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III. Imperative Usages

A) Permission

It is usually used in standard spoken English, although it can be found in official situations. The meaning is found in positive statements and the modal verb CAN is followed by a non-perfect form of the infinitive: You can do it. =( You have permission/ you are allowed./you are permitted.:

Passengers can smoke at the back of the plane. You can park on either side of the street.

Every time you get a question right you can pick a card. We can wear jeans at work.

The subjunctive form COULD is not usually possible in giving permission, as it can introduce the idea of implied condition und which the action can be done. The form COULD is possible in the past-time context (in narration or in indirect speech) where it express permission in the past: The teacher said we could gonow. You said we could watch television.

 

b) Asking for Permission or Request for Permission

This meaning is usually found in general questions and sometimes is intensified with the additional shade of request. It is acceptable in most forms of spoken and written English and is more common than the structures with the modal verb MAY. The_subject is mostly expressed by the personal pronouns “I”,”we”: Can I do?(= Do you allow me to do?)

Can I go for a swim this afternoon, mama? - I'd rather you didn't.

Can we kick the ball around for a while?

Please, Miss, can I leave the room?

Can I borrow your car? - Surely, (friendly)

 

The usage of CAN makes the utterance informal and confident, whereas the subjunctive form COULD makes it more formal and often more polite: Could I have a look at your newspaper? Could I ask you something, if you're not too busy?

Could I use your phone? - Yes, of course, you can. (polite)

 

COULD is also used in the past-time context to show asking for permission in indirect speech: I asked my boss whether I could have the day off.

 

The usage of the negative form of CAN makes the utterance more emphatic. It shows that the speaker hopes for an affirmative answer. COULD isn't usually used in this case, though it is quite possible: Can't I come too? Can't (couldn't) I stay out till midnight, please? Couldn't I pay by cheque?

 

c) Request, Asking for Help

This is one of the most usual ways of making informal requests. In this case the speaker asks the hearer whether he is willing or able to do something. Requests are usually shown in questions, though1 statements may also be possible. Sometimes request is intensified with the additional meaning of order. The form COULD is the form of the Subjunctive which makes the request more polite and tactful. The subject is usually the personal pronoun "you"

Can (could) you do. – ( =I ask you to do/ Will you please do...?

Can you show må the way out? (spoken) Can you stand a bit further away?

Can (could) you tell me the right time? - It's ten thirty. Please, can you keep the children quiet while I'm on the phone? If you see Steve can you tell him I'm in London next weekend? (please, tell him)



 

In indirect speech COULD is the past-time form: I asked him if he could move his chair a bit.

 


Date: 2015-12-17; view: 734


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