Lesson 6: Unit 66 - Could

About this lesson

In this lesson you will learn how to use the modal verb 'could' – the past form of 'can'. We will look at how 'could' expresses ability and possibility in the past, how it is used in polite requests, and how the negative form 'couldn't' can also convey prohibition or lack of permission. We will work with a text about the life of Albert Einstein, full of real examples of 'could' and 'couldn't'. Through a variety of exercises you will consolidate its use in sentences, questions and dialogue.

40 minutes

What you'll learn

• Recognise and use 'could' as the past form of 'can'
• Express ability and skill in the past with 'could'
• Form the negative 'couldn't' and use it for lack of ability or prohibition
• Make polite requests with 'Could you...?'
• Understand and use 'until' in negative sentences
• Answer questions about past abilities following the model of the text about Einstein

Lesson vocabulary

• could I could ride a bike when I was 4 years old.
• couldn't (could not) He couldn't learn to speak until he was 9 years old.
• dullard His parents were afraid he was a dullard.
• talent His teachers didn't see any special talent in him.
• calculus He could teach himself calculus.
• light waves At the age of 16, he asked questions about light waves.
• theory of relativity He created his theory of relativity and theory of light.
• entrance examinations Einstein couldn't pass his entrance examinations at the Swiss Federal Polytechnic School.
• masterworks He studied the masterworks of physics on his own.
• on his own He studied the masterworks of physics on his own.
• academic position He couldn't get any academic positions because they rejected him.
• reject They rejected him.
• revolutionary They were revolutionary and contradictory at the same time.
• contradictory They were revolutionary, and contradictory at the same time.
• until He couldn't even find work until 1902.

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In other languages: Български