can could could

Wenn man das Modalverb can in andere Zeitformen umwandeln möchte, muss man das Ersatzverb to be able to verwenden oder aber to be allowed to, wenn can eher in der Bedeutung von erlaubt sein verwendet wird. Improve your English with our interactive English grammar games. He could read when he was three years old. 3. Sometimes this is a form of criticism. Note: Can't is used to refuse permission. We make questions by putting the subject after can/could: The negative form is can't in spoken English and cannot in written English. The modal verbs are can, could, may, might, must, ought to, shall, should, will and would. It tests what you learned on the can, could, be able to page. Could you pass me the salt please? A registered charity: 209131 (England and Wales) SC037733 (Scotland). These animals can be dangerous. 3. Past tense of can1 1. Polite word used to ask for permission or to request something (in the present) 1. If, for example, you see those wild pigs and know for a fact that in some situations they are dangerous --perhaps your grandfather told you this -- and using 'can' would express this idea. The examples above are isolated sentences, so they don't have much contextual information. We use could to make general statements about the past: It could be very cold there in winter. Could + have + past participle: Unrealised past ability. What shall we do? e.g. You can use "can" to talk about things that someone is able to do: I can speak Spanish and French, too! Can, could and be able to. Note: Would be able to can replace could in the following examples. We sometimes say I can ... or I could ... to make an offer: I can do that for you if you like.I could give you a lift to the station. Although we look at be able to here, it is not a modal verb. Let me explain the difference and then show you examples to make it clear. Could is similar to Can and often replaces Can in the past tense (though not always)1. We use can to say that someone has permission to do something: We can go out whenever we want. We use could have to make guesses about the past: It's ten o'clock. We use could to show that something is possible, but not certain: We use can to make general statementsabout what is possible: Level: intermediate We use could have to make guesses about the past: We use could to make general statements about the past: We use can't have or couldn't have to say that a past event was impossible: The three main uses of Can are: 1) ability 2) possibility and 3) permission. could is more formal and polite than can: Could I ask a question please?Could we go home now? Similarly, to your friend who got poor exam results, you should say 'You should have studied more' instead of 'You must have studied more'. = In those days, all the people had the ability to build houses. Can means to be (physically) able to do something OR to know how to do something. Can is used when you offer to help someone or to do something for them. Could is the past tense of can. the place, the time, the relationship between the speakers, other topics in the conversation). Would + Can = Could. It is used to talk about ability that existed in the past. Could I please use your bathroom? You could eat out tonight. Define could. You can go home now. We use can't have or couldn't have to say that a past event was impossible: They know the way here. You :- Sarah can speak English? ): • We can see the lake from our bedroom window. The word ‘could’ is a form of the word ‘can’, but the two are used in very different contexts. In this example, could doesn't work. The negative form of could is couldn't in spoken English and could not in written English. How can/could definition is - —used to show that one thinks that someone has done or said something shocking or wrong. 4. could verb (CAN) A2. He could read when he was three years old.2. Can, could, be able to. This is used to say that someone was able to do something, but they did not try to do it. wild pigs) and you really don't know anything about them. Examples: Extreme rain could cause the river to flood the city. Students can't travel for free. 6. © British Council In the past, "could" is actually a little tricky. We use could to show that something is possible, but not certain: They could come by car.