 Welcome to this video. Today, you're going to learn the difference between can and be able to. This is a question that a student had submitted and it's a great question. Of course, I'm Jennifer from jforisengles.com and this channel is dedicated to helping you sound like a fluent, confident, natural English speaker. Now before we go any further, make sure you subscribe and hit that bell icon so you're notified every time I post a new lesson. Now let's dive in with this video. Today, you're going to learn the difference between can and be able to. Now both of these are used to talk about ability, but the difference is in the sentence structure that's possible and also what type of ability. So first of all, you need to know that can is used for general ability. So we use it in both the positive form and the negative form in a very general context. For example, I could just say I can swim. I can swim just in general, anytime, anywhere, not specific to a specific pool or a specific place or a specific type of water, just I can swim in general. Now the opposite of course, the native, I can't swim. So it doesn't matter where I am. It doesn't matter what type of pool I'm in, what type of water I'm in, what time of day it is, where the location is, it doesn't matter. In any context, in a general context, I can't swim. So can is used in positive and negative for general ability. Now let's compare that to be able to. So be able to, this is used for a specific ability. Now, what does that mean? If it's specific, you can think of it as specific to a time, a location, a specific type, for example, is limited. So I could say I'm not able to swim today. I'm not able to swim today. Now I wouldn't just say I'm not able to swim because that sounds like a general statement. And if it's a general statement to all places, all times, all situations I would use can. I can't swim. But if I say I'm not able to, that means it's a specific time or specific location. So I might add to that sentence and say, I'm not able to swim today because the pools closed or because I have an important meaning or because I'm not feeling well. So there's a specific reason that's preventing that ability. So that's the first important distinction can general be able to specific. Now the other very important thing you need to remember is that grammatically, these are different. And that's because can is a modal verb. Modal verbs are limited. They're limited in the sentence structure that they can use. Now can as a modal verb is used in the present and the future be able to this is a verb expression. The verb of course is the verb to be that's the verb that's conjugated with the subject and the time reference. As a regular verb expression, we can use this in any sentence structure, any formation, any verb tense, anywhere on our timeline, a past, present or future. So this is very important because remember, I previously told you that can is used for a specific ability. But let's say you want to talk about a specific ability in a sentence structure where a modal verb is not possible in that sentence structure. If that's the case, even if you're talking about specific ability, you would use be able to. So you use be able to when can is not possible grammatically. Let me give you an example to make this very clear. So I could say a lifeguard needs swim for 20 minutes without stopping. So in this case, this is a general ability. This is something that a lifeguard needs any place, any time is just a general ability. But what about this blank here? What do I need grammatically to complete this sentence? Well, we have to look at the sentence I have need as a verb needs the lifeguard needs. Now need is a verb. The next verb has to be in the infinitive form. Now can as a modal cannot be used in an infinitive form, it doesn't exist. modal verbs are just the verb. They don't change in different structures. So in this case, I can't say a lifeguard needs can swim. No, that grammatically doesn't work, even though I'm talking about general ability. I need an infinitive. Because of that, I have to use be able to and I'd say a lifeguard needs to be able to in the infinitive form. Now I have a correct sentence. So now you know how to use can and be able to correctly. So it's your turn to practice. I want you to leave in the comment section below two sentences. Of course, one with can and one with be able to. This will give you lots of practice. If you found this video helpful, please hit the like button, share it with your friends and of course subscribe. Now before you go, make sure you head on over to my website, j4senglish.com and download your free speaking guide. In this guide, I share six tips on how to speak English fluently and confidently. And until next time, happy studying. Awesome job with this video. Make sure you leave your examples in the comments below and I'll see you in my next video. Bye.