Inglese per la moda - could

could

Was/were able to

Managed to

be able to

• can has no infinitive form, no -ing form, no perfect form and no future form. It

cannot follow another modal auxiliary verb. On all of these occasions, we have to

use be able to instead. Compare the following:

• I'd like to be able to swim like Jack. He swims like a fish.

• When I'm at the sea-side, I enjoy being able to take a swim every morning.

• Unfortunately, Jack hasn't been able to swim since his accident.

Lets' hope he'll be able to resume his daily swimming training soon.

• I'm not a member, but can I swim in this pool? ~ Why don't you speak to the

secretary? She may / might / should be able to help you.

could

Could can be used in many different ways:

• to ask for permission

• to make a request

• to express ability when referring to the past.

examples

• By the time she was seven, she could already speak

three languages.

• Could I take a look at your collection?

• Her brother Jack was an excellent swimmer. He could

beat anybody in his class.

was able to / managed to

We tend to use was able to or managed to

if we are talking about what happened in:

a particular situation or

are referring to a specific achievement

• It was very icy, but I managed to keep the car on the road.

• Veronica was very upset when Ben left her, but she

managed to smile nevertheless.

• She didn't really want to go to Mexico, but Tony managed

to persuade her somehow

examples

• Were you able to / Did you manage to speak to

him before he left home?

~ No, I'm sorry, I wasn't able to / didn't manage to

reach him.

• The fog came down and I wasn't able to / didn't

manage to get to the top of the mountain.

• My brother wanted to carry on, but we managed to

/ were able to talk him out of it

However, with verbs that refer to the five senses, see, hear, smell, feel, taste, and with verbs that refer to thought processes,

understand, believe, remember, decide, we normally use could, even when we are talking about specific occasions:

• He was standing very close to me and I

could smell the garlic on his breath.

• He asked me when Julie's birthday was, but

I couldn't remember.

• I couldn't decide whether to ask him for a

lift or not.

• I could see that he'd been running