Can and can’t in English for children (A1, ages 6–9): sports and “Can you skateboard?”

Park words: actions and things

This topic uses eight words from a park or a sports day. Six are actions: ride a bike, ride a horse, skate, skateboard, play tennis and play football. Two are things: roller skates and a tricycle. Only an action can follow “can”: “I can skate.”, not “I can roller skates.”

“Skateboard” is both the board and the action: “I can skateboard.”

• With ride: ride a bike, ride a horse
• With play: play tennis, play football
• On wheels: skate, skateboard
• Things: roller skates, a tricycle (a bike with three wheels)

Can and can’t: one form for everyone

“Can” is the same for every person: “I can”, “you can”, “she can”, “they can”, with no “s” for he or she. The action after it stays in its basic form, with no “to”: “She can ride a horse.” The negative is “can’t”, short for “cannot”: “He can’t skate.”

The two words are easy to mix up when you listen, so let your child add a gesture: a nod for can, a head shake for can’t.

• I can ride a bike. / I can’t ride a horse.
• She can play tennis. / She can’t play football.

Asking “Can you…?” and “Can she…?”

To ask, put “Can” first: “Can you skateboard?” The short answer repeats “can” and stops: “Yes, I can.” or “No, I can’t.” The question says “you”, but the answer says “I”, because the speaker is talking about themselves. About another person, the answer matches that person: “Can she skateboard?” “No, she can’t.”

In this recording, one child asks about something new and hears an honest “No, I can’t.” At home, praise a no as much as a yes: the aim is a true sentence.

Where is it? Under, between and next to

“Where is the football?” asks about a thing, not an ability, so the answer is a place: “It’s between the cones.” For two or more things, say “Where are…?” and “They’re…”. “Between” needs something on each side.

• under the bench
• between the cones
• next to the goal
• behind the skateboard
• in front of the bench

A or an? Listen to the next sound

Before one thing, use “an” if the next word starts with a vowel sound (a, e, i, o, u) and “a” before other sounds: “a bike”, “an apple”. The word right after decides, so a colour can change it: “an orange bike” but “a blue doll”. It is the sound that counts, so later your child will meet “an hour” and “a uniform”.

• a bike, a skateboard, a tricycle
• an apple, an orange, an umbrella

A home game: draw a park skills map

Draw a simple park on paper: a bench, two cones and a goal. Add a ball or a toy bike. Take turns hiding the ball and asking “Where is the ball?” The answer is one sentence: “It’s under the bench.”

Then make a skills chart: family names down the side, a bike, a ball and a racket along the top. Your child asks each person “Can you ride a bike?”, adds a tick or a cross, then reads one row aloud: “Dad can ride a bike. He can’t play tennis.” Older children can write two “can” sentences and one “where” sentence.

Common mistakes and quick fixes

These are normal at this stage. Repeat the sentence back correctly and carry on.

• “She cans skate.”: can never takes “s”: “She can skate.”
• “I can to ride a bike.”: no “to” after can: “I can ride a bike.”
• “Can you skate?” “Yes, you can.”: answer about yourself with I: “Yes, I can.”
• “I can play the tennis.”: no “the” before a sport: “I can play tennis.”
• “a apple”, “a orange bike”: use an before a vowel sound: “an apple”.

What comes next

When can and can’t feel easy, join two ideas with “but”: “I can play tennis, but I can’t skateboard.” Then ask “What can you do?” and wait for two or three sentences. Next comes classroom English, such as asking someone to repeat or spell a word.