THE MODAL FORMS "COULD" AND "BE ABLE TO"

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Here you will find a description about the use of these modals. Read it, practice and....SEE YOU IN CLASS!!



In general terms. We use can to say that something is possible or that somebody has the ability to do something. We use can + infinitive. But can has only two forms, can (present) and could (past). So sometimes it is necessary to use (be) able to..

FUNCTIONS

1. Could is the past of can. We use could especially with: See/ hear/ smell/ taste/ feel/ remember/ understand. 
EXAMPLES:
• When we went into the house, we could smell burning.
• She spoke in a very low voice, but I could understand what she said.

2. We also use could to say that somebody had the general ability or permission to do something:
EXAMPLES:
• My grandfather could speak five languages.
• We were completely free. We could do what we wanted. (= we were allowed to do...)

WARNING!!. We use could for general ability. But if we are talking about what happened in a particular situation, we use was/were able to... or managed to... (Not could):

EXAMPLES
• The fire spread through the building quickly but everybody was able to escape. or everybody managed to escape, (but not 'could escape')
• They didn't want to come with us at first but we managed to persuade them. or ...we were able to persuade them, (but not 'could persuade')
Compare:
• Jack was an excellent tennis player. He could beat anybody. (= he had the general ability to beat anybody) but
• Jack and Alf had a game of tennis yesterday. Alf played very well but in the end Jack managed to beat him. or ...was able to beat him. (= he managed to beat him in this particular game)
The negative couldn't (could not) is possible in all situations:
• My grandfather couldn't swim.
• We tried hard but we couldn't persuade them to come with us.

• Alf played well but he couldn't beat Jack.


Both could and be able to can be used to talk about ability. In some cases they are interchangeable.
Be able to  is an expression resulting from the combination of the ver TO BE, the adjective ABLE and the preposition TO.
SEE THESE EXAMPLES:
  • I can swim.
  • She can speak English well.
  • I can swim across that stream.
Be able to is also possible in these cases; however, it sounds a bit more formal here.
  • I am able to knit. (Less natural than ‘I can knit.’)
  • She is able to speak English well.
To talk about our past ability, we use could. Was/were able to is also possible.
Study the examples given below.
  • She could read when she was three. OR She was able to readwhen she was three.
Again, in spoken English, we are less likely to use was able to.
As you can see in all of these sentences, we were talking about general ability. Things that we can or we could do at any time in the present or in the past.
To talk about things that we managed to do on specific occasions in the past, we cannot use could. Instead, we use was/were able to.The verb managed, succeeded (in…ing) are also possible in this case.
  • I was able to get some really good bargains in the sale. (NOT I could get some really good bargains in the sale.)
  • After climbing for several hours, we managed to get to the top of the mountain. OR After climbing for several hours, we were able to get to the top of the mountain. (NOT … we could get to the top of the mountain.)
Both could and be able to can be used to say that we were not capable of doing something on a specific occasion.
  • In spite of climbing for hours, we couldn’t get to the top of the mountain. OR In spite of climbing for hours, we weren’t able to get to the top of the mountain.

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