2021-04-02 ศัพท์ น่าสับสน ชุด – A – able & capable

Revision A

2021-04-02

ศัพท์ น่าสับสน ชุด – A – able & capable

แนะนำการใช้ ตามที่ส่วนใหญ่ใช้ แต่ละท้องถิ่น

ความหมาย อาจผันแปร ตาม ตำแหน่ง/หน้าที่ ในประโยค

Dictionary.com

ออกเสียง able = ‘EY-buhl’

ออกเสียง capable = ‘KEY-puh-buhl’

Dictionary.com

SYNONYM STUDY FOR ABLE

Able, capable, competent

all mean possessing adequate power for doing something.

Able implies power equal to effort required:

able to finish in time.

Capable implies power to meet or fulfillordinary requirements:

a capable worker.

Competent suggests power to meet demandsin

a completely satisfactory manner:

a competent nurse.

Merriam-Webster Dictionary

Choose the Right Synonym for able

Adjective

ABLE and CAPABLE

mean having the power to do or accomplish.

ABLE maybe used for someone who has exceptional skill

and has done well in the past.

She is an able surgeon with years of experience.

CAPABLE is usuallyused to describe someone who

has the characteristics suitable for a particular kind of work.

The recruits soon proved to be capable soldiers.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language,

a′bly (ā′blē) adv.

Usage Note:

The construction able to takes an infinitive

to show the subject's ability to accomplish something:

We were able to finish the project thanks to

a grant from a large corporation.

The new submarine is able to dive twice as fast as the older model.

Subjects to which people don't ascribe active roles

tend to sound awkward in this construction,

especially in passive constructions involving forms of the verb be,

as in The problem was able to be solved by using this new method.

Here, the use of the passive underscores the subject's

not taking an active role,

while the use of able suggests the opposite, creating a conflict.

In our 2005 survey, only 24 percent of the Usage Panel

accepted able in a sentence like this,

though 54 percent accepted the use of capable instead

(the problem was capable of being solved),

suggesting that capable is less jarring.

It may be easier just to substitute can or could, which are standard:

The problem could be solved by using this new method.

Collins COBUILD English Usage

Able & capable

Able and capable are both used to say

that someone can do something.

1. 'able'

If someone is able to do something,

they can do it either because of

their knowledge or skill, or because it is possible.

He wondered if he would be able to climb over the fence.

They were able to use their profits for new investments.

If you use a past tense,

you mean that someone has actually done something.

We were able to reduce costs.

See can - could - be able to

2. 'capable'

If someone is capable of doing something,

they have the knowledge and skill to do it.

The workers are perfectly capable of running the organization themselves.

You can say that someone is capable of a particular feeling or action.

He's capable of loyalty.

I don't believe he's capable of murder.

You can also use capable of

when you are talking about what something

such as a car or machine can do.

The car was capable of 110 miles per hour.

3. 'able' or 'capable'

If you describe someone as able or capable,

you mean that they do things well.

He's certainly a capable gardener.

Naomi was a hard-working and able student.

Dictionary of Problem Words in English

able to

This is a wordy and unidiomatic expressionfor can or could.

“This work could not be finished in a month”

is preferable to “This work was not able to be finished in a month.”

Confine useof able to persons or objects that possess ability:

“He was able

in science.”