Glossary entry (derived from question below)
English term or phrase:
Does "could" refer to present in these sentences
English answer:
refers to hypothetical possibility in future
English term
Does "could" refer to present in these sentences
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judge: Oh, can you break a window?
Man: Of course I can break a window.
judge: Accused said he could break a window.
Man: I could break a window. I could break anything,
a window, a brick, with one finger.
judge: No, no, no, no, no. You couldn't break a brick with one finger. No one can break a brick with one finger, ha, ha, ha.
Man: Ha, ha, ha. I could.
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(I could break a window. I could break anything)
(You couldn't break a brick with one finger.)
(Ha, ha, ha. I could.)
Does "could" refer to present in these sentences?
Thank you
Oct 3, 2021 10:35: writeaway changed "Field (write-in)" from "(none)" to "basic English grammar"
Oct 3, 2021 15:07: Jennifer White changed "Level" from "PRO" to "Non-PRO"
Oct 4, 2021 11:03: Yvonne Gallagher Created KOG entry
Non-PRO (3): Yvonne Gallagher, Rob Grayson, Jennifer White
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Responses
Ireland
right word, right place. everytime
Native in: English (Variants: US, Canadian, Irish, UK) 
Works in: French to English, Spanish to English, English, and 1 more.
no, referring to possibility in future
First the accused uses the Present tense "can" meaning he has the ability to break a window.
When the judge says "Accused said he could break a window" that is following the simple rules for reported speech where present "can" becomes past simple "could".
However, when accused then says he "could..." it means he would be able to (break the window) iIF he wanted to do so. Of course this is referring to a hypothetical future conditional event., a possibilty in the future
so no, it only refers to the present insofar as he is saying he HAS the ability and would be able to do this IF he tried
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Note added at 4 hrs (2021-10-03 14:31:04 GMT)
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Modal verbs are tricky enough as they mean different things depending on their context
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Note added at 1 day 50 mins (2021-10-04 11:03:59 GMT) Post-grading
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glad to help.
| Thank you so much, Yvonne |
Syria
Translator
Native in: Arabic (Variant: Syrian) 
Works in: English to Arabic, Arabic to English, Arabic, and 1 more.
We often use could to express possibility in the present and the future.
| Thank you so much, Ibrahim |
| agree |
Mark Robertson
5 mins
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| agree |
Clauwolf
1 hr
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| disagree |
Yvonne Gallagher
: sorry to disagree but you didn't answer the question asked? It is not the present here//:-)
2 hrs
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I agree with you. It refers to the future
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