CAN/ COULD AND BE ABLE TO


I've never been able to... scuba-dive

I really wanted to learn. Maybe it was because of that scene in one of the very first James Bond films, where a beautiful actress comes out of the sea looking fabulous, with oxygen bottles on her back- I could see myself looking just like her. So, two years ago I booked a holiday which included a week's intensive course. On the first day of the course I was incredibly excited. First we had two hours of theory and then we went into the sea to put it into practice. 
But as soon as I went under the water I discovered that I suffered from claustrophobia . I just wasn't able to do it. After about half an hour I gave up . Every evening for the rest of my holiday I had to listen to my scuba-diving classmates talking about all the wonderful things they had seen that day on their diving excursions. Not being able to join the conversation was very frustrating.

I still love swimming and snorkelling, but I think that I have to accept that I will never be able to scuba- dive.



Learn do dance

I have always  wanted  to dance salsa, and when I was working in Ecuador there were free classes, so I joined. But the art of salsa, is to keep your arms still and move your hips, and I just couldn't do it. When I hear music my arms start moving, but my hips don't. 

After about ten hours of classes I was able to dp the basic steps, but I was dancing like a robot! I didn't give up, but soon everyone in the class was dancing and I was just slowly moving from side to side and counting out loud 'one, two, three, four" I was a bit embarrasing. I was sure that one day I would suddenly be able to do it- but that never happened. I can still remember the first two steps and I still try to dance when I hear a salsa tune- as long as nobody is watching!

...................

...... speak Japanese
Complete with the correct for of be able to (+,-,?).

Her mobile has been switched off all morning, so I haven't been able to talk to her yet.

I don't like noisy bars. I like to be able to have a conversation without shouting.

I 'll be able to leave home when I get a job.

We are having a party next Saturday. Will you be able to come?

You need to be able to swim before you can in a canoe.

I'm going to France next week, but I don't speak French. I hate not being able to communicate with people.

Fortunately, firefighters were able to rescue all of the people trapped inside the burning house.

I am very sorry, but we won't be able to go to your wedding next month. We'll be on holiday.

I'm feeling a bit worse. Have you been able to contact the doctor yet?

The manager isn't able to see you right now because he's in a meeting.
 

PRESENT CONTINUOUS

PRESENT CONTINUOUS TENSE

There are three main uses of the present continuous relating to our topic of talking about the present. 

The main use of the present continuous is to talk about actions or events that are temporary, not permanent, and actions or events that have started but are not finished.

a) these may be actions or events taking place at the moment of speaking, e.g. He’s playing football.

b) or they may be actions or events taking place around the moment of speaking but not necessarily in progress at the time of speaking. Also actions or events that take place for a limited period of time.

 They are selling everything for half usual price this week.

2    We also use the present continuous to talk about changes and situations or events that are developing even though the process may not be temporary

They are increasing the production of food because of the growth in the population. 

3   And the present continuous is used with particular time expressions (forever, always, constantly, continually) to talk about habitual actions. We use the present continuous when we want to show that the action is annoying or to stress the repetitiveness of the action

He’s always leaving the fridge door open.

We usually don’t use the present continuous with state verbs regardless of whether the state is permanent or current or temporary. For example, we can’t say: I’m not knowing the answer.