English Grammar with Kudjo. Part 4 Понятная и забавная грамматика для детей и взрослых

Cover designer Roman Lubimov

© Larisa Lubimova, 2025

© Roman Lubimov, cover design, 2025

ISBN 978-5-0064-8661-4 (т. 4)

ISBN 978-5-0062-2872-6

Created with Ridero smart publishing system

Thank you for following Kudjo and me. If you are here, you must have read my previous books of Grammar with Kudjo and you know what to expect.

This book is devoted to the least popular grammar aspects: modal verbs, articles, prepositions and so on. I guess, you have just screwed up your faces at these words. Calm down.

I did try to make this grammar look less tough and more exciting by presenting and drilling it through Kudjo’s adventures and funny quizzes.

Let’s start.

Unit 1

Revision

Put the verb in brackets in the correct form:

1 /See/ Kudjo /stand/ on the abandoned road, Chilly wanted /cry/ but couldn’t.

2 He wished he /can/ run out of the car and join his friend.

3 If only he /can/ open the door!

4 Suddenly the blue light dissipated and Chilly stopped /see/ Kudjo at all in complete darkness.

5 If he /get/ out of the car, he /help/ Kudjo.

EXERCISE 2

Rephrase the sentences using the beginning of a new one in brackets:

1 Chilly kept sitting in the car because he didn’t manage to control it. (Chilly wished he …)

2 The engine didn’t start, the doors didn’t open, the lights didn’t switch on. (Chilly couldn’t make …)

3 It was pitch dark around and Chilly felt scared stiff. (Chilly wouldn’t …)

4 He hammered on the window to break the glass to get out, but it was too strong. (He tried…)

5 Soon Chilly got exhausted and fell asleep. (Having …)

EXERCISE 3

Put the verb in brackets in the correct form and guess the last word of the sentence:

1 /wake/ up in the morning, Chilly couldn’t understand what was going *****.

2 He was sitting in the car with all the doors and windows open, the engine /work/ and the lights /switch/ *****.

3 He got out of the car and rubbed his eyes several times. He /not believe/ it if he /not see/ it with his own *****.

4 He couldn’t help /bark/ in astonishment. There was nothing in front of him. The camp and the road had *****.

5 Chilly wished Kudjo /disappear/ *****.

EXERCISE 4

Fill the gaps in the story with missing words:

What would you have ***** if you had ***** Chilly? Right. He decided to return ***** hoping Kudjo had already come back. Chilly got into the ***** and drove home as ***** as possible. He was looking forward to ***** the door and seeing Kudjo reading a book on his favourite *****.

Arriving home Chilly rushed to the door, opened it and ***** Cuba and Luna waiting for them in the hall. They looked ***** and alarmed. Chilly realised that Kudjo hadn’t returned ***** yet. He’d rather not have explained anything but he didn’t have any other option as the girls waited for him to ***** them everything. Of course, Chilly couldn’t help putting them in the picture. When he ***** talking, the dogs looked even more ***** and troubled. They wished they ***** where Kudjo was and what ***** happened to him.

EXERCISE 5

Find and correct 6 mistakes in the sentences:

1 The dogs immediately started thinking to look for Kudjo but, frankly speaking, none of them knew where to start.

2 Luna suggested to go to the place where there used to be the abandoned camp.

3 Chilly, returned from that place a few hours ago, insisted to look for Kudjo in another place.

4 Cuba kept to whimper and could hardly put forward any idea.

5 It was high time they would have some tea and calmed down.

EXERCISE 6

Choose the correct option:

1 After having some camomile tea Cuba suggested ***** at home and waiting for Kudjo *****.

a staying / returning

b staying / to return

c to stay / returning

2 Luna wished they ***** to the place where Chilly had seen him the last time.

a go

b had gone

c could go

3 Chilly would rather ***** with Cuba, but he knew that Luna would make them ***** anyway.

a to agree / to go

b agree /go

c agree / going

4 None of the dogs remembered ***** Kit for ideas though he seemed ***** some.

a ask / to have

b to ask / to have

c asking / having

5 The dogs were too ***** to notice the kitten ***** the flat.

a excited / to leave

b exciting / leaving

c excited / leave

EXERCISE 7

Translate the story:

Похоже, Кит знал, где искать Куджо. Если бы собаки не были так зациклены на заброшенном лагере, они бы тоже вспомнили про подвал. Кит был уверен, что таинственный синий свет знает, где Куджо сейчас и он надеялся найти синий шар в подвале. Подбежав к маленькому подвальному окошку, Кит остановился как вкопанный. Не веря свои глазам, он залез на дерево.

Окно было наглухо заколочено досками. Жаль, что я такой маленький и слабый, подумал котенок, вздохнул и побежал искать помощи у котов района. Ему пришлось потратить немало усилий и времени, чтобы объяснить каждому коту, зачем ему опять нужно попасть в подвал. К вечеру огромная стая котов собралась около подвала, обсуждая варианты проникновения. Наконец, самый старый и самый мудрый сфинкс предложил просто поджечь деревянные доски…

(продолжение следует)

Unit 2

Modal Verbs of Ability

Before speaking about the modal verbs of ability, let’s remember three important characteristics of all modal verbs:

1. They have only one form, so you cannot add -s, -ed, -ing or make any other modifications.

2. They are used together with main verbs. You cannot put two modals together: Kudjo will can return. Instead of it you can say: Kudjo will be able to return. or Kudjo can return.

You also can’t use auxiliary verbs like do/does/did with modals, because modals themselves already function as auxiliary verbs!

To make the negative form of a modal verb, add not immediately after it: Chilly couldn’t remember anything after that.

To make a question with a modal verb, put it in front of the subject: Could the dogs find him?

3. Never use to between a modal verb and a main verb: We must not to panic.

PRESENT ABILITY

To describe physical and mental abilities in the present as well as the possibility to perform an action, we use can/can’t or be able to / be not able to. In everyday speech, can/can’t are more common.

Kudjo can drive a car far better than Chilly. = Kudjo is able to drive a car far better than Chilly.

Can is also used to express:

Permission (informal). e.g. You can take my dad’s car.

Request (informal). e.g. Can I go out?

By the way, could expresses a more polite request. e.g. Could you help us?

Prohibition (informal). You can’t tell anybody about it.

Note: am/is/are able to would be unusual when we are commenting on something that is happening at the time of speaking:

Look! Kit can stand on his front legs! (not: Look! He is able to stand on his front legs!)

If the present ability is surprising or involves overcoming some difficulty, we can also use is/are able to:

Despite his injury Chilly is able to drive a car.

We don’t usually use be able to with stative verbs (such as see, hear, understand, believe, etc.): Cuba can’t understand what is going on. (not: Cuba isn’t able to understand what is going on.)

We cannot usually use be able to with a passive:

This road can be used to cut the distance. (not: This road is able to be used to cut the distance.)

EXERCISE 1

Choose the correct form (in two sentences both options are possible):

1 Listen! Our kitten is able to /can bark now! When in Rome, do as the Romans do.

2 Are you able to / Can you look for Kit? I haven’t seen him since the morning.

3 The dogs have been looking for Kit but he can’t / isn’t able to be found anywhere.

4 The dogs can’t /aren’t able to see their kitten anywhere, which makes them worried a lot.

5 The kitten can’t / isn’t able to live on his own. He is too little.

6 Who do you think they can /are able to find first: Kudjo or Kit?

Fixed phrases with the verb can:

Can is used with some verbs to create idiomatic expressions widely used by native English speakers:

1. can’t wait – to be excited about something

Ex: Cuba can’t wait to see her French friends soon.

2. can’t stand – to strongly dislike something

Ex: Chilly can’t stand cats in Lion.

3. can’t bear – to strongly dislike something because it makes you unhappy

Ex: Luna can’t bear to be away from Kudjo longer than a week.

4. can’t take it – cannot tolerate something

Ex: Luna can’t take her parents’ control anymore.

5. can’t be bothered – to have no interest in something

Ex: Luna knows she should be home now but she can’t be bothered.

6. can’t win – life is difficult

Ex: Sometimes no matter what you do in life, you can’t win.

7. can’t help it – to have no control over something

Ex: Cuba can’t help it, she finds cheese irresistible!

8. Can you imagine? – it is amazing

Ex: Dogs can have a kitten as a pet. Can you imagine?

9. No can do. – it cannot be done. It’s impossible.

Ex: Chilly refused to do it, he wanted to help, though. No can do.

10. What can I say? – I have no comment right now.

Ex: Everybody is shocked. What can they say?

11. Can it! – Shut up!

Ex: Luna can’t stand the words «Can it!»

12. as can be – as much as possible

Ex: The dogs were sure that everything would be fine with Kudjo. He is as smart as can be.

EXERCISE 2

Put one of these fixed expressions in the gaps:

1 The friends ***** worrying about Kudjo and Kit.

2 They have been trying very hard to find them but *****.

3 Meanwhile, the cats are trying to put out the fire as hard *****.

4 They have just managed to extinguish it without any firefighters. *****?

5 The wall is black with grime but the window is open now. *****?

6 To make things worse, Chilly has caught a cold. If only he would take medicine! But he *****.

PAST ABILITY

To talk about ability in the past, we use could/couldn’t or was/wasn’t/were/weren’t able to:

There are some situations when we tend to prefer one or the other.

1. Use be able to for a specific accomplishment (in contrast to general ability): Despite being a poor driver, Luna was able to park the car well.

Remember: If an action was realised or carried out in a particular situation in the past it is expressed with the help of was/were able to, but when could is used with reference to the past, it denotes only the ability or possibility of performing an action.

However, the negative couldn’t is possible in all situations.

Chilly couldn’t help Kudjo that night. = Chilly wasn’t able to help Kudjo that night.

In such situations we can substitute was/were able to with managed to or succeeded in: Cuba was able to persuade Luna.= Cuba managed to persuade Luna.= Cuba succeeded in persuading Luna.

2. Using could/couldn’t is more common than was able to for:

• verbs of the senses and of thinking (hear, see, smell, taste, feel, think, believe, remember, understand): It was pitch dark but Chilly could see that place.

• with the words almost, nearly and hardly: Chilly was so shocked that he could hardly speak.

It’s not wrong to use was able to in these situations, it’s just a little less common.

EXERCISE 3

Complete the sentences using could or was/were able to in positive or negative forms:

1 After the cats put out the fire, Kit ***** get into the cellar.

2 It was pitch dark in the cellar, but Kit ***** see well (all cats can see perfectly in the dark).

3 Unfortunately, he ***** find what he had expected to.

4 He mewed hoping to attract the blue ball, but the answer was a deafening silence.The only sound Kit ***** hear was the sound of his own tail tapping on the floor.

5 He ***** hardly believe that all his efforts had led to naught.

6 Having looked for the blue ball everywhere, the kitten ***** find it and had to come back home without any good news.

To talk about ability in the future, we only have one option – will/won’t be able to.

The dogs won’t be able to do anything without Kudjo.

To sum up, we use be able to instead of can:

• after another modal verb (will/would/must/might/shall/should).

They might be able to find him in the forest.

• if we want to use an -ing form or a to-Infinitive.

They enjoy being able to share all their feelings with him.

They used to be able to fight for each other.

• if we want to use Perfect Tenses.

They haven’t been able to find either Kit or Kudjo yet.

EXERCISE 4

Put the correct form of be able to in the story about Kit’s abilities:

1 He didn’t use ***** climb trees when he was little.

2 Now he loves ***** climb up any heights.

3 He ***** just ***** reach a squirrel hollow, which frightened the squirrels a lot.

4 When he gets older, he ***** catch birds.

5 He wants ***** do something useful for Luna and other dogs.

6 If he were bigger and stronger, he would ***** find Kudjo.

EXERCISE 5

Fill the gaps in the story with missing words:

Disappointed and ***** Kit finally returned home, which made Luna ***** with joy. If only they could ***** Kudjo as well! The kitten explained that he had ***** to find the glowing blue ball to be able to look for Kudjo with its help. While ***** to Kit, Chilly remembered seeing the glowing blue light in front of Kudjo standing on the ***** motionless. Bingo! The kitten was absolutely right! If they can ***** the blue light ball, it will definitely ***** them to Kudjo! The dogs got so excited that they forgot one ***** thing – they still don’t know where to look for the ***** either. It’s time they worked out the strategy.

EXERCISE 6

Find and correct 6 mistakes in the sentences:

1 They have been trying to work out the strategy since yesterday and have just able to do it.

2 They remembered canning to see the glowing blue ball whenever they were in trouble or were about to get into trouble.

3 Chilly came up with the idea of provoking a difficult situation so that the ball could help appearing.

4 The idea sounded so brilliant that Chilly wished Kudjo can be proud of him.

5 The only thing they haven’t can to do yet is to decide what trouble to create for themselves.

6 Finally Luna managed setting up a «trap» for the ball.

EXERCISE 7

Choose the correct option:

1 Luna suggested getting lost in the forest but ***** which one.

a cannot to decide

b could not to decide

c couldn’t decide

2 The dogs ***** choose the place for a “trap” until Chilly put forward his plan.

a couldn’t to

b hadn’t been able to

c haven’t been able to

3 Chilly’s plan was to pretend to get lost in the place where he had seen Kudjo the last time. He easily ***** the girls into doing it.

a managed to talk

b could talk

c managed talking

4 Luna objected to Kit going with them but he ***** persuade her to take him.

a was able to

b managed

c could to

5 His best argument is that he ***** attract the glowing ball better than the dogs.

a can to

b is able to

c manages

6 It was the argument nobody ***** resist.

a was able to

b couldn’t

c could to

EXERCISE 8

Translate the story:

Ночью никто не мог уснуть, думая о предстоящей авантюре. Поэтому утром все были невероятно сонными и едва смогли заставить себя позавтракать.

Хотя и завтраком это было назвать очень сложно – немного собачьих сухариков и много крепкого кофе. Да, да, собаки тоже иногда пьют кофе.

После кофе они смогли наконец-то полностью открыть глаза и обсудить окончательные детали операции.

Только сейчас собаки стали понимать как сильно им не хватает Куджо, его уверенности, решительности и сообразительности. Если бы только он сейчас был с ними!

Видя, что Луна и Куба вот-вот расплачутся, Чилли быстро скомандовал всем взять свои рюкзаки и отправляться в путь. Собаки решили добираться до места на электричке, а дальше идти пешком. Никто из них не мог и представить, что их ждало впереди.

Неприятности начались сразу же, как только они сошли с электрички. В то время, как они стояли на платформе, решая в какую сторону им лучше пойти, Луна открыла свой рюкзак, в котором всю дорогу спал Кит, и внезапно громко взвизгнула. Котенка в рюкзаке не было…

(продолжение следует)

Unit 3

Modal Verbs of Obligation

MUST

The modal verb must has only one form. We only use must to talk about the present and the future. For missing forms of the verb must we use its equivalent to have to.

Must expresses:

1 Strong obligation, necessity, duty to do something. We generally use must when the speaker has decided that something is necessary.

Must expresses an obligation from the speaker’s point of view, an obligation imposed by the speaker; it is used to give a strong personal opinion: The dogs believe they must keep it a secret.

As must expresses a strong obligation, we do not often use it in face-to-face conversation as it can sound impolite and often inappropriate. We often use should and ought to as an alternative to must as they express a subjective (often moral) obligation felt by the speaker, but the obligation is weaker than with must

You should treat your neighbours with more respect and never bark at their cats.

2. Prohibition; refusing permission

Must is used in negative sentences when it is forbidden/prohibited to do something; you are not allowed to do something; it is against the rules/laws:

The dogs were astonished when they saw: «You mustn’t go by train if you haven’t got a ticket (even if you are a dog).»

3. Command, urgent request, command in public notices or documents: