PRESENT AND PAST ABILITY

CAN
BE ABLE TO
MANAGE
She could stand on her hands when she was
young.
 Specific occasions
Now, let’s talk about specific occasions. Here is where the rules change a bit.
When we are talking about a specific situation or when noting a specific achievement, we must use “was (or)
were able to” or “managed to.” Their meanings are very close.

• We do not use “could.”

• Read some examples:
• We were able to get a really good price on the car.
We managed to get a really good price on the car.
• I was able to persuade her to volunteer at the show.
I managed to persuade her to volunteer at the show.
• Now let’s talk more about the meanings. “Was (or) were able to” and “managed to” both suggest
effort. They mean someone succeeded in doing something that was a challenge or took a special
effort. However, the phrase “managed to” puts a little more emphasis on how hard the challenge
was or how much effort it took.
• Note that “managed to” is fairly common in spoken English. You will hear it used almost
everywhere.