Could have done

Question

A. I couldn't have gone with you, because I was in London at the time.Q1) Is the sentence above grammatically correct and natural?Q2) If it's natural and grammatical, what is the difference in meaning from this sentence B "I couldn't go with you, because I was in London at the time"?Q3) Is sentence B more natural than A in this context?

CalifJim · Accepted Answer

fire1A. I couldn't have gone with you, because I was in London at the time.Q1) Is the sentence above grammatically correct and natural?

Yes.

fire1Q2) If it's natural and grammatical, what is the difference in meaning from this sentence B "I couldn't go with you, because I was in London at the time"?

There is very little difference.

The first one is a response to a situation that is more like an imagined situation that didn't happen. Nobody actually asked you to go with them, but if they had invited you, you couldn't have gone. If nobody asked you to go, you would probably not say sentence B.

The second one sounds more like a response to a question like "Why didn't you go with us?" Maybe you were asked, and you explained to one of the group that you couldn't go, but this particular person didn't know that and is asking you for information that he didn't know.

Even so, in the second scenario you could also answer with the sentence A. That's why I say there is very little difference.

fire1Q3) Is sentence B more natural than A in this context?

As noted above, there is more than one context involved. See the answers above.

CJ

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