核心畫面
'Could' is the past-and-softer twin of 'can'. 'Can' says a door is open — something is possible or allowed right now. 'Could' takes that same open door and either pushes it back into the past (a door that used to be open: 'I could swim as a child') or holds it half-open in the present as something not certain, only possible ('it could rain'). Because a half-open door also sounds gentler than a firm 'can', the same word becomes the polite, tentative way to ask, suggest, or even vent feelings. So one image — an open-but-not-pinned-down possibility — runs from past ability, to maybe-possibility, to , to emotional emphasis.
could 可以想成 can 的『過去式兼軟化版』雙胞胎。can 是說一扇門開著——某件事現在做得到、或被允許。co…更多收起
could 可以想成 can 的『過去式兼軟化版』雙胞胎。can 是說一扇門開著——某件事現在做得到、或被允許。could 拿同一扇開著的門，要嘛把它推回過去（一扇曾經開著的門：I could swim as a child＝我小時候會游泳），要嘛讓它在現在半開著、當成『不確定、只是有可能』（it could rain＝可能會下雨）。而半開的門聽起來也比斬釘截鐵的 can 更客氣，於是同一個字又變成委婉地請求、建議、甚至發發牢騷的說法。所以一個畫面——一種開著卻沒釘死的可能性——就從『過去的能力』一路延伸到『也許會』、到『客氣』、再到『強調情緒』。原始詞典資料8 筆記錄
以下是外部詞典記錄的用法，原文照列，我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的；有些用法可能上面已經講過了。
couldverb/kəd/
- 1
conditional of can
- "If I'd had a paddle I could've spun by that dashed root," Meekins said, feeling some apology due for the mishap. "When I first climbed out of that fool creek I thought my arm had got twisted off, but I guess it ain't."
- I think he could do it if he really wanted to.
- 2
conditional of can
- Could I borrow your coat?
- 3
conditional of can
- Could you proofread this email?
- I wonder, you couldn't loan me the money, could you?
- 4
conditional of can
- Even without hovering drones, a lurking assassin, a thumping score and a denouement, the real-life story of Edward Snowden, a rogue spy on the run, could be straight out of the cinema. But, as with Hollywood, the subplots and exotic locations may distract from the real message: America’s discomfort and its foes’ glee.
- We could rearrange the time if you like.
- 5
conditional of can
- You could try adding more salt to the soup.
couldnoun/kəd/
- 1
Something that could happen, or could be the case, under different circumstances; a potentiality.
- When the golf ball is there, the whole self-interference package — the hopes, worries, and fears; the thoughts on how-to and how-not-to; the woulds, the coulds, and the shoulds — is there too.
- Shushona you must learn to rightfully prioritize all the woulds, shoulds and coulds of your life.
這個拼法也被記錄為下列字的變化形：
資料來源：英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary（CC BY-SA 4.0）。 原文照列，未經改寫。