In English, can, could, and would are very common modal verbs. We use them in everyday situations.
However, many learners feel confused because these words have different meanings.
The good news is that we can organize them into 3 different groups:
🟢 Ability
We use can and could to talk about ability, what a person is able to do.
This can be something you can do now, or something you were able to do in the past.
🔵 Permission
We use can and could to talk about permission. For example, when we ask if something is OK, or when we give someone permission to do something. Could is more polite than can.
🟣 Polite Requests
We use can, could, and would to make requests. For example, when we ask someone to do something for us.
Would is the most polite, and could is also polite.
Let’s Practice
Practice 1
Practice 2