{"id":72198,"date":"2019-09-16T07:35:26","date_gmt":"2019-09-16T07:35:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/perfectyourenglish.com\/blog\/?p=72198"},"modified":"2019-09-16T08:45:39","modified_gmt":"2019-09-16T08:45:39","slug":"can-vs-be-able-to","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/perfectyourenglish.com\/blog\/can-vs-be-able-to\/","title":{"rendered":"Can vs. Be Able To"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
Be able to <\/b>often has the same meaning as can<\/b>.<\/p>\n
    \n
  • I am unable to\/can\u2019t <\/b>understand his motive.<\/li>\n
  • He is able to\/can <\/b>support her.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    Can<\/b> is preferred in expression like can see, can hear<\/b> etc. It is also used in the sense of know how to?<\/p>\n

      \n
    • I can knit<\/b>. (More natural than I am able to knit.) (= I know how to knit.)<\/li>\n
    • I can see <\/b>a ship. (More natural than I am able to see a ship.)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

      Be able to<\/b> is preferred in cases, where can\/could<\/b> is not grammatically possible.<\/p>\n

        \n
      • I might be able to <\/b>help you. (NOT I might can help you.)<\/li>\n
      • Someday scientists will be able to <\/b>find a cure for cancer. (NOT Someday scientists will can find —)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
        \n
        Be able to<\/b> often has the same meaning as can<\/b>. In some cases, they are both possible.<\/p>\n

        Can vs. Be able to | English Grammar Worksheet<\/h3>\n

        Complete the following sentences using can or be able to.<\/p>\n

        1. I —————– read this.<\/p>\n

        a) can’t
        \nb) am unable to
        \nc) Either could be used here<\/p>\n

        2. Some people ——————— stand on their head.<\/p>\n

        a) can
        \nb) are able to
        \nc) Either could be used here<\/p>\n

        3. I am ———————- understand his motives.<\/p>\n

        a) can’t
        \nb) unable to
        \nc) Either could be used here<\/p>\n

        4. ——————– you play the piano?<\/p>\n

        a) Can
        \nb) Are you able to
        \nc) Either could be used here<\/p>\n

        5. One day human beings will ——————– colonize Mars.<\/p>\n

        a) can
        \nb) be able to
        \nc) Either could be used here<\/p>\n

        6. What have you ——————— find out?<\/p>\n

        a) been able to
        \nb) could
        \nc) can<\/p>\n

        7. She should ——————- go.<\/p>\n

        a) be able to
        \nb) can
        \nc) could<\/p>\n

        8. I might —————– help.<\/p>\n

        a) be able to
        \nb) can
        \nc) could<\/p>\n

        Answers<\/h2>\n

        1. I can’t<\/b> read this. \/ I am unable <\/b>to read this.<\/p>\n

        2. Some people can <\/b>stand on their head. \/ Some people are able to<\/b> stand on their head.<\/p>\n

        3. I am unable to<\/b> understand his motives.<\/p>\n

        4. Can <\/b>you play the piano?<\/p>\n

        5. One day human beings will be able to <\/b>colonize Mars.<\/p>\n

        6. What have you been able to <\/b>find out?<\/p>\n

        7. She should be able to<\/b> go.<\/p>\n

        8. I might be able to <\/b>help.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

        Be able to often has the same meaning as can. I am unable to\/can\u2019t understand his motive. He is able to\/can support her. Can is preferred in expression like can see, can hear etc....<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[382,1378,1379,596],"class_list":["post-72198","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-grammar-exercises","tag-be-able-to","tag-can","tag-can-vs-be-able-to","tag-english-grammar-worksheets"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/perfectyourenglish.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72198","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/perfectyourenglish.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/perfectyourenglish.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/perfectyourenglish.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/perfectyourenglish.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=72198"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/perfectyourenglish.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72198\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":72202,"href":"https:\/\/perfectyourenglish.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72198\/revisions\/72202"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/perfectyourenglish.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=72198"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/perfectyourenglish.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=72198"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/perfectyourenglish.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=72198"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}