BE + able | allowed + to-INFINITIVE

The adjective ‘able‘ means that the subject has:

the power, skill, means, or opportunity to do something.

(oxford dictionary)

Let’s look at example sentences of the most common but ‘stand-out‘ infinitives following BE + ABLE TO infinitive modal structure:

1 BE ABLE TO GET | 2  SEE | 3 USE | 4 FIND | 5  MAKE | 6 HELP | 7 TAKE | 8 WAS ABLE TO GET

9 BE ABLE TO ACCESS

We should be able to access every file from here.

Listen to this B2 example

10 BE ABLE TO PROVIDE

Soin other wordsI would be able to provide for her using her assets?

listen to this C2 example

 

11 BE ABLE TO WORK | 12 TELL | 13 PLAY | 14 GO | 15 GIVE


16 BE ABLE TO KEEP 20663

Further collocates with:
1 WILL (VM ) 5099
2 UP (RP ) 3955

A2

  Kotaku Australia
Digimon Adventure Teased Its Big Bad by Establishing a Wild New Canon
... viewers will be able to keep up with its brisk pace and dense dumps of information. 
*keep up = b1

17 BEEN ABLE TO FIND 20106
18 BEEN ABLE TO GET 18841

19 BE ABLE TO OFFER 17685

20 BE ABLE TO HANDLE 17588
21 BE ABLE TO CREATE 17458


22 WERE ABLE TO GET 16591

  Mirage News
Police treating house fire as suspicious in Ringwood East
Four people were able to get out of the home without injury. The fire is being treated as suspicious and an investigation into the circumstances …

23 BE ABLE TO ENJOY 16525
24 BE ABLE TO AFFORD 16345
25 BE ABLE TO RUN 15342
26 BE ABLE TO READ 15321
27 BE ABLE TO BUY 13976

28 BE ABLE TO VIEW 13857

29 BE ABLE TO IDENTIFY 13753

30 BE ABLE TO MOVE 13709

31 BE ABLE TO PUT 13635
32 BEING ABLE TO SEE 13481

33 BE ABLE TO ADD 12254

34 BE ABLE TO SAY 12245
35 BE ABLE TO CHOOSE 11741
36 BEING ABLE TO GET 11593
37 BE ABLE TO APPLY 11278
38 BE ABLE TO CHANGE 11176
39 WAS ABLE TO FIND 11076

40 BE ABLE TO SHARE 10960

41 WAS ABLE TO MAKE 10840
42 BE ABLE TO UNDERSTAND 10616
43 BE ABLE TO PAY 10514

44 BE ABLE TO PICK 10468

45 BE ABLE TO CONTINUE 10090
46 BEING ABLE TO USE 9847

47 BE ABLE TO SAVE 9673


According to the COLLINS dictionary, the past participle verb ‘allowed’ is B1:

If someone is allowed to do something, it is all right for them to do it and they will not get into trouble.

1 ARE ALLOWED TO USE 3155
2 BE ALLOWED TO USE 3022
3 BE ALLOWED TO TAKE 2389
4 BE ALLOWED TO CONTINUE 2253


5 BE ALLOWED TO ENTER 1975

A2

  ABC News
Who is allowed to enter South Australia under new COVID-19 border restrictions?
Under the new restrictions, South Australian residents will be allowed to enter Victoria but they will not be permitted to return.

6 BE ALLOWED TO GO 1949
7 ARE ALLOWED TO TAKE 1711
8 BE ALLOWED TO MAKE 1568
9 BE ALLOWED TO PARTICIPATE 1549
10 BE ALLOWED TO LEAVE 1430
11 BE ALLOWED TO STAY 1410

12 BE ALLOWED TO RETURN 1267

 

13 BE ALLOWED TO PLAY 1195
14 ARE ALLOWED TO MAKE 1181
15 IS ALLOWED TO USE 1096

16 ARE ALLOWED TO BRING 1078

TLC SPEAKING TEST:

We’re not allowed to bring mobile phones too.

female Sri Lanka B1

17 BE ALLOWED TO VOTE 1052
18 BE ALLOWED TO REMAIN 1049
19 BE ALLOWED TO GET 1048
20 WAS ALLOWED TO GO 1041


RESEARCH NOTES

This is clearly another post about overlapping grammar points in the English Grammar Profile.

B1 point 76 in MODALITY:

‘BE ALLOWED TO’, PERMISSION

B1 point 99 in Modality and expressions with be is defined as:

a limited range of expressions with ‘be’ + infinitive (‘be allowed to’, ‘be supposed to’, ‘be able to’) with present and past forms of ‘be’ and with modal ‘will’

‘Supposed’ overlaps in B2 also.

There is also some overlap with 106 in Modality ‘Plan’.

*This is where the English Grammar Profile makes it hard to use.  When you read the description: ‘be able to’ with modal ‘will’ from above you think that is all you need.  But actually  ‘will be able to’ is also found at A2:

 

*The above search was for this code on iWeb corpus: _vb supposed|able|allowed to _vv

we realize that ‘able‘ drowns the rest out.

*’Able‘ and ‘were‘ are A2 by default in the EVP.

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