What's the difference between can and could?

Can


Definition:

  • () an obs. form of began, imp. & p. p. of Begin, sometimes used in old poetry. [See Gan.]
  • (n.) A drinking cup; a vessel for holding liquids.
  • (n.) A vessel or case of tinned iron or of sheet metal, of various forms, but usually cylindrical; as, a can of tomatoes; an oil can; a milk can.
  • (v. t.) To preserve by putting in sealed cans
  • (v. t. & i.) To know; to understand.
  • (v. t. & i.) To be able to do; to have power or influence.
  • (v. t. & i.) To be able; -- followed by an infinitive without to; as, I can go, but do not wish to.

Example Sentences:

Could


Definition:

  • (imp.) of Can
  • (imp.) Was, should be, or would be, able, capable, or susceptible. Used as an auxiliary, in the past tense or in the conditional present.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) All mutant proteins could associate with troponin I and troponin T to form a troponin complex.
  • (2) First results let us assume that clinically silent TIAs also (in analogy to clinically silent brain infarctions) could be detected and located.
  • (3) This may have significant consequences for people’s health.” However, Prof Peter Weissberg, medical director of the British Heart Foundation, which funded the work, said medical journals could no longer be relied on to be unbiased.
  • (4) The measure destroyed the Justice Department’s plans to prosecute whatever Guantánamo detainees it could in federal courts.
  • (5) Yet the Tory promise of fiscal rectitude prevailed in England Alexander had been in charge of Labour’s election strategy, but he could not strategise a victory over a 20-year-old Scottish nationalist who has not yet taken her finals.
  • (6) Anti-Leu 7 could not be considered as a specific marker for oligodendroglioma.
  • (7) This bone could not be degraded by human monocytes in vitro as well as control bone (only 54% of control; P less than 0.003).
  • (8) Clinical and roentgenographic criteria could not discriminate between patients with and without pneumonia, confirming the findings of previous investigations.
  • (9) Van Persie's knee injury meant that Mata could work in tandem with the delightfully nimble Kagawa, starting for the first time since 22 January.
  • (10) The small units described here could be inhibitory interneurons which convert the excitatory response of large units into inhibition.
  • (11) Although solely nociresponsive neurons are clearly likely to fill a role in the processing and signalling of pain in the conscious central nervous system, the way in which such useful specificity could be conveyed by multireceptive neurons is difficult to appreciate.
  • (12) No consistent relationship could be found between the time interval from SAH to operation and the severity of vasospasm.
  • (13) A disease in an IgD (lambda) plasmocytoma is described, where after therapy with Alkeran and prednisone a disappearance of all clinical and laboratory findings indicating an activity could be observed.
  • (14) We conclude that only one of the alleles was amplified and that either allele could be amplified with respect to both the SphI and PvuII polymorphisms.
  • (15) Even with hepatic lipase, phospholipid hydrolysis could not deplete VLDL and IDL of sufficient phospholipid molecules to account for the loss of surface phospholipid that accompanies triacylglycerol hydrolysis and decreasing core volume as LDL is formed (or for conversion of HDL2 to HDL3).
  • (16) The secondary leukemia that occurred in these patients could be distinguished from the secondary leukemia that occurs after treatment with alkylating agents by the following: a shorter latency period; a predominance of monocytic or myelomonocytic features; and frequent cytogenetic abnormalities involving 11q23.
  • (17) Mike Ashley told Lee Charnley that maybe he could talk with me last week but I said: ‘Listen, we cannot say too much so I think it’s better if we wait.’ The message Mike Ashley is sending is quite positive, but it was better to talk after we play Tottenham.” Benítez will ask Ashley for written assurances over his transfer budget, control of transfers and other spheres of club autonomy, but can also reassure the owner that the prospect of managing in the second tier holds few fears for him.
  • (18) In addition, KM231 could detect a small amount of the antigen ganglioside in human gastric normal and cancerous mucosa and in gastric cancer cell lines by HPTLC-immunostaining.
  • (19) Measurement of urinary GGT levels represents a means by which proximal tubular disease in equidae could be diagnosed in its developmental stages.
  • (20) PMNs could be primed for PMA-triggered oxidative burst by muramyl peptide molecules (MDP) and two of its adjuvant active nonpyrogenic derivatives.

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