could

Meaning

Verb

1. simple past of can
2. conditional of can
3. conditional of can
4. conditional of can
5. conditional of can
6. conditional of can
7. past participle of can

Noun

Something that could happen, or could be the case, under different circumstances; a potentiality.

Concepts

could

might

may

can

able to

should

perhaps

be likely

he

it

she

get

obtain

indeed

really

must

ought to

shall

able

possible

Pronounced as (IPA)

/kʊd/

Etymology

From Middle English coude, couthe, cuthe, from Old English cūþe, past indicative and past subjunctive form of cunnan (“to be able”) (compare related cūþ, whence English couth). The 'l' was added in the early 16th century by analogy with should and would; this was probably helped by the tendency for 'l' to be lost in those words (and so not written, leading to shudd, wode, etc).

Sentences

But you could bring them there !

Charles looked on , angry that there was nothing he could do .

He was absolutely the best " Star Wars " artist you could ever want to have .

It could have been steel , silver or platinum .

The boy could certainly resist causing that kind of anxiety for the baker .

In another , the female subject could speak Bengali with a poor pronunciation .

As a workaround , we could use application specific profiles .

The bandwidth demands proved more than Mac . Com could handle .