In the future...

[Red5]

Do we use the word can for future clauses...

[Tdol]

We use can for future time, but not always;

I can do it tomorrow

is fine.

Originally Posted by tdol

We use can for future time, but not always;

is fine.

Excellent point! 8)

Originally Posted by CitySpeak

Excellent point! 8)

We can also use "could" in future sentences.

Originally Posted by cutecanute

We can also use "could" in future sentences.

We certainly could. We could do that tomorrow.

[Lib]

But they're not exactly the same I think. 'I can do it tomorrow' and 'I'll be able to do it tomorrow' are more or less the same, at least both talk about 'ability'. Don't you think that 'I could do it tomorrow' is more like 'I might do it tomorrow', or 'I might be able to do it tomorrow'. It sounds less definite to me.

Originally Posted by Lib

But they're not exactly the same I think. 'I can do it tomorrow' and 'I'll be able to do it tomorrow' are more or less the same, at least both talk about 'ability'. Don't you think that 'I could do it tomorrow' is more like 'I might do it tomorrow', or 'I might be able to do it tomorrow'. It sounds less definite to me.

The point is that we can use "could" to talk about future time. Of course it would not mean the exact same thing as "can", but "could" can be used to speak of future time.