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beableto (third-person singular simple presentis able to,present participlebeing able to,simple pastwas able to,past participlebeen able to)

1. Can, to have theability to.

   Synonym:can

   Antonyms:be unable to,cannot,can't

• Seebe for the full inflection ofbe.
• To be able to may be used whenevercan (themodal verb) is used; it is always used in tenses wherecan, which isdefective, has no corresponding form. For example, "He said I would be able to go" is the same as "He said I could go", and "You will be able to watch" replaces the non-existent *You will can watch.
• To be able to can be used instead ofcould to avoid ambiguity betweenwould be able to andwas/were able to. For example, "I know I could win" can mean either "I know I was able to win" or "I know I would be able to win", whereas the forms usingto be able to avoid this ambiguity.

• (have ability to):know how to

• Appendix:English modal verbs