able to perform a task

USAGE SUMMARY

The phrase "able to perform a task" is correct and usable in written English.
You can use it to describe someone's capability or competence in completing a specific job or duty. Example: "The candidate is highly skilled and able to perform a task efficiently under pressure."

✓ Grammatically correct

Science

News & Media

Formal & Business

Human-verified examples from authoritative sources

Exact Expressions

5 human-written examples

They know you have to be able to perform a task perfectly under normal conditions before you can expect to do it in a stressful situation.

Harvard Business Review

Thus, knowing that you are able to perform a task might be more important than accepting to be helped in relation to depression.

Clinical interventions in aging

Critically, the order of these two tasks was randomized in order to test whether subjects would be able to perform a task on the colored stimuli without a delay between the stimuli and the task.

Attention, Perception & Psychophysics

Hoffman and Breazeal (2007b) observed that human robot teams in which participants worked with robots that anticipated their actions were able to perform a task more efficiently and had more favorable perceptions of the contribution of the robot to their team's success than did those who worked with a nonadaptive robot.

Human Factors

For example, in assessing the concept performance of daily activities, it is more appropriate to ask whether or not the respondent performs specific activities (and if so, with how much difficulty) than whether or not he or she can perform daily activities (because patients may report they are able to perform a task even when they never do so).

Health and Quality of Life Outcomes

Human-verified similar examples from authoritative sources

Similar Expressions

55 human-written examples

Pain during movement tasks will be recorded together with a registration of whether the participants are able to perform a movement task, perform with modifications or decline to perform a movement task.

BMJ Open

More precisely, we examine the potential of the sorting task to describe beer sensory characteristics, we determine the type of assessors able to perform a sorting task and we evaluate the stability of the results as well as some important methodological points (e.g. number of beers to be sorted, instructions given to the judges) that might impact the efficiency of the task.

Food Quality and Preference

In this work, we introduce an algorithm that uses corrective human feedback to build a policy able to perform a novel task, by combining simpler policies learned from demonstration.

Robotics and Autonomous Systems

It bans the use of genetic testing to determine if a person has a propensity for being bad at a certain job or for having a specific physical ailment in the future, but it allows such testing to see if a person has an actual existing condition that makes him less able to perform a certain task.

The New York Times - Magazine

Importantly and in contrast to previous imaging studies on empathy or social cognition, we did not instruct participants to assess the depicted persons' feelings or thoughts, but told them to simply watch the pictures to be able to perform a memory task unrelated to the main experimental question.

Brain Research

These items are recorded through direct observation of the children, and for some items, it is required to ask the mother if the children are able to perform a certain task or not.

Psicologia: Reflexão e Crítica

Expert writing Tips

Best practice

When describing a person's skills, use "able to perform a task" to clearly state their capability. For example, "The engineer is "able to perform a task" efficiently."

Common error

Don't replace "able to perform a task" with convoluted phrases. Clarity is key. Instead of saying "possessing the wherewithal to execute a given assignment", simply state they are "able to perform a task".

Linguistic Context

The phrase "able to perform a task" functions as an adjectival phrase describing the capacity or capability of an individual or entity. According to Ludwig, it indicates the subject's competence in completing a specific job or duty.

Expression frequency: Very common

Frequent in

Science

34%

News & Media

33%

Formal & Business

33%

Less common in

Science

0%

News & Media

0%

Formal & Business

0%

Ludwig's WRAP-UP

In summary, the phrase "able to perform a task" is a grammatically correct and frequently used expression to denote competence and capability. Ludwig AI highlights its versatility, being appropriate across various contexts such as scientific, news, and business domains. When writing, consider alternatives like "capable of doing a job" or "competent to execute a duty" for nuanced emphasis. Remember to maintain clarity and avoid unnecessarily complex phrasing. The phrase appears in authoritative sources like The New York Times and BBC, reinforcing its reliability. Use it confidently to describe someone's capacity to handle specific duties.

More alternative expressions

Phrases that express similar concepts, ordered by semantic similarity:

capable of doing a job

Focuses on capability, using "doing" instead of "perform" and "job" instead of "task".

competent to execute a duty

Replaces "able" with "competent", "perform" with "execute", and "task" with "duty", emphasizing formal execution.

skilled at carrying out an assignment

Highlights skill, substituting "able" with "skilled", "perform" with "carrying out", and "task" with "assignment".

proficient in completing a project

Stresses proficiency, replacing "able" with "proficient", "perform" with "completing", and "task" with "project".

equipped to handle a responsibility

Emphasizes preparedness, changing "able" to "equipped", "perform" to "handle", and "task" to "responsibility".

having the capacity to achieve a goal

Focuses on inherent capacity, altering "able" to "having the capacity", "perform" to "achieve", and "task" to "goal".

in a position to accomplish an objective

Highlights opportunity, replacing "able" with "in a position", "perform" with "accomplish", and "task" with "objective".

qualified to undertake an endeavor

Stresses qualifications, changing "able" to "qualified", "perform" to "undertake", and "task" to "endeavor".

prepared to fulfill an obligation

Emphasizes readiness, replacing "able" with "prepared", "perform" with "fulfill", and "task" with "obligation".

ready to execute an activity

Highlights immediacy, changing "able" to "ready", "perform" to "execute", and "task" to "activity".

FAQs

How can I rephrase "able to perform a task" to sound more formal?

For a more formal tone, consider using phrases like "competent to execute a duty" or "skilled at carrying out an assignment", depending on the specific context.

What's the difference between "able to perform a task" and "capable of doing a job"?

While similar, "able to perform a task" is slightly more general. "Capable of doing a job" often implies practical application and might be used in a work-related setting.

Is it better to say "able to perform a task" or "can perform a task"?

"Can perform a task" is generally more concise and common in everyday speech. "Able to perform a task" might be used for emphasis or when specifying a condition that makes the ability possible.

How to emphasize someone's proficiency when they are "able to perform a task"?

To highlight someone's skill, consider using "proficient in completing a project" or "equipped to handle a responsibility" to showcase their competence and preparedness.