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Anonymous Posted 11 years ago
Grammar

Couldn't/not able

The music was above their conversation and I couldn't/wasn't able to hear them talking
  

Top answer

Anonymous The music was above their conversation and I couldn't/wasn't able to hear them talking The music covered their conversation so I wasn't able to hear them talking. CJ

— CalifJim

  • Anonymous The music was above their conversation and I couldn't/wasn't able to hear them talking The music covered their conversation so I wasn't able to hear them talking.
  • CJ
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3 Answers
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AnonymousThe music was above their conversation and I couldn't/wasn't able to hear them talking
The music covered their conversation so I wasn't able to hear them talking.

CJ
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Then why does it work in the following example? I'm confused.

I couldn't hear a word of what he said over all that noise. (learnersdictionary.com)
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Anonymouswhy does it work in the following example?
Actually, you can use both in both sentences. This is also OK:

I wasn't able to hear a word of what he said over all that noise.

I just gave you the version I would have used for your sentence. You can change it to couldn't if you want.

wasn't able focuses mor
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