How to Use Ability vs. capability vs. capacity Correctly

capacity is what you are born or created ,with,naturally .ability is the developed ,and refined ,use of capacity.capability is the improvements ,enhancement , ... Skiptocontent Abilityvs.capabilityvs.capacity |Grammarist |Usage |Grammarist |Usage Ability,capability,andcapacityaresynonymsinmanyoftheiruses.Allarefrequentlyusedtorefertoone’spowertoperformanaction.Forexample,onemighthavetheability,capability,orcapacitytoreadtwobooksinaweek. But capacity—whichisextendedfigurativelyinthesensesitshareswiththeotherverbs—hasspecialusesitdoesn’tsharewiththeothers.Ittendstorelatetovolumesandquantities;forexample,inthesentence,“Thevehicle’sfuelcapacityis120gallons,” capacity referstothemeasureofthevehicle’sabilitytoholdandisnotinterchangeablewiththeothertwoverbs.“Thevehicle’sfuelability”wouldnotsoundright. Anotherdistinctioncommonlydrawnbetween ability and capacity holdsthat,inhumansandanimals,capacitiesareinborn,whileabilitiesarelearned.Forinstance,achildmightbebornwiththecapacitytobecomeachef,buttheabilitytocookmustbelearned Capability,meanwhile,oftenreferstoextremesofability.Forinstance,ifyousayyouhavetheabilitytowritewell,Imightaskwhetheryouhavethecapabilitytowritea10-pageessaybytomorrow.Also,capabilitiestendtobeeither-orpropositions,whileabilitytendstocomeindegrees.Forexample,ImightsaythatwhileIhavetheabilitytowrite,Idon’thavethecapabilitytowriteanovel.Butaswithmostoftheotherdistinctionsbetweenthesewords,thelinesareblurry,andthewordsareinterchangeabledespitethegeneralusagepatterns. Examples [T]heagency’sabilitytothwartgunviolenceishamstrungbylegislativerestrictionsandbyloopholesinfederalgunlaws. [NewYorkTimes] Theroadtonuclearwarrequiresthatatleastoneoftheactorsshouldpossessthe capability tostrikewithnuclearweapons. [StrategicDecisionMaking] Accordingtoanewglobalranking,low-costcarriersIndiGoandSpiceJetexpandedcapacityby34.6percentand16percentrespectivelyin2012. [FinancialTimes] Aparticularlydramaticcasethatinvolvedlosingthe ability tosensewiththeskin,aswellasthecloselyrelated ability tosensethemovementandpositionsofthelimbs,isthatofIanWaterman. [SensationandPerception] Chile’smulti-billiondollarsouthernplanincludesbuildingupitsAntarcticdefencecapabilityandexpandingitstourist corridor. [SydneyMorningHerald] Coatingoftomatofruitwithgumarabichasbeenfoundtodelaytheripeningprocessandmaintaintheantioxidantcapacity.[PostharvestBiologyandTechnology] 5thoughtson“Abilityvs.capabilityvs.capacity” capacityiswhatyouarebornorcreated,with,naturally.abilityisthedeveloped,andrefined,useofcapacity.capabilityistheimprovements,enhancement,andaugment,by,increasedintelligenceand/oraddedtoolsorequipment. Reply LOL Reply Isanybodyelsealittleconcernedabouttheinsanepunctuationpreviouscommentonawebsitededicatedtogrammar? Reply test Reply IgotherebecauseIwasgoogling“braincapacity”.Abunchofpeopleseemreallyinvestedintellingeveryonethatthe10%thingisamyth.Iwonderediftherootoftheproblemweremoreoneofwordchoice.Ifcapcityrelatestovolume,thenwithinacertainrangebraincapacitycouldbeconsideredfiniteandrelativelyuniversal:ieweallgenerallyusemostofourbrainstoprocessinformationandfunction.If,instead,wearetalkingaboutabilityand/orcapability,thenwehaveamoredescriptiveandplasticdefinitionalconstruct.Yes?Andthisdoesn’tincludethepossibilitythatcapacitycanrelatetovolumeorsurfacearea.AmIwronginrememberinghearingthatmorefoldsinthebrainmeansgreatersurfaceareaandiscorrelatedtogreaterintelligence.Alsomorneuralpathwayswouldbeavolumeissueandcouldrelatemorecloselytoincreasedbraincapacitythatmerelycrainial Reply LeaveaCommentCancelreplyCommentName Email Website Savemyname,email,andwebsiteinthisbrowserforthenexttimeIcomment. Δ   GrammaristisaparticipantintheAmazonServicesLLCAssociatesProgram,anaffiliateadvertisingprogramdesignedtoprovideameansforsitestoearnadvertisingfeesbyadvertisingandlinkingtoAmazon.com.Whenyoubuyviathelinksonoursite,wemayearnanaffiliatecommissionatnocosttoyou. 2022©Grammarist Home About Contact Advertise PrivacyPolicy Terms CloseGrammar PartsofSpeech PunctuationMarks Usage Archaisms Colloquialisms Confusables VarietiesofEnglish -ic/-icalWords WordsandPhrases Colloquialisms HardWordstoSpell Compounds CommonlyConfusedEnglishWords Eggcornsandmondegreens WhatisaHomophone? Idioms Interestingwords Loanwordsandloanphrases Newwords RedundantWords SpellingRules WhatisaHomophone? WordsThatStartWithRe -elverbs -ize/-isewords Style Capitalization WritingTools BestGrammarChecker GrammarlyReview Resources Glossary Interviews Articles