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Anonymous Posted 16 years ago
Grammar
Different meanings of "could have"
Does "could have..." imply differently between these 2 sentences?
We could have hurt her feelings. (but we didn't; imaginary past situation)
We could have hurt her feelings. (It's possible that we have hurt her feelings)
Thank you.
We could have hurt her feelings. (but we didn't; imaginary past situation)
We could have hurt her feelings. (It's possible that we have hurt her feelings)
Thank you.
Top answer
Yes, that's correct. The first meaning is not a very likely thing to want to say, but this is purely because of the choice of "hurt her feelings" as an example. There is no problem with "could have" having this meaning.
- Yes, that's correct.
- The first meaning is not a very likely thing to want to say, but this is purely because of the choice of "hurt her feelings" as an example.
- There is no problem with "could have" having this meaning.
- " instead.
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3 Answers
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Yes, that's correct.
The first meaning is not a very likely thing to want to say, but this is purely because of the choice of "hurt her feelings" as an example. There is no problem with "could have" having this meaning.
The second meaning of "could have" is OK in conversation, but in more formal English I would avoid it and use "We may have..." or "It's possible that..." instead
The first meaning is not a very likely thing to want to say, but this is purely because of the choice of "hurt her feelings" as an example. There is no problem with "could have" having this meaning.
The second meaning of "could have" is OK in conversation, but in more formal English I would avoid it and use "We may have..." or "It's possible that..." instead
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AnonymousDoes "could have..." imply differently between these 2 sentences?We could have hurt her feelings. (but we didn't; imaginary past situation)We could have hurt her feelings. (It's possible that we have hurt her feelings)Thank you.Yes. could have can mean either of those.
Compare:
-- Johnny has been missing since noon today. W
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Mr WordyThe first meaning is not a very likely thing to want to say, but this is purely because of the choice of "hurt her feelings" as an example.Clarification: here I was assuming that you meant you could have deliberately hurt her feelings but chose not to. If you mean you could have accidentally hurt her feelings but fortuitously didn't, then it's
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