Expressing ability – capability

The ability/capability of doing something can be expressed in several ways.

The most common verb forms are: can - could - be able to - manage to
On some occasions only one of the above forms can be used whilst in other situations
there is either a subtle difference or no difference at all in the meaning.
 PRESENT
PRESENT TENSE
TENSE
•• II can/am
can/am able
able to
to play
play tennis.
tennis.
(I
(I have
have learnt
learnt to
to do
do this
this and
and now
now have
have the
the ability
ability to
to do
do it)
it)

•• II am
am able
able to
to play
play tennis
tennis twice
twice a
a week.
week.
(circumstances
(circumstances permit
permit me
me to
to do
do this)
this)

•• II manage
manage to
to play
play tennis
tennis twice
twice a
a week.
week.
(even
(even though
though there
there is
is a
a degree
degree of
of difficulty)
difficulty)
 PAST TENSES
• I managed to play tennis twice a week.
(some difficulties had to be overcome)

• I could get tickets for concerts whenever I wanted to.

(I was capable of doing this)

• I was able to get two tickets for Madonna’s concert.

(I did this on one occasion)
 Future tense
• I will be able to visit Paris next year
(I will be capable of doing this. Nothing should stop me)

• I hope you will manage to come.

(Even though you may encounter difficulty in doing this)

You will can do your homework by yourself (there are no 2 modal verbs
in a sentence)
You will be able to do your …
 Individual Assignment
* What are capabilities that you can do right now?
(write 3 of capabilities) in simple present

* What were capabilities that you could do in the past ?

(write 3 of capabilities) in past tense

* What are capabilities that you want to master in ?

(write 3 of capabilities) in future tense

You can do this in Ms.Word and send it to google classroom!