterns
1.Ability, capability	can (can’t) –the present tense; could (couldn’t) –the past tense	может     мог могли	Indefinite Infinitive	affirmative interrogative negative	to be able to; to know how to do something; to have the ability to do something.	He can perform complicated operations. He is a very skilful surgeon. Can she swim well? He could not feel or hearanything.
2.Possibi-lity due to circum- stances.	can (can’t) –the present tense; could (couldn’t) –the past tense	могу может   мог могли	Indefinite Infinitive	affirmative negative interrogative	to be able to; it’s possible to do something	At a chemist’s shop you can get medicines of all kinds.
3.a) Permission   b) Request   c) Prohibition	can– the present tense; could –the past tense in reported speech. can could (a polite request)   can’t	можешь можете   могу ли я не могли бы вы     нельзя	Indefinite Infinitive   Indefinite Infinitive   Indefinite Infinitive	affirmative     interrogative     negative	to permit; to be allowed	The doctor said, “You can take long walks every morning.” Can (could)you giveme some medicine for my headache?   You can’t visit him, he has an infectious disease.
4.Unreality	could –(Subjunctive II form)	мог бы могли бы	The Indefinite Infinitive refers the action to the present or future. The Perfect Infinitive indicates the action which was not carried out in the past.	affirmative interrogative negative	would be able to do smth.     would have been able to do smth.	Why don’t you want the doctor to come? He could prescribe some medicine to bring down the fever (if he came). You could have stayed in bed for a few days. But you didn’t.
5.Uncer-tainty, doubt, astonish-ment .	can/could	неужели может ли быть, чтобы	The Indefinite Infinitive refers the action to the present or future. The Continuous Infinitive refers the action to the present. The Perfect Infinitive refers the action to the past. The Perfect Continuous Infinitive denotes an action begun in the past and continued into the moment of speaking.	interrogative (general questions)	Is it possible that…? Do you believe that…?	Can (could)he be her husband? He is twice as old as she is.   Can (could)she stillbe runninga high temperature? Can(could) he have been operated on? Can (could)they have been keeping toa diet for a few years?
6. Incredulity, improbabi- lity	can’t/ couldn’t	не может быть, чтобы; невероят-но, чтобы; вряд ли	Indefinite Infinitive Continuous Infinitive Perfect Infinitive Perfect Continuous Infinitive	negative	It’s hardly possible that; I refuse to believe that; I don’t think it’s possible that; It’s next to impossible that; I don’t believe that; I doubt that; It’s impossible that; It’s incredible that; It’s doubtful that…	Hecan’t (couldn’t) beher husband. She can’t (couldn’t) still be running a high temperature. He can’t (couldn’t) have been operated on. They can’t (couldn’t) have been keeping to a diet for a few years.
7. For emotional colouring	can/could(in present time contexts)	И что они… И о чем они … И как он … И что это она …	Indefinite Infinitive Continuous Infinitive Perfect Continuous Infinitive	interrogative (special questions)		What can (could) you knowof such things? What can (could) they be speakingabout? How can (could) you have made such a mistake? What can (could) he have been doing all this time?

 

Notes: I. Remember the following set phrases with the verb can:

1.She can’t help crying. Она не может не плакать.He couldn’t help admiring the city. Он не мог не восхищаться городом.

2. I can’t but ask about it. Мне ничего другого не остается, как спросить об этом. They couldn’t but refuse him. Им ничего не оставалось, как отказать ему.

3.He can’t possibly do it. He couldn’t possibly afford a car on his present salary. He can’t possibly have done it. Он просто не может (не мог, не мог бы) …

II. The Russian sentences of the type « Неужели он не заметил вас? Не может быть, чтобы он не заметил вас. Неужели ему не нравится здесь? Не может быть, чтобы ему здесь не нравилось». are rendered in English in the following ways:

1. Can (could) he have failed to notice you? 2. Can (could) he dislike it here?3. Can (could) nobody have seem him do it? 4. Can (could) he never have got my letter? 5. Can (could) it be that he didn’t notice you? 6. He can’t (couldn’t) have failed to notice you. 7. He can’t (couldn’t) dislike it here?

Explain the meanings of “can” in the following sentences. Translate the sentences into Russian.

1. I can see perfectly well what it is all about, thank you.

2. Could you tell us what took place there?

3. “If only I could have been there”, she said.

4. I could not check my tears, for they came against my will.

5. And to her friends she can be very charming.

6. It was nearly six month since his book have been published. Who could have been reading it, he wondered?

7. He could write rhymed verses with extraordinary rapidity.

8. You cannot postpone your departure until next week.

9. Could he have been at the reception? I didn’t see him.

10. This dress can’t be so shockingly expensive.

11. Harris can’t have given thought to the matter.

12. Could anyone like tinned fruit better than fresh fruit?

13. Mr. Drake can’t have been working at the bank for fifteen years.

14. Paul couldn’t have failed to learn French while living in France.

15. The dog can’t have bitten her without a reason.

16. Could the Howards still be living in Manchester?

17. You can take the tape recorder. We won’t need it today.

18. “And did you approve at the treatment that was given?” he said curtly. “I did, I cannot see how it could have been bettered”.

19. What on earth induced her to behave as she did, I never could understand. She could have married anybody she chose.

20. Can I smoke, Mr. Hawkins?

 

2. Explain the meaning of the modal verb can in the following sentences:

1. Can I have a banana? Could I have a look at the prices? 2. Can you travel anywhere you like without a visa? Could you travel to England without a visa? 3. Can you drive? Could you drive us to the school? 4. Sorry we can’t join you on Sunday. Sorry we couldn’t visit you last Sunday. 5. Can you lend me your bike? Could you lend me a pound, please? 6. I could speak better English when I was at school. 7. Can we cross the street here? 8. There was no traffic and we could cross the street quietly. 9. What a perfect morning! Who can feel sad at heart on a day like this? 10. He began to doubt whether the old man could smile.

 

3. State in which of the following sentences the form could is (1) the Past Indefinite of “can”, (2) a form expressing unreality, (3) a more polite form of “can” and (4) a form implying more uncertainty than “can”.

1. She would often say that no one but she could control the little girl.

2. Could you bring me some paper, please, to write my note on?

3. Milly asked what time it was, and her mother said that it couldn’t be more than one.

4. It was time for me to be getting back too, and I could have walked back with him. But I knew somehow that he didn’t want that, so I sat for a few minutes watching him as he went down the road.

5. Form, where I was I could see the clear profile of his face.

6. “Do you know what time we arrive at the frontier?” “I’m afraid I couldn’t tell you exactly”.

7. “It’s impossible,” exclaimed Phil. “He couldn’t have done it”.

8. It could not be done under the present circumstances.

9. You have no idea. I suppose, who could have been there.

10. You are Agatha, aren’t you? I could not be mistaken.

11. Perhaps you could tell me a little about these messages.

12. At present they could promise nothing.