В пособии рассматриваются основные моменты английской грамматики: части речи имя существительное, имя прилагательное и наречие; видо-временные формы глагола; модальные глаголы; неличные формы глагола

8. Can Used to Express ‘Theoretical Possibility’

Can is used to say that events and situations are possible (without talking
about the chances of them actually happening).
Anybody who wants to can become a prison visitor.
Scotland can be very warm in September.
To talk about the past, could is used.
My grandmother could be very unpleasant at times.
We often use can to make suggestions about possible solutions to a problem,
or possible actions.
We’ve got three choices: we can go to the police, we can talk to
Peter ourselves, or we can forget all about it.

9. Set Phrases with Can, May, Might

A. can’t help
If you say that you can’t help doing something, you mean that you are forced
to do it: something makes you, even if you don’t want to or shouldn’t.
She’s a very selfish woman, but somehow you can’t help liking her.
Excuse me - I couldn’t help overhearing what you said.
In Russian it means ‘не могу удержаться от...’ or ‘не могу не делать
(чего-то)’
Can’t help is sometimes followed by but + infinitive (without to); the
meaning is the same as can’t help ... ing, but the structure is not very
common, and is unusual in spoken English. In Russian it is ‘(мне) ничего
другого не остается, как...’
I could not help but realize that something was wrong.


B. can’t (couldn’t) possibly do means ‘просто не могу (не мог) сделать...’
He can’t possibly do it.
I couldn’t possibly refuse him.


C. may/might as well
This phrase is used in an informal style to suggest that one should do
something because there is nothing better, more interesting, more useful etc.
to do. There is no real difference between may and might here.
As there isn’t anything more to do, I may as well go home.
( я, пожалуй, пойду домой)
I might as well stay at home tonight.. (я, пожалуй, останусь дома...)
Might as well is also used to compare one unpleasant situation with another.
You never listen - I might as well talk to a brick wall.
(я с таким же успехом мог бы разговаривать с....)