Abilities, Rules & Directions
Talking about what you can do and telling people where to go.
- check_circleI can say what I can and can't do
- check_circleI can give simple instructions and warnings
- check_circleI can give and follow directions in the street
Discover
Meet today's English in a real situation — no rules yet. Read it once and try to guess the pattern in the words in bold. Underlined words open a short definition.
Tom can’t speak much French, but he can read a map. When he got lost near the train station, he showed his map to a local.
“Excuse me,” Tom said, “can you help me? I can’t find the museum.”
“Of course!” the man said. “Go straight on. Take the second left, then go past the bakery. The museum is on your right, next to the park. You can’t miss it!”
Tom said thank you and followed the directions. Ten minutes later, he found the museum exactly where the man said. He can’t speak French well, but he can definitely follow directions!
Learn
Now the rules behind what you just saw — explained simply, with examples. Underlined words open a short definition — hover on desktop, tap on a phone.
When you want to talk about skills or possibilities, you use can. When you want to give instructions or directions, you use imperatives.
Can / Can’t
Can is a modal verb. It is incredibly easy to use because it never changes, no matter who the subject is!
- I can swim.
- She can speak English. (Notice: no ‘s’ for she!)
- They can’t play tennis.
Questions:
- Can you help me?
- Where can I buy a ticket?
Imperatives (Commands)
We use imperatives to give orders, warnings, or instructions. You form an imperative by simply using the base verb without a subject.
- Stop!
- Listen to me.
- Open the window, please.
To make it negative, just put Don’t at the beginning:
- Don’t touch that!
- Don’t forget your umbrella.
Basic Directions
When a tourist asks you for help, or you are lost in a new city, imperatives are exactly what you need.
Useful phrases:
- Go straight on. (Keep walking in the same direction)
- Turn left / Turn right.
- Take the first left.
- Go past the bank.
- It is on your left / right.
A: “Excuse me, how can I get to the museum?” B: “Go straight on. Take the second right. Go past the park, and it’s on your left.”
- can + base verb, never changes: she can swim (no -s, no to)
- Instruction = base verb alone: Turn left. · Negative: Don’t touch!
- Directions: go straight on · turn left/right · go past · it’s on your left
Practice
Try it yourself. You'll see right away whether you got it right, plus a short explanation of why.
Use It
Now make the language yours in a real task. Use the prompt below — the editor keeps a simple word count, and nothing is saved or graded.
Before you finish — be honest. Can you do these now?