Could, Was able to, Manage to, Succeed in

A. We use could & was/were able to + infinitive to talk about a general ability to do
something in the past
a. Positive questions:
i. I could/was able to ride a bike by the time I was 6-7 years old.
ii. I could/was able to swim the butterfly stroke when I was a kid.
iii. I could/was able to stay up without sleep for 2 days.
iv. Were you able to stay home alone when you were a child?  Could you
stay home alone…?
v. What kind of food were you able to cook when you were a child? 
What kind of food could you cook…?
B. We use was/were able to to talk about success in a particular task or activity
(sometimes with effort)
a. Positive and questions:
i. I was able to cook Thai curry when I came to Australia.  with effort
ii. I was able to catch the bus to the beach on Sunday.  singular activity
iii. I was able to run a half-marathon with a lot of practice.
C. We use couldn’t & wasn’t/weren’t able to to talk about not succeeding in a
particular task or activity
a. Negative and questions:
i. I tried to run longer than 5 kilometres, but I couldn’t.
ii. I couldn’t cook paella when I was living in Mexico, because of the
altitude.
iii. I wasn’t able to catch a cat after it scratched me.
D. We use managed to + infinitive & succeed in + gerund/verb-ing to talk about
succeeding (or not succeeding) in a particular task or activity (with effort), but not
for general ability
a. Adverbs and time phrases: finally, in the end, unfortunately, after some time,
eventually
b. Positive, negative and questions:
i. I succeeded in making a crème caramel after 7 hours.
ii. I succeeded in parking my car after trying many times.
iii. I managed to take the train in Melbourne eventually even though I was
scared.
iv. After I accidentally locked my bedroom door from the outside, I didn’t
manage to pick the lock, though I tried for half an hour, and had to call a
locksmith.
v. I haven’t managed to catch a tram in the city by myself.
vi. I didn’t succeed in building my IKEA furniture.