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你知道was able to与could的区别吗

2010-03-08来源:和谐英语

你知道was able to与could的区别吗

 

下面这一题你会做吗?

The fire spread through the hotel quickly but everyone __________ get out.

A. had to                        B. would                        C. could                         D. was able to

此题应选D。容易误选C(could)。这里主要涉及could与was able to的用法和区别:

1. 表示过去一般性能力时 (即某人想干什么就能干什么能力),两者都可用:

He could [was able to] run very fast when he was a boy. 他小时候跑得很快。

2. 表示过去特定的能力 (即某人在某一具体场合做某事的能力,往往暗示经过努力才具备的能力),通常用was(were)able to,也可用managed to do sth或succeeded in doing sth,但是不能用 could:

学习很努力,所以考试及了格。

正:He worked very hard and was able to [managed to] pass his examination.

误:He worked very hard and could pass his examination.

正因为此原因,所以上面一题的答案用 ...was able to get out,而不用...could get out,因为此题谈及的是一种特定场合的具体能力。(www.hxen.net)

但值得注意的是,以上用法只适合于肯定句,若在否定句中,则可用couldn’t代替 wasn’t [weren’t] able to:

He worked hard but wasn’t able to[couldn’t] pass the exam. 他学习很努力,但考试却未能及格。