CAN, COULD, BE ABLE TO

can and could are modal auxiliary verbs. be able to is NOT an auxiliary verb (it
uses the verb be as a main verb). We include be able to here for convenience.

In this lesson we look at can, could and be able to, followed by a quiz to check
your understanding.

CAN
Can is an auxiliary verb, a modal auxiliary verb. We use can to:
 talk about possibility and ability
 make requests
 ask for or give permission

Structure of can
The basic structure for can is:

subject + auxiliary + main

verb verb
can

The main verb is always the bare infinitive (infinitive without to).

auxiliary verb
subject can main verb

+ I can play tennis.

- He cannot play tennis.

can't

? Can you play tennis?

Notice that:
 Can is invariable. There is only one form: can
 The main verb is always the bare infinitive.

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The main verb is always the bare infinitive (infinitive without to). We cannot say: I can
to play tennis.

Use of can

can for possibility and ability

We use can to talk about what is possible, what we are able or free to do:
 She can drive a car.
 John can speak Spanish.
 I cannot hear you. (I can't hear you.)
 Can you hear me?
Normally, we use can for the present. But it is possible to use can when we make
present decisions about future ability.
A. Can you help me with my homework? (present)
B. Sorry. I'm busy today. But I can help you tomorrow. (future)

can for requests and orders

We often use can in a question to ask somebody to do something. This is not a
real question - we do not really want to know if the person is able to do something,
we want them to do it! The use of can in this way is informal (mainly between friends
and family):
 Can you make a cup of coffee, please.

 Can you put the TV on.

 Can you come here a minute.

 Can you be quiet!

can for permission

We sometimes use can to ask or give permission for something:
A. Can I smoke in this room?
B. You can't smoke here, but you can smoke in the garden.
(Note that we also use could, may, might for permission. The use of can for
permission is informal.)

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COULD

Could is an auxiliary verb, a modal auxiliary verb. We use could to:

 talk about past possibility or ability
 make requests
Structure of could

subject + auxiliary verb + main verb

could

The main verb is always the bare infinitive (infinitive without to).

auxiliary verb
subject could main verb

+ My grandmother could swim.

- She could not walk.

couldn't

? Could your grandmother swim?

Notice that:
 Could is invariable. There is only one form: could
 The main verb is always the bare infinitive.
The main verb is always the bare infinitive (infinitive without to). We cannot say: I
could to play tennis.

Use of could
could for past possibility or ability
We use could to talk about what was possible in the past, what we were able or free
to do:
 I could swim when I was 5 years old.
 My grandmother could speak seven languages.

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  When we arrived home, we could not open the door. (...couldn't open the
door.)
 Could you understand what he was saying?
We use I (positive) and couldn't (negative) for general ability in the past. But when
we talk about one special occasion in the past, we use be able to(positive)
and couldn't (negative). Look at these examples:

past

general specific occasion

+ My grandmother couldspeak A man fell into the river yesterday. The

Spanish. police were able to save him.

- My grandmother couldn'tspeak A man fell into the river yesterday. The

Spanish. police couldn't save him.

could for requests

We often use could in a question to ask somebody to do something. The use
of could in this way is fairly polite (formal):
 Could you tell me where the bank is, please?
 Could you send me a catalogue, please?

BE ABLE TO

Although we look at be able to here, it is not a modal verb. It is simply the

verb be plus an adjective (able) followed by the infinitive. We look at be able to here
because we sometimes use it instead of can and could.
We use be able to:
 to talk about ability
Structure of be able to
The basic structure for be able to is:

subject + be + able + to-infinitive

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 main verb adjective
subject be able to-infinitive

+ I am able to drive.

- She is not able to drive.

isn't

? Are you able to drive?

Notice that be able to is possible in all tenses, for example:

 I was able to drive...
 I will be able to drive...
 I have been able to drive...
Notice too that be able to has an infinitive form:
 I would like to be able to speak Chinese.

Use of be able to
Be able to is NOT a modal auxiliary verb. We include it here for convenience,
because it is often used like "can" and "could", which aremodal auxiliary verbs.
be able to for ability
We use be able to to express ability. "Able" is an adjective meaning: having the
power, skill or means to do something. If we say "I am able to swim", it is like saying
"I can swim". We sometimes use be able to instead of "can" or "could" for ability. Be
able to is possible in all tenses - but "can" is possible only in the present and "could"
is possible only in the past for ability. In addition, "can" and "could" have no infinitive
form. So we use be able to when we want to use other tenses or the infinitive. Look
at these examples:
 I have been able to swim since I was five. (present perfect)
 You will be able to speak perfect English very soon. (future simple)
 I would like to be able to fly an airplane. (infinitive)

CAN, COULD, BE ABLE TO https://www.englishclub.com/grammar/verbs-modals-can-could-able.htm

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 CAN, COULD, BE ABLE TO

Can, could dan be able to merupakan kata/ phrase yang digunakan untuk
menerangkan kemampuan (ability). Jika diterjemahkan dalam bahasa Indonesia,
ketiganya sama-sama bisa diartikan "dapat/ bisa/ mampu". Namun, meskipun sama
dalam arti bukan berarti sama dalam segalanya. Ada beberapa perbedaan yang
membatasi makna dan fungsi dari masing-masing kata/ phrase tersebut.

Pengertian dan Fungsi Can

Can merupakan salah satu kata kerja bantu (modal auxiliary verb) yang berfungsi
untuk menerangkan kemampuan/ ketidak mampuan, kesanggupan/ ketidak
sangggupan, kemungkinan/ ketidak mungkinan dan memberi/ tidak memberi izin
(memperbolehkan/ tidak memperbolehkan) orang melakukan sesuatu. Kata ini
digunakan dalam kalimat present tense.

Contoh:

1. Menerangkan kemampuan/
o She can play violin better than you (Dia bisa bermain biola lebih baik
dari kamu)
o I can't eat 5 packs instant noodle (Aku tidak bisa makan 5 bungkus mie
instan)
2. Menerangkan kesanggupan/
o I can accompany you if you wish (Saya bisa menemanimu jika kamu
mengharapkan)
o If you need, you can borro my money (Kalau kamu butuh, kamu bisa
meminjam uangku)
3. Menerangkan kemungkinan/
o I can't meet you tomorrow (Aku tidak bisa menemuimu besok)
o Nia can be a doctor (Nia bisa menjadi seorang dokter)
4. Memperbolehkan/
o You can call me Si Komo (Kamu bisa memanggilku Si Komo)
o You can ttake it whenever you want (Kamu bisa membawa itu
kapanpun kamu mau)

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Can juga bisa untuk menawarkan sesuatu dan meminta izin dalam bentuk kalimat
tanya.
Contoh:

1. Tawaran
o Can I help you? (Ada yang bisa dibantu?)
2. Meminta izin
o Can I ride your car? (Bolehkah saya menaiki mobilmu?)

Pengertian dan Fungsi Could

Seirama dengan "can", could juga termasuk modal auxiliary verb yang berfungsi
menerangkan kemampuan/ ketidak mampuan, kesanggupan/ ketidak sanggupan,
kemungkinan/ ketidak mungkinan dan memberi/ tidak memberi izin orang lain
melakukan sesuatu. Bedanya, could digunakan dalam past tense.
Contoh:
1. Kemampuan/
o When she was young, Halimah could play violin well (Ketika dia masih
muda, Halimah bisa bermain biola dengan bagus)
2. Kesanggupan/
o Actually Marwoto could come to your party, but you didn't invite him
(Sebenarnya Marwoto bisa datang ke pestamu, tapi kamu tidak
mengundangnya)
3. Kemungkinan/
o It could happen if last week we let them stay here (Itu bisa saja terjadi
jika minggu kemarin kita mengizinkan mereka tinggal di sini)
4. Memperbolehkan/
o I'm sorry, yesterday you couldn't meet me because I was very busy
(Maafkan saya, kemarin kamu tidak bisa menemuiku karena saya
sangat sibuk)
o Actually you could borrow my motorcycle (Sebenarnya kamu bisa
meminjam motorku)

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 Masih seirama dengan "can", could juga bisa digunakan untuk meawarkan
sesuatu dan meminta izin dalam bentuk kalimat tanya, namun ini agak berbeda
nada. Modal auxiliary ini lebih sopan.

Contoh:
1. Tawaran
o Could I help you? (Ada yang bisa dibantu?)
2. Meminta izin
o Could I ride your car? (Bolehkah saya menaiki mobilmu?)

Pengertian dan Fungsi Be able to

Be able to merupakan kata sifat (adjective), jadi bukan termasuk modal auxiliary
verb. Be able to tersusun dari "be" yang bisa berupa am, is, are, was, were, has
been, dll, "able" yang berarti "mampu", dan "to" yang merupakan preposisi. Kata sifat
ini bisa digunakan dalam semua tenses namun cenderung hanya untuk
menerangkan kemampuan/ ketidak mampuan saja, terutama yang berkaitan dengan
skill dan ability dari dalam diri.

Contoh:
 She is able to play violin well (Dia mampu bermain biola dengan bagus)
 Penguins are able to survive at the north pole (Pinguin mampu bertahan
hidup di kutub utara)
 Dedy was able to drive a car without seeing (Dedy mampu mengemudikan
sebuah mobil tanpa melihat)
 Jill will not be able to be a professor (Jill tidak akan mampu menjadi seorang
profesor)

Sekali lagi, be able to adalah adjective, bukan modals, dan ini bisa digunakan di
semua tenses baik bentuk past maupun present, bahkan bisa digunakan bersamaan
modals.

contoh2 be able to dlm berbagai tenses dan digunakan bersamaan modals:

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  He will be able to remember your names (dia akan mampu mengingat nama
kalian)
 Wiro Sableng would have been able to fly like a bird if he had meditated (Wiro
Sableng bakal sudah bisa terbang seperti burung kalau dia sudah bertapa)
 She has been able to play piano well (dia sudah bisa bermain piano dgn baik)

Contoh CAN Dalam Kalimat Bahasa Inggris

 She can meet you if you want (dia dapat menemui mu jika kamu mau)
 I can make you a birthday cake (aku dapat membuatkanmu kue ulangtahun)
 Tey can call me nona (mereka dapat memanggilku nona)
 he can bring me a red flower but he doesn’t want do it (dia dapat membawakan aku
sebuah bunga merah tetapi dia tidak mau melakukan nya)
 we can win this competition (kita dapat memenangkan kompetisi ini)

Contoh COULD Dalam Kalimat Bahasa Inggris

 Could I go from this forum? (bolehkah saya keluar dari forum ini?)
 I could give you a chocolate (aku dapat memberi mu sebuah coklat)
 Could I turn off the lamp? (bolehkah saya mematikan lampu?)
 they could call me whenever (mereka dapat memanggilku kapan pun)
 could I take a medicine now? (bolehkah aku meminum obat sekarang?)

Contoh BE ABLE TO Dalam Kalimat

 I am able to cook your favourite food (aku dapat memasakanmu makanan favorit)
 they are able to play football now (mereka dapat bermain sepakbola sekarang)
 we are able to clean this room, but we don’t want do that (kita dapat membersihkan
ruangan ini, tetapi kita tidak ingin melakukan nya)
 you are able to draw a good picture (kamu dapat menggambar sebuah gambar yang
bagus)
 I have been able to sing a song since I was 3 years old (aku dapat bernyanyi sebuah
lagu sejak berumur 3 tahun)