Dragon Ball Bulma Showering

That Could - Be Able To (differences)






Pregunta

Hola, soy Laura y tengo 17 años. Aunque parezca raro, in my school are coming to the issue of "can, Coulda, will, be Able to" and really do not understand anything ...
Well, the "can" and "will" yes I understand them, but "could" and "Be Able to" no.
I'd really explained it to me, because I have fear to the day of the test and do not understand anything.
Many thanks!



*********** Answer:

Take our partner María López.

Hi Laura,

The question you pose is most reasonable since both 'can' and 'Be Able to' be translated into English in a very similar: 'power', 'being able'.

Read carefully all of the following. I assure you it is harder to explain than to understand.

Let's start by establishing a difference between 'can' is a modal verb while 'Be Able to' no. How quickly know? Conjugate the verb 'can': I can, you can, he / she / it can, ... you see? No change! One thing that happens to 'be Able to': I am Able to, You Are Able to, he / she / it is Able to ...

As a general rule you should know that we 'can' to say that something is possible or that someone has the ability to do something.

Eg I can see the park from His bedroom window> He can see the park from his bedroom window I can sing

> I can sing

'Be Able to' can be used in place of 'can' but the latter is more common, more informal. Eg

Inglés Can you speak? or Are you Able to speak Inglés? > Do you speak English?

is often used in combination with other auxiliaries:

Eg Will You Be Able to arrive here on time? > Will he time?

When using one or the other? 'Can' is only two ways: 'can' (present) and 'could' (past). In addition, modal verbs can not be used in all tenses is here it will be necessary to use 'Be Able to'.

Eg I can not eat> I can not eat

Eg I Have not Been Able to eat> I could not eat
Samples
special interest ' could' . Focus on it.

'Could'se used to express possibility or ability in the past, to make suggestions or requests. Study the following examples:

-Ability: I Would if I Could you help> it help if I could

-Skill: My grandfather Could Speak two languages> My grandfather spoke 2 languages \u200b\u200b

-Tip: You Could at least try doing it this way> could at least try to do so

-request: Could you sign here, please? > Would you (or would) sign here, please?

'Could' as possible (which is where your confusion) expresses a general ability . However, if we talk about something that happened in a particular situation, we will use 'was / were Able to'. NO 'could'. Eg

There Was a heavy storm But We Were Able to get it started raining Before home. NO 'could arrive'> was a strong storm, but we managed to get home before it started to rain.

Know that its negative form 'Could not / Could' can be used EVER. Eg

We could not get it started raining Home Before> We did not get home ...

We use 'could' ...

- ... with verbs related to the senses: see, hear, taste, feel, remember, or understand.

Eg I Could Understand What You Asked> understood what you asked me - ... to indicate that someone has the general ability or permission to do something

Eg Could I swim When He Was 2> swam with 2 years . Eg

We Were Free. We Could Do What we wanted. > We were free. We could do what we wanted.

expect to resolve your concerns.

Regards, María López




collaborator "The Blog to Learn English."