Lesson 4 – Describing Past Abilities

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Learn how to describe Past Abilities in English

Ability means the power or skill to do something. In the present tense, can is the most common expression of ability. In the past, we use phrases like ‘could’, ‘able to’ and ‘manage to.’ There are different rules of how to use each phrase.

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Grammar Exercises for Past of Can

Exercise 1 – Identify Correct Sentences

Complete the following sentence using the correct past form of can (could, manage to, able to) according to the rules from the video.


Exercise 2 – Practice Expressing Ability in the Past

Exercise 3 – Listening Exercise for Past Ability Descriptions

Exercise 1

Exercise 2

Exercise 3

Lesson Quiz for Past of Can

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