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Believer Posted 18 years ago
Grammar
Could and can
0 Hi, 02 br
02 br
00 I have difficulty seeing the difference between the modals 'could' and 'can' in some normal sentential situations. My impression of things is that the use 'can' is somewhat limited to physical capacity or physical capability, whether people involved can do it physically; whereas, 'could' is usually used in conjunction with the concept of willingness or permission. But sometimes, it is very hard to make distinctions based on them. 02 br
02 br
00 1. Could you pass me the salt? I need to add some flavor to my dish. -- Here, I think 'willlingness' and not physical capability is at play. 02 br
02 br
00 2. Can you come to my birthday party? -- Here, I think, many people would say it is physical capability -- whether he is capable of coming to the party and not whether he is willing to come. 02 br
02 br
00 3. Could you come to my birthday party -- Unlike the above, I think 'could' here deals with his willingness. 02 br
02 br
00 But, it seems to be too restrictive to reflect the real-world usage of the modal 'can' to physical capacity or physical capability as it was done in the case of no. 2. I think in real life, the usage of both 'can' and 'could' cross lines and they are used in a somewhat similar fashion -- and that is the source of my confusion. Can you help? 0-
02 br
00 I have difficulty seeing the difference between the modals 'could' and 'can' in some normal sentential situations. My impression of things is that the use 'can' is somewhat limited to physical capacity or physical capability, whether people involved can do it physically; whereas, 'could' is usually used in conjunction with the concept of willingness or permission. But sometimes, it is very hard to make distinctions based on them. 02 br
02 br
00 1. Could you pass me the salt? I need to add some flavor to my dish. -- Here, I think 'willlingness' and not physical capability is at play. 02 br
02 br
00 2. Can you come to my birthday party? -- Here, I think, many people would say it is physical capability -- whether he is capable of coming to the party and not whether he is willing to come. 02 br
02 br
00 3. Could you come to my birthday party -- Unlike the above, I think 'could' here deals with his willingness. 02 br
02 br
00 But, it seems to be too restrictive to reflect the real-world usage of the modal 'can' to physical capacity or physical capability as it was done in the case of no. 2. I think in real life, the usage of both 'can' and 'could' cross lines and they are used in a somewhat similar fashion -- and that is the source of my confusion. Can you help? 0-
Top answer
0 I'm not into modals, but I think both 01 i 00 can 02 i 00 and 01 i 00 could 02 i 00 denote physical capability. 01 i 00 I can lift this box. 02 i 00 (with or without implied conditions) 02 br 02 br 00 With polite questions people often don't say what they mean, because they don't want to put the person addressed in a bind.
- 0 I'm not into modals, but I think both 01 i 00 can 02 i 00 and 01 i 00 could 02 i 00 denote physical capability.
- 01 i 00 I can lift this box.
- 02 i 00 (with or without implied conditions) 02 br 02 br 00 With polite questions people often don't say what they mean, because they don't want to put the person addressed in a bind.
- If you really want to know if the person will come, Ask him.
- 02 br 02 br 00 I'd say "could" is less committal than "can," perhaps 01 i 01 u 00 because 02 u 02 i 00 of it's possible implied conditions, It's easier to say "No" without offending the questioner.
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6 Answers
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0 I'm not into modals, but I think both 01 i 00 can 02 i 00 and 01 i 00 could 02 i 00 denote physical capability. 01 i 00 I can lift this box. I could lift this box. 02 i 00 (with or without implied conditions) 02 br
02 br
00 With polite questions people often don't say what they mean, because they don't want to put the person a
02 br
00 With polite questions people often don't say what they mean, because they don't want to put the person a
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0 01 blockquote
01 cite 10 Avangi 12 cite 10 I'm not into modals, but I think both 11 i 10 can 12 i 10 and 11 i 10 could 12 i 10 denote physical capability. 11 i 10 I can lift this box. I could lift this box. 12 i 10 (with or without implied conditions) 12 br10 Hi Avang
12 blockquote
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0 Thanks, CB. I wasn't too happy with that example either. 02 br
02 br
00 How about as a question? If I ask, "Do you think you could lift this box?" would it only be taken as "Would you mind lifting this box for me?", or could it be, "Could you lift this box (if you had to - understood)?"? 02 br
02 br
00 Best wishes, - A. 0-
02 br
00 How about as a question? If I ask, "Do you think you could lift this box?" would it only be taken as "Would you mind lifting this box for me?", or could it be, "Could you lift this box (if you had to - understood)?"? 02 br
02 br
00 Best wishes, - A. 0-
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0 Hi, 02 br
00 every modal can have a billion meanings, depending on the context. Fortunately, most of those billions meanings are in the dictionaries. Unfortunately, you can't use every modal with every meaning in every situation. And often there aren't any clear-cut distinction between them or their usages. 02 br
02 br
01 i 00 Could you help me? 02 i 00
00 every modal can have a billion meanings, depending on the context. Fortunately, most of those billions meanings are in the dictionaries. Unfortunately, you can't use every modal with every meaning in every situation. And often there aren't any clear-cut distinction between them or their usages. 02 br
02 br
01 i 00 Could you help me? 02 i 00
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0 01 blockquote
01 cite 10 Avangi 12 cite 10 How about as a question? If I ask, "Do you think you could lift this box?" would it only be taken as "Would you mind lifting this box for me?", or could it be, "Could you lift this box (if you had to - understood)?"? 12 br10 It could ([ 05 0 00 ]) have either meaning. 0
12 blockquote
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0 01 blockquote
01 cite 10 Believer 12 cite 10 Could you pass me the salt? ... Here, I think 'willlingness' and not physical capability is at play. 12 blockquote10 No, not really. In both this version and the other, more direct version ( 01 i 00 Can you pass me the salt? 02 i 00 ), you need to make a distinction between sema
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