Could is an important modal verb in English. It is used for
ability, possibility, and requests.
Could for Ability
"Could" is the past tense of "can." These modals are used to
show ability.
Examples:
Present: I can play guitar.
Past: I could play guitar when I was younger.
As a negative, it is "could not", and is contracted as "couldn't".
Examples:
- I could not finish my work yesterday.
- I couldn't swim when I was a child.
Could for Requests
"Could" is used to make polite requests.
Examples:
- Could you please pass the salt?
- Could you turn down the music?
Could for Possibility
Often, "could" is used to express a degree of possibility. For
example:
- It could rain today, but I am not sure.
- That could be Tom's brother. He looks like Tom.
"Could" is also used in the 2nd conditional and 3rd
conditional to show possibility and ability.
Examples:
- If I had more money, I could buy a new car.
- If I were older I could drive. (Have the ability)
Here are some modal verb tests that use could:
Modal Verbs for Ability Test
Modal Verbs for Possibility Test
Modal Verbs for Possibility Test 2
Modal Verbs Test
Modal Verbs Test 2
| |||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Could
 | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  |