able
adjectiveWord Family
- able adjective (≠ unable)
- ably adverb
- ability noun (≠ inability)
- disabled adjective
- disability noun
- able to do something
(used as a modal verb 用作情态动词 to have the skill, intelligence, opportunity, etc. needed to do something 能；能够 You must be able to speak French for this job. 干这项工作你得会说法语。 A viral illness left her barely able to walk. 一场病毒引起的疾病使她走路都十分困难。 We're still able to get visas to come and go from Thailand. 我们仍然能够从泰国获得来往签证。 I didn't feel able to disagree with him. 我觉得不能不同意他的意见。 Will you be able to come? 你能来吗？ Are you really willing and able to do what is necessary? 你真的愿意并且有能力做必要的事情吗？ They don't even seem able to see what's good about their ideas. 他们甚至看不出自己的想法有什么好的。 These families are less able to afford a balanced, healthy diet. 这些家庭负担不起均衡、健康的饮食。
Grammar Point can / could / be able to / managecan / could / be able to / manage- Can is used to say that somebody knows how to do something:
can 表示懂得做： Can you play the piano? 你会弹钢琴吗？
该词亦与表示看见、注意到等的动词连用： I can hear someone calling. 我听见有人在呼叫。
- Can is also used with passive infinitives to talk about what it is possible to do:
The podcast can be downloaded here. 播客可在此下载。
- Can or be able to are used to say that something is possible or that somebody has the opportunity to do something:
can 或 be able to 表示某事情有可能或某人有机会做某事： Can you/are you able to come on Saturday? 你星期六能来吗？
- You use be able to to form the future and perfect tenses and the infinitive:
用 be able to 构成将来时、完成时和动词不定式： You’ll be able to get a taxi outside the station. 在车站外可搭乘出租车。 I haven’t been able to get much work done today. 我今天未能干多少工作。 She’d love to be able to play the piano. 她很希望能弹钢琴。
- Could is used to talk about what someone was generally able to do in the past:
could 表示过去通常能做： Our daughter could walk when she was nine months old. 我们的女儿九个月大就会走路了。
- You use was/were able to or manage (but not could) when you are saying that something was possible on a particular occasion in the past:
关于在过去特定情况下可能的事用 was/were able to 或 manage，但不用 could： I was able to/managed to find some useful books in the library. 我总算在图书馆找到了一些有用的书。 - I could find some useful books in the library.
We weren’t able to/didn’t manage to/couldn’t get there in time. 我们未能及时赶到那儿。
亦可用 could 加表示看见、注意到、明白等的动词表示此义： I could see there was something wrong. 我发觉出事了。
- Could have is used when you are saying that it was possible for somebody to do something in the past but they did not try:
表示过去有可能做某事但没有做，用 could have： I could have won the game but decided to let her win. 我本可以赢得那场比赛，但还是决定让她赢了。
Extra ExamplesLocal farmers were able to make a decent living selling their produce. 当地农民能够通过出售他们的农产品来维持体面的生活。 Humans are uniquely able to use true language. 唯有人类能够使用真正的语言。 I was just able to make out a dark figure in the distance. 我只能看到远处有个黑影。 Once you've had some sleep you'll feel better able to cope. 只要睡上一会儿，你就会觉得更能应付了。 She is not physically able to take care of herself. 她身体不好，不能照顾自己。 Unfortunately they weren't able to come. 可惜的是，他们来不了。
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryverbs- be
- feel
- prove
- …
- fully
- perfectly
- quite
- …
-
intelligent; good at something 有才智的；有才能的；（某方面）擅长的 She's the ablest student in the class. 她是班上最有能力的学生。 We aim to help the less able in society to lead an independent life. 我们的宗旨是帮助社会上能力较弱的人独立生活。
Extra ExamplesTopics Personal qualitiesc1He was a very able man in business matters. 他在做生意方面很有才干。 less able students 不那么聪明的学生 She seems very able. 她好像很能干。
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryverbs- be
- seem
- extremely
- fairly
- very
- …
see also ably
Word Originlate Middle English (also in the sense ‘easy to use, suitable’): from Old French hable, from Latin habilis ‘handy’, from habere ‘to hold’.