COULD Kullanımı

COULD

a)      "Could" da, öneri getirirken kullanabileceğimiz yapılardan biridir.

— I want to take my son somewhere tomorrow, but I can't think of anywhere interesting. Got any suggestions?

— Well, you could take him to the theatre or cinema or you could go to a park. To take him to the zoo would be very exciting too, I think.

— I don't know how I can improve my English.

— Well, there are several ways. You could, for example, attend a course, or you could study it from books by yourself, or if you can afford it, you can spend a few months in England.

— What shall we do tomorrow?

— We could meet friends and go to the cinema. (Arkadaşlarla buluşup sinemaya gidebiliriz.)

b)       "Could"un past biçimi "could have done"dır. "Geçmişte bir şeyi yapabilirdin ama yapmadın." anlamını verir.

Yesterday, he was broke and had to walk home from school. In fact, he could have borrowed some money from his friends, but he didn't want them to know that he didn't have any money.                                                                                                     (Aslında arkadaşlarından ödünç para alabilirdi ama...)

Yesterday, it was my day off. I could have gone somewhere, but I felt rather lazy, and spent the whole day at home.                                                                                                   (Bir yerlere gidebilirdim ama...)

"Couldn't have done" ise, "geçmişte bir şeyi isteseydin de yapamazdın" anlamını verir.

Yesterday, I wanted to visit my friend, but then, I changed my mind and stayed home. Later, I found out that she wasn't at home that day, so I couldn't have visited her even if I had wanted to.                                                                                                                       (İsteseydim de onu ziyaret edemezdim.)

Last month, I went to Ankara with friends. I had planned to stay at my sister's house for the night, but I couldn't leave my friends, and we spent the night at a hotel together. Later, when I returned to Istanbul, I phoned my sister and told her about my visit there, and I found out that she wasn't in Ankara during my stay there, so I couldn't have stayed at her house even if I had wanted to.

— Why didn't you show up for our date yesterday?

— I wanted to, but our district manager came just as I was leaving work.

— Well, at least you could have phoned and told me that you weren't coming.

— I couldn't have phoned you, because the manager took me to the building site, and there is no telephone, you know.              

   (......... telefon edip gelmeyeceğini söyleyebilirdin.)

   (......... telefon edemezdim, çünkü orada telefon yok.)

c)         "Could have done" ile "was/were able to, could do" arasındaki aynına dikkat ediniz.      

                                           

I could have sent them a cheque. (But I didn't send them a cheque.)                             (Onlara çek gönderebilirdim ama göndermedim.)

I was able to send them a cheque. (I sent them a cheque.)                             (Onlara bir çek gönderebildim.)

When I had a cheque-book, I could pay by cheque.              

(Çek defterim varken, çekle ödeme yapabiliyordum.)