Tag: to be able to

Could and to be able to

We use could to talk about general abilty in the past and we use to be able to or managed to to talk about a specific situation in the past. Examples So we say I could run fast when I was a child. because it is a general fact, but we say I was able to run five miles without stopping last night. or I managed to run five miles without stopping. because we are […]

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Category: Grammar Reference Tags: ,

Ability – can, could, to be able to

We use can and could to talk about ability. We use can in the present and could in the past. can She can play the guitar. Can you speak Spanish? They can’t ride a bike. could She could read when she was three. My grandmother could play the piano very well. They couldn’t come last year because of the bad weather. Can and could are modal verbs and so have no infinitive, gerund or past […]

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Category: Grammar Reference Tags: , , ,