Putting use of modals 'could' and 'can' to the test

Question

Hi,Would you say the second one is wrong?  I think the modal 'could' can't express current ability.(a quiz question)Can it fly?Yes, it can -- correct?Yes, it could -- not correct?

CalifJim · Accepted Answer

The first response follows the formula of the question, as expected.
Can it fly? Yes, it can.
= Can it fly? Yes.
The second response breaks the pattern, so it sounds anomalous as a direct response. The "yes" in itself says "it can", so after Can it fly? the answer Yes, it could says It can; it could, which is not a sensible thing to say.
Can it fly? Yes, it could.

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If you want to leave out the "yes" on the response, you have this:
Can it fly? It could.
in which It could = Maybe. / It might. / It may. / It is possible that it will be able to fly.
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And, if you want to move away from the idea of current ability, of course you can have
Could it fly? Yes, it could.
which is one of these

1) Would be able to fly? Yes, it would.
2) Did it have the ability to fly? Yes, it did.
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In short, your intuition about this is correct:

I think the modal 'could' can't express current ability.

as long as you are excluding the cases where you make a offer thus:
I could help you with that. = I would be able to use (my current ability to help you) to help you with that.
Here you aren't expressing current ability but the willingness to use it. Current ability is implied within the offer.
CJ

Putting use of modals 'could' and 'can' to the test

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