Usage: Modals Anatomy -- Part 1 (Can & Could)

Does anyone recall the entries I wrote about modal verbs? It was under the title "Usage: Polite or Impolite? Past vs Present -- Part 3". Since then I have wanted to write a bit more about modal verbs, because to me, they can be very easy to begin with, difficult to go deep, and then easy once again when you can remember all.

Modal verb is a type of auxiliary verb(or helping verb) that is used to indicate modality -- meaning possibility and necessity.[1][2]

As I have mentioned in "Usage: Polite or Impolite? Past vs Present -- Part 3", the 9 modals are

Can & Could

Will & Would

Shall & Should

May & Might

Must

We'll look into each pair in each entry. First, let's take a look at the pair Can & Could

Having ability:

1. I can swim.
2. I could swim (in the past, now I can't).

Giving permission:

1. You can go now.
2. N.A.

Asking for permission:

1. Can I speak to Jane?
2. Could I speak to Paul? (more polite, time concerned is still present)

Request for help:

1. Can you lend me a dollar?
2. Could you lend me a dollar? (more polite, time concerned is still present)

Giving suggestion:

1. N.A.
2. You could clarify with her first before blaming her. (time concerned is still present)

Expressing possibility:

1. Smoking can cause cancers.
2. It can't be true! (it is not possible to be true)
3. You could arrive anytime now. (Slight possibility/ Unsure) (time concerned is still present)

Offering help:

1. Can I get you a drink?
2. N.A.

As you can see from the above, Could is the past tense of Can only for the case of ability.


Modals can also be categorised according to their forms.
Basically, you can call them:

1. Modal Simple 
• I could talk to her.
2. Modal Continuous
• I could be talking to her.
3. Modal Perfect
• I could have talked to her.
4. Modal Perfect Continuous
• I could have been talking to her.

Among the forms, I am most interested by the Modal Perfect of Could and Can because of their usefulness in expressing different mood.


Could have done (more common)
Can have done (less common)


Showing possibility in past event:

1. I can have visited her. (I had the chance, but I didn't visit her.)
2. You could have talked to her. (You had the chance, but you didn't, maybe you chose not to) (same as 1)

Showing disbelief in past event:

1. He couldn't have behaved so badly in school!
2. She couldn't have betrayed her dearest friend!

Showing criticisms / regrets in past event:

1. You could have informed me before you threw away my letters!! (But you threw my letters away and now I am very angry!)
2. I could have saved that kid had I called the ambulance earlier. (Because I didn't call the ambulance earlier, the kid has died and I am angry with myself now, and I regret it too)

The negative sense of Could/Can have + Past Participle is slightly more tricky and you just have to read carefully between the lines, usually it carries the meaning of "the result wouldn't have changed even if somebody did try":

Couldn't have done (more common)
Can't have done (less common)

1. I couldn't have succeeded without your help. (But I did succeed because you did help me)
2. He couldn't have phoned you because he left his cellphone at home. (It was just not possible for him to call you)
3. The dinner couldn't have been better! It was fantastic! (The dinner was not possible to get even better, it was already at its best)

Homework:


Try to explain the meanings of the following sentences in details, you can make your predictions as you wish:
(Leave comments for me to check)

1. Person A: "We can try to use inductive reasoning to solve this puzzle." Person B: "Could do."
2. Could you please shut your mouth?
3. You could have killed yourself crossing that road just now! Now take those earplugs off!
4. He couldn't have solved those problems by himself.

Enjoy!!!


                      "Who says grammar is boring?" -- Locky




Resources:
http://lockyep.blogspot.com/2009/11/usage-polite-or-impolite-past-vs_13.html
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modal_verb
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auxiliary_verb
[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linguistic_modality
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_modal_auxiliary_verb
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semi-modal

Book reference:
Practical English Usage -- Michael Swan

Environment: Earth Hour 2010 (add-ons)

http://herokids.files.wordpress.com/2008/04/earth.jpg

I have been very busy lately and most of my better articles are still pending for more researches, so I guess you guys have to be a little patient.

In my last entry, I said I will support the upcoming Earth Hour event and I suggested that it is important to save electricity. By doing so, we can lower the carbon dioxide emission worldwide in that hour.

But hey, there is only one Earth Hour a year, and there are still (365 days x 24 hours - 1 hour) hours of time at which we are using electricity, so it is actually a very small part of contribution to our beautiful planet, but it is the awareness and the education behind this event that count most in your participation.

If you are aware of the latest news reports, you should have heard of the "natural" disasters happened in  other parts of the world. Here I offer you a few news reports:

Portugal rushes aid to Madeira after deadly floods
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8526679.stm?ls

Thousands Flee Indonesia Floods
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8527149.stm

El Niño hits 14 Philippines provinces
http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/244883/el-ni-o-hits-14-provinces

Al Gore said in his movie, An Inconvenience Truth, that "The ice has a story to tell", now "Floods and heat waves also have a story to tell".

All these cases happened in less than a week, and let's not forget the Polar Ice Caps are also melting by the second. There have been numerous disputes over how fast the ice caps are melting and how soon the low sea level countries will be flooded; some say faster, some say slower. To me, it never matters how fast or how soon, it is happening! Why waste time on arguing who has the most accurate calculation? Nobody will know for sure until the day all the ice has melted. And by then, who will still care about whose claim is right and whose claim is wrong? There will be no turning back by then and so we shouldn't give ourselves hope that the Earth will only be critically sick many decades later. Treat the entire situation as serious as we all can and do whatever it takes to cure the planet as urgent as possible.

The Earth is already sick and it will die if we don't try to heal her.

Listen to Michael Jackson's Earth Song MTV again to feel the urge if you must.

Vocabulary:
dispute -- an argument or disagreement, especially an official one between, for example, workers and employers or two countries with a common border


Resources:
http://lockyep.blogspot.com/2010/02/environment-earth-hour-2010.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8526679.stm?ls
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8527149.stm
http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/244883/el-ni-o-hits-14-provinces
http://lockyep.blogspot.com/2009/03/movie-inconvenient-truth.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effects_of_global_warming
http://lockyep.blogspot.com/2009/11/movie-song-this-is-it.html

Message: Please Let Me Know

Hey guys!

While you are reading my entries and watching videos which are linked from this blog, if you happen to find any dead links, please let me know, so that I can update them and keep the entries meaningful no matter when you read it.

You can let me know by sending me email or leaving comments.

Thanks a million!

(Thank Timothy for letting me know about the song links I put up. They are fixed now.)

Cheers!
Locky

Environment: Earth Hour 2010

Hey guys, it is another big day in man's history for you and me to contribute to this amazing planet. The Earth Hour 2010 will be held at 8:30pm on the 27th March 2010. I joined it last year and supported the event by going out for dinner instead of staying at home, thus blacking out my home entirely for more than an hour.

Did I cheat? Well, not really, because I really didn't switch on the lights. Is it difficult to participate? Not at all! Just leave home with lights out and go out for a walk or do some shopping and you will be supporting the event! You don't always need to be at home, right?

But I have an even better idea!


You could go to the harbour sides and witness this tremendously wonderful event! Imagine you and your love ones arriving at Tsim Sha Tsui 5 minutes before the start and then watching the lights go out when the time strikes 8:30pm!!! Take a look at how clear the stars will be and then think about how much energy we can save in just that hour !!!

It will be truly peaceful, educational and meaningful to be a part of this!!! So please don't forget this day!!!

Do it for the world, do it for you!

Resources:
http://www.earthhour.org/
http://www.wwf.org.hk/eng/pressreleases/20091217.php

http://lockyep.blogspot.com/2009/04/science-earth-hour.html

Medical: Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease

Image from itechtalk

Recently, I think I have done some very bad things to my own body: I eat at irregular time, I combine two meals into one, I eat a lot at one time just so that I don't have to eat twice, I eat quickly and I eat late at night, sometimes before I sleep late at night.

Now, why am I doing that? Guess I am too busy, or maybe all those listed above have become my bad bad habits. You see, I do enjoy eating slow meals at a nice restaurant, but it always turns out that I am grasping for breath when I finish my bite, which means, I didn't even know I was eating too fast!

As a result, what do I get? I get something call acid reflux, or the proper name, Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD). Basically, it is when the food and juice in the stomach rush back to the oesophagus, and thus the gastric acid "burns" the walls of the oesophaghus and causing inflammation.

My symptoms include heartburn, trouble swallowing (dysphagia) and pain with swallowing (odynophagia).

There could be other symptoms for other people, so you may want to read up on more articles for further details.

There were a few days when I had to take strong medicine to relieve the pain, but eventually, it was the change back to regular lifestyle that helped me recover.

It is so good to be able to eat ~! Have a healthy life!

PS: By the way, I have to watch the amount of coffee I am drinking now. And when I drink, I have to make sure that I eat before I drink, because coffee increases the risk of acid reflux [1].

Resources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gastroesophageal_reflux_disease
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heartburn
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dysphagia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odynophagia
http://lockyep.blogspot.com/2010/01/health-and-fitness-healthy-coffee.html
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coffee#Health_and_pharmacology

Food: More Fish@Hong Kong Wet Market

I hope the entry Fish: Groupers@Hong Kong Wet Market helped those of you who are interested in learning grouper names.

I find it funny that my students are interested in knowing fish names all of a sudden, and I found it even funnier because their interest originates from a TV commercial of EPS with Jan Lamb and his look-alike who came from a band called "Rubberband".

Now what is there to do with fish names? If you know this musician, you will know his name in Cantonese.

The fish concerned is a very common fish in Hong Kong waters, found anywhere near pier and rocks and it feeds on meat and algae, and its name -- White-spotted Spinefoot.

Rabbit Fish /Spinefoots (White-spotted Spinefoot) / 泥鯭

Image from blogger

Being top on my dad's favourite fish list, this fish belongs to the category of rabbitfish or spinefoot. The fish can grow as big as 40cm and has a rabbit-like mouth, large dark eyes and a shy temperament. They have poisonous spines to defend themselves against threat. Though the poison is not life-threatening to human, it can cause severe pain.[1] (I have suffered from this in the past) The texture of the meat of this fish is smooth yet firm, and in my dad's and my opinions, it tastes better than many other expensive fish when steamed. In Hong Kong, they can be both farm fish or wild catch.[2]

Second on my dad's favourite fish list is ...

Turbot / Turbo Fish / 多寶魚

Image from guim.co.u

They are highly prized as food fish and they field 4 fillets with the meatier topside portions.[3]

Third on my dad's favourite fish list is ...

Sole / 龍脷魚 / 鰨

Image from blogspot

There are many types of soles and I don't really know which one does my dad like to eat, but he definitely has a taste for flatfishes.

Well, if we don't want to talk about costly fishes here, how about some middle-priced ones?

Barramundi / Asian Seabass / Giant Perch / 盲鰽

Image from reef.crc.org.au   

A fish very popular in Thai cuisine, the Barramundi has white, flaky flesh which is particularly smooth when steamed. There are both freshwater and saltwater ones.[4] In Hong Kong, they are often found as farm fish.

Russell's Snapper / 火點

Image from redsea.dive.ru

My dad is a real fish lover and he must eat fish every meal. When my dad is home for dinner, he would always ask for this fish. He said it is affordable and the quality is not bad. Well, I don't find many differences between this fish and the Barramundi, except that this one tastes more like freshwater fish.

Mangrove Red Snapper / 紅鮪

If my dad doesn't get the Russell's Snapper, he will settle for the Mangrove Red Snapper. Is there any diff?

Image from  wwfsassi.co.za

So much about my dad's choices, I am a natural soup lover! I love all kinds of soup, but if I can choose, fish soup always comes first. Topping my list of favourite fish for soup is the ...

Bartail Flathead / Flathead / 牛鰍

Image from Hand Line Fishing

It has two short spikes on either side of the head that contain venom (poison) which is not fatal but can cause pain and infection. Terribly sweet and milky soup! Wide catch.

Second goes to...

Rockfish / 石狗公

Image from Flickr

Wild catch for sure, lots of bones, tiny and dangerous. One disadvantage, need a lot of them to make a pot of soup. Be careful of the bones when you drink.

In the third place, I have the ...

Small Snakehead / San Pan / 生斑 / (Channa asiatica)

Image from hippocampus-bildarchiv.de

Snakehead / Snake Head Fish / 生魚 / (Channa maculata)

Image from siamfishing

Two types of fish and one big concern -- as National Geographic puts it, "Fishzilla". They produce fast and in huge amount, say 150,000 eggs in 2 years? They are invasive and they cause ecological damage. This fish has already been banned from the USA! Can you imagine that?

Enjoy the fish!

_________________________________________________________________

Vocabulary:

look-alike -- someone or something that is similar in appearance to someone or something else

flaky -- coming off easily in small, flat, thin pieces

Fishzilla -- from the word "Godzilla", a Japanese fictional giant monster. Hereby metaphorically, a monster fish.

fatal -- causes death

invasive -- moving into all areas of something and difficult to stop

_________________________________________________________________

Resources:

http://lockyep.blogspot.com/2009/08/food-groupershong-kong-wet-market.html

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabbitfish

[2] http://www1.parknshop.com/WebShop/FishList.do?service=direct&service=1&service=fishListEnu.$DirectLink$46&sp=l12915&sp=SLive+Seawater+Fish

[3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turbot

http://www1.parknshop.com/WebShop/FishList.do?service=direct&service=1&service=fishListEnu.$DirectLink$39&sp=l12939&sp=SLive+Seawater+Fish

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sole_(fish)

http://www1.parknshop.com/WebShop/FishList.do?service=direct&service=1&service=fishListEnu.$DirectLink$6&sp=l34113&sp=SFrozen+Fish

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flatfish

[4] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barramundi

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lutjanidae

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mangrove_red_snapper

http://www1.parknshop.com/WebShop/FishList.do?service=direct&service=1&service=fishListEnu.$DirectLink$4&sp=l12381&sp=SIce-bed+Fish

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flathead_(fish)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rockfish

http://www1.parknshop.com/WebShop/FishList.do?service=direct&service=1&service=fishListEnu.$DirectLink$38&sp=l12841&sp=SLive+Fresh+Water+Fish

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Channidae

http://www1.parknshop.com/WebShop/FishList.do?type=1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PF2vOp9_hbc

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/define.asp?key=47148&dict=CALD

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/define.asp?key=97435&dict=CALD

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godzilla

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/define.asp?key=28140&dict=CALD

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/define.asp?key=41783&dict=CALD&topic=attacking-and-invading