General English Level 4 V 3

UNIT 02 Keeping fit TOPIC 01 Living on the edge

	LANGUAGE FOCUS 04 Talking about ability

The magazine article says:
	…you must know how to ski or snowboard well …
	…you have to be able to swim.
	…if you can move quickly…
	…if you are unable to make instant decisions...

We can use these words to show our ability / inability to do something.

ABILITY	INABILITY
know how to	don't know how to
can	can't
be able to	be unable to/not be able to

I can scuba dive = I am able to scuba dive = I know how to scuba dive
I can't ski = I am unable to ski = I 'm not able to ski = I don't know how to ski

We use good at / bad at to say how well we do something.

I don't want to try white water rafting because I'm not very good at swimming.

Can is more usual in everyday conversation than be able to .

Can you speak English?

Rather than

Are you able to speak English?

However, when we want to use the present perfect tense , we must use be able to . Can has no present perfect tense.

I haven't been able to finish my diving course because I've been too busy.

The magazine article says that for rock climbing:
	You also need to be agile.

This means that if you are not agile, you won't be good at rock climbing.

The magazine article also says that for white water rafting:
	You need to be able to swim.

This means that if you can't swim, you shouldn't try white water rafting.

need to is similar to must but less strong.

Examples

Can you scuba dive?
He wasn't able to go white-water rafting because he couldn't swim.
I can't rock climb because I'm scared of heights.
I don't think I'd be able to jump off a cliff. I wouldn't have the courage.
I would like to be able to swim well. What do I need to do?

Idioms

The magazine article says:
	….you will be a natural at this sport.

This means you will be very good at this sport. It will be easy for you.
Other idioms we use to show ability / inability are:

to be second nature
to come naturally

Examples

Jane learnt to swim when she was very young. It was second nature to her.
He's an excellent skier. It comes naturally to him.

Now go to 05 READING The noticeboard.