Ability vs. Capability - Grammar.com

Ability to do some task means that you can do it and have done it in the past. Ability determines a person's skill or level of expertise. In other words, it ... Search #ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ NEW GrammarTips&Articles » Abilityvs.Capability Ihave heardalotofpeopleusingabilityandcapabilityinterchangeablyandrightly soasbothwordsaretreatedassynonyms.However,therearesubtledifferences betweenbothandinthisGrammar.comarticle,wewillclearthisdifferencewith suitableexamples. 1:44min read 39,073 Views   RamyaShankar  —  GrammarTips Fontsize: Ability– Abilitytodosometaskmeansthatyoucandoitandhavedoneitinthepast.Abilitydeterminesaperson’sskillorlevelofexpertise.Inotherwords,itdenotesthequalityofbeingabletoperformsomething.Forexample, •Shehastheabilitytograspconceptsveryfast. •Herabilitytoread50wordsperminutefetchedhermanyawardsinschool. •Hehastheabilitytopersuadeeveryonetomakethingsworkhisway. •Myfriendhastheabilitytoconcoctstoriesandhidestufffromeveryone. Abilityisalsousedasasuffix–probability,suitability,disability,usability,stabilityetc…Thesearenounsoftheadjectiveslikeprobable,suitable,usableetc… Evencapabilitycomesfromcapable+ability Capability– Capabilitytodoataskisthepotentialtodoit.Whetheryouareabletodothetaskatthemomentornot,isdifferent,butyouhavethecapabilityorthepotentialtodoitsometime.Forexample,youmaynothavetheabilitytorunnowbecauseofkneepain,howeverinduecourseoftime,youmaybeabletodoso.Youhavethecapabilitytorunamarathon.Someexamples– •Hehasthecapabilitytowinthecup,butheisnottryingenough. •Youhavethecapabilitytocompletethiswholeroundinlessthan2minutes;youjusthavetopushyourselfalittlemore. •Thequestionswerebeyondthecapabilityofmostfive-year-oldkids. •Ifyouchangeyourthinking,youhavethecapabilitytochangethisworld. •Neverunderestimatethecapabilitiesofawoman. •Youcandomuchmorethanyouthinkyouarecapableof. Abilityandcapabilitybotharenouns.AbilityhasitsrootsfromtheLatinwordabilitas. Ableandcapable,theadjectiveformsofthesenounsalsohavethesamedifferences- "Currently,Iwillbeabletotakeuponlytwosubjects,thoughIthinkIamcapableoftakingupupto5subjectspersemester." Ratethisarticle:(4.79/14votes)  Email   Print    Haveadiscussionaboutthisarticlewiththecommunity: Newest Oldest Popular 2Comments 0:00 0:00  clear Notifymeofnewcommentsviaemail. Publish NaomiNWhatiftheuseappliestotheinteractionbetweenapersonandanobject?Asinfillinginaform:"Youhavecapabilitytoenteranyinformationintothisfieldintheform."LikeReplyReport3monthsagoBalakumarRavichandranthankyousomuchforthisclarification!cheers:)LikeReplyReport12yearsago ×Close ReportComment We'redoingourbesttomakesureourcontentisuseful,accurateandsafe.Ifbyanychanceyouspotaninappropriatecommentwhilenavigatingthroughourwebsitepleaseusethisformtoletusknow,andwe'lltakecareofitshortly. Cancel Report ×Close Attachment Close × Youneedtobeloggedintofavorite. orfilltheformbelow Createanewaccount Yourname:*Required Youremailaddress:*Required Pickausername:*Required Join LogIn Username:*Required Password:*Required LogIn Forgotyourpassword?   Retrieveit Citation Usethecitationbelowtoaddthisarticletoyourbibliography: Style:MLAChicagoAPA "Abilityvs.Capability."Grammar.com.STANDS4LLC,2022.Web.26Jul2022.. PoweredbyCITE.ME Close TheWeb'sLargestResourcefor Grammar&Spelling AMemberOfTheSTANDS4Network Free,nosignuprequired: AddtoChrome Checkyourtextandwritingforstyle,spellingandgrammarproblemseverywhereontheweb! Twoclicksinstall» Free,nosignuprequired: AddtoFirefox Checkyourtextandwritingforstyle,spellingandgrammarproblemseverywhereontheweb! Twoclicksinstall» BrowseGrammar.com #ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ FreeWritingTool: InstantGrammarChecker Improveyourgrammar,vocabulary,andwriting--andit'sFREE! Tryitnow» Improveyourwritingnow: DownloadGrammareBooks It’snowmoreimportantthanevertodevelopapowerfulwritingstyle. Afterall,mostcommunicationtakesplaceinreports,emails,andinstantmessages. UnderstandingthePartsofSpeech CommonGrammaticalMistakes DevelopingaPowerfulWritingStyle RulesonPunctuation TheTop25GrammaticalMistakes TheAwfulLikeWord BuildYourVocabulary MoreeBooks» × Thankyou Thanksforyourvote! Wetrulyappreciateyoursupport. Close