-
can
和
could
的
意义,有能力做,有可能,可以
She can
lift me up with one hand
.
她可以一只手把我举起来。
(有能力
做)
Can yon swim ?
你会游泳吗?(有能力做)
You
can borrow my car if you want to.
如果你想借我的汽车,你可以借去
用。
(有可能)
Anybody can learn to cook.
人人都能学会做饭。
(可以)
It could rain later.
晚些时候可能会下雨的。
(有可能)
Could
不仅是
can
的过去时形式,
could
还可以用来表达现在和将来。
You
could be right.
你可能是对的。
Could I see you tomorrow evening ?
明天晚上我可以见见你吗?
关于
can
、
be able to
和
could
表示“能力”的用法需要注意下面几点:
1
、现在和将来
can
通常用来表达现在或“一般的能力”——即你无论什么
时候想做就能做到的能力。
Look! I can
do it ! I can do it
!
嗨,我会做这事啦!我会做啦!
You can certainly cook , even if
you can’t do anything else.
你当
然会做饭,即使你别的事一样也不会。
be able to
也可以用,但不如
can
用得经常。
You are
certainly able to cook .
当要表达将来的能力时,一般要用
will be
able to ??
I’ll be able
to
speak German in another few
months.
再过几个月我
就会说德语了。
(不能说:“I can speak ??”)
One day people will be able to
run a kilometer in two minutes
.
总有一天人们会两分钟跑完一千米的。
If I have a
good sleep
I’ll
be able to work out the
problem.如果
我睡个好觉,我就可以作出这个习题。
但是,当人们现在决定将来是否有做某事的能力时,
can
常常也是可以用的。
We’re
too busy today ,but we can repair your car
tomorrow
.我们今
天太忙了,但是明天我们可以给你修汽车。
We can talk about that later .
这一点咱们以后再谈。
Can
you come to a party on Saturday
?
星期六有个聚会,你能来吗?
2
、过去
could
用来表达“一般的能力”——即你过去想干什么
就可以干什么。
(
was /were
able to
也可以用来表达这个意思。
)
She could sing like an angel when
she was a kid .
当她还是个小孩子
的时
候,她可以唱得象天使一般好听。
(也可以说
she was
able to sing ??)
My
father could speak ten languages.
我父亲从前会说十种语言。
不能用
could
表达过去某种具
体的能力(即在某一个场合做某事的能力,此时需要用
was
able to , managed to ,
或
succeeded in
等。
How many eggs were you able to
get ?
你能弄到多少鸡蛋?(不能
说:??could
you get ?)
I managed to
get 10% off the price .
我弄了个九折。
(
不能说:
“I could
get ??)
After
six hours climbing ,we succeeded in reaching
the top of the
mountain.
经过六小时的攀登,我们终于登上了山顶。
(不能说:“??we could
reach
??)
(指成功地做成)
试比较下列两个句子:
he was a
terrific liar :he could make anybody
believe him .
他说起谎来可神啦。能使任何人
都相信他。
(这里讲的是一般的能力,因此
用
< br>could
是正确的。
)
I talked for a long time, and in
the end I managed to make
her
believe me .
我说了老半天,最后才使她相信了我的话。
(这里指的是一个具体的场
合,不能说:“??I could make
her ??)
但是要注意
could
的否定形式
couldn’t
既用来表达一般的能力,也用来表达某一
具体的能力。
When I was younger I
couldn’t
decide what I
wanted to do.
我年
轻些的时候,不能决定
自己想要干什么。
Simon was so
drunk that he
couldn’t
find the front door.
西蒙喝
得烂醉,竟找不着正门在哪里。
3
、条件句中的
could
could
也用于条件句(意思等于
would be able
to
)
.
I could
have a really good time if I had a flat
of my own.
要
是我自己有一套房间,那我就可
以过得很快活。
We could do it
by midday if we had the tools.
要是
我们有工具的话,
到中午就可以完成这件工作。
I could break your neck !
我可以掐断你的脖子。
I
could marry him if I wanted to (=
I would be able to
??)要是
我愿意,我就可以和他结婚。
4
、
could
和动词不定式完成式连用
有时候,<
/p>
我们需要表达我们有能力做某事件事,
但是却没有去做。
有一种特殊结构可以
表达这个意思:
could
+
不定式完成式(
=could have
+
过去分词)
。
I could have married anybody I
wanted to .(=I was able to marry
anybody ??,but I didn’t
.)我本来可以想跟谁结婚就跟谁结婚的。
I could
have killed her !(= I was so angry that I
was capable of
ki
lling
her , but I didn’t .)我本来会宰了她的!
You could have helped me !(=you were
able to help me
–why didn’t
you? )
你本来可以帮我一把嘛!
这种结构也可用于条件句(意思等于
would have been bale to
?)
.
I
could have
won if I
hadn’t fallen
over.(=
I
would
have been a
ble
to win
? )要不是我摔了一跤,我本来是会赢的。
这种结构如果用
了否定形式,则表达“即使我尽力而为了,也还是未能做成”。