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Can Could and (be) Able to

The document explains modal verbs, specifically focusing on 'can', 'could', and 'be able to', which express ability and have specific grammatical rules. It highlights the usage of these verbs in different tenses and contexts, emphasizing that 'can' and 'could' are not used in certain situations where 'be able to' is required. Additionally, it covers the structure of negative and interrogative forms for these verbs.

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9 views

Can Could and (be) Able to

The document explains modal verbs, specifically focusing on 'can', 'could', and 'be able to', which express ability and have specific grammatical rules. It highlights the usage of these verbs in different tenses and contexts, emphasizing that 'can' and 'could' are not used in certain situations where 'be able to' is required. Additionally, it covers the structure of negative and interrogative forms for these verbs.

Uploaded by

teraoka166
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Modal Verbs - Can, Could and (be) Able to

Firstly, we have to know and understand what a Modal Verb is.


Modal Verbs add information to other verbs; basically they can express or add
ideas of possibility, obligation, uncertainty, ask for permission or give advice. Each
one of these verbs can have more than one meaning and they have their own
rules:
1. Modal verbs are followed by an infinitive WITHOUT TO.
2. Modal verbs can’t be used in different times or tenses.
3. Modal verbs are auxiliary verbs.

There are nine modal verbs and they are:

1. Can 6. Shall
2. Could 7. Should
3. May 8. Will
4. Might 9. Would
5. Must

Now that you were briefly introduced to them, let’s start our topic.
CAN, COULD, BE ABLE TO
Today we will learn how CAN and COULD express ability. Sometimes it’s not possible to use
CAN or COULD, so we’ll also learn about the verbs BE ABLE TO and MANAGE TO which are
not modal verbs.

We use CAN to talk about the present...


• He can swim since he was a baby.

...or the future.


• Can you come with us on Sunday?

Notice that in Portuguese, we say “He knows to swim since he was a baby.” Not in English if
you mean an ability someone has.
CAN, COULD, BE ABLE TO
We use COULD to talk about abilities in the past, for example:
• I could run much faster when I was younger.
• She could play the violin when she was a child.

CAN and COULD may be replaced by BE ABLE TO. Here, there is no difference in meaning:
• She can speak Spanish very well.
• She is able to speak Spanish very well.
• I could run much faster when I was younger.
• I was able to run much faster when I was younger.

However, there are many situations where we can’t use CAN or COULD to talk about ability. If
you want to use the Present Perfect, for example, there’s no form of CAN or COULD which
you can use, so only BE ABLE TO is possible:

• He’s BEEN ABLE to swim since he was two years old.


CAN, COULD, BE ABLE TO

• The traffic was really bad, but we COULD catch our train. WRONG!

Sometimes we are sure that our grammar is perfect... Is it? What is the mistake in the
sentence above?

When we are talking about a specific ability at a specific moment in the past we need to use
BE ABLE TO
• The traffic was really bad, but we WERE ABLE TO catch our train. CORRECT! ... OR
• The traffic was really bad, but we MANNGED TO catch our train. CORRECT!

In both of these sentences we are talking about a specific moment, a specific train, a specific
situation, so we can’t use COULD.

Let’s make it a little bit more complicated?

In negative sentences, it doesn’t matter if we use COULD or BE ALBE TO.


• The traffic was really bad, but we COULD catch our train. WRONG AFFIRMATIVE!
• The traffic was really bad, but we WERE ABLE TO catch our train. CORRECT AFFIRMATIVE!

• The traffic was really bad, so we COULDN’T catch our train. CORRECT NEGATIVE!
• The traffic was really bad, so we WEREN’T ABLE TO catch our train. CORRECT NEGATIVE!
CAN, COULD, BE ABLE TO

Sometimes we want to talk about possibilities or alternatives in the past. To do it we use


COULD HAVE + PAST PARTICIPLE of the main verb. Notice the difference between the
tenses:
• I COULD go shopping with you if I had time tomorrow. (possibility in the future)
• He COULD play soccer before he entered the university. (ability in the past)

Possibility in the past:


• I COULD HAVE BEEN on time if I had woken up earlier.
• They COULD HAVE DONE all the homework if they had had a little more time.
• She COULD HAVE FINISHED her research, but she spent her time playing video games.

We must remember that for every affirmative sentence there is a respective negative
and interrogative:

Affirmative Negative Interrogative


I can do it! I can’t/cannot do it! Can I do it?
I could do it! I couldn’t do it! Could I do it?
I’m able to do it! I’m not able to do it! Am I able to do it?

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