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hi everybody my name is Alisha today I'm
going to talk about how to use the word
could to express possibility and a few
other uses of this word too so let's get
started okay the first use of could that
I want to mention is as the past tense
of can so can is the present tense word
we use to talk about ability we use it
for ability however in the past tense
can becomes good that means we use the
word could to express past ability let's
look at some example sentences first one
when I was young I could speak Spanish
so a past tense situation this is a past
ability I could speak Spanish
three years ago she could swim faster
than all the other students in her class
so again a past tense situation three
years ago here okay one more last week I
couldn't use this software
now I can so here i've used the negative
couldn't could not last week i couldn't
use this software now I can so I've used
can in the present tense here so that's
the first point that I want to mention
for today using could as the past tense
of the word can so these all express
past ability a past capability the
second point I want to talk about for
today is using could for suggestions and
for advice so please keep in mind when
you use could it's not giving maybe a
promise about that activity you're not
making any promises about the activity
the nuance of could or the meaning of
could is just possibility when you give
a suggestion or when you give advice
using the word could you're giving some
information about possibility only
something it is possible to do an action
it is possible to take let's look at
some examples then first we could go
hiking this week
here I have could sew again just a
possibility it's possible to go hiking
this weekend we could so this is a
suggestion for a possible action next I
could cook something spicy for dinner
tonight again possibility only I could
cook something spicy for dinner it's
possible for me to make something spicy
third you could try talking to your
landlord about the problem so here I
have the word could again it's possible
you could talk to your landlord it's
possible you could so we can think of
these two things as having a very
similar meaning keep in mind of course
because this is a suggestion if I
suggest for example I could cook
something for dinner tonight
the nuance is that maybe the speaker
wants to do that activity or recommends
that activity or that action but the new
once again is just that it's possible
just that it's possible so it's a fairly
soft recommendation okay so that's the
point number two I want to mention
before I go to point number three I want
to mention two kind of smaller points
within this first when we use could in
the positive like I've used here she
could swim or we could go hiking for
example this refers to something that is
possible it is something that is
possible to do in the negative form
however like could not for example in
this sentence last week I couldn't use
this software when we use it in the
negative form it means impossible zero
percent chance positive is just
something possible it's there's
potential for an action to happen or for
a status but impossible is the negative
form it is totally impossible zero
chance of something so with these points
in mind let's look at the next item I
want to talk about okay so we can use
could and be the verb to be for a status
so a situation like to talk about a
person or to talk about a thing so again
this
presses possibility we are making a
guess so in these cases we don't have
all the information about a situation
but we are making a guess a guess about
potential a guess about possibility for
example this could be the right house
this could be the right house if you've
seen the video we did about using must
you'll notice maybe I've used a similar
sentence here this could be the right
house and this must be the right house
they're very similar sentences could
expresses only possibility so a lower
level of certainty than must if I say
this must be the right house it means
there's a very high chance this is the
correct house here could shows only
possibility so a lower level of chance
there's not so much certainty here let's
look at another one he couldn't be my
teacher I heard my teacher wears glasses
here I have the negative couldn't he
couldn't be my teacher that implies it
is impossible so that person that man
couldn't be my teacher because I heard
my teacher wears glasses so I have some
other information that tells me this
person this guy he couldn't be my
teacher it's not possible for him to be
my teacher one more example they could
be asleep maybe that's why they're not
answering the phone
so here I've used positive could they
could be asleep so I'm showing only
possibility here I'm giving a possible
explanation for why these people are not
answering their phone they could be
asleep it's possible they are asleep
okay
now let's consider how to explain points
like this but in the past tense so when
we make the past tense we use have and
the past participle of a verb so for
example she couldn't have been on the
airplane she couldn't again impossible
it was impossible she was on the
airplane she couldn't have been on the
airplane maybe her first flight was
delayed it's impossible it was
impossible for her to be on the air
another example this could have been
finished faster this could have been
finished faster I have the positive here
showing it's possible so a project for
example it's possible that this project
maybe could it's possible to have been
finished faster here so again the
positive form shows only possibility and
here in the past could have been
finished faster one more I could have
here I've used the contracted form so
could plus half becomes could've
could've so I could have gotten up
earlier I could have gotten up earlier
maybe I got up at 10 o'clock but 8
o'clock was possible in the past I could
have meaning maybe I didn't but it was
possible in the past we can use could've
to show that ok the final point I want
to make today is about future situations
making guesses about future situations
just a couple of examples here remember
the same positive and negative point
applies here as well so in the first
example I have your mom could call while
we're out your mom could and then I have
a verb after this call to call make a
phone call so your mom could call while
we're out meaning in the future when we
are out of the house it's possible your
mother may call this is the nuance of
this expression so I'm making a guess
about a future situation with the word
could your mother could call while we're
out we can use it in another situation
he could send the file before the
meeting so again these are guesses both
cases your mom and this key person these
are guesses about other people we're
making a guess about a future situation
a future possible situation so he could
send the files before the meeting but we
don't know we're making a guess about
the future you can use could to express
that as well
so those are a few different points
about how to use the word could we can
use it as the past tense of can we can
use it to make suggestions and to give
advice
we can use it to talk about a status a
possibility around a status and we can
use it to talk about the past situations
past possible situations and finally to
make guesses about future possible
situations - so this is a lot of
information and it's very quick but I
hope that it was useful for you if you
have any questions or comments please
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this episode and I will see you again
soon
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