could

A1 Topic:Grammar & Function Words

Also spelled cou'd

US /kʊd/ UK /kʊd/ See IPA manual

Minimal pairs

Sounds like cooed /ʊ/ vs /uː/

Freq #97

Meanings

1

verb
Was able to (past form of 'can').

Before I was ill, I could run for miles.
2

verb
Used to say something is possible or to make a polite request.

Could you help me carry these bags?

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Word family

Derived forms chudcould'vecouldn't

Related forms can should would

Appears in

Idioms (1)

See all

if looks could kill
used to emphasize how angry or hostile someone's expression is

Tongue twisters (1)

See all

How Much Wood
How much wood would a woodchuck chuck If a woodchuck could and would chuck wood? He’d chuck as much wood as a woodchuck would If a woodchuck could and would chuck wood.

Alternate the rounded /w/ with the short stop-and-release of /tʃ/. Wood, would and could share /ʊ/; chuck and much use /ʌ/ in many Englis...

Etymology

From Middle English coude, couthe, cuthe, from Old English cūþe, past indicative and past subjunctive form of cunnan (“to be able”) (compare related cūþ, whence English couth). Cognate with German konnte, Swedish kunde. The -l- in the spelling was added in the early 16th century by analogy with should and would; this analogy formerly affected the pronunciation as well and was probably assisted by the tendency for /l/ to be lost in those words (and so not written, leading to shudd, wode, etc).

*ǵneh₃- Proto-Indo-European coude Middle English cūþe Old English

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Topics

Grammar & Function Words

External links

# could

**Type:** Word
**Level:** A1
**Part of speech:** verb
**IPA (US):** /kʊd/
**IPA (UK):** /kʊd/
**Frequency rank:** 97

## Meanings
1. Was able to (past form of 'can').
2. Used to say something is possible or to make a polite request.

## Examples
- Before I was ill, I could run for miles.
- Could you help me carry these bags?

## Derived Forms
- chud
- could've
- couldn't

## Related Forms
- can
- should
- would

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: *ǵneh₃-
- Root: coude
- Root: cūþe

## Etymology
From Middle English coude, couthe, cuthe, from Old English cūþe, past indicative and past subjunctive form of cunnan (“to be able”) (compare related cūþ, whence English couth). Cognate with German konnte, Swedish kunde. The -l- in the spelling was added in the early 16th century by analogy with should and would; this analogy formerly affected the pronunciation as well and was probably assisted by the tendency for /l/ to be lost in those words (and so not written, leading to shudd, wode, etc).

## AI Etymology
could comes from Middle English coude, couthe, cuthe, from Old English cūþe, past indicative and past subjunctive form of cunnan (“to be able”) (compare related cūþ, whence English couth). Cognate with German konnte, Swedish kunde. The -l- in the spelling was added in the early 16th century by analogy with should and would; this analogy formerly affected the pronunciation as well and was probably assisted by the tendency for /l/ to be lost in those words (and so not written, leading to shudd, wode, etc). Current senses include Was able to (past form of 'can') and Used to say something is possible or to make a polite request. English relatives and later formations include chud, could've, couldn't, can, should.

## Topics
- Grammar & Function Words

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