Difference between revisions of "Could"

Revision as of 17:12, 13 April 2020

Could is a tricky word. It is used for both the negative past and the conditional or hypothetical future.

One of the most frequent mistakes I read in emails is:

• I couldn't come tomorrow. (incorrect)
• I can come tomorrow. (correct)

Future

Could can be used to speak about a hypothetical future, but couldn't cannot be used to speak about a negative hypothetical future:

• I could come to your office once the lockdown ends.
• I couldn't come to your office once the lockdown ends.
• I could send it to you by email. (if you would like)
• I couldn't send it to you by email. <-- necessarily interpreted as the past tense (je ne pouvais pas te l'envoyer par mél.)

Past

Couldn't can also be used for the past tense. However, could is not generally used for the past tense (except with the perfect infinitive, or with focusing adverbs like "only" or "even")

• I couldn't come to your office in April 2020 because of the lockdown.
• I could only see my clients using Zoom, Whatsapp or Skype in April 2020.
• I could see my clients yesterday.
• The pandemic could have been worse (if there hadn't been a lockdown).

Periphrastics

In the past (and the conditional or "future of the past") "be able to" may be used.

• was(n't)/were(n't) able to
• would(n't) be able to