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Nina_Nia Posted 13 years ago
Grammar
'Could'
Hello,
Is it a mistake to use 'could' with verbs of seeing, noticing, understanding, etc when you are saying that something was possible /impossible on a particular occasion in the past? I know that in other situations with other verbs it would be wrong to use could when you are saying that something was possible on a particular occasion in the past.
Maybe these examples are not good examples to show if could can be used with the verbs to see, to notice, to understand, etc. when you are saying that something was possible/impossible on a particular occasion in the past?
There were too many people in the hall, but I could notice her among them.
She was speaking quickly, but I could still understand her.
Thanks
Is it a mistake to use 'could' with verbs of seeing, noticing, understanding, etc when you are saying that something was possible /impossible on a particular occasion in the past? I know that in other situations with other verbs it would be wrong to use could when you are saying that something was possible on a particular occasion in the past.
Maybe these examples are not good examples to show if could can be used with the verbs to see, to notice, to understand, etc. when you are saying that something was possible/impossible on a particular occasion in the past?
There were too many people in the hall, but I could notice her among them.
She was speaking quickly, but I could still understand her.
Thanks
Top answer
There were many people in the hall, but I could see her among them. She was speaking quickly, but I could still understand her. Those are both fine when referring to past ability or possibility.
- There were many people in the hall, but I could see her among them.
- She was speaking quickly, but I could still understand her.
- Those are both fine when referring to past ability or possibility.
- You could also have used 'was able to'.
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2 Answers
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There were many people in the hall, but I could see her among them.
She was speaking quickly, but I could still understand her.
Those are both fine when referring to past ability or possibility. You could also have used 'was able to'.
She was speaking quickly, but I could still understand her.
Those are both fine when referring to past ability or possibility. You could also have used 'was able to'.
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So with these verbs 'could' can be used when something was possible on a particular ocassion in the past. I see. I read that with other verbs it would be wrong. That's why I decided to ask.
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