Learn how and when to use the modal verb "could"
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Ryan: Hello, everyone! I’m Ryan. Think of All You Could Do If You Spoke English! |
| Chihiro: Hey, everybody! I’m Chihiro. In this lesson, you will learn how to talk about another person. |
| Ryan: This conversation takes place in the office. |
| Chihiro: This conversation is between Teddy and Sandra. |
| Ryan: The speakers will be speaking casually. |
| Chihiro: Okay, let’s listen to what they have to say. |
Lesson conversation |
|---|
| Sandra: Hey, Teddy, where’s Drew today? |
| Teddy: He’s out sick. |
| Sandra: Oh? He caught a cold? |
| Teddy: Well, he thought it was just a bad hangover, but he wasn’t getting any better, so he went to the doctor where he found out that he had caught the flu. |
| Sandra: Oh, poor thing. The jetlag and the partying must have caught up with him. I heard that he wasn’t feeling good during the party as well? |
| Teddy: … Yeah, I guess he was suffering from a wave of nostalgia. |
| Sandra: Wave of what? |
| Teddy: Nothing. |
| Sandra: Should we go visit him? We could bring him some chicken noodle soup. He’s staying at the Golden Gate Hotel right? That’s just down the street. We could bring our swimsuits and swim in the swimming pool as his guests as well! |
| Teddy: Hey, not a bad idea! Let’s go tomorrow. |
| Sandra: No, tomorrow I have a dentist’s appointment. Let’s go the day after. |
| Teddy: Works for me. |
| English Host: Let’s hear the conversation one time slowly. |
| Sandra: Hey, Teddy, where’s Drew today? |
| Teddy: He’s out sick. |
| Sandra: Oh? He caught a cold? |
| Teddy: Well, he thought it was just a bad hangover, but he wasn’t getting any better, so he went to the doctor where he found out that he had caught the flu. |
| Sandra: Oh, poor thing. The jetlag and the partying must have caught up with him. I heard that he wasn’t feeling good during the party as well? |
| Teddy: … Yeah, I guess he was suffering from a wave of nostalgia. |
| Sandra: Wave of what? |
| Teddy: Nothing. |
| Sandra: Should we go visit him? We could bring him some chicken noodle soup. He’s staying at the Golden Gate Hotel right? That’s just down the street. We could bring our swimsuits and swim in the swimming pool as his guests as well! |
| Teddy: Hey, not a bad idea! Let’s go tomorrow. |
| Sandra: No, tomorrow I have a dentist’s appointment. Let’s go the day after. |
| Teddy: Works for me. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Ryan: Chicken noodle soup! |
| Chihiro: I love it on a rainy day, makes me feel warm |
| Ryan: But not when it's rainy and warm, it just makes you feel sticky. |
| Chihiro: No, rainy and cold is nice chicken noodle soup weather! |
| Ryan: And of course, sick food too! Soup is a popular food to have while being sick. |
| Chihiro: Yes it is! It's said to help with low energy and it clears up congestion. Chicken noodle soup as you heard in the dialogue is a popular choice among the soups |
| Ryan: One with lots of vegetables is especially recommended. Try it next time you are sick and see how it makes you feel! |
| Chihiro: So, Ryan, you recently got sick, what did you eat? |
| Ryan: Nothing. I couldn’t eat anything. Lots and lots of soup. |
| Chihiro: Liar! |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Chihiro: Let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| : The first word we shall see is: |
| Ryan: cold [natural native speed] |
| Chihiro: common illness that may include coughing, sneezing, sore throat and other symptoms |
| Ryan: cold [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Ryan: cold [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Ryan: hangover [natural native speed] |
| Chihiro: sick feeling some time after drinking too much alcohol |
| Ryan: hangover [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Ryan: hangover [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Ryan: flu [natural native speed] |
| Chihiro: short for influenza which is a common disease |
| Ryan: flu [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Ryan: flu [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Ryan: poor [natural native speed] |
| Chihiro: unfortunate |
| Ryan: poor [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Ryan: poor [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Ryan: jet lag [natural native speed] |
| Chihiro: feeling of tiredness when traveling due to change in time and lack of sleep |
| Ryan: jet lag [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Ryan: jet lag [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Ryan: nostalgia [natural native speed] |
| Chihiro: mixture of a good and sad feeling when remembering something in the past and wanting to return to the moment again |
| Ryan: nostalgia [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Ryan: nostalgia [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Ryan: homemade [natural native speed] |
| Chihiro: made at home |
| Ryan: homemade [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Ryan: homemade [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Ryan: swimsuit [natural native speed] |
| Chihiro: attire for swimming |
| Ryan: swimsuit [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Ryan: swimsuit [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Ryan: pool [natural native speed] |
| Chihiro: swimming pool, a small body of water contained for swimming |
| Ryan: pool [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Ryan: pool [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Ryan: guest [natural native speed] |
| Chihiro: person invited to spend some time at another's place |
| Ryan: guest [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Ryan: guest [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCABULARY AND PHRASES |
| Chihiro: Let’s take a closer look at the usage for some of the phrases in this lesson. |
| Ryan: The first phrase is, |
| Chihiro: “to have caught up” |
| Ryan: Sandra mentions that the jet lag and partying must have caught up to Drew, meaning that the fatigue or tiredness caused by the busy activities has finally affected his body. You can use this in the sense that something is now up to date that was behind before. |
| Chihiro: So I can say, "the slow tortoise caught up to the fast hare." |
| Ryan: Right. |
| Chihiro: Okay, the next phrase we'll look at is |
| Ryan: “A wave of nostalgia.” |
| Chihiro: This is used to say that a nostalgic feel has come over a person. Since nostalgia is a feeling of longing, it seems appropriate that it comes in the form of an unexpected wave, as though it engulfs or wraps the person. |
| Ryan: Drew felt a wave of nostalgia at the party when thinking about his turtle that died. |
| Chihiro: Aw, poor Drew. |
| Ryan: Poor turtle. |
| Chihiro: Ryan, when was the last time you felt a wave of nostalgia? Do you even know what that feels like, Ryan? |
Lesson focus |
| Chihiro: The focus of this lesson is the modal “could”. This modal verb, or helping verb has several uses. It can be used to express things such as abilities in the past and polite requests. In this lesson, we'll concentrate on the use of "could" as a softer version of can. |
| Ryan: In the dialogue, Sandra makes the suggestion, |
| Chihiro: “We could bring him some chicken-noodle soup.” |
| Ryan: She is talking about an ability, which is why she uses “could” instead of “can.” This is the sentence with the verb “can.” |
| Chihiro: “We can bring him some homemade soup.” |
| Ryan: When using the verb "can", it sounds like a possibility. When using the verb "could", it also sounds like a possibility. |
| Chihiro: So, Ryan, what's the difference? |
| Ryan: There's a small difference in that "could" sounds less sure than "can". Therefore, in this case the suggestion seems less definite and open for change, which makes "can” a little more definite. |
| Chihiro: Right. Sandra uses the less definite word, because she is saying that her suggestion may or may not become a reality. Although the sentence using "can" is also a suggestion, the "could" sentence here is a softer suggestion. |
| Chihiro: Another example is when she says, |
| Ryan: “We could bring our swimsuits.” |
| Chihiro: Which is another possible idea she has in mind that may or may not become a reality. It sounds less forceful than, |
| Ryan: “We can bring our swimsuits”. |
| Chihiro: So you can use “could” when giving ideas like Sandra does on possible future actions. Okay, here are some other examples, |
| Ryan: “We could go to the Spanish restaurant instead.” |
| Chihiro: “They could see the Vatican first, then the Colosseum second.” |
| Ryan: “He could go earlier if necessary.” |
| Chihiro: As you can see, in all of the examples we just mentioned the word “can” may be used in place of could. But the modal is used because they are all suggestions, and therefore, it makes it a softer version of can. |
| Ryan: Many people use them interchangeably, depending on how much emphasis they would like to put on their suggestion. |
| Chihiro: It may be hard to tell the difference at times, and many native speakers probably won’t be able to explain it either, but that is the explanation on the subtly or slight difference between the two “could” and “can”. |
| Ryan: Use one or the other next time you give somebody an idea depending how soft or strong you want your suggestion to be. |
Outro |
| Chihiro: That just about does it for today. Okay, everybody, thanks for listening! |
| Ryan: Bye! |
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