Can
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[hide]noun
The noun /naʊn/ pronounced /kæ̃nz/ (cans) refers to what in French are called boîtes de conserve. Go figure. :) English "boxes" refer to many things, but not to cylinders. It was a Frenchman, Nicolas Appert, who invented the process of canning, which helped provision Napoleonic troops in the War of 1812.
modal verb
pronunciation
- Pronounced most often in its weak form: /kn/ or /kən/.
- The strong form is /kæ̃n/ (The tilda over the ae symbol means it is nasalized: Parlez-vous kwæ̃kwæ̃?) (Cf. la voyelle française de "ben", si aigu au Canada: bɛ̃)
- The negative contraction can't is pronounced kæ̃t in American English.
meaning (semantics)
A little history and comparison is helpful here. German kennen and French connaître (to be acquainted with), like English know and Greek gnosis all have the same root sounds. One possible synonym of "can" is "know how to". (Manon can't cook, but she does know how to sing opera.)
Can indicates possibility, cannot or can't impossibility. Can is also linked to ability, capability
periphrastics
One of the most important periphrastics in English is be able to.
In both the future and the past (and the conditional or "future of the past") "be able to" is used.
- was(n't)/were(n't) able to
- would(n't) be able to
- won't be able to
syntax
- invariable
- cannot be combined with (preceded or followed by) other modal verbs or "to"
- can be followed by the verbal base / bare infinitive (or nothing)
- has at least two main meanings (one radical (capability), one "epistemic" (possibility))
| can | could | capability / possibility |
|---|---|---|
| will | would | future / certainty / volonté |
| shall | should | value judgement / necessity |
| may | might | authorization / probability |
| must | logical necessity / certainty | |
