МГУ им. А.А. Кулешова
Л.В. Сыромолотова
Meaning
| Forms of the modal verb
| Ways of rendering in Russian
| Forms of the Infinitive
| Kinds of
sentences
| Some other ways of expressing the same meaning
| Sentence patterns
|
1.Ability, capability
| can (can’t) –the present tense;
could (couldn’t) – the past tense
| может
мог
могли
| Indefinite Infinitive
| affirmative
interrogative
negative
| to be able to; to know how to do something; to have the ability to do something.
| He can perform complicated operations. He is a very skilful surgeon. Can she swim well?
He could not feel or hear anything.
|
2.Possibi-lity due to circum-
stances.
| can (can’t) – the present tense;
could (couldn’t) – the past tense
| могу
может
мог
могли
| Indefinite
Infinitive
| affirmative
negative
interrogative
| to be able to; it’s possible to do something
| At a chemist’s shop you can get medicines of all kinds.
|
3.a) Permission
b) Request
c) Prohibition
| can – the present tense;
could – the past tense in reported speech.
can
could
(a polite request)
can’t
| можешь
можете
могу ли я
не могли бы вы
нельзя
| Indefinite
Infinitive
Indefinite
Infinitive
Indefinite Infinitive
| affirmative
interrogative
negative
| to permit;
to be allowed
| The doctor said, “You can take long walks every morning.”
Can (could) you give me some medicine for my headache?
You can’t visit him, he has an infectious disease.
|
4.Unreality
| could – (Subjunctive II form)
| мог бы
могли бы
| The Indefinite Infinitive refers the action to the present or future.
The Perfect Infinitive indicates the action which was not carried out in the past.
| affirmative
interrogative
negative
| would be able to do smth.
would have been able to do smth.
| Why don’t you want the doctor to come?
He could prescribe some medicine to bring down the fever (if he came).
You could have stayed in bed for a few days. But you didn’t.
|
5.Uncer-tainty, doubt, astonish-ment
.
| can/could
| неужели
может ли быть, чтобы
| The Indefinite Infinitive refers the action to the present or future.
The Continuous Infinitive refers the action to the present.
The Perfect Infinitive refers the action to the past.
The Perfect Continuous Infinitive denotes an action begun in the past and continued into the moment of speaking.
|
interrogative
(general questions)
| Is it possible that…?
Do you believe that…?
| Can (could) he be her husband? He is twice as old as she is.
Can (could) she still be running a high temperature?
Can (could) he have been operated on?
Can (could) they have been keeping to a diet for a few years?
|
6.
Incredulity,
improbabi-
lity
| can’t/
couldn’t
| не может быть, чтобы;
невероят-но, чтобы;
вряд ли
| Indefinite Infinitive
Continuous Infinitive
Perfect Infinitive
Perfect Continuous Infinitive
| negative
| It’s hardly possible that; I refuse to believe that; I don’t think it’s possible that; It’s next to impossible that; I don’t believe that; I doubt that; It’s impossible that; It’s incredible that; It’s doubtful that…
| He can’t (couldn’t) be her husband.
She can’t (couldn’t) still be running a high temperature.
He can’t (couldn’t) have been operated on.
They can’t (couldn’t) have been keeping to a diet for a few years.
|
7. For emotional colouring
| can/could (in present time contexts)
| И что они…
И о чем они …
И как он …
И что это она …
| Indefinite Infinitive
Continuous Infinitive
Perfect Continuous Infinitive
|
interrogative (special questions)
|
| What can (could) you know of such things?
What can (could) they be speaking about?
How can (could) you have made such a mistake?
What can (could) he have been doing all this time?
|
1. Can (could) he have failed to notice you? 2. Can (could) he dislike it here?3. Can (could) nobody have seem him do it? 4. Can (could) he never have got my letter? 5. Can (could) it be that he didn’t notice you? 6. He can’t (couldn’t) have failed to notice you. 7. He can’t (couldn’t) dislike it here?