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Hans51 Posted 14 years ago
Grammar

I could do it

Hello, I'd like to ask a question about nuance of "could" here in my sentences.

Here is a situation where I want to go to the USA soon whatever it takes and say to my mom, " I will go to the USA" and my mom says "Yeah, you could do it" and then I say, No I CAN do it" not COULD!! Do you think it is an appropriate reaction to the word "could" here because I think the nuance of the word has less belief for my decision in the context. What do you think?

Thank you as always in advance.
  

Top answer

I don't think the conversation is very fluid, and I can't really follow the intentions. How old are you? What is your mom's opinion when she comments?

— Mister Micawber

  • I don't think the conversation is very fluid, and I can't really follow the intentions.
  • How old are you?
  • What is your mom's opinion when she comments?
  • Who might pay for this trip?
  • Are you being confrontational with the last remark or just correcting her grammar?
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3 Answers
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I don't think the conversation is very fluid, and I can't really follow the intentions. How old are you? What is your mom's opinion when she comments? Who might pay for this trip? Are you being confrontational with the last remark or just correcting her grammar? Nuances are not the problem here.
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Sorry about the clumsy conversation. I just made it up. My question was about the nuance difference of "can and could" because I think "could" sounds relatively uncertain, so in my opinion, the usage of "could" can make misunderstandings in some certain context.
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You are correct that one of the common uses of 'could' is as a more tentative and/or more polite form of 'can'.
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