modal verb
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
as far as the eye could see (= all the distance you could see )
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The plains stretched for as far as the eye could see .
as fast as...legs could carry (= running as quickly as he could )
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Johnny ran off as fast as his legs could carry him .
as long as...could
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She tried to stay awake for as long as she could .
could barely
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She could barely understand English.
could hardly move
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The bar was so crowded you could hardly move .
could hardly
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The children were so excited they could hardly speak.
could hardly
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My boss could hardly be described as handsome.
could have...pick of
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Sarah could have her pick of any university in the country.
Could I interest you in a drink/dessert etc? (= used as a polite way of offering someone a drink etc )
could manage
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‘Is there any chance you could work late?’ ‘I think I could manage an hour.’
could name
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They’re a lot better than some airlines I could name .
could take...pick of
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He knew he could take his pick of any of the girls in the office.
everything you could...desire
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The hotel has everything you could possibly desire .
everything...possibly could
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Doctors did everything they possibly could to save his life.
How could...possibly
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How could anyone possibly do such a thing?
I could use a laugh (= I want to hear something funny to cheer me up )
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Tell me what she said - I could use a laugh.
It could be argued that
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It could be argued that a dam might actually increase the risk of flooding.
only then did/would/could etc sb do sth (= at that moment and not before )
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Only then did she tell him about the attack.
sth could be worse
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Cheer up – things could be worse.
with as much...as he could muster
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‘It’s going to be fine,’ replied David, with as much confidence as he could muster .
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
I could eat a horse
I could have wept
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Without knowing what he'd got. I could have wept thinking what I'd missed.
I could murder a beer/pizza etc
I could/would go for sth
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I could really go for a taco right now.
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But at first I would go for a holiday.
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You always told me that if I worked hard, one day, I would go for Secondary.
I nearly died/I could have died
I would be grateful if you could/would ...
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I would be grateful if you could tell me anything about the guitar.
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I would be grateful if you could tell me where I can get hold of such posters.
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I would be grateful if you would examine Exhibit A. Do you recognise it?
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If you will be attending the site visit, I would be grateful if you could complete the tear-off slip below.
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This will take place at the above address on and I would be grateful if you could attend at.
as fast as his/her legs could carry him/her
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She ran to her mother as fast as her legs could carry her.
before you could blink
can/could afford
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He can afford to argue with the local hierarchy when the interests of his order require it.
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If you can afford to do so, buying your home outright usually makes sense.
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Jeremy Taylor is some one who can afford to put his principles into practice.
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More men would take leave if they could afford to, but taking leave usually means sacrificing income.
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Pip will simply be a gentleman because he can afford it.
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The Otis family house in Atchison had finally been sold that February, so Amy could afford to splurge a little.
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Two courses were probably all she could afford .
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You must be careful not to borrow more money that you can afford to repay.
can/could always do sth
can/could/may I have
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Are you saying that you're refusing to do that? ... Could I have your number?
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How can I have a death certificate?
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How could I have been anything but evil to her?
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How could I have been such a fool as to take him seriously?
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How else could I have known about it unless I was your son?
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It seemed a dream come true-what more could I have asked for?
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My question is, how can I have problems like other fishkeepers?
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What could I have paid for it?
cannot/could not bring yourself to do sth
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But I just couldn't bring myself to do it.
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He had died somewhere on the way to his next case, and Quinn could not bring himself to feel sorry.
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I debated with myself but in the end, I could not bring myself to pack up and leave.
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Rain could not bring herself to put this to the test.
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She could not bring herself to fall down the house stairs.
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The New-York Historical Society couldn't bring itself to do that.
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The teakettle made a brisk whistling sound, but John Wade could not bring himself to move.
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This little subterfuge the guard put into motion somehow he could not bring himself to do it.
could do with sth
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And Katherine could do with all the comfort she could get for the illness was slowly and inexorably taking its toll.
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But the Olympic gold medal was so far away from what I thought I could do with my life.
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He could do with a warm bed.
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I could do with a change of scenery.
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Just imagine what we could do with this idea.
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That was nice, she could do with settling.
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The governor said he could do with something to eat.
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We could do with another girl in the chorus.
could go either way
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It could go either way, as we have seen in previous months of March.
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M., still could go either way.
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The latest opinion poll suggests the vote could go either way.
could use sth
could/can you possibly
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But what else could she possibly hope to see? she wondered miserably.
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But what on earth can he possibly have been trying to prove?
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How can they possibly control such success?
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How could she possibly know, since he had not set eyes on the girl?
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What can I possibly say now?
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What conversation could we possibly have had there, then?
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What could she possibly tell him, that he would want to hear?
could/can/might easily
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A high-resolution image, by contrast, could easily run as large as 15 million to 20 million bytes.
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A single mutational step can easily be reversed.
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But a small error in the procedure could easily leave her inoperable, or at least changed beyond recognition.
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Governments can easily guarantee their employees a job, without guaranteeing the job they currently hold.
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If you are writing on a complex topic a reader can easily become confused.
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This was his hobby, sketching vertical monstrosities, though he might easily have been a spy.
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Yet the world champion is so unpredictably gifted that one on-song display could easily enable her to sweep aside the opposition.
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Young minds can easily assimilate and embrace all kinds of musical styles.
could/may/might yet do sth
how can/could sb do sth?
if looks could kill
it was all I could do to do sth
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I followed one up the motorway just yesterday and it was all I could do to not retch.
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When pro golfer Tiger Woods won the Masters two weeks ago, it was all I could do to suppress a yawn.
it was as much as sb could do to do sth
may/might/could (just) as well
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And if you have to plough the field anyway, you might as well plant it at the same time.
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And we might as well get used to it and resolve to cope.
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Besides, they cost so much, you might as well get some fun out of them.
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I thought I might just as well come down to the point.
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If the traveler expects the high way to be safe and well-graded, he might as well stay at home.
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It might as well be now.
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She might as well see how the enemy behaved themselves in a place like this.
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While she was there, they might as well have added the charge of breaching the Trades Description Act.
may/might/could well
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As we have already noted, he may well have been a militant nationalist who did not shrink from violence.
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But the women whom they find may well not match their feminist consciousness.
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By and large Alex and I think these developments are likely to give tangible gains and could well become a priority for implementation.
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In addition, the clarification of such issues could well provide the initial stimulus for a whole school language policy.
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It is too early to be entirely sure, but it looks as though the tide may well have turned.
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The requirements may well be modified as detailed work and discussion proceed.
nothing could be further from the truth
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A lot of people think soufflés are hard to make. Nothing could be further from the truth.
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They say he is a spy, but nothing could be further from the truth.
nothing could be further from the truth
nothing could be/is further from sb's mind/thoughts
sb can/could do sth for England
sb could do worse than do sth
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A woman could do worse than be a nurse.
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He could do worse than spend his evening keeping an eye on her.
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In groping for useful precedents, one could do worse than heed the tale of a man named Sherwood Rowland.
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The West could do worse than to base its policy towards the Middle East on that aspiration.
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You could do worse than take a leaf out of the health economists' book.
sb could have sworn (that) ...
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All of which is very curious we could have sworn Colin Milburn went to good old Greencroft comprehensive.
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Athelstan could have sworn he was acting as if there was some one else there.
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Corbett could have sworn that momentarily he glimpsed another figure, shadow-like, but fled on.
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He could have sworn the pile of letters had been deeper, that there had been many more.
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No, he recalled other sightings, so real you could have sworn they were alive ... until they vanished.
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She could have sworn the light had been yellow - pure yellow.
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The friar could have sworn that Sir John was singing a hymn or a song under his breath.
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The Myrcans looked on with what he could have sworn was approval.
sb/sth could stand sth
wild horses would/could not ...
would/could kill for sth
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But Katrinka is sustained by her search for her long-lost son, and a wardrobe a Vegas showgirl could kill for.
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I could kill for him, easily and without thought.
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Most retailers would kill for that kind of performance.
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Some of the lasses would kill for tab-ends and that.
you could cut the atmosphere with a knife
you could cut the atmosphere/air/tension with a knife
you could have fooled me
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"Look, we're doing our best to fix it." "Well, you could have fooled me."
you could hear a pin drop
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After he finished telling the story you could have heard a pin drop.
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It was so quiet in the hall you could hear a pin drop.
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You could hear a pin drop in the auditorium during Norvell's speech.
you could hear a pin drop
your heart's desire/everything your heart could desire
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
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Could you drop off the kids on your way to work?
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Could you have her call me back when she gets home, please?
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Could you hear that all right?
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Dad said we could go swimming after lunch.
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Eleanor couldn't come last night.
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I'm sure Francis could find out for you.
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I don't think I could live with someone like that.
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Nobody could tell my hair was dirty.
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There's no way you could go by yourself, Kay.
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We could use plastic cups, so we don't have to wash anything.
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What about Sam? Could he come along, too?
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You guys could go to the Sirloin Saloon for a nice big steak.