0
Deepak Sivaraman pandi Posted 8 years ago
Grammar
Might have vs Could have for situations that didn't happen
Hello Native speakers,
I need your help to understand the difference between Might have vs Could have?
- You could have caused a serious accident = Does this mean that there is a possibility of a serious accident, but you didn't and there was no accident.
- If the speaker know for sure that there was no accident, can he still say "you might have caused a serious accident?" instead of could have? I guess this is wrong because might have means there is a 50% chance of an accident or not. And since we know for sure, we can't use might have here as it is only hypothetical.
- When I change the same sentence to You could have caused the accident = Does this mean there is a possibility that you caused it and the accident actually happened?
- And can I replace Might have instead of could have for sentence 3. If yes, does the possibility decreases?
Regards,
Deepak
Top answer
Deepak Sivaraman pandi You could have caused a serious accident = Does this mean that there is a possibility of a serious accident, but you didn't and there was no accident. Yes. " instead of could have?
- Deepak Sivaraman pandi You could have caused a serious accident = Does this mean that there is a possibility of a serious accident, but you didn't and there was no accident.
- Yes.
- " instead of could have?
- In hypothetical contexts, yes.
- g The weather is terrible, it is snowing and there is ice on the highways.
Get the Weekly English Kit 📬
New words, one handy idiom, and a 2-minute quiz — delivered to your inbox to keep your streak alive.
1 Answers
0
Deepak Sivaraman pandiYou could have caused a serious accident = Does this mean that there is a possibility of a serious accident, but you didn't and there was no accident.
Yes.
Deepak Sivaraman pandiIf the speaker know for sure that there was no accident, can he still say "you might have caused a serious accident?" instead of c
0
Related Questions