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Tenjing Posted 12 years ago
Grammar

May have

Jack: what have you been doing for an hour?
Alex: I have been preparing deserts.
Jack: you can't have been. You may have been playing cards for an hour.
is the use of may have correct?
  

Top answer

tenjing is the use of may have correct tenjing you can't have been. It's impossible/ not possible that you have been preparing desserts. tenjing You may have been playing cards for an hour.

— Laborious

  • tenjing is the use of may have correct tenjing you can't have been.
  • It's impossible/ not possible that you have been preparing desserts.
  • tenjing You may have been playing cards for an hour.
  • It's possible that you have been playing cards for an hour.
  • tenjing is the use of may have correct Yes, if that is what you meant.
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6 Answers
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tenjingis the use of may have correct
tenjing you can't have been.
It's impossible/ not possible that you have been preparing desserts.
tenjingYou may have been playing cards for an hour.
It's possible that you have been playing cards for an hour.
tenjingis the
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Jack: what have you been doing for an hour? ---- Ok
Alex: I have been preparing deserts. ---------------Ok
Jack: you
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grammarfreak preparing deserts
Malicious desertification!
tenjingYou can't have been.
Common enough in spoken English.
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Mister Micawbergrammarfreak preparing desertsMalicious desertification!
The danger of "copy and paste"
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grammarfreakack: you can't have been. You may have been playing cards for an hour. You couldn't have been ... -- is the correct tense.
'You can't have been' is fine,
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tenjingJack: What have you been doing for an hour?
This is not really possible as the beginning of a conversation. It's "for an hour" that doesn't make sense, and it's better to omit that phrase.
tenjingYou may have been playing cards for an hour.
It's also unrealistic to speculate about
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