Modals · CEFR B1 · Independent
be allowed to — English modal verbs
Permission that comes from a rule or a person, in any tense. Can covers the present; this covers the rest.
The shape
am / is / are allowed to + verb
Talk about permission that somebody else gives.
In Hindi
किसी नियम या व्यक्ति की दी हुई इजाज़त — हर काल में। can सिर्फ़ वर्तमान में चलता है।
CoCap explains every structure in both languages, because a rule you understand in Hindi is a rule you can use in English.
The mistake to fix first
The sentence Indian-English speakers actually produce, and the reason it is wrong.
| Commonly said | Correct English |
|---|---|
We were can park there. | We were allowed to park there. Can has no past after "were" — "be allowed to" does the job. |
Easy to confuse with
Close enough to be mixed up with this one. Knowing the difference is most of knowing either.
- can / couldA1Say what you can do, and ask for things politely
- Can I…? May I…? Do you mind if…?A2Ask whether you are allowed to do something
Questions people ask
- What is the be allowed to used for?
- Permission that comes from a rule or a person, in any tense. Can covers the present; this covers the rest. In practice: talk about permission that somebody else gives.
- How do you form the be allowed to?
- am / is / are allowed to + verb.
- What is the most common mistake with the be allowed to?
- Saying “We were can park there.” instead of “We were allowed to park there.”. Can has no past after "were" — "be allowed to" does the job.
Where be allowed to fits
Where this structure sits in the ladder, and what surrounds it.
be allowed to is a CEFR B1 structure — the independent band — and it belongs to modals. CoCap’s syllabus files every structure this way so you can learn in order instead of jumping between whatever a search happened to return.
Reading it is not the same as saying it.
CoCap turns this page into practice: Hindi sentence in, English sentence out, corrected one thing at a time. Free, no card.
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