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I was watching some random stuff on Youtube, and I've seen the video on teaching English.
There's a guy explaning of 'could', and he said the sentence below does not mean anything concerning the past, AT ALL.

I can get up early. (O)
I could get up early. (X)

So, all the dictionaries say 'could' is the past term of 'can', why the guy in the video said like that?

could: past of can

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  • As a learner: "Could" can be a weaker form of can. In fact, it implies a less probable thing. However, it does not mean it's not the past form of can.
    – Cardinal
    Commented Dec 1, 2017 at 4:20
  • Aside from the fact that I think you can just say "yes, I did", I think you're sentence is correct. I am not a native, but there might be a significant difference between "able to" and "can" in general. "was able to" is usually used to convey that you no longer are able to do that or it's used to talk about a single event in the past not a general fact. I mean they are not always interchangable.
    – Cardinal
    Commented Dec 1, 2017 at 4:46
  • "I could get up early when I was younger" seems perfectly grammatical to me.
    – The Photon
    Commented Dec 1, 2017 at 5:09

2 Answers 2

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In this instance, the guy from YouTube is incorrect. "Could" can refer to the past, including in the statement you included. For example, one might say

"I could get up early, but I lost that ability when I stopped caring about getting up."

The usual way of saying this in American English is "I used to be able to get up early." This will sound more natural to many American English speakers.

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You most certainly can say "I could get up" idiomatically and grammaticaly.

After the wreck, i crawled from the car. Despite my injuries, I found that, however unsteadily, I could get upMy legs ached, but I found that I could get up

is perfectly good English, even in the U.S, where I have lived from birth.

Anyone who tells you that the proper way to say that sentence is

After the wreck, I crawled from the car and rested. Despite my injuries, I found that, however unsteadily, I can get up

is talking utter nonsense.

HOWEVER, the video may have been talking about some specific situation in which "could" would not be grammatical. Without a link to the video, it is impossible to tell whether it is correct or insane.

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