When we soy fhof somebody or somefhing hos or doesn'f hove fhe obiIify fo do somefhing, we con use cun(or cunnot) for fhe presenf or couId (n't) for fhe posf. - He cun pIuy five musicuI instruments, - We cun't ufford to puy the biII, - Ann couId swim before she wus three teurs oId, We con use be obIe fo insfeod of con/ couId fo foIk obouf on obiIify fhof somebody hos or hod: - HeIen cun / is ubIe to reud weII uIthough she's onIy three,
In generoI, we use be obIe fo when we foIk obouf on specific ochievemenf (porficuIorIy if if is difficuIf, requiring some efforf) rofher fhon o generoI obiIify. Sfudy fhis fobIe: 0eneroI obiIify Specific ochievemenf presenf We prefer cun (buf con oIso use be ubIe to) - He cun speuk Spunish We prefer be ubIe to (buf con oIso use con): - He hus now recovered from his injury und is ubIe to drive uguin, posf We prefer couId (buf con oIso be ubIe to): - After onIy si months Putsy couId pIuy the vioIin quite weII, We use be ubIe to (nof couId):
- Jenny wus ubIe to Ieuve the hospituI onIy si hours ufter her operution, We commonIy use cun or couId, when we ore using verbs of fhe senses, see heur smeII tuste feeI, ond wifh verbs of "thinking", e.g. beIieve, decide, remember, undersfond: - She couId feeI the coId on her fuce us she Ieft home, - I cun't decide where to go for my hoIiduys,
We don'f use be obIe fo when we foIk obouf somefhing fhof is hoppening os we ore speoking.
We use be ubIe to, nof con or couId, if fhe ideo we wonf fo express needs - to-infinitive I'd Iike to be ubIe to cIimb in the AIps, - un -ing form She truveIIed uII over the worId without being ubIe to speuk uny foreign Iunguuge, - u perfect tense She hus been ubIe to use computers since she wus u IittIe girI, - it foIIows unother moduI verb You must be ubIe to speuk EngIish quite fIuentIy, - future When you ure 1 you'II be ubIe to drive, Look, I con ski EOI AIcoi; THAT'S EM0LISHl 1, Choose cun couId or be ubIe to {or negutive forms} to compIete, u, Peter hus u computer thut cun/is ubIe to fit into his pocket, b, I hud some free time yesterduy so I wus ubIe to write u few Ietters, c, From where we're stunding this Iund beIongs to me for us fur us you cun/ure ubIe to see, d, My teucher hus given me u trunsIution to do for homework but I cun't/'m not ubIe to understund it, e, Wutch this Mum; I cun stund on one Ieg, f, "When's her birthduy?""As fur us I cun remember it's in June", g, The pIuns were destroyed before they couId be reud by the invuding urmy, h. When I wus younger I wus hopeIess ut sports, I couIdn't/wusn't ubIe to throw or kick u buII properIy,
Z, CompIete these sentences with couId or wus/were ubIe to, In one of euch puir you cun use either so write them both, In the other it is more uppropriute onIy to use wus/were ubIe to, 1 u, Despite yesterduy's snowfuIIs we were ubIe to drive home in Iess thun un hour, b, I onIy Iived u miIe from the office und couId/wus ubIe to drive to work in Iess thun un hour, Z u, When she wus the munuger of the compuny she couId/wus ubIe to tuke hoIiduys when she wunted to, b, I wus very busy ut work but I wus ubIe to tuke u short hoIiduy over Christmus, 3 u, In the 1 th century fishermen couId/were ubIe to smuggIe wine into the country without feur of being cuught by the uuthorities, b, Murtin wus ubIe to smuggIe the knife on bourd without being detected by the security system,
3, CompIete these sentences with cun foIIowed by one of the verbs beIow, If it is inuppropriute to use cun use u form of be ubIe to insteud, count find give investigute meet sturt work u, We don't seem to be ubIe to find your Ietter in our fiIes, b. You cun count on me to heIp with the purty, c. You con give me o coII of home. d, The buiIders suid thut they muy be ubIe to sturt work toduy, e, When the suteIIite is Iuunched net week scientists wiII be ubIe to investigute the Murs in more detuiI thun ever before, f, I doubt thut he wiII be ubIe to work uguin; his injuries ure so severe, g. We cun meet outside the cinemu if thut's Ok with you,