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What is Grammar?
English Grammar Terms
The 8 English Parts of
Speech
These are the words that you use to make a sentence.
There are only
8 types of word - and the most
important is the Verb!
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Verbs |
be, have, do, work |
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Nouns |
man, town, music |
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Adjectives |
a, the, 69, big |
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Adverbs |
loudly, well, often |
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Pronouns |
you, ours, some |
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Prepositions |
at, in, on, from |
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Conjunctions |
and, but, though |
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Interjections |
ah, dear, er, um |
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Hot Links
Verbs
Passive voice
Modal verbs
Conditionals
Questions
Irregular
verbs
Going to
Gerunds
Phrasal Verbs
Tenses
Nouns
(Un) Countable nouns
Adjectives
Articles
Pronouns
Preposition List
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| Grammar Quizzes
Parts of Speech Quiz
Verb Classification Quiz
Main Verb Forms Quiz
Active or Passive Quiz
Subjunctive Quiz
Future Time Quiz
Continuous Tense Verb
Quiz
Used to do or Be used to
Quiz
Have to,
Must, Must not Quiz
Can, Could, Be able
to Quiz
Questions Quiz
Tag Questions
Quiz
Infinitive or
-ing Quiz
Gerunds Quiz
Phrasal Verbs
Quiz
Conditionals Quiz
For or Since Quiz
Present Simple
Present Continuous
Present Perfect
Simple
Present Perfect
Continuous
Past Simple
Questions
Comparative
Adjectives
Superlative
Adjectives
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Could
Could is an auxiliary verb, a modal auxiliary verb. We use
could to:
- talk about past possibility or ability
- make requests
Structure of Could
subject + could + main verb
The main verb is always the bare infinitive (infinitive without
"to").
| |
subject |
auxiliary verb |
main verb |
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| + |
My grandmother |
could |
speak |
Japanese. |
| - |
She |
could not |
speak |
Chinese. |
| couldn't |
| ? |
Could |
your grandmother |
speak |
Japanese? |
Notice that:
- Could is invariable. There is only one form of
could.
- The main verb is always the bare infinitive.
| EnglishClub.com Tip |
The main verb is always the
bare infinitive. We cannot say:
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Use of Could
could: Past Possibility or Ability
We use could to talk about what was possible in the past,
what we were able or free to do:
- I could swim when I was 5 years old.
- My grandmother could speak seven languages.
- When we arrived home, we could not open the door.
(...couldn't open the door.)
- Could you understand what he was saying?
We use could (positive) and couldn't (negative) for
general ability in the past. But when we talk about one special occasion in the
past, we use be able to (positive) and couldn't (negative). Look
at these examples:
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Past |
| General |
Specific Occasion |
| + |
My grandmother could speak Spanish. |
A man fell into the river yesterday. The police were
able to save him. |
| - |
My grandmother couldn't speak Spanish. |
A man fell into the river yesterday. The police
couldn't save him. |
could: Requests
We often use could in a question to ask somebody to do
something. The use of could in this way is fairly polite (formal):
- Could you tell me where the bank is, please?
- Could you send me a catalogue, please?
Be able to
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