 92  The notion of ability is also expressed by «to be able to». Mary can speak English quite well but she can t write it at all (can = to be able, to know how to,..). John can keep a secret if he wants to (can=to be capable of) I can drive a car - I know how to... I couldn't understand him when he spoke very fast (=was unable to. was incapable of..). He could (was able to) speak English very well when he was twelve. The meaning of ability is expressed only by «to be able to* when the reference is to the future, as can, having no infinitive, has no future tense form. Soon he will be able to speak English quite fluently. Note: Can is interchangeable with to be able to when it denotes mere capacity. Though in such cases can /could is more usual. I couldn 't/was not able to do that new job; it was too difficult. This man could/was able to cure all diseases. But only to be able to is used to express attainment of something, achievement through some capacity. Thus to be able to often combines the idea of «ability* and «achievement». In this case was able to means «managed to* or «succeeded in*, and could is impossible. 92 |
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