Spelling.School · How to spell

How to spell could

What it means: To be used to make a polite request.

In a sentence: Could you help me build a sandcastle? ▶

The part people get wrong

Watch for a silent l, and an unstressed vowel that is hard to hear. Often misspelled as cud or coud.

Same family: can, couldn't, cannot, able, might. If you can spell one, the shared part carries to the others.

Where it comes from: “Could” comes from Old English “cuðe,” the past tense of “cunnan,” meaning “to know how to” or “to be able to.” Over time it changed spelling and sound, and now it’s the past tense and polite form of “can,” even though the letters “l” and “d” are not clearly pronounced.

Patterns it uses: The unstressed vowel (schwa) · Silent letters

Try spelling it

You will hear the word and a sentence. Type it and press Enter. Then four more words from the same level, so you know where you stand.

Words like this

would · yolk · countries · america · because · into · whole · should

Spelling.School is a spaced-repetition spelling practice: ten minutes a day, every word spoken aloud, every miss explained, and every word coming back just before you would forget it. Try five words without signing up.