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Can I try it on? The Santa Fe Indian Market: requests and permission with Can I and Can you

This A1 ESL lesson plan practices requests and permission with can at the Santa Fe Indian Market.

Grammar
Can I + verb to ask permission (Can I try it on?), Can you + verb for polite requests (Can you show me that ring?), the answers Sure and Sorry, you can't, and paying in cash or by card.
Topic
Shopping at the Santa Fe Indian Market, where about 1,000 Native artists sell their own art every August, with words such as bracelet, pottery, cash and receipt.
Activities
A visitor's guide to read, a market dialogue, self-checking drills, a chat at an artist's table, open-box role-plays and a message to write.

What's inside

  1. Chapter 1Hello, Santa Fe!

    • PictureUnlock
    • Spin the wheel and answerSpin the wheelUnlock
    • Study the words: at the marketVocabularyTry it
    • Look at the pictures and chooseChoose by pictureUnlock

  2. Chapter 2Let's read: the Indian Market

    • Look at the photo: the Indian MarketPictureUnlock
    • Read the visitor's guideReal-life documentTry it
    • Read and mark true or falseTrue or falseUnlock
    • Read again and choose the right answerQuizUnlock

  3. Chapter 3Let's listen: at the market

    • Listen to Emma and LiamListeningTry it
    • Transcript, for the teacherUnlock
    • Listen and choose the right answerQuizUnlock

  4. Chapter 4Grammar: Can I try it on?

    • Study the scheme: Can I…? Can you…?Grammar schemeTry it
    • Choose the right wordChoose the optionUnlock
    • Fill in the gaps: Can I…? Can you…?Fill in the gapsTry it
    • Drag the words into the gapsDrag and dropUnlock
    • Choose the right sentenceQuizUnlock

  5. Chapter 5Let's talk: at an artist's table

    • Choose the right replies: at an artist's tableChatTry it
    • Open a box and answer: at the marketOpen the boxUnlock

  6. Chapter 6Homework

    • Put the words in the right orderUnjumbleUnlock
    • Match the words and their meaningsMatchUnlock
    • Write a message: a market or a store I likeWriting, checked by the teacherUnlock
    • Record yourself: at the marketSpeaking, checked by the teacherUnlock

22 exercises in 6 chapters. Start a 7-day free trial to open all of them, copy any part into your own lessons, and teach the lesson live.

Vocabulary

10 words and phrases from the lesson, each with a picture and audio in edio.

+7 more with pictures and audio in the lessonMore words

  • change
  • receipt
  • ring
  • bracelet
  • necklace
  • pottery
  • artist

Grammar: requests and permission with Can I and Can you

Asking for permission takes only Can I and a verb: Can I try it on? At an artist's table in Santa Fe, learners go beyond Can I have…?, ask others for help with Can you + verb, answer with Sure or Sorry, and pay in cash or by card.

Can I try it on? Can you help me?

Ask politely in a store or at a market. You know Can I have…? Now use more verbs!

Can I + verb: is it OK for me?

Can I asks whether something is OK for you to do, and the verb comes straight after it, with no to: Can I try it on? Can I pay by card? Can I take a photo?

Can Iverb…?

Can I try it on?

Can I pay by card?

Can I take a photo?

Can you + verb: please do it for me

Can you asks someone else to do something, and please at the end makes it polite: Can you show me that ring, please? Can you help me, please? Can you give me a receipt, please?

Can youverb…, please?

Can you show me that ring, please?

Can you help me, please?

Can you give me a receipt, please?

Sure, Of course, Sorry

A yes is Sure or Of course, plus Here you are when you hand something over. A no starts with Sorry: Sorry, you can't answers Can I…?, and Sorry, I can't answers Can you…?

QuestionYes ✓No ✗
Can I try it on?Sure. / Of course.Sorry, you can't.
Can I pay by card?Sure. / Of course.Sorry, you can't. Cash only.
Can you show me that ring?Sure. Here you are.Sorry, I can't.
Can you help me?Sure. / Of course!Sorry, I can't.

One can for every person

Can never changes, and the verb after it takes no -s or -ing: She can try it on, not She can tries. The same word also says what you know how to do (I can swim.), but Can I…? asks if something is OK.

can: the same for every person

I / you / he / she / it / we / theycan / can'tverb

You can pay by card here.

She can try it on. (not: She can tries)

Can we take a photo? – Sure.

can: two jobs

I can swim. = I know how. (ability, like in A1.1) Can I try it on? = Is it OK? (asking) Can you help me? = Please help me. (asking)

In cash, by card, try it on

Paying takes in cash and by card, never in card. In try it on, it sits in the middle, never try on it, but a noun can go either way: try on the ring, try the ring on.

pay in cash, pay by card

in cash 💵

  • I pay in cash.
  • Can I pay in cash?

by card 💳

  • I pay by card.
  • Can I pay by card?

try it on · Here you are.

it goes in the middle: try it on (not: try on it). With a thing: try on the ring or try the ring on. Here you are. = Take it. You say it when you give something.

Common mistakes

  • Can I to try it on?

    Can I try it on?

    can + verb: no to

  • Can you showing me that ring?

    Can you show me that ring?

    can + verb: no -ing

  • Can I try on it?

    Can I try it on?

    it goes in the middle

  • Can I pay in card?

    Can I pay by card?

    by card, in cash

More lessons on this grammar: Modal verbs lessons and exercises

Try the polite requests exercises

Try them yourself: these are the same exercises your students do in edio.

More exercises

What's in the lesson

  • 10 auto-checked exercises
  • 3 games
  • 2 teacher-checked tasks
  • 1 real-life document
  • 1 grammar scheme
  • 1 set of word cards
  • 1 audio clip
  • 2 pictures
  • 1 transcript

The main objectives of this lesson are to:

  • ask permission with Can I + verb: Can I try it on? Can I take a photo?
  • ask someone to do something with Can you + verb and please: Can you give me a receipt, please?
  • say yes or no politely: Sure. Here you are. Sorry, you can't.
  • pay at a market with Can I pay in cash? or Can I pay by card?, and understand change and receipt

Lesson 4 closes Shopping, the first unit of English A1.2 · Out and About. It builds on lesson 19 of English A1.1 · Hello, World, where Can I have…? ordered food and drinks at a coffee shop, and on lessons 29 and 30, where can said what people are able to do. The visitor's guide itself tells shoppers to ask the artist before they try something on or take a photo.

Students spin a wheel of shopping questions, then learn ten words with pictures and audio, from try on to pottery. The visitor's guide gives the basics: every August on the Plaza, free to enter, with jewelry, pottery, paintings, music, dance and food. In the AI-voiced dialogue, Emma tries on a bracelet while Liam holds her coffee, and since she has no cash, she can pay by card. The scheme leads into four self-checking exercises: choosing between forms like try and to try, a gap-fill that builds Can I…? and Can you…? from jumbled words, a drag-and-drop of by, in, Sure and change, and a choice of the right question. The speaking chapter puts students at an artist's table in a chat, then opens boxes of market role-plays.

Homework begins with a word-order game and a word match that check themselves. Then students write a friend about a market or a store they like, with two Can I…? or Can you…? questions, and record what they'd say to a seller, both for the teacher.

Grammar:
Can I…? · Can you…? · asking politely · Sure. / Sorry, you can't. · pay in cash, pay by card · try it on
Topic:
Santa Fe Indian Market · New Mexico · shopping · markets · paying

Teaching tips

  • Set up a market table at the front with a ring, a scarf and a pen, and let students ask Can you show me…? and Can I try it on? before they touch anything.
  • Write two sentences side by side, I can swim and Can I swim here?, and ask which one asks for permission and which says what someone knows how to do.
  • Act out try it on with a real bracelet, so students see it go between try and on before the drills.
  • After the artist's chat, let pairs swap roles: the seller answers Sure, Here you are or Sorry, you can't, and the buyer pays in cash or by card.

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The whole course: English A1.2 · Out and About

32 lessons that pick up where English A1.1 ends, in simple American English, from the present simple with he and she to was and were. Eight units cover shopping, the weather, getting around, celebrations, health, animals and nature, jobs and weekends. Pictures and definitions replace translations, and the practice exercises check themselves.See the course

  1. Unit 1 Shopping

    clothes and colors, he and she in the present simple, sizes and prices, paying in a store

    1. Lesson 1What does she wear on Aloha Friday?Present simple with he, she and it
    2. Lesson 2A basket on wheels?Present simple negatives with don't and doesn't
    3. Lesson 3What size are these boots?What questions and a pair of
    4. Lesson 4 · you're hereCan I try it on? The Santa Fe Indian MarketRequests and permission with Can I and Can you

  2. Unit 2 Weather and seasons

    the weather, seasons and months, the present continuous, how often it rains or snows

    1. Lesson 5Is the Windy City windy?Weather adjectives with It's
    2. Lesson 6Does it rain in the desert?Yes/no questions with does
    3. Lesson 7Baseball at midnight?The present continuous for now
    4. Lesson 8Is it always windy on Mount Washington?Adverbs of frequency and their place

  3. Unit 3 Getting around

    transport, timetables, where places are, tickets with want and need

    1. Lesson 9How do you get to work?By + transport, take the bus and on foot
    2. Lesson 10What time does the ferry leave?Wh- questions with does
    3. Lesson 11Where's the streetcar stop?Between, behind, in front of and across from
    4. Lesson 12Do you need a ticket?Want and need with a noun

  4. Unit 4 Celebrations

    dates and holidays, in and on, party invitations, object pronouns

    1. Lesson 13Why is it called Juneteenth?Ordinal numbers for saying dates
    2. Lesson 14Never on a Sunday? The Rose ParadeIn, on and at for dates and times
    3. Lesson 15Come to our Lunar New Year party!Some and any with plural nouns
    4. Lesson 16Thank you, teacher!Object pronouns me, you, him, her, it, us and them

  5. Unit 5 Healthy me

    the body, how often, at the pharmacy, steps with first and then

    1. Lesson 17Does your back hurt?Hurt and hurts with parts of the body
    2. Lesson 18How often do you walk?How often questions and expressions of frequency
    3. Lesson 19What's the matter?Have and has for health problems
    4. Lesson 20Clean hands in five stepsSequence words with imperatives

  6. Unit 6 Animals and nature

    there is and there are, what animals are doing, parks, a, an and the

    1. Lesson 21Which frog sings its name?There is and there are for what's in a place
    2. Lesson 22What's the bear doing now?Present continuous questions and negatives
    3. Lesson 23Are there any horses on the beach?Questions with is there and are there any
    4. Lesson 24Where do the baby turtles go?A, an and the for first and second mention

  7. Unit 7 Jobs people do

    jobs and workplaces, the present simple and continuous, job interviews, possessive pronouns

    1. Lesson 25Who makes the sounds in movies?Present simple vs present continuous
    2. Lesson 26Nurses on horses?At, in and on with workplaces
    3. Lesson 27Can you be a lifeguard?Verbs with prepositions
    4. Lesson 28Whose hat is this?Possessive pronouns from mine to theirs

  8. Unit 8 Weekend stories and plans

    was and were, how long and how tall, and, but and or, camping food

    1. Lesson 29Why do we have two days off?Was and were, the past of be
    2. Lesson 30How long is a blue whale?How + adjective questions about size
    3. Lesson 31A cow made of butter?And, but and or for joining ideas
    4. Lesson 32What do you need for s'mores?Containers and quantities with of

Questions about this lesson

How do you ask for things with "Can I have…?"
Say Can I have + the thing + please: Can I have a receipt, please? The same pattern takes other verbs when you want to do something rather than get it: Can I try it on? Can I pay by card? Can I take a photo? The A1 lesson Can I try it on? The Santa Fe Indian Market on edio.ai builds on Can I have…? with these new verbs.
How do you ask for permission in English?
The simplest way is Can I + a verb, with please or Excuse me: Excuse me, can I try it on? Can I take a photo? The verb comes right after Can I, with no to or -ing. In the dialogue of Can I try it on? The Santa Fe Indian Market, an A1 lesson on edio.ai, Emma asks an artist this way before she tries on a bracelet.
How do you make polite requests in English?
A polite request is often Can you + verb, ending with please: Can you show me that ring, please? Can you help me, please? Can you give me a receipt, please? Use the base verb, never -ing or to: Can you showing me…? is wrong. A friendly yes is Sure or Of course; a no starts with Sorry, I can't.
What's the difference between can, could and may?
For requests and permission, the three differ mostly in how polite they sound: Can I try it on? is everyday and friendly, Could I try it on? is softer, and May I try it on? is the most formal. May asks permission with I or we, so May you help me? is wrong; say Can you…? or Could you…? instead. With please, can is polite enough for any shop or market.
How do you answer "Can I…?" and "Can you…?" questions?
Say yes with Sure, Of course or Here you are, the last one as you hand something over: Can you show me that ring? Sure. Here you are. For no, start with Sorry: Sorry, you can't to Can I…? and Sorry, I can't to Can you…? Never reply Yes, I do, because a can question takes no do.
Is it "Can I try it on?" or "Can I try on it?"
It's Can I try it on?, with it in the middle: a pronoun like it or them goes between try and on. With a noun, both orders work: Can I try on the ring? Can I try the ring on? Both the quiz and the chat in Can I try it on? The Santa Fe Indian Market, an A1 lesson on edio.ai, set Can I try on it? as a trap.
Is it "pay by card" or "pay in card"?
It's pay by card, but pay in cash: Can I pay by card? I don't have a card. Can I pay in cash? Pay with cash and pay with a card are fine in American English too, but pay in card is wrong. The drag-and-drop in the A1 lesson Can I try it on? The Santa Fe Indian Market on edio.ai has gaps for both by and in.
What words do you need to pay in a store?
You need cash, card, change and receipt, plus the verb pay: cash is paper money and coins, change is the money you get back, and a receipt is the small paper that lists what you buy. In Can I try it on? The Santa Fe Indian Market on edio.ai, pay, cash, change and receipt come as word cards with pictures and audio.
How do I teach asking for permission to beginners?
Give students real things to ask about: a ring to try on, a photo to take, a card to pay with. Model Can I…? with one object, let the class answer Sure or Sorry, you can't, then hand the questions over to students. The market lesson builds up from a visitor's guide and a dialogue to drills, a chat at an artist's table and open-box role-plays.
What's a good game for practicing Can I and Can you?
An open-the-box role-play works well: each box holds a situation, like You don't have cash. Ask: Can I pay…?, and the student acts it out with a partner. This lesson's boxes also ask for a receipt and a photo of a painting, and its spin wheel asks Do you like shopping? and Do you pay in cash or by card?
How do you practice requests with can one-to-one?
Play shopper and seller with a few real objects, then switch roles: one asks Can you show me that bracelet? and Can I try it on?, the other answers and hands it over with Here you are. For a student working alone, the chat plays the artist: it runs from Can you show me that bracelet, please? to Can you give me a receipt, please?
Are there interactive exercises for Can I and Can you?
Yes: gap-fills that turn jumbled words into Can I…? questions check every answer. Four parts of Can I try it on? The Santa Fe Indian Market, an A1 lesson on edio.ai, play on this page without an account: the visitor's guide, Emma and Liam's dialogue at the market, a gap-fill from Can I try to Can you give, and a chat at an artist's table. The other exercises, including the drag-and-drop, are locked.
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