He could be in the market...
Consider these sentences, please:
1) A: Where is John?
B: He could be in the market.
2) It could be dangerous to cycle in the city.
3) Working in London next summer could be a great experience.
The three "coulds" in 1), 2) and 3) are very similar, because:
a) They look exactly the same.
b) They all mean "possibility."
c) They can all be replaced by "might."
d) They are all "tentative."
Q1) Are they completely same?
Q2) If not, how does a native speaker of English differentiate among the three "coulds", which have so much in common?
Top answer
Rizan Malik Q1) Are they completely the same? By the characteristics you have already pointed out, yes they are completely the same. In what way are you thinking they are not the same — other than the obvious "They occur in different sentences"?
- Rizan Malik Q1) Are they completely the same?
- By the characteristics you have already pointed out, yes they are completely the same.
- In what way are you thinking they are not the same — other than the obvious "They occur in different sentences"?
- Rizan Malik Q2) If not, how does a native speaker of English differentiate among the three "coulds", which have so much in common?
- I don't see any reason to differentiate anything here since they are all the same, as you have already said.
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Rizan MalikQ1) Are they completely the same?
By the characteristics you have already pointed out, yes they are completely the same. In what way are you thinking they are not the same — other than the obvious "They occur in different sentences"?
Rizan MalikQ2) If not, how does a n
0One difference is that (1) talks about a present possibility while (3) talks about a future possibility. The timeframe of (2) is unclear without more context: it could be past, present or future. In the case of past reference, it could refer to something that did sometimes happen.
(Cross-posted.)
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