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Viceidol Posted 18 years ago
Grammar
"can't/couldn't have done" (about tense)
0 She 01 b 00 01 font 00 thinks 02 font 02 b 01 font 00 02 font 00 that her purse 01 b 00 can't have been 02 b 00 found by one of the shoppers. 02 br
02 br
00 She 01 b 00 01 font 00 thinks 02 font 02 b 00 that her purse 01 b 00 couldn't have been 02 b 00 found by one of the shoppers. 02 br
02 br
00 She 01 font 01 b 00 thought 02 b 02 font 00 that her purse 01 b 00 can't have been 02 b 00 found by one of the shoppers. 02 br
02 br
00 She 01 b 01 font 00 thought 02 font 02 b 00 that her purse 01 b 00 couldn't have been 02 b 00 found by one of the shoppers. 02 br
02 br
00 May I ask which of the above is not acceptable? And also, do the "can't/couldn't have done" structure here all mean past deduction(guessing the past events)? 02 br
02 br
00 Thank you very much for your answer! 0-
02 br
00 She 01 b 00 01 font 00 thinks 02 font 02 b 00 that her purse 01 b 00 couldn't have been 02 b 00 found by one of the shoppers. 02 br
02 br
00 She 01 font 01 b 00 thought 02 b 02 font 00 that her purse 01 b 00 can't have been 02 b 00 found by one of the shoppers. 02 br
02 br
00 She 01 b 01 font 00 thought 02 font 02 b 00 that her purse 01 b 00 couldn't have been 02 b 00 found by one of the shoppers. 02 br
02 br
00 May I ask which of the above is not acceptable? And also, do the "can't/couldn't have done" structure here all mean past deduction(guessing the past events)? 02 br
02 br
00 Thank you very much for your answer! 0-
Top answer
0 Of the four, I would not use the third -- 01 i 00 thought ... 02 i 02 br 00 Actually, I probably wouldn't use any of them. 02 i 02 br 00 CJ 0-
- 0 Of the four, I would not use the third -- 01 i 00 thought ...
- 02 i 02 br 00 Actually, I probably wouldn't use any of them.
- 02 i 02 br 00 CJ 0-
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2 Answers
0
0 Of the four, I would not use the third -- 01 i 00 thought ... can't ... 02 i 02 br
00 Actually, I probably wouldn't use any of them. Normally the negation is "raised" to the main clause with verbs like 01 i 00 think 02 i 00 . 02 br
00 I would use one of these: 02 br
01 i 00 She [doesn't / didn't] think that her purse could have be
00 Actually, I probably wouldn't use any of them. Normally the negation is "raised" to the main clause with verbs like 01 i 00 think 02 i 00 . 02 br
00 I would use one of these: 02 br
01 i 00 She [doesn't / didn't] think that her purse could have be
00
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