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# incapable

«incapable» in Mova's school dictionary: **incapable of doing something, you cannot do it, because…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

### part of speech

adjective (incapable)

### meaning for a pupil

1) If you are incapable of doing something, you cannot do it, because you do not have the ability or power. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/incapable/#m1)

2) (formal) Incapable can mean not able to look after yourself, for example because of illness or being very drunk. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/incapable/#m2)

### sense in the lessons

In stories it is often used for character: «incapable of lying» means always honest. In everyday talk it can describe someone useless at something, which may sound rude. Phrases: incapable of, completely incapable.

### examples

- My grandmother is incapable of being unkind. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/incapable/#x1)
- The baby is incapable of walking yet. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/incapable/#x2)
- Penguins are incapable of flying. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/incapable/#x3)
- He seemed incapable of sitting still. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/incapable/#x4)
- The old car was incapable of going up the steep hill. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/incapable/#x5)
- Without his glasses, he was incapable of reading the sign. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/incapable/#x6)
- She's incapable of telling a lie. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/incapable/#x7)
- He gave his hat to Liza, who took it scornfully; for she had no imagination, and was quite incapable of understanding the motives of such a man. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/incapable/#x8)

### note

Always followed by «of» + noun or -ing: incapable of flying (not «incapable to fly»). Opposite: capable. Calling someone «incapable» about their job can be insulting.

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «incapable» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/incapable/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.