 Using modals correctly. Can, could, and will, would. Modals can be particularly difficult in English. This video will focus on the following words. Can, could, will, and would. These words have various usages, some similar, some different. Let's look at them more closely. Modals are words like can, could, will, would, should, might, etc. Similarities and differences. Requesting and asking favors. Look at the examples below. Which ones are similar? Can you help me? Could you help me? Would you help me? Will you help me? Which ones are similar? Well, it depends. When we're talking about requesting or asking for favors, we need to consider two things. Meaning and formality. Let's look at meaning first. If you want to ask if something is possible, you can use can or could. Can you help? Could you help? If you want to ask if the other person is willing to do it, you can say something like will you help or would you help? So in those cases, can and could are similar, and will and would are similar. But if we're talking about formality, it's a little bit different here. For less formal situations, you can say can you help or will you help? For more formal situations, you say could you help or would you help? So be aware of these differences. Let's look at it in another way. Talking about formality and meaning in making requests. Informal, is it possible? Can you help? Informal, are you willing? Will you help? Formal, is it possible? Could you help? Formal, are you willing? Would you help? Variations and more formality. Now in English, usually longer sentences are more polite and more formal. Look at the examples below. Open the door. Please open the door. Can you open the door? Will you open the door? Would you open the door? Could you open the door? You see how they're becoming more and more polite as we go down the list. Could you possibly open the door? Would you mind opening the door? This is a negative type question which we will discuss later. Would you be so kind as to open the door? Could you do me a favor and open the door? So as it gets longer, it gets more formal and more polite. So something like would you be so kind as to open the door would be very polite to be used in a formal situation. Now you have to be careful because sometimes you don't have time to be very formal and polite. For example, if there's a fire in the building you'd probably just say open the door right now. You don't have to be as polite and you get the message across just as well. Now in statements, there are differences in meaning. Here we're talking about future possibilities and sometimes present possibilities but mostly future. Can and will are similar. I can do it. I will do it. But could and would are a little bit hesitant. I could do it, but... I'm busy. I would do it, but I'd rather not. So can and will are more emphatic and more positive and confident. Could and would in statements are more hesitant and a little bit doubtful. Note the differences in these statements. She will become a doctor. She's very confident and positive about the future prospect. She would become a doctor. She's not so sure. It's quite doubtful. It's better not to say this one. I can stick with my diet. Of course I can. I'm confident and certain about it. I could stick with my diet. It's not certain. Sounds like I'm not sure. It's better to avoid that one when talking about these situations. Now answering new requests require a little bit of thinking on how to use these modals. Let's say the request is can, could, or would you help me? If you want to give a simple, positive response, you can say sure, no problem. On the negative side, you can say I'm sorry, but I can't. Or no, I'm afraid not. Sorry about that. Now we want to be a little bit careful with using these modals in simple answers. So below the dotted line, I will explain a little bit about the meanings of these different statements. Yes, I can. This is positive and quite strong. On the other side, if you say no, I can't, it's also strong, but strong in a negative way. So it's not polite. I don't recommend it. Yes, I will. That's quite enthusiastic. No, I won't is also strongly enthusiastic in the negative sense, which means it's very rude. So avoid using that one. Yes, I could is tentative, which means maybe I'm not so sure about that. You wouldn't say no, I couldn't. That sounds strange. Yes, I would. No, that's not common. And no, I wouldn't. People just don't say that. That's incorrect. However, you can extend this to say, yes, I would be happy to. And that's a very polite expression. Variations with would. Making requests. Here's something that you hear quite often. Would you mind helping me? Notice that this is an expression and it follows would you mind and then verb, I-N-G. It means does it inconvenience you or would it trouble you? So the answer here is kind of strange. If you want to give a positive answer, you say no, not at all. That means it doesn't bother me at all. Or you could say no problem. If you say yes, I would mind. That sounds very rude because it sounds like it does bother me or it would bother me. So avoid using that in that way. Remember, would you mind is a negative question and they expect a negative response for a positive answer. Not at all. No problem. More variations with would. Invitations, answers and future plans. Sometimes you'll hear this in invitations. Would you like to go bowling this weekend? Sure. I'd love to or I would love to. If you don't want to go, you can say no thanks. Always put a polite word in there to give the idea that you're being nice in your response. When answering requests, for example, could, would, will or can you fix this? You can say something like this. I would be happy to or I'd be happy to. I'd be glad to do it. Now another way of using would like to is when you're talking about yourself and your future plans. For example, I would like to work in a bank someday. Now notice the difference. With invitations, would you like to go bowling? Future plans, I would like to. You're talking about yourself. Asking permission. Only two of these words, can and could, can be used to ask permission. For example, can you help me? Could you help me? Would you help me? Will you help me? Those are all used in requests. However, if we're going to ask for permission, there are only a couple that we can use and then there's a third one. Can I help you? This is informal. Could I help you? This is more formal. And may I help you? This is also formal. So what's the difference between requesting and asking for permission? Can I or may I ask your name? Can I, may I? Can or will you give me your name? Can you or will you? The difference is between I and you. Can I is asking for permission. Can you is making a request. Past tense. Only would and could are used in the past tense. We sometimes call this future from the past. Look at the examples below. Yesterday, Fred said he would come tomorrow. So yesterday, when Fred was speaking, it was in the past and he was talking about the future from the point of view in the past. Another example, Penny promised that she would be here. So yesterday, for example, she made a promise that she would be here today. Maybe she's not here yet. The other one that we need to explain is could versus was able to. For example, I could drive when I was very young. This is a general meaning talking about my ability. I could finish my homework on time. This one is incorrect because it's talking about a specific thing, a specific occurrence. Instead of saying that, you need to say, I was able to finish my homework on time. We're talking about a specific instance or occurrence. Here's a review chart. We're going to explain the best usage for situations. Now, you may hear of people using these slightly differently, but we're going to just tell you the best ways to use these in situations. Okay, first of all, request. Can, could, will, would. All of these can be used in requests. You can go back and review the formality, willingness, and possibility that we talked about before. Other words that could be used in these situations are would you mind, verb, I, N, G. Answering requests. As we mentioned before, you could give a positive or a negative answer. If you say, yes, I can, that's fine, but it's better not to say no, I can't. Could, it's better not to say, yes, I could, no, I couldn't. That's just not common. With will, yes, I will, is okay. It's a little bit strong, but don't say no, I won't. That's very impolite. Would, don't say, yes, I would, no, I wouldn't, it sounds strange. But you can say, I would be happy to. Now remember, if you're going to give a negative response, you need to say a polite word such as sorry, but I can't. Statements for now and in the future. You can use can, but not could, will, but not would. We can also say, I would like to do something in the future. That's different from inviting someone. Would you like to is what you use for invitations. Next, asking permission. The only two you use here are can and could, not, will, and would. You can also use may in more formal situations. For past situations, the only ones you use are could and would. Do not use can and will in the past situation. Now you can also use be able to to talk about specific incidents. Other situations. These models can be used in other situations, but we'll save those for other videos. For example, we can talk about possibilities with can, may, and might. Future situations with will be going to and might. Conditionals with would, could, will, can, and might. See the links in the description below. Okay, it's your turn. Fill in the blanks with the best answers. There might be more than one answer to each of these situations. Okay, go ahead. Take a couple of minutes and answer these questions. Okay, ready to check the answers? Here you go. One. Can, could, would, or will. You can use all of them. You lend me a pen. Sure. I would be glad to or I'd be glad to. Two. Can, could, or may. I borrow a pencil. Here you go. Three possible answers for that one. Three. Some day I will or would like to be an astronaut. That sounds great. Four. Four. Yesterday I was able to win the race. Good for you. Congratulations. Notice this is a specific occurrence. Just a one-time thing. Hope that was helpful. If you liked this video, please give us a thumbs up in the comment section below. And remember to subscribe to our channel. Thanks for watching. If you have a question, please let us know at the following link. 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