When it refers to a single, unique action in the past, the compound past ( passé composé) of the verb " pouvoir" should be used:Įxample: He could not talk to him. When could refers to a hypothesis, a suggestion, or a request, we translate it by the present conditional of the verb pouvoir.Įxample: Could you lend me this book? Pourrais-tu me prêter ce livre?
Here again, "could" can cause some confusion in French. The term "as soon as I can" is very common in English, therefore you better keep in mind that the French equivalent "aussitôt que" is usually followed by the future tense (rather than the present tense).
[Note : For some cases, consider using the future tense of “pouvoir” instead of the present tense.
0 kommentar(er)
