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Modal Verbs for Expressing Ability

This document discusses using modal verbs to express ability in English. It outlines that "can", "could", and "be able to" followed by a verb infinitive are used to talk about ability. It provides examples of using these modal verbs to express general and specific abilities in both the present and past tense in 3 sentences or less.

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Stoica Mirela
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451 views1 page

Modal Verbs for Expressing Ability

This document discusses using modal verbs to express ability in English. It outlines that "can", "could", and "be able to" followed by a verb infinitive are used to talk about ability. It provides examples of using these modal verbs to express general and specific abilities in both the present and past tense in 3 sentences or less.

Uploaded by

Stoica Mirela
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Modal verbs to express ability

We use the modal verbs can, could and be able to + verb infinitive to talk about ability.
Here’s an overview, with examples:

Modal verbs to express ability

present past

can could

We use can when we speak about general We use could when we speak about general
ability in the present: ability in the past:

Tommy can swim. Picasso could paint when he was two.


I can play the guitar. Can you play? I could swim before I could walk.

The negative of can is can't (cannot): The negative of could is couldn't (could not):

I can't ski and I can't skate. I couldn't swim until I was ten.

Specific situations - can Specific situations - was able to / could

We also use can to speak about specific We often use was able to when speaking
situations in the present: about a specific situation:
We fixed the car and then we were able to drive
I can hear you but I can't see you. home.
Can you hear me? - Yes, I can.
However, we prefer could to speak about a
specific situation in the past when we use these
verbs: see, hear, feel, smell, taste,
remember, believe, understand, decide.
They could smell smoke.
I could understand him perfectly.

Questions about ability - present Questions about ability - past

How many languages can you speak? Could you write before you started school?
Can you name all the capitals of Europe? Could you ride a bike when you were small?

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