Could
/kʊd/noun
Past tense of can, used to express ability, possibility, or polite request.
Did you know?Could comes from an Old English past form meaning “was able to,” and its survival as a modal verb is a classic case of a language keeping the *power* but losing the original tense.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*ǵenh₁-
“to beget, give birth to, produce”
Proto-Germanic
PGmc
*kunnaną
“to know, to be able to”
Old English
OE
cūðe
“knew, was able to”
Middle English
ME
coude
“could, was able to”
Modern English
English
could
“past tense of can; expresses ability, possibility, or polite request”