This is the third in our series of articles on 1,000 useful words for IELTS, TOEFL and Academic vocabulary.

To read the first article on the word, ‘ABANDON’, please click on here.

To read the second article on the word, ABIDE, please click on here.

Part of speech/ type of word: Abide is an adjective.

Meaning: To have the power, opportunity or skill to do something. ‘Able to’ means can but is more formal.

Preposition: It is usually followed by the preposition, ‘to’ or ‘able + infinitive’.

Examples:

1. If I study hard, I will be able to speak English well.

2. He took driving lessons, so now he is able to drive well.

3. I have lots of money now so I am able to buy a new house.

Able is the past and future form of ‘can’.

The past simple form of ‘can’ but in the perfect tenses i.e. past perfect, present perfect and future perfect we do not use ‘can’ but we have to use ‘been able to’.

Past perfect: I had been able to finish all my work before I left the office.

Present perfect: I have been able to go to that gym every day since I joined.

Future perfect: By the end of this year I will have been able to see the manager three times.

We cannot say ‘can’ or ‘could’ in any of the examples above.

The suffix ‘able’.

The suffix able means that you can do something, or are ‘able’ to do something.

Examples include.

Understandable – You can understand it.

‘He has a different accent but it is understandable’.

Manageable – You can manage it.

‘It’s a lot of work but it is manageable’.

Believable – You can believe it.

‘Yes that wouldn’t surprise me, it’s quite believable’.

Not all  words ending in ‘able’ means that you can do something, examples include:

Comfortable.

Fashionable.

Favourable.

Examples for IELTS, TOEFL or a more academic context.

1. The government was able to reduce crime through investing more money in creating jobs.

2. We are able to see a dramatic rise in the sales of sunglasses in the summer.

3. Students will be able to develop their talent if they are provided with extra support.

4. If they are not provided with greater financial assistance they will be unable to resolve this problem.*

* ‘unable’ is the opposite of able.

5. The authorities had been able to eliminate this problem until it returned five years ago.

6. The rise of the internet has made it easier for people to be able to find information much quicker than before.

‘Enable’ is a verb which means ‘making someone or something able to do something.’

7. The game was televised which enabled more people to watch it.

8. Improvements in health have enabled people to live longer.

9. If students learn English this will enable them to communicate with people around the world.

If you have any questions, please fee free to ask in the comments section below!