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Quiz

Test your understanding of this English lesson

Test your understanding of the English lesson by answering these questions. You will get the answers and your score at the end of the quiz.
"Can" is used to describe ability in the past.



When I was 5 years old, I ______ run for 15 minutes without stopping.





I _____ finish my homework in the morning. (future)





Albert Einstein ____ answer difficult questions.







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Comments

38 Comments on “Expressing ability with CAN, COULD, BE ABLE TO”

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Reem

I think it’s good, I’m watching again :)
thans Alex ..

Wednesday, April 1st 2009
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amine

really it’s very good, thinks

Saturday, April 4th 2009
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mohammed soman

Really its great and intresting.

I lone it.

Thanks a million.

Mohammed Osman Khan
Riyadh,Kingdom Of Saudi Arabia.

Thursday, April 9th 2009
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ptgirl1981

;-( its difficult

Friday, April 10th 2009
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Alex

Hi Alex Its really very important for us who is learning
I could watch hundred time .. Or I can watch onetime for day

I don’t give up

see you Alex

thanks

Friday, April 10th 2009
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raul

Hi alex

Very nice lesson and interesting too. It’s was very useful to me.

Thank you

Thursday, April 23rd 2009
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thanhlan

good evening Sir,

I like your lesson. But i wonder how i can distinguish clearly their usage.

Can you do me a favour, Sir? i have a question. Can you use conversation to teach advanced grammar?

Please give me a hand at once.

i hope to hear from you soon.
Thanks Sir,

Friday, May 8th 2009
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First

Hi, Alex

Thanks you so much, that it help me alot to understand English.

Thanks again,

First.

Sunday, May 24th 2009
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ichan

thanks alex for the lesson

Monday, June 1st 2009
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Reynaldo

I could understand the lesson,can you Alex to say more about be able to?
Thanks a lot Alex!

Saturday, July 11th 2009
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Alena

I got 100% in the quiz, but I can’t catch the idea about the last sentence I was able to win the spelling bee but not I could win the spelling bee. And what is spelling bee?

Monday, July 27th 2009
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    Hi Alena,

    A spelling bee is a competition where people test their spelling skills.

    You must say “I was able to” because winning the spelling bee was a very specific achievement in the past. Here are some more examples:

    “I was able to win the race.”
    “They were able to beat the other team.”
    “We were able to finish the test on time.”

    If it is something specific that you completed, you must use “be able to.” You only use “could” in the past when talking about your ability to do something. Here are some examples:

    “I could read at the age of five.”
    “My friends could speak English before me.”

    Again, you can always use “be able to” for the examples above as well, but you can’t always use “could” if you’re talking about a very specific achievement.


    AlexESLvid
    Saturday, September 19th 2009Reply to this comment

hoangtran

thank alot

Sunday, August 16th 2009
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Коля

Cool. Thank you.

Monday, November 2nd 2009
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Krishanthan

thank you very much sir….

Sunday, November 22nd 2009
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erwin

hi alex that was a great lesson. i have a request can you please explain to me the difference about the words DO and DOES ca you give some example. thanks and more power to engvid.

Monday, January 11th 2010
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sohail amin

hi how r you this is a good lesson

Sunday, January 24th 2010
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Raulo

Thank alex, and the reply to Alena’s answers, complete this clearly lesson. You’re very good professor !

Sunday, January 24th 2010
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kalanaza

Thank you very much…

Can I use able to in futur.

Examples:I am able to test tomorrow.

Thanks a lot Alex!

Wednesday, February 3rd 2010
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    “I’m always able to finish my homework during the mornings.” I’m also thinking like you and this makes sense to me. I hope I’m not confusing anybody’s mind.


    Edwin P. I.
    Wednesday, June 23rd 2010Reply to this comment

ujen

thank you
tell me about the form of verb we use with can,could and able to.

Monday, March 1st 2010
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Seungho

Thank you Alex

Tuesday, March 30th 2010
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Alessandro

Thanks Alex!

Useful lesson.

This is definitely a great site to learn English! :)

Tuesday, April 20th 2010
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chiro01

thanks a lot alex!!!

Saturday, May 8th 2010
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mayumee07

Hi Alex,

Is this correct?
–I wasn’t able to come online yesterday because…

Thank you..

Sunday, May 9th 2010
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Neelam777

Thank you.

Friday, May 14th 2010
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sultan23c

Thanks a lot Alex!!Useful lesson

Sunday, May 16th 2010
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Liuba from Russia

Thanks. Your explanations are clear and simple.

Thursday, May 20th 2010
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akram

Hi ALEX,
I just wonder.What is the difference in meaning between. can and be able to when we use them.
thanks.

Tuesday, May 25th 2010
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reena

Hi Alex Your videos are very nice. thanks
very much for videos & these are helping me a lot.

Tuesday, May 25th 2010
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osama

Thanks allot Alex it is very helpfull

Wednesday, June 2nd 2010
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hyemi

hmm.. interesting! i like this. tnx 4 diz.. :))

Sunday, June 6th 2010
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Khone

It’s very good but I’ve still confused using ” be able to ” and ” able to ” could u plz explain me more? Thank u for advance

Thursday, June 17th 2010
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Edwin P. I.

I have a suggestion about the quiz. In question number 3 the sentence tells me to use one of the options for the future, but I paid attention to the sentence and it says only “morning” not “tomorrow morning” nor “tomorrow in the morning” for future. I think I’d rather use “Will be able to” for future. What about “I can do my homework in the morning”? Is this how we should refer to the future? I’d rather say, “I can finish my homework tomorrow morning.” :)

Wednesday, June 23rd 2010
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meghaluhar

thanks lot it was amazing and helped me a lot to clear my doughts once again thansk a lot

Monday, July 12th 2010
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dody

thank alex u are good teacher realy its easy and useful lesson byeeeeeee

Thursday, July 15th 2010
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arshad14114

Great! I am looking for different structure of english language like could, should, can’t help & so many others. Could you please help me out in this regards……………..Hats off, you are really one of the greatest teacher in your team.

Wednesday, July 21st 2010
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