2015-08-13
1451
• We use can, could and be able to to express ability and possibility.
| Present | can, am/is/are able to |
| Past | could, was/were able to |
| Future | can + time expression, will be able to |
• We usually use can to express present ability or possibility: I can speak English.
You can buy cold drinks in that shop.
Be able to is more formal and not as common: We are not able / unable to attend the opening ceremony.
• We use could or was/were able to for general ability in the past: Tom could/was able to swim when he was four.
• We use was/were able to (not could) for a single completed action: They were able to swim to safety.
• We use couldn’t or wasn’t/weren’t able to for both general ability and single actions: Jane couldn’t/wasn’t able to read when she was five. They couldn’t/weren’t able to solve the problem.
• We use manage to to suggest difficulty, usually for single actions: Did you manage to get home all right?
• We use can or will be able to + a time expression to talk about a future possibility: I can see you tomorrow. She’ ll be able to meet us this evening.
• For a future ability, we use will be able to (not can): After this course, I’ ll be able to speak English much better. (Not I can speak English much better)
1. Complete the sentences. Use can, could or will be able to.
0 Joe..... could...... beat me at chess when he was only eight.
1 She’s only four, but she........................... play the piano.
2 In the future, people like us...........................travel to other planets!
3 Don’t worry. You...........................hire a racket at the sports centre.
4 I...........................do karate when I was younger, but I’ve forgotten it now.
5 After my exams, I...........................visit them more often.
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6 Luke...........................speak Italian really well when he lived in Milan.
Cross out one of the options if it is incorrect.
Becky worked in a group on her Business Studies course last term. Here she describes what they did.
0 Joe could / managed to think of three different products for our group project in about fifteen minutes!
1 Lisa could / was able to write very well when we were at school, but the report she wrote for our project wasn’t very good.
2 She could / was able to express herself really well then, but she can’t write very well now.
3 I couldn’t / didn’t manage to find any useful information on the Internet.
4 But I could / managed to draw some pictures for our presentation.
5 We could / were able to prepare a good presentation for the end of term.
6 We couldn’t / weren’t able to discuss the presentation with our tutor, though.
