 |
COULD (Auxiliary Verb)
| (1) Permission or Polite request |
- - could is more polite expression than can
- could have the meaning of permission and request like can(ex) Could you turn off the radio?
(ex) I feel thirsty. Could you give me a glass of water?
| (2) Sequence of tense |
- - could is the past tense of can
(ex) He said " I can swim for two hours."
= He said that he could swim for two hours.
| (3) Possibility in the future or now |
- - Sometimes could indicate possibility in the future or
just possibility
- Sometimes could has a similar meaning to may and might(ex) She is not in classroom. She could be sleeping in her room.
-> This sentence is just possibility.
(ex) "We are late." "Don't worry, we could arrive at bus gateway on time."
-> This sentence is possibility in the future. - ¡¡
