| Subject | was / were wasn’t / weren’t | allowed to | verb + complement | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | I | was | allowed | to leave early. | | They | weren’t | allowed | to go to the Prom party. |

Could vs. be allowed to

• I couldn’t attend the meeting.
• I wasn’t allowed to attend the meeting.

When you were a child…

• Were you allowed to play outside?

  Yes, when I was a child I was allowed to play outside with the kids from my neighborhood for hours, I liked to ride my bike.

• Were you allowed to stay up late?

  No, when I was a child I wasn’t allowed to stay up late because I had to go to school early.

• Were you allowed to have a cellphone?

  Yes, when I was a child I was allowed to have a cellphone, I had my first cellphone when I was 10.

Summary of the class

Structure:

Subject + was / were / wasn’t / weren’t + allowed to + verb + complement

Examples:

• I was allowed to have pets when I was a child.
• My sister wasn’t allowed to go to the party.

Don’t confuse could and be allowed to.

When we use could, we are referring that different reasons didn’t allow us to carry out the action.

When we use be allowed to, we are referring that we didn’t have the permission from someone to do the action.