1. ‘Can’ for ability. What are the past, present, and future forms? Give examples. Could. Can. Will be able to. (‘Will can’ is outrageously bad English.)

2. ‘Can’ for ability in reported speech. Someone uses ‘can’ in a sentence. ‘I can come and call on you tomorrow at 10 o’clock.’ How do you report it? He said he could come and call on you tomorrow at 10 o’clock.’

3. ‘Can’ or ‘could’. Which is used to talk about probability of something happening in the future? ‘Could’ only. ‘They could arrive at any moment, get rid of the evidence!’

4. ‘Can’ or ‘could’. Which is used to talk about probability in the present and in the past? Imagine that you are making deductions or doing detective work. ‘I’m not sure who the murderer could be. It could that suspicious looking guy who we saw at the start of the film. (Notice that ‘may’ and ‘might’ are very common for this situation.’

5. What would the past tense of these sentences be? Give positive and negative examples of your own. ‘Who did Rosy go out with last night?’ ‘I don’t know, it could have been George.’ (Again ‘may’ or ‘might’ be used in their place.)

6. ‘Can’ or ‘could’. Which of these could be used for choices? ‘There are two choices. We could / can go to your place or mine.’ (‘Can’ shows less indecisiveness and implies permission.)

7. ‘Can’ or ‘could’ for criticisms. Which should you use? ‘I don’t believe you did that without my permission. You could asked me first!’ (‘You might have…’ is also a strong reprimand. ‘May’ is not possible here.)

8. ‘Can’ or ‘could’ to be a little more polite when offering. You offer to help the Queen mum carry her shopping home. What do you say? ‘Ma’am, could I help you with that?’ ‘What a charming young man you are! Here’s 5p.’

9. ‘Can’ or ‘could’. Which is usually used in front of verbs of perception, such as ‘see’, ‘hear’, ‘smell’ etc. ‘I can smell cigarettes on your breath. You’ve been smoking again. Which is the past form? Could

10. ‘Can’ or ‘could’ in subordinate clauses. (Seeing a friend arriving at the club.) ‘I’m so happy that you could come here tonight.’