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  • I want to speak really English from your first lesson.

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  • Hi, everybody.

  • My name is Alicia.

  • In this lesson, we're going to talk about some expressions you can use to talk about your abilities.

  • So I'm going to introduce some expressions you can use for the past for the present and for the future.

  • These are just a few examples of some ways you can talk about the things you can could and will be able to do.

  • So let's take a look with a few examples of each pattern.

  • Okay, let's start with the 1st 1 I can, plus a verb.

  • So here the subject in the sample pattern is I.

  • But we can replace I with, for example, he or she or it or they.

  • The same is true for all of the other patterns I'm going to introduce in this lesson.

  • So we use I can, plus a verb as sort of the basic, most simple way to express something we are able to do.

  • So example sentences I can speak English.

  • My verb here is speak in this case.

  • So this could be something many of you.

  • Can you another example here?

  • I've changed the subject to Shi Shi so she can.

  • My verb is run.

  • She can run five k five k beating five kilometers in 30 minutes.

  • So these are just some simple, very basic ways to express something we can do we're able to do.

  • Of course, we can use the negative for this.

  • I can't speak English.

  • I can't speak Chinese, for example.

  • Or she can't run five k in 30 minutes.

  • We can make the negative with this pattern too.

  • So this is maybe the most basic way to express something you can do you are able to do.

  • Let's look at another one.

  • This expression is I know how to plus a verb.

  • I know how to do something so we can use the same verbs we used in the first pattern in this pattern.

  • If you like, for example, I know how to speak English is fine.

  • However we use know how to do something for something that requires, like, study or something that requires maybe a process.

  • There are rules for that thing.

  • So a sentence like I know how to run five K.

  • It's not quite so natural because running isn't really necessarily a topic of study.

  • Running requires practice, Yes, but it's not really something we study.

  • So we use know how to do something for something We have learned how to do so Not necessarily physical practice of something.

  • But we have learned this thing.

  • So some examples.

  • I know how to use photo shop.

  • So photo shop is a piece of software, something we can study something.

  • We learn how to use another example.

  • He knows how to bake cookies.

  • So here, this is something we need to study.

  • In other words, so there's a process to baking cookies.

  • He knows how to bake cookies.

  • So please keep in mind as we see in this example, when we change the subject from I to, for example, he she or it the following verb No needs to change.

  • We need to modify the verb.

  • So it has an s at the end.

  • He knows how to bake cookies.

  • So don't forget this s however, this burb does not change.

  • He knows how to bake cook cookies so we don't need to modify this for will only modify the 1st 1 which is attached to he the subject.

  • Okay, so this is for a process, something we study to become able to do.

  • Now let's talk about a couple of past tense example.

  • So these two are maybe present tense expressions.

  • Let's talk about some past tense example Sentences.

  • The 1st 1 when I was a kid, I could and our verb.

  • So here I've said when I was a kid, you can change this.

  • Of course, when I was a student when I was an elementary school student Ah, when I lived in a different city, for example So this part can change to a different time period in your life.

  • However, here I'm using the past tense.

  • Could I could So this implies this suggests that maybe this action is not possible for you.

  • Now, let's look at some examples.

  • So when I was a kid, I could swim all day long.

  • So this sentence sounds like now I can't really, um, it's It's just a simple expression.

  • With past tense, I could I could, um So maybe the speaker is going to share some or information about their current ability, But here I've used when I was a kid again.

  • You can change this to like when I was, uh, in swimming club, for example, I could swim all day long so there are a lot of different variations you can use with this powder.

  • Anyway, let's look at another example when you work it.

  • So maybe if a parent wants to talk to their son or daughter about their childhood, they can use this expression.

  • So when you were a kid, you could sleep for 12 hours straight SOS, 12 hours straight means 12 hours nonstop.

  • So you is my subject here When you therefore Waas In my example pattern changes to where When you were a kid, you could sleep for 12 hours straight.

  • So again, this is a past tense expression.

  • Let's look at one more past tense expression Maybe you're familiar with used to used to.

  • So I used to be able to do something.

  • So where the action is a verb here.

  • So here we have used to So maybe, you know, I used to followed by just a simple verb.

  • So, like I used to cook every day or I used to exercise every day here we introduced I used to be able to.

  • This expression allows us to explain an ability we had in the past.

  • So let's look at some examples.

  • I used to be able to speak Spanish.

  • Here is my verb to speak Spanish used to shows, Ah, long time ago.

  • In the past, I had this ability, but now I do not.

  • So remember the nuance of used to is that something was true in the past, and it is not true now.

  • I used to also please consider the pronunciation here so not used to.

  • But native speakers connect the D and the T sound at the end of Yuste and too, so it's not used to, but used to used to.

  • There's just one sound they're used to.

  • So think of it as dropping the D used to.

  • I used to do something.

  • One more example.

  • She used to be able to baby sit, meaning her schedule maybe has changed.

  • Now she cannot baby sit.

  • So here we have some expressions with use to to a talk about a past ability.

  • Okay, finally, let's end with one example ah, pattern that you can use to talk about future possibilities or future abilities so you can use this when you want to make a guess about the future, so something you think you might be able to do in the future.

  • So the base pattern is in the future will be able to verb.

  • So here I have we in my example, we will.

  • So wheel is the contracted form of we will and I've used we.

  • In this case, we means all people, all people, all members of society.

  • We together.

  • So some examples of this in the future we'll be able to use a eye technology A I artificial intelligence ai ai technology.

  • In the future, we'll be able to use a eye technology.

  • So you might wonder, Why am I using will here instead of like going to, For example, we use will when we're making a guess about the future that we can't really see so we can't see what's going to happen in the future.

  • And maybe we don't have such a strong level of confidence.

  • We don't have a super high level of confidence about our guests.

  • In those cases, we can use will.

  • So these are nice to talk about capabilities, things we are able to do or in this case, things we might be able to do in the future.

  • So this is a sentence you can use to make a prediction to make a guess.

  • Let's look at one more example said this.

  • Okay, in the future, we'll be able to travel to space.

  • So here again, I'm making a guess about space travel.

  • So I don't have a high level of confidence because I don't know very much about space travel.

  • But I want to make a guess.

  • In the future, we'll be able to travel to space.

  • If you want to decrease the level of confidence of your guests, you can include I think, for example, in the future I think we'll be able to travel space so you can change the level of your confidence of your guests of by introducing some other phrases like I think, Or maybe all right, so these are a few ways that you can express your abilities in the past, the present and in the future, these air just a couple of different patterns to do that.

  • But please be careful.

  • Some things that I've noticed are that often students will mix up the present tense can and past tense could so make sure to use ah, past tense.

  • When you're talking about your abilities in the past on, make sure to use present tense for the things you are able to do now.

  • So please keep that in mind.

  • Okay, so that's all for this lesson.

  • I hope that it was helpful for you.

  • If you have any questions or if you want to try making a sentence with one of these expressions, please feel free to do so in the comments section below this video.

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  • Study resource is thanks very much for watching this lesson and I will see you again soon.

  • Bye bye.

I want to speak really English from your first lesson.

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