Learn English – couldn’t vs wouldn’t

word-usage

Let see this example:

  1. I hid the presents so that she wouldn't find them.
  2. I hid the presents so that she couldn't find them.

The dictionary said:

so that/in order that somebody/something would: used for saying why somebody does something

and it didn't say the meaning of would.

Is would" the past form of "will"?
and "will" is used to predict something.

and "could" the past form of "can"?

Best Answer

Ditto @matias, but let me add that the more common situation is that "would" indicates intention and "could" indicates ability. If you said, "I asked Bob for help but he couldn't help me", you are saying that Bob was unable to help you. Maybe he wanted to help you, maybe not, but it doesn't matter because he was not able. If you said, "I asked Bob for help but he wouldn't help me", you are saying that he was able to help but he refused.

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