Have been able to. Present perfect of 'can'

Question

Hi teachers,Are they correct?Present – I can repair it.Past – I could repair it.Present Perfect – I have been able to repair it.Thanks in advance.

Fivejedjon · Accepted Answer

When talking about past time, 'was able to' is often more appropriate than 'could'.

Tenacious Learner · Answer

fivejedjonWhen talking about past time, 'was able to' is often more appropriate than 'could'.

Hi,
Thanks!
Aren't they interchangeable?
Why were they able to get their money back?
Why could they get their money back?
So, only sometimes they are interchangeable.

Then, 'have been able to' is the present perfect of 'can' isn't it?

TL

Fivejedjon · Answer

Tenacious LearnerAren't they interchangeable?

Sometimes, especially in the negative.

However:

I was able to run a half-marathon yesterday.
I could run a half-marathon yesterday.

Tenacious LearnerThen, 'have been able to' is the present perfect of 'can' isn't it?

No. We use 'have been able to' because there is no present perfect form of 'can'.

Tenacious Learner · Answer

fivejedjonSometimes, especially in the negative.

Aren't they in this case?
Why were they able to get their money back?
Why could they get their money back?

fivejedjonNo. We use 'have been able to' because there is no present perfect form of 'can'.

Thanks! I didn't know this ione.

TL

Kostya Berger · Answer

Read more about the possible meanings and usage of COULD and you'll se why. Your phrase: "Why COULD they get their money back?" can be understood in more than one way because of what "could" can indicate (or how in can be used).

Tenacious Learner · Answer

Kostya BergerRead more about the possible meanings and usage of COULD and you'll se why. Your phrase: "Why COULD they get their money back?" can be understood in more than one way because of what "could" can indicate (or how in can be used).

Hi,
Thanks for your advice and comments.

TL

Tenacious Learner · Answer

Hi Kostya,
I did some research and I found the following. Do you agree?
We use 'could' and 'was/were able' for general ability.
We do not normally use 'could' to say that somebody managed to do do something on one occasion. Instead we use 'was/were able'.
If that is right, this option. 'Why could they get their money back?', won't be possible.

TL

Kostya Berger · Answer

Hi,

I'm not a native speaker, make no mistake

. So don't ask ME whether I "agree" or not, I'm only sharing the results of my own research and experience, which have by now transformed into a kind of intuition...

Yes, "genaral ability" it is. But then, too, there are OTHER slightly different usages of COULD. It can also be used to express a slight form of suggestion:"Where can I have something to eat?" -- "Why, you COULD go to the restaurant around the corner." This is a general ability and, depending on the speaker's meaning, can indicate a suggestion.

What I mean is that all these examples definitely point in a direction different from "COULD = proved able to accomplish smth".

Just keep in mind, too, that some things are NOT defined by rules but by universally accepted usage. This type of knowledge is accumulated gradually while hearing/reading thousands of examples of how they use it. So I suggest that you study more exmples and pay attention to the differences.

Surfer · Answer

Tenacious LearnerI did some research and I found the following. Do you agree?
We use 'could' and 'was/were able' for general ability.
We do not normally use 'could' to say that somebody managed to do do something on one occasion. Instead we use 'was/were able'.

If that is right, this option. 'Why could they get their money back?', won't be possible.

Hello, TL.

Why could they get their money back could potentially mean that they didn't get their money back - more so, in fact, than that they actually did.

This has to do with the conditional aspect of could such its use in conditional constructs. To be specific, could is used in type ii conditional statements which usually describe unlikely occurrences of events.. .

Tenacious Learner · Answer

Kostya BergerI'm only sharing the results of my own research and experience, which have by now transformed into a kind of intuition

Hi,
Thanks for sharing!

TL

Have been able to. Present perfect of 'can'

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