Look at these examples to see how could, was able to and managed to are used.
I could play the guitar when I was seven years old.
The police weren't able to catch the speeding car.
The bird managed to escape from its cage and fly away.
Try this exercise to test your grammar.
- Grammar test 1
Read the explanation to learn more.
Grammar explanation
General ability
We usually use could or couldn't to talk about general abilities in the past.
She could paint before she started school.
I couldn't cook until I went to university.
When I lived next to the pool, I could go swimming every day.
Ability on one occasion – successful
When we talk about achieving something on a specific occasion in the past, we use was/were able to (= had the ability to) and managed to (= succeeded in doing something difficult).
The burglar was able to get in through the bathroom window.
The burglar managed to get in through the bathroom window even though it was locked.
Could is not usually correct when we're talking about ability at a specific moment in the past.
Ability on one occasion – unsuccessful
When we talk about a specific occasion when someone didn't have the ability to do something, we can use wasn't/weren't able to, didn't manage to or couldn't.
The speaker wasn't able to attend the conference due to illness.
She couldn't watch the match because she was working.
They worked on it for months but they didn't manage to find a solution.
Note that wasn't/weren't able to is more formal than couldn't, while didn't manage to emphasises that the thing was difficult to do.
Do this exercise to test your grammar again.
- Grammar test 2
Hello!
Could you please help me with the following:
I could/was able to go there without an invitation. Is any of them (could and was able) possible here? The meaning is that I had an opportunity to go there without invitation. So, it's neither about a person's ability nor successful or not successful finished action. Has it to be just "I had an opportunity to go there?"
Thank you so much for your precious help and thank you for answering this post beforehand!
Hello howtosay_,
Generally, 'was able to' implies that you went unless the context says otherwise. If you did not go then we would usually add that information (e.g. ...but in the end I stayed at home).
'Could' with past time reference means ability rather than possibility; you could use 'could have gone' here instead, but this implies that you did not go.
If you want to say that you had the possibility but not given any indication as to whether or not you actually went, then a formulation such as 'I had the chance/the opportunity...' would indeed be the most natural choice, I think.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
This lesson is helpful.But in questions ,Can we use could and was/were able to interchangeably?
Like 1.Were you able to describe the person to the police ?If we use could here does the meaning still the same ?Plus we also use could instead of can to make it less direct .So is there any possibility if i use could here,it will refer to can,I mean a present situation rather than a past situation ?
Hi Faii,
No, they aren't interchangeable. "Could" indicates a general ability, and "be able to" indicates an ability on a particular occasion. So, "Were you able to describe the person to the police?" is correct because this refers to one particular occasion, not a general ability to describe people. "Could" is not right, for that reason. (Note though that the negative form "couldn't" may be used for particular occasions, unlike the positive form "could".)
About your second question, yes! It is possible. If you say "Could you describe the person to the police?", it will be understood as asking someone to do that right now (i.e. a present action).
Jonathan
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello. My question concerns to Test 1, question 5. He _____ attend the last meeting due to his daughter's illness. Why we put couldn't and not weren't able to?
Hello Mimina,
'wasn't able to' is another correct answer for Test 1, question 5. 'weren't able to', however, is not correct, because when the subject is 'he', we say 'was' or 'wasn't' and not 'were' or 'weren't'. This latter form is for 'you', 'we' and 'they'.
Does that make sense?
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Oh I'm sorry. I didn't pay attention to it.
Thank you.
Hello Loc Duc,
We use 'manage to' or 'didn't manage to' to speak about a relatively discrete action, i.e. an action that is relatively quick and does not extend over time. 'afford' describes a state more than a discrete action, and so it sounds unnatural to use 'manage' here.
If there was a specific context -- for example, if I were talking about the time in my life right after I graduated from university -- then it would be possible to say 'wasn't able to' here.
But since in this case there is not specific context, 'couldn't' is the best answer.
Does that make sense?
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team