Modals - Ability

The following modal verbs can be used to express ability: –You use ‘can’ to talk about ability in the present and in the future. –You use ‘could’ to talk about ability in the past. –You use ‘be able to’ to talk about ability in the present, future, and past.

Modals - Ability You use ‘can’ to say that someone has the ability to do something. –You can all spell your name. –Anybody can become a computer expert.

Modals - Ability You use ‘cannot’ or ‘can’t’ to say that they do not have the ability to do something. –He cannot dance.

Modals - Ability When you want to talk about someone’s ability in the past as a result of a skill they had or did not have, you use ‘could’, could not’, or ‘couldn’t’. –He could run faster than everybody else. –A lot of them couldn’t read or write.

Modals - Ability You use ‘be able to’, ‘not be able to’, and ‘be unable to’ to talk about someone’s ability to do something, but ‘can’ and ‘could’ are more common. –She was able to tie her own shoelaces. –The are not able to run very fast. –Many people were unable to read or write.

Modals - Ability You use ‘was able to’ and ‘were able to’ to say that someone managed to do something in a particular situation in the past. –After treatment he was able to return to work. –The farmers were able to pay the wages. –We were able to find time to discuss it.

Modals - Ability Note: You do not normally use ‘could’ to say that someone managed to do something in a particular situation. However, you can use ‘could not’ or ‘couldn’t’ to say that someone did not manage to do something in a particular situation. –We couldn’t stop laughing. –I just couldn’t think of anything to say.

Modals - Ability When you want to say that someone had the ability to do something in the past, but did not do it, you use ‘could have’ followed by a past participle. –You could have given it all to me. –You know, she could have done French.

Modals - Ability ‘Could have’ and a past participle is often used when you want to express disapproval about something that was not done. –You could’ve been a little bit tidier. –You could have told me.

Modals - Ability In most cases, you can choose to use ‘can’ or ‘be able to’. However, you sometimes have to use ‘be able to’. You have to use ‘be able to’ if you are using another modal, or if you want to use an ‘-ing’ form, a past participle or a ‘to’- infinitive.

Modals - Ability –Nobody will be able to read it. (another modal) –… the satisfaction of being able to do the job. (-ing form) –I don’t think I’d have been able to get an answer. (past participle) –You’re foolish to expect to be able to do that. (to-infinitive)

Modals - Ability You also use ‘can’ or ‘could’ with verbs such as ‘see’, ‘hear’ and ‘smell’ to say that someone is or was aware of something through one of their senses. –I can smell gas. –I can’t see her. –I could see a few stars in the sky. –There was such a noise we couldn’t hear.

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