Past Ability: Could, Was Able To, Managed To
2020-11-06
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1Imagine that you are interviewing for a job you really want. Most of the questions are in your native language, but the job will require you to use some English. So, the employer asks about your English skills. You might answer with the words, "I can speak English very well" or "I am able to speak English very well." 2The two statements have the same meaning. 3Both "can" and "be able to" are used to express ability. In a spoken exchange, "can" is far more common while "be able to" sounds less natural. 4However, when we are talking about the past, the rules change a bit. 5Today, I will show you how to express past abilities with "could" "was (or) were able to" and another phrase you may have heard before - "managed to." 6The first thing to know is that, in the past tense, we express general abilities and abilities at specific times in different ways. That is important, as you will soon see. 7General abilities 8Let's start with general abilities. These are skills or talents a person once had. In the past tense, English speakers almost always use "could." 9Listen to a few examples. 10By the time he was four, Guillermo could read and write. 11In high school, she could beat anyone in a running race. 12I could mimic bird sounds when I was younger. 13Again, we are talking about general skills or talents - not about a specific occasion. 14Note that, in any of these examples, "was (or) were able to" is also possible but used less often. You could say, for example, "By the time he was four, Guillermo was able to read and write," and it would be fine. It also might sound a little formal in spoken English. 15Specific occasions 16Now, let's talk about specific occasions. Here is where the rules change a bit. 17When we are talking about a specific situation or when noting a specific achievement, we must use "was (or) were able to" or "managed to." Their meanings are very close. 18We do not use "could." 19Listen to some examples: 20We were able to get a really good price on the car. 21We managed to get a really good price on the car. 22I was able to persuade her to volunteer at the show. 23I managed to persuade her to volunteer at the show. 24Now let's talk more about the meanings. "Was (or) were able to" and "managed to" both suggest effort. They mean someone succeeded in doing something that was a challenge or took a special effort. However, the phrase "managed to" puts a little more emphasis on how hard the challenge was or how much effort it took. 25Note that "managed to" is fairly common in spoken English. You will hear it used almost everywhere. 26Exception to the rule 27Now, let's take a few minutes to quickly explore an exception to the rules we just discussed. 28Earlier, I told you that we use "could" for general abilities. But there are two kinds of verbs where we also use "could" for specific occasions. 29With sense verbs, such as "smell" and "taste," and thought process verbs, such as "believe" "decide" and "understand," we usually use "could" even when talking about specific occasions. 30Listen to two examples of what I mean: 31I walked past a market today and could smell the freshly baked bread. 32We couldn't decide what to get for his birthday so we bought a gift card. 33Note that the second example uses the negative form -- "couldn't." 34Using the negatives 35So, now would be a good time to talk more about negative forms. 36The good news is that we can use "couldn't," "wasn't (or) weren't able to," or "didn't manage to" to express the same thing - inability on a specific occasion in the past. Listen to how these are used for the same statement. 37He studied for months but couldn't pass the bar exam. 38He studied for months but wasn't able to pass the bar exam. 39He studied for months but didn't manage to pass the bar exam. 40All three sentences mean that a person was not capable of doing something on a specific occasion. 41Note also that sometimes, for the negative form of "managed to," we say, "couldn't manage to" instead of "didn't manage to." They mean the same thing: 42He studied for months but couldn't manage to pass the bar exam. 43Well, that's all for now. Luckily, I did manage to do something today: teach you how to talk about past abilities! 44I'm Alice Bryant. 45Alice Bryant wrote this story for VOA Learning English. George Grow was the editor. 46_________________________________________________ 47Words in This Story 48phrase - n. a group of two or more words that express an idea but do not usually form a complete sentence 49specific - adj. precise or exact 50mimic - v. to create the appearance or effect of (something) 51formal - adj. suitable for serious or official speech and writing 52achievement - n. something that has been done or achieved through effort 53challenge - n. something that is hard to do 54emphasis - n. special importance or attention given to something 55baked - adj. cooked in an oven using dry heat 56negative - adj. expressing denial or refusal 57bar - n. the test that a person must pass in order to be a lawyer