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jonathan
what's the difference
hello everybody :)
excuse for my stupid question. what is the difference between 'to be able to" and "to can" ?
thank you
Feb 7, 2015 1:11 AM
Answers · 6
3
There is no difference. English usually has many words to mean the same thing. They usually come from different languages which have influenced English. "Can" is used a lot more.
February 7, 2015
Hey Jonathan,! They both mean the same thing, though as Edward said, can is more ccommon among native speakers. "Can" is a modal auxiliary verb and "to be able to" is just verb ‘to be’ + the adverb ‘able’ + the infinitive ‘to’.
April 6, 2015
thank's phil :)
CHYL : you're right :)
February 7, 2015
That means there is no stupid question.
February 7, 2015
Notice that "can" is defective, so it has no infinitive form, base form, or participles. It only has a present tense (which can also be used to refer to the future), a past tense, and a conditional.
February 7, 2015
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jonathan
Language Skills
English, French, Russian
Learning Language
English, Russian
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