I’m puzzled about the usage of a modal verb could. My book “LONGMAN ENGLISH GRAMMAR PRACTICE” by L.G Alexander says that We use was/were able to or managed to (not could) to describe the successful completion of a SPECIFIC ACTION, for example, We were able to (we managed to) get tickets for the match yesterday … Read more
Could anyone help me with can vs could in a request? I know ‘can’ is used in an informal way ‘Hi bro, can I use your pen?’ and ‘could’ in a formal way ‘Excuse me, could I use your pen please?’ But when a mother asks her son to turn down the music, it is … Read more
“I sought only to open your eyes to the world we could create together.” In this phrase, does “could” refer to the past or is it a possibility about something that could happen in the future? The verb “sought” creates some confusion because that is the past tense and I don’t know if that therefore … Read more
I have long had difficulty distinguishing between COULD and COULD HAVE. I have two specific examples that I’m not exactly sure of. Could you enlighten me? She needed money so much, she could even have worked in a KFC restaurant Jim could’ve ordered fish in the diner yesterday, but he settled for venison First question … Read more
Is the following sentence correct “could messi have scored that goal?” Answer Capitalize “could” and “messi” and you’re good. AttributionSource : Link , Question Author : PiyushK , Answer Author : Les Tivers
If you use couldn’t does it mean you can/ do now? E.g. 1. I tried to fix the machine but I couldn’t figure out the problem. (Does it mean I do now?) 2. I was admitted to hospital but they couldn’t work out what the problem was. Is it also possible to say? 1. I … Read more
After some bad calls using search/replace, I’m curious how many legitimate forms of “could/would/should of” there are. I’m interested in uses that do not derive from, and cannot be replaced by “could have,” “would have,” “should have,” or their contractions. One could of course add a few commas to this paragraph to make it easier … Read more
Modal verbs like can, could, may, might,…. are very difficult & arbitrary. According to this site: can’t have + past participle: I’m fairly sure this wasn’t true Ex: She can’t have stayed at home yesterday. I would say that we don’t have “can have + PP” in English, we have to use “could have + … Read more
I really could have done it, if you had come earlier. I could really have done it, if you had come earlier. I could have really done it, if you had come earlier. I could have done it really, if you had come earlier. Q1. I wonder if there is or are any wrong sentence(s) … Read more
What is the difference between ‘what happened?’ and ‘what could have happened? 1) I couldn’t see Gina last month. Do you know what happened to her? (or Do you know what could have happened to her?) 2) I couldn’t see Gina last month. What happened to her? (or What could have happened to her?) Answer … Read more
