11.4 Grammar. Commonly confused verbs.
CAN, COULD, MANAGE TO, BE ABLE TO, COULD HAVE.
You will need to conjugate some of the verbs in past, present and future tenses, and put some of them into the negative form.
TEACHER: Good evening to you students! We have seen some interesting aspects of British culture. Where are we going today? Well, actually, we are not going anywhere. We still 1 haven’t managed (negative present perfect) to get out of the night-club. We are still here at the Royal Revue Bar. It’s ten past three in the morning and fifteen minutes after the show. What 2 could (deduction) have happened to our merry band of foreigners? A good question indeed. In Soho anything 3 can happen! Where 4 can / could (deduction) they be? Let’s have a look at each of them.
Ali first. He is the man who finds himself in the most delicate situation. He has been drunk for a long, long time. He 5 hasn’t been able to (negative, present perfect) walk straight for hours. He doesn’t realise what‘s happening. The other students have 6 have managed to (present perfect) put alcohol into his drinks all night.
The students have told him that he 7 could (possibility) be suffering from jet lag. Diplomatic relations 8 could (possibility) be cut off. Ali is desperately in love with Lady Forbsworth, the stripper, who isn’t a real ‘lady’ at all. He is sure that he 9 will be able to (future) marry her and 10 could (future) take her back to the The Free People’s Republic of Zangonia. He is so rich, he 11 could have (past possibility) found anyone else he wanted, but he had to choose a stripper!
Anja is a little bit fed up. It 12 could (possibility) be because Ahmet 13 has managed to (to succeed in) get drunk again, and has been declaring his love for her. Ahmet is a little fed up because he 14 hasn’t managed to / hasn’t been able to (negative, present perfect - to succeed in ) convince Anja to get fixed up with him. He 15 hasn’t been able to / wasn’t able to (negative ability) pick her up, and 16 won’t be able to (negative future ability) pick her up tomorrow, because she just isn’t his type.
Sophie 17 can’t (negative) enjoy herself and 18 could have (possiblity ,past) had fun in London, if they had visited some ‘normal’ places. She can’t (negative) wait to get home so she can (ability, positive) see her friends. She 19 can’t stand the men but hasn’t managed to / hasn’t been able (negative, present perfect) stop them chasing her.
François 20 hasn’t managed to (to succeed in, negative) drink as much but he 21 can’t (negative) be quiet and he’s 22 has managed to (to succeed in) be very offensive to everyone. The entertainment 23 could start soon!