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Silak12 Posted 9 years ago
Grammar

Could have helped vs Could help?

Hi! everyone.
Could you tell me what the difference is between the following sentences?
;..but I didn't find anything that could have helped me.
..but I didn't find anything that could help me.
Thanks!
  

Top answer

silak12 ... didn't find anything that could have helped me. anything that could help me.

— CalifJim

  • silak12 ...
  • didn't find anything that could have helped me.
  • anything that could help me.
  • The first one is "backward-looking" (from the past).
  • The second is "forward-looking" (from the past).
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5 Answers
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silak12
... didn't find
anything that could have helped me.
anything that could help me.

The first one is "backward-looking" (from the past). The second is "forward-looking" (from the past).

In the first one, it seems the speaker gave up the search. The search was finished and nothing was found.

In the second, it see

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CalifJimdidn't find anything that could have helped me.

Thanks for your consideration CJ.

Could you give a real-life scenario for the quoted sentence?

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silak12Could you give a real-life scenario for the quoted sentence?

Not really, but it seems to me that if you were looking for something to help you 15 years ago on some problem you had at the time but no longer have, you'd use "that could have helped me".

On the other hand, if you're talking about a failure to find help yesterday, you

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CalifJimNot really,

One last question sir; could you tell me what "not really" means here?

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silak12One last question sir; could you tell me what "not really" means here?

It means "I can't think of any good scenarios to tell you about".

CJ

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