how to pronounce could

/ˈkʊd/

audio example by a male speaker

audio example by a female speaker

the above transcription of could is a detailed (narrow) transcription according to the rules of the International Phonetic Association; you can find a description of each symbol by clicking the phoneme buttons in the secction below.

could is pronounced in one syllable

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1. example pitch curve for pronunciation of could

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video examples of could pronunciation

An example use of could in a speech by a native speaker of american english:

“… at the time what could a small study …”

meanings of could

verb:

Conditional of can.
Used as a past subjunctive (contrary to fact).
Used to show the possibility that something might happen.
Used to politely ask for permission to do something.
Used to politely ask for someone else to do something.
Simple past tense of can.
Used to suggest something.

noun:

Something that could happen, or could be the case, under different circumstances; a potentiality.

could frequency in english - A1 level of CEFR

the word could occurs in english on average 1187 times per one million words; this frequency warrants it to be in the study list for A1 level of language mastery according to CEFR, the Common European Framework of Reference.

topics could can be related to

it is hard to perfectly classify words into specific topics since each word can have many context of its use, but our machine-learning models believe that could can be often used in the following areas:

1) business and work;

2) communication, information, and media;

3) people, society, and culture;