The interviewer asks: So, you can sing?
Michelle answers: "
"
Her boyfriend, Richard, is somewhat more positive. He answers:
"A little bit.
"
'Can Michelle sing something now for us?' VS 'Michelle, can you sing something now for us?'
This is an important distinction. "Can"
in this lesson is about being able to do something.
But when the interviewer asks "Can you sing something now for
us?", the interviewer is using "Can" to make a request
(a request, by the way, is the act of asking) which is the second
most important way we use "Can" and "Could". For
example, in lessons 3 and 6, the interviewers ask "What's your
name?" and "Can you spell it?" or "Could you spell
it?".
We know that the people in lessons 3 and 6 are able to spell
their names. In those lessons, the interviewer is making
a request ("Can you spell it?") or a more polite request
("Could you spell it?").