able to

able to
able to
The construction to be able to (do something), with an active to-infinitive, is a natural part of the language, extending to inanimate as well as animate subjects

• (By his proceeding to the beach…the next phase of the attack was able to proceed —New Yorker, 1986).

It plays a useful role in compensating for the deficiencies of can in the future and perfect tenses (will be able to / have not been able to), with modal verbs such as might (I might be able to), and with verbs such as become, appear, and seem (They don't seem to be able to do it). When the infinitive is passive, however, it is better to use can or could, and to avoid able to, which sounds too forced

• (No evidence that an air rifle was able to be fired —Times (heading of Law Report), 1988).


Modern English usage. 2014.

Игры ⚽ Нужно сделать НИР?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • -able — ♦ Élément, du lat. abilis, signifiant « qui peut être » (récupérable, ministrable) ou moins souvent « qui donne », « enclin à » (secourable, pitoyable). able Suffixe, du lat. abilis, qui peut être (ex. faisable, mangeable) ou enclin à être ( …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • Able — may refer to:In science and technology: * ABLE (nuclear weapon), a U.S. 1946 nuclear weapon test series * ABLE (programming language), a simplified programming language * Able space probes, probes in the Pioneer program * Able, one of the first… …   Wikipedia

  • -able — able, ible 1. general. These two suffixes are derived from Latin endings abilis and ibilis, either directly or through Old French. Of the two, able is an active suffix that can be freely added to the stems of transitive verbs, whereas the set of… …   Modern English usage

  • Able — A ble, a. [comp. {Abler}; superl. {Ablest}.] [OF. habile, L. habilis that may be easily held or managed, apt, skillful, fr. habere to have, hold. Cf. {Habile} and see {Habit}.] 1. Fit; adapted; suitable. [Obs.] [1913 Webster] A many man, to ben… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • able — ● able nom masculin (latin albulus, blanchâtre) Poisson d eau douce (cyprinidé), voisin de l ablette. ⇒ABLE, subst. masc. A. ICHTYOL. Terme générique désignant une variété de poissons d eau douce (cyprinidés) et de couleur claire. B. Poisson… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • -able — a*ble ( [.a]*b l). [F. able, L. abilis.] An adjective suffix now usually in a passive sense; able to be; fit to be; expressing capacity or worthiness in a passive sense; as, movable, able to be moved; amendable, able to be amended; blamable, fit… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • able — adj 1: possessed of needed powers or of needed resources to accomplish an objective able to perform under the contract 2: having freedom from restriction or obligation or from conditions preventing an action able to vote 3: legally qualified:… …   Law dictionary

  • able — able, capable, competent, qualified are close synonyms when they denote having marked power or fitness for work and are used attributively. Placed after the noun, able (followed by to and infinitive) and capable (followed by of) suggest mere… …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • able — [ā′bəl] adj. abler [ā′blər] ablest [ā′bləst] [ME < OFr hable, habile < L habilis, easily handled, apt < habere, to have, hold: see HABIT] 1. having enough power, skill, etc. to do something [able to read] 2. having much power of mind;… …   English World dictionary

  • Able — de Heckel Able de Heckel …   Wikipédia en Français

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”