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Anonymous Posted 18 years ago
Grammar
Could to denote present-time general ability
Hi, I was looking at a thread named "could have done and were able" and in it, Velimir said in part this in one of his posts:
I tend to use "could" instead of "was able" in similar situations but in Michael Swan's "javascript:void(0)" it's clearly stated : We do not normally use "could" to say that somebody managed to do something on one ocassion, instead we use "was able" , "managed" , "succeeded" etc." . In the next passage Swan gives exceptions to this and gives list of verbs which can be used with "could" to denote ability to do something. Those verbs are : "see" , "taste" ,"understand", "feel" , "hear" "smell" and "guess" . He also says that "..we use "could" for "general ability" to say that somebody could do something at any time,whenever he/she wanted. In negative clauses to denote inability i.e "couldn't"+ verb, it can be freely used in this sense.
Does that mean we could use the modal "could" to denote general ability in the present for the likes of verbs such as "see", "taste", "understand", "feel", etc.? See, what gets me is that all along, I thought the modal "could" conldn't denote presen-time, general ability.
Are these possible?
I have to say/report that we could see now. We have recovered our sight.
I have to say/report that we could smell now. We have recovered our sense of smell.
I tend to use "could" instead of "was able" in similar situations but in Michael Swan's "javascript:void(0)" it's clearly stated : We do not normally use "could" to say that somebody managed to do something on one ocassion, instead we use "was able" , "managed" , "succeeded" etc." . In the next passage Swan gives exceptions to this and gives list of verbs which can be used with "could" to denote ability to do something. Those verbs are : "see" , "taste" ,"understand", "feel" , "hear" "smell" and "guess" . He also says that "..we use "could" for "general ability" to say that somebody could do something at any time,whenever he/she wanted. In negative clauses to denote inability i.e "couldn't"+ verb, it can be freely used in this sense.
Does that mean we could use the modal "could" to denote general ability in the present for the likes of verbs such as "see", "taste", "understand", "feel", etc.? See, what gets me is that all along, I thought the modal "could" conldn't denote presen-time, general ability.
Are these possible?
I have to say/report that we could see now. We have recovered our sight.
I have to say/report that we could smell now. We have recovered our sense of smell.
Top answer
Anonymous Does that mean we could use the modal "could" to denote general ability in the present for the likes of verbs such as "see", "taste", "understand", "feel", etc.? No. You need "can" for a present general ability.
- Anonymous Does that mean we could use the modal "could" to denote general ability in the present for the likes of verbs such as "see", "taste", "understand", "feel", etc.?
- No.
- You need "can" for a present general ability.
- Anonymous Are these possible?
- I have to say/report that we could see now.
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3 Answers
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AnonymousDoes that mean we could use the modal "could" to denote general ability in the present for the likes of verbs such as "see", "taste", "understand", "feel", etc.?No. You need "can" for a present general ability.
AnonymousAre these possible?
I have to say/report that we could see now. We have recovered our sight.
I hav
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Thank you, If I see sentences with modal 'could' with some 'mental and physical' words like 'see', 'smell', and 'understand', should I place the time line back in the past when interpreting them as denoting ability (has to be past ability almost all the time)?
We could see how beautiful the flowers were.
We could understand the choices he had (back then).
He could smell the swe
We could see how beautiful the flowers were.
We could understand the choices he had (back then).
He could smell the swe
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AnonymousWe could see how beautiful the flowers were.Yes. All past abilities, although with this set of verbs, could adds very little to the meaning. There are enough cues to the past within the context to prevent could
We could understand the choices he had (back then).
He could smell the sweet aroma of freshly brewed coffee that morning.
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