Can Vs Be Able To: What’s the Difference?

Author:

englishlearnerzone

What is the difference between be able to and can?

In this post, you’ll learn the meaning of can vs be able to. You will also learn how to use can vs be able to in sentences.

Can Vs Be Able To

First of all, both ‘can’ and ‘be able to’ can be used to express ability. Here are some examples:

I can speak English very well.
She can speak Spanish fluently.
I am able to speak English very well.
Lisa is able to swim.

Can is a modal verb. It has only one form with all subject pronouns. ( I/you/he/ she/ it /we/ you/ they can swim.)

However, be able to is a modal in meaning, but not in form. That is, ‘be able to’ has different forms depending on the tense and the subject pronouns.

As we said before, we use ‘can’ and ‘be able to’ to talk about ability. The table below displays can vs be able to in different tenses and in the affirmative and negative forms.

Can Vs Able to Grammar

Can vs be able to	Past	Present	Future
Affirmative	Could was/were able to used to be able to	Can am/is/ are able to	will be able to
Negative	Couldn’t wasn’t/weren’t able to didn’t use to be able to	Can’t am not/ isn’t/ aren’t able to	won’t be able to

Can vs able to grammar

We use can for ability in the present tense.

Jack can cook.
My kid can count up to twenty in Spanish, but can’t count up to ten in Chinese.
He can dance, but he can’t sing.

We use will be able to in the future.

Our baby will be able to stand up by itself in a few weeks.
I think he will be able to fix my car.
This government won’t be able to rule the country in the coming years.

For ability in the past, we use could or was/were able to or used to be able to

Fortunately, the pilot was able to land the airplane safely.
She read my message, but she couldn’t understand it.
They weren’t able to finish the exam on time.
He used to be able to run fast.

Can Vs Be Able to in Yes-No Questions

Past	Could you climb trees when you were young? Were you able to find a cheaper hotel near the beach?
Present	Can you swim? Is he able to climb the stairs?
Future	Will we be able to see you when we arrive?

Can Vs Be Able to in Wh-Questions

Where were you able to stay?
When could you ride a horse?
When could you ski?
How fast can Peter run?
When will you be able to visit the National Gallery?

Could Vs Was Able to Difference

Was able to and could are both used to talk about ability in the past, but there is a slight difference between them.

To express ability in the past, we normally use was/were able to (not could) when talking about a specific situation. Look at the following examples:

The pilot was able to land the plane safely. ( on that specific occasion)
I could climb tall trees when I was still a child. (general ability at any time in that period)
He could ride a horse when he was young. (general ability at any time in that period)