ÉditionsVanIn

Les formes sont les mêmes à toutes personnes.

No, I wasn’t No, you weren’t. No, he / she / it wasn’t No, we weren’t No, you weren’t. No, they weren’t

I could I could not / couldn’t Could I…?Yes, I could No, I couldn’t

Sens

À la forme affirmative, on utilise « could » pour parler :

– d’une capacité, d’une compétence générale dans le passé ; He couldn’t swim when he was 4.

– d’une permission dans le passé. My parents said we could to have a party. Could you drive a motorbike when you were 16?

La conjugaison suit le modèle de to be

I was able to I was not / I wasn’t able to Was I able to…?Yes, I was No, I wasn’t

Sens

À la forme affirmative, si nous voulons dire que quelqu’un a été capable de faire quelque chose dans une situation spécifique passée, nous devons utiliser « was / were able to ».

Only our next-door neighbours were able to come.

I wasn’t able to dance because of my leg.

Were you able to stay until the end of the party?

Il n’y a pas de différence de sens entre could et to be able to lorsqu’ils sont utilisés dans une phrase négative.

Les formes sont les mêmes à toutes les personnes

I had to…I didn’t have to Did I have to…?Yes, I did No, I didn’t

I had to cancel everything. They didn’t have to go to school: there was too much snow. Did you have to buy a present?