In a grammar book, the claim was made that in the following sentences one cannot substitute "was/were able to" with "could."
The fire spread through the building very quickly, but everyone was able to escape.
They didn't want to come with us at first, but finally we were able to persuade them
However, when I searched for the term "finally could" in the Corpus of Contemporary American English, I found some counter-examples. Here are two examples from COCA:
I told her to get in line. Did it make you feel better? It did. I finally could say something.
Then, when it ended and I finally could get my family back, it came at a price, like suddenly being blind.
Are these examples grammatically incorrect?
Remark:
I asked the same question here.
It got a few answers, but unfortunately I don't find them very persuasive (my apology for those who kindly answered).
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