Difference between Capability and Ability

When the word 'ability' is used, it refers to the potential of the person to do/achieve something, and there's a high chance that they might successfully do so. EnglishEnglishDifferenceBetweenDifferenceBetweenCapabilityAndAbility DifferencebetweenCapabilityandAbility|AbilityvsCapability Thewords‘ability’and‘capability’arequitefrequentlyused,andsincetheysoundquitethesame,studentsoftengetconfusedwhileusingthem.YoumightnoticethattherearemanysuchwordsintheEnglishLanguagethatarequitesimilarandconfusing.Ifanystudentisaskedwhatthedifferencebetween‘ability’and‘capability’is,theywillhaveatoughtimefiguringoutthedifferenceasbothofthemrefertothepotentialonehastodothings. Butthere’slittledifferencebetweenthetwoterms,andonehastobeextracarefulwhileusingthem.Thearticlewilldiscussalltheimportantaspectsoneneedstoknowaboutthedifferencethatliesbetweenabilityandcapability.Let’shavealookatthem. TablesummarisingthedifferencebetweenAbilityandCapability TheDifferencebetweenAbilityandCapability–Meaning ExampleofAbilityandCapability AbilityandCapability–Conclusion TableSummarisingtheDifferencebetweenAbilityandCapability Ability Capability Meaning Itreferstothepotentialortheskillthatsomeonepossessestodosomething. Itreferstothepowerofapersontodosomething. Usage Itisusedasanoun. Itisusedasanoun. Example HelenhadtheabilitytounderstandtheFrenchlanguage. Theteamhasthecapabilitytowinthematch. Thistableshowsthatthough‘ability’and‘capability’meansthepotentialofsomeonetodosomething,theyaren’tthesamethingandcan’tbeusedsynonymously.Studentsoftengetconfusedbetweenthesewords,butit’sessentialthattheyunderstandthecontexttheyareusingitin.Onlythencantheyusethesetermscorrectly. TheDifferencebetweenAbilityandCapability–Meaning Yeah,it’struethatthewords‘ability’and‘capability’areusedtorefertothepotentialsomeonehastodosomething.Andthat’sthereasonwhystudentsendupconfusingthemandusingtheminterchangeably.Buttheydon’tmeanthesamething.Whentheword‘ability’isused,itreferstothepotentialofthepersontodo/achievesomething,andthere’sahighchancethattheymightsuccessfullydoso.Butwhentheword‘capability’isused,itreferstothepotentialofthepersontodosomethingthoughtheymightnotbeabletodoitsuccessfully.Forexample,“Rajeshhastheabilitytotypeataspeedof50wordsperminute”.Here,‘ability’meansRajeshcanwrite50wordsperminute.Anotherexampleis“Sheldonhadthecapabilitytowintheracehadhenothurthisleg.”Here,theword‘capability’isusedtoshowthatSheldonhasthepotentialtowintherace,butduetotheleginjury,hecan’tthistime.Itisimportantthatstudentskeepinmindthesubtledifferencebetweenthewords. ExampleofAbilityandCapability Thefollowingexamplewillhelpstudentstobetterunderstandtheterms‘ability’and‘capability’. Ability–Howard’sabilitytosolvesumsquicklymadehimthesmartestintheclass. Capability–IfPennyworksabitharder,shehasthecapabilitytoscoreagoodpercentageinherfinalexams. Oncestudentsunderstandthesubtledifferencebetweenthewords‘ability’and‘capability’,theycanquicklyformexamplesontheirown. AbilityandCapability–Conclusion Tosumup,‘ability’and‘capability’thoughareusedtoexpresssomeone’spotentialtodo/achievesomethingbutarenotsynonymousandcan’tbeusedinterchangeably.Whenoneisusingthesewords,onehastounderstandthecontextorwillendupmisusingthem.Thisarticletalksabouttheessentialpointsthathelponetoknowhowtousethesetwoterms.BYJU’Soffersvariousarticlesonmanysuch‘differencesbetweentwowords’thatpeopleoftengetconfusedwith. ENGLISHRelatedLinks HowToWriteAConsentLetter ResumeSendingMail FormalInvitationFormat SpeechOnEnvironment ApplicationForChequeBook IShallOrIWill FeeConcessionApplicationInEnglishFromParents IncrementLetterFormat HasAndHaveDifference AcknowledgementForAssignment LeaveaCommentCancelreplyYourMobilenumberandEmailidwillnotbepublished.Requiredfieldsaremarked* * SendOTP DidnotreceiveOTP? RequestOTPon VoiceCall * * Website * Grade/Exam Class1 Class2 Class3 Class4 Class5 Class6 Class7 Class8 Class9 Class10 Class11 Class12 IAS CAT BankExam * * PostComment ExploreOtherPopularArticles DifferencebetweenBoatandShip DifferencebetweenChairmanandChairperson DifferencebetweenChefandCook DifferencebetweenCompanyandFactory DifferencebetweenComplimentandComplement DifferencebetweenConscienceandConscious DifferencebetweenCupandMug DifferencebetweenDessertandDesert DifferencebetweenDiskandDisc DifferencebetweenDoandDid JoinBYJU'SLearningProgram Grade/Exam Class1 Class2 Class3 Class4 Class5 Class6 Class7 Class8 Class9 Class10 Class11 Class12 IAS CAT BankExam GATE Submit × RegisterforFREE Share Share Share CallUs RegisterwithBYJU'S&DownloadFreePDFs * SendOTP * * * * * Grade Class1 Class2 Class3 Class4 Class5 Class6 Class7 Class8 Class9 Class10 Class11 Class12 IAS CAT BankExam DownloadNow