English term
choosing between managed and were able to
"14. Jane and John saved and saved, and finally they _____ buy the house of their dreams."
Options to choose from:
A) can B) could C) managed to D) couldn’t
I guess the right choice would be C) managed, but could I also say 'finally they were able to buy..."
Would it be a better option in the above sentence?
Thank you in advance.
Non-PRO (3): Yvonne Gallagher, Helena Chavarria, Tony M
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Responses
B) and C) are correct, "were able to" sounds more natural.
| agree |
Charlotte Fleming
40 mins
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Thank you!
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| neutral |
Yvonne Gallagher
: nope, not in the context it isn't
1 hr
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Thank you!
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| neutral |
Sheila Wilson
: I agree about B and C, but C is the most accurate in context
1 hr
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Thank you!
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| agree |
philgoddard
21 hrs
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Thank you!
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| agree |
Cilian O'Tuama
: a) is not incorrect, though b) or c) perhaps more likely
6 days
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Translations by lawyers for lawyers
Native in: English 
Works in: Portuguese to English, English
managed to
| agree |
Yvonne Gallagher
: most appropriate here but not for your reason
1 hr
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| agree |
Tony M
: I agree with Yvonne's comment — there's nothing of less or more "formality" about this situation
3 hrs
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| agree |
Oliver Simões
5 hrs
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United Kingdom
Human Rights, Energy and Sustainable Dev
Native in: English (Variants: UK, British)
Works in: French to English, English to French, English, and 1 more.
Both are correct, but I actually prefer ... they were able to buy ...
| neutral |
Tony M
: Except that the EN syntax doesn't really support this: it would be more natural to write '...and they were finally able to...'
3 hrs
|
Professionalism, expertise and accuracy
Native in: Italian 
, English
Works in: Italian to English, English to Italian, Spanish to Italian, and 2 more.
Discussion
Of course, it all depends on the context... except when one don't have any context as the case is. It's just one item from a school test where you've got to choose only one option.
Now get down to business: if you were taking IELTS or any other important exam would you have the guts to for a) as a correct option?
IMO only d) is wrong.
BTW, it goes without saying that I fully agree with your explanation ;-)
c) and d) and your proposal of "able to are OK
BUT the best option is "managed to" quite simply because it shows how hard it has been for the couple to MANAGE to do this! (they've saved and saved...) There is a definite nuance there and nothing to do with "formality" "elegant" or "more natural" or the non-idiomatic English "the most correct one"
As an EFL and English teacher that's the one I'd be looking for
'Was/were able to' means that somebody has done something.
Compare 'he managed to win the race' - it was difficult but he won; 'he won the race' and 'he was able to win the race' - in this case, we don't know whether or not he actually won.
Here's a useful reference:
When we talk about achieving something on a specific occasion in the past, we use was/were able to (= had the ability to) and managed to (= succeeded in doing something difficult).
https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/grammar/intermediate...