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El verbo can (y su pasado could) está entre los verbos modales más utilizados en lengua inglesa. Tiene distintos usos, si bien
su conjugación es sencilla -presente y pasado, conviene aclarar las distintas formas oracionales:
She can play de piano.
He could be right.
Vea los siguientes ejemplos:
Habilidad / Ability:
También se utiliza can para hablar de las habilidades de una persona o habilidades generales:
Posibilidad / Possibility
Usamos el verbo modal can para hacer afirmaciones generales sobre lo que es posible:
It can be a nice weather in London.
Such a things can happen if you are not careful
Depending on the time of the year, it can get hot in Sidney.
También, cuando hablamos de posibilidad, se puede utilizar el tiempo pasado, could:
You could have a nice time in Spain.
It could be a nice dinner in the restaurant's terrace.
They could arrive on saturday night, if the roads are clear.
Podemos usar could para situaciones en futuro, pero no con certeza:
I wish I could be there when she opens the presents.
They could have finished that job on Wednesday.
They could be dismissed next month.
Se puede utilizar could para algo que fue posible ahora o en algún momento en el pasado:
She could have been at home yesterday.
He could have won the game in the previous match.
You could have telephoned us before the event was cancelled.
Imposibilidad / Impossibility
Empleamos el negativo can't / cannot - couldn't / could not para expresar que algo es imposible:
They cannot be happy after having obtained the third place.
I can't be satisfied with that result.
He couldn't believe it.
She could not understand my explanation.