1 used as the past tense of 'can':
She said that she couldn't come. * I couldn't hear what they were saying. * Sorry, I couldn't get any more. -< CAN
2 used to ask if you can do sth:
Could I use your phone, please? * Could we stop by next week?
3 used to politely ask sb to do sth for you:
Could you babysit for us on Friday?
4 used to show that sth is or might be possible:
I could do it now, if you like. * Don't worry-they could have just forgotten to call. * You couldn't have left it on the bus, could you? * 'Have some more cake.' 'Oh, I couldn't, thank you (= I'm too full).
5 used to suggest sth:
We could write a letter to the director. * You could always try his home number.
6 used to show that you are annoyed that sb did not do sth:
They could have let me know they were going to be late!
7 (informal) used to emphasize how strongly you want to express your feelings:
I'm so fed up I could scream! -> MODAL
IDIOMS
could do with sth (spoken) used to say that you need or would like to have sth:
I could do with a drink! * Her hair could have done with a wash.
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About this entry
This is a English–English dictionary entry.
Sourced from Main Dictionary in Lughet's collection.
This word also appears under other sources in Lughet's collection — see the list below.
This entry for could is sourced from Main Dictionary, one of the dictionaries and corpora merged into Lughet.
Does could appear elsewhere on Lughet?
Yes — could appears under other sources or language pairs in Lughet's collection. See the list below.
What is Lughet?
Lughet is a free trilingual dictionary covering nearly five million entries across Uyghur, Chinese, and English, drawn from more than ten source dictionaries and corpora.
