Life Beginner Unit 5a
can (ability): Adverbs of manner
Well, Jemima can
Jemima can also play the
also sing beautifully, run
Hello. Im Jemima. piano well. Can William play
fast, play tennis !
I can speak French. a musical instrument?
Im William and William cant play the piano
I can speak French but he can play the guitar and
and Chinese. the saxophone really well.
Presentation
Use can to describe ability. Adverbs of manner
Affirmative and negative Use adverbs of manner to talk about how we do
something:
I / You / He / She /
can He can play the guitar really well.
play
It / We / They She cant run very fast.
cant (cannot)
Put the adverb of manner at the end of the
Questions sentence.
Say He can play the saxophone really well.
Can I / you / he / she / it / we / they play ?
He can play really well.
(dont say He can play really well the saxophone.)
Short answers
Yes, I can. No, I cant.
Can is a modal verb. This means no third person s.
Say He can play the guitar. (dont say He cans play the guitar.)
Key vocabulary Adverbs of manner: (really/very) well/badly/beautifully/fast/slowly not very well = badly
Exercises
1 Match the questions to the answers.
1 Can you speak Chinese? c a Yes, I can play the saxophone.
2 Can you run fast? b No, but I can swim fast.
3 I can play the guitar. Can you c Yes, I can. But not very well.
play a musical instrument? d No, but I can play tennis.
4 I cant play the guitar. Can you? e No, I cant, but my friend can play really well.
5 Can you play golf?
Practical Grammar 1 1 National Geographic Learning
Beginner Unit 5a
2 Complete the conversations with can or cant. Exercises
Conversation 1
A: I 1 can swim ten kilometres. 2 you?
B: No, I 3
swim but I 4 run fast.
Conversation 2
C: 5 you play the piano?
D: No, I 6 but I can sing very well.
C: Great. 7 you sing this song?
Conversation 3
E: My mother and father are from Barcelona. They 8 speak Catalan.
F: 9
you and your brothers speak Catalan?
E: No, we 10
speak it very well. We always speak Spanish.
Conversation 4
G: 11 you play tennis?
H: Yes, I 12 but not very well. 13 you?
G: No, I 14 . Im terrible but my sister 15 play really well.
3 Choose the correct forms.
1 Can / Cant you play the piano?
2 Can you speak / play Arabic?
3 No, I can / cant.
4 She cant swim very well / not very well.
5 Yes, I can / cant.
6 Can you play the guitar well / not very well ?
7 I can / cant run fast but I can swim well.
4 Write the conversations. Then listen and check.
1 you + speak Spanish? no: speak Chinese 4 you + play tennis? yes: also + play golf
A: Can you speak Spanish? A:
B: No, I cant. I can speak Chinese. B:
2 they + play the piano? yes + very well 5 he + speak three languages?
A: no + but + speak two languages
B: A:
3 she + run fast? yes
A: B:
B:
5 Complete the sentences so that they are true for you.
1 I can play but I cant play .
2 I can speak but I cant speak .
Practical Grammar 1 2 National Geographic Learning
