Why is '' speaking five languages'' a general ability?
I saw these examples in the grammar book, it says:

1.My grandfather could speak five languages.

2.We were completely free. We could do what we wanted.(=we were allowed to do...)

The explanation to the first example is we also use could to say that somebody had the general ability or permission to do sth. So now I am wondering about what '' general ability'' is, does it mean ''ordianry abiltiy"? if it does, I believe from the view of most people, a person who can speak five languages is more capable than an ordinary person.

The explanation to the second example is even more ridiculous from what I can see, because it happened in the past, so obviously we should use "could" instead of "can".

Many thanks for your answers.

Question

Why is '' speaking five languages'' a general ability?
I saw these examples in the grammar book, it says:

1.My grandfather could speak five languages.

2.We were completely free. We could do what we wanted.(=we were allowed to do...)

The explanation to the first example is we also use could to say that somebody had the general ability or permission to do sth. So now I am wondering about what '' general ability'' is, does it mean ''ordianry abiltiy"? if it does, I believe from the view of most people, a person who can speak five languages is more capable than an ordinary person.

The explanation to the second example is even more ridiculous from what I can see, because it happened in the past, so obviously we should use "could" instead of "can".

Many thanks for your answers.

Answer

Yes, I tend to agree with Steven. "Could" normally means general ability, but in this instance "could speak five ...." definitely does not mean general ability. By normal standards "could" means special ability in your sentence.

Answer

Perhaps the writer took some creative license. Which is unfortunate, because it would confuse even native speakers.

Answer

Could refers to "speaking a language", the number doesn't matter. What matters is that he knows that language, it's his general ability.

Answers · 3

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