I couldn't scroll....

Question

Is the second "could" indicates "hypothetical future"? I think the writer used "could" here because he wasn't sure about that whether he would scroll past it or not.

? I couldn't scroll past this and neither could you.

AlpheccaStars · Accepted Answer

It is a situation in the past where neither of you could do that.

CalifJim · Answer

Hasibrahman about ~~that~~ whether

You can't do "about that whether". It's just "about whether", "about how", "about when", "about what", "about who", "about why", etc. No "that".

The same is true if you change the preposition "about" to any other preposition (for, to, from, with, ...).

No 'that' after the preposition in any of these:

This has something to do with how deep the lakes are.
In this contest you read a book and make a video of why you liked it.
The artist could not vouch for whether blue was exactly the right color.
We should be able to channel government funds to where we would like to see them spent.

HasibrahmanI couldn't scroll past this and neither could you.

As for this one, yes, the second 'could' might mean 'would be able to'.

That interpretation is even more likely in the following.

I couldn't reach the top of that shelf, and I don't think anyone could. (I don't think anyone would be able to.)

But even here there are two interpretations, the other being I don't think anyone was able to.

CJ

I couldn't scroll....

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