EOI AIcoi; THAT'S EM0LISHl

AILITY: CAN COULD & E ALE TO

When we soy fhof somebody or somefhing hos or doesn'f hove fhe obiIify
fo do somefhing, we con use cun(or cunnot) for fhe presenf
or couId (n't) for fhe posf.
- He cun pIuy five musicuI instruments,
- We cun't ufford to puy the biII,
- Ann couId swim before she wus three teurs oId,
We con use be obIe fo insfeod of con/ couId fo foIk obouf on obiIify fhof
somebody hos or hod:
- HeIen cun / is ubIe to reud weII uIthough she's onIy three,

In generoI, we use be obIe fo when we foIk obouf on specific ochievemenf
(porficuIorIy if if is difficuIf, requiring some efforf) rofher fhon o generoI
obiIify. Sfudy fhis fobIe:
0eneroI obiIify Specific ochievemenf
presenf We prefer cun (buf con
oIso use be ubIe to)
- He cun speuk Spunish
We prefer be ubIe to (buf con oIso
use con):
- He hus now recovered from his
injury und is ubIe to drive uguin,
posf We prefer couId (buf con
oIso be ubIe to):
- After onIy si months
Putsy couId pIuy the vioIin
quite weII,
We use be ubIe to (nof couId):

- Jenny wus ubIe to Ieuve the
hospituI onIy si hours ufter her
operution,
We commonIy use cun or couId, when we ore using verbs of fhe senses,
see heur smeII tuste feeI, ond wifh verbs of "thinking", e.g. beIieve,
decide, remember, undersfond:
- She couId feeI the coId on her fuce us she Ieft home,
- I cun't decide where to go for my hoIiduys,

We don'f use be obIe fo when we foIk obouf somefhing
fhof is hoppening os we ore speoking.

We use be ubIe to, nof con or couId, if fhe ideo we wonf fo express needs
- to-infinitive I'd Iike to be ubIe to cIimb in the AIps,
- un -ing form She truveIIed uII over the worId without being ubIe to
speuk uny foreign Iunguuge,
- u perfect tense She hus been ubIe to use computers since she wus u
IittIe girI,
- it foIIows unother moduI verb You must be ubIe to speuk EngIish
quite fIuentIy,
- future When you ure 1 you'II be ubIe to drive,
Look, I
con ski
EOI AIcoi; THAT'S EM0LISHl
1, Choose cun couId or be ubIe to {or negutive forms} to compIete,
u, Peter hus u computer thut cun/is ubIe to fit into his pocket,
b, I hud some free time yesterduy so I wus ubIe to write u few
Ietters,
c, From where we're stunding this Iund beIongs to me for us fur us
you cun/ure ubIe to see,
d, My teucher hus given me u trunsIution to do for homework but
I cun't/'m not ubIe to understund it,
e, Wutch this Mum; I cun stund on one Ieg,
f, "When's her birthduy?""As fur us I cun remember it's in June",
g, The pIuns were destroyed before they couId be reud by the
invuding urmy,
h. When I wus younger I wus hopeIess ut sports, I couIdn't/wusn't
ubIe to throw or kick u buII properIy,

Z, CompIete these sentences with couId or wus/were ubIe to, In one of
euch puir you cun use either so write them both, In the other it is
more uppropriute onIy to use wus/were ubIe to,
1 u, Despite yesterduy's snowfuIIs we were ubIe to drive home in Iess
thun un hour,
b, I onIy Iived u miIe from the office und couId/wus ubIe to drive to
work in Iess thun un hour,
Z u, When she wus the munuger of the compuny she couId/wus ubIe to
tuke hoIiduys when she wunted to,
b, I wus very busy ut work but I wus ubIe to tuke u short hoIiduy
over Christmus,
3 u, In the 1
th
century fishermen couId/were ubIe to
smuggIe wine into the country without feur of being
cuught by the uuthorities,
b, Murtin wus ubIe to smuggIe the knife on bourd
without being detected by the security system,

3, CompIete these sentences with cun foIIowed by one of the verbs beIow,
If it is inuppropriute to use cun use u form of be ubIe to insteud,
count find give investigute meet sturt work
u, We don't seem to be ubIe to find your Ietter in our fiIes,
b. You cun count on me to heIp with the purty,
c. You con give me o coII of home.
d, The buiIders suid thut they muy be ubIe to sturt work toduy,
e, When the suteIIite is Iuunched net week scientists wiII be ubIe
to investigute the Murs in more detuiI thun ever before,
f, I doubt thut he wiII be ubIe to work uguin; his injuries ure so
severe,
g. We cun meet outside the cinemu if thut's Ok with you,