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Viceidol Posted 18 years ago
Grammar
"could" not referring past tense of "can"
0 One of my grammar books says that "could" is not always the past tense of "can". Is that really true? 02 br
02 br
00 Also, my book gives several examples to suuport its theory: 02 br
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01 i 00 " 01 b 00 Ability in the present or in the future" 02 b 02 i 00 or 01 i 00 " 01 b 00 Willingness 02 b 00 ": 02 i 02 br
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00 ＊Right now I 01 b 01 font 00 could 02 font 02 b 00 eat an ox. (present) 02 br
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01 font 00 ＊ 01 b 00 Could 02 b 02 font 00 you run the business by yourself? (present) 02 br
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00 ＊Perhaps I 01 b 01 font 00 could 02 font 02 b 00 see you 01 u 00 tomorrow 02 u 00 . (future) 02 br
02 br
00 ＊Maybe we 01 b 01 font 00 could 02 font 02 b 00 go shopping 01 u 00 this evening 02 u 00 . (future) 02 br
02 br
00 Is this really true? 02 br
02 br
00 And what if I replace all the " 01 b 00 could 02 b 00 " with " 01 b 00 can 02 b 00 " in those sentences, could they still mean the same? Like: 02 br
02 br
00 ＊Right now I 01 b 01 font 00 can 02 font 02 b 00 eat an ox. 02 br
02 br
01 font 01 font 00 ＊ 01 b 00 Can 02 b 02 font 01 b 00 02 b 02 font 00 you run the business by yourself? 02 br
02 br
00 ＊Perhaps I 01 b 01 font 00 can 02 font 02 b 00 see you 01 u 00 tomorrow 02 u 00 . 02 br
02 br
00 ＊Maybe we 01 b 01 font 00 can 02 font 02 b 00 go shopping 01 u 00 this evening 02 u 00 . 02 br
02 br
00 If those four sentences using 01 font 01 b 00 can 02 b 00 are correct, what's the difference with the ones using 01 b 01 font 00 could 02 font 02 b 00 ? 02 font 02 br
02 br
00 I hope you could help me with this. Thank you for taking your time solving my problem. 0-
02 br
00 Also, my book gives several examples to suuport its theory: 02 br
02 br
01 i 00 " 01 b 00 Ability in the present or in the future" 02 b 02 i 00 or 01 i 00 " 01 b 00 Willingness 02 b 00 ": 02 i 02 br
02 br
00 ＊Right now I 01 b 01 font 00 could 02 font 02 b 00 eat an ox. (present) 02 br
02 br
01 font 00 ＊ 01 b 00 Could 02 b 02 font 00 you run the business by yourself? (present) 02 br
02 br
00 ＊Perhaps I 01 b 01 font 00 could 02 font 02 b 00 see you 01 u 00 tomorrow 02 u 00 . (future) 02 br
02 br
00 ＊Maybe we 01 b 01 font 00 could 02 font 02 b 00 go shopping 01 u 00 this evening 02 u 00 . (future) 02 br
02 br
00 Is this really true? 02 br
02 br
00 And what if I replace all the " 01 b 00 could 02 b 00 " with " 01 b 00 can 02 b 00 " in those sentences, could they still mean the same? Like: 02 br
02 br
00 ＊Right now I 01 b 01 font 00 can 02 font 02 b 00 eat an ox. 02 br
02 br
01 font 01 font 00 ＊ 01 b 00 Can 02 b 02 font 01 b 00 02 b 02 font 00 you run the business by yourself? 02 br
02 br
00 ＊Perhaps I 01 b 01 font 00 can 02 font 02 b 00 see you 01 u 00 tomorrow 02 u 00 . 02 br
02 br
00 ＊Maybe we 01 b 01 font 00 can 02 font 02 b 00 go shopping 01 u 00 this evening 02 u 00 . 02 br
02 br
00 If those four sentences using 01 font 01 b 00 can 02 b 00 are correct, what's the difference with the ones using 01 b 01 font 00 could 02 font 02 b 00 ? 02 font 02 br
02 br
00 I hope you could help me with this. Thank you for taking your time solving my problem. 0-
Top answer
0 That book is right. Modal verbs can be assigned to any time past, present or future. htm
- 0 That book is right.
- Modal verbs can be assigned to any time past, present or future.
- htm
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2 Answers
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0 That book is right. Modal verbs can be assigned to any time past, present or future. 02 br
00 See some of the previous threads on could/can: 02 br
02 br
05 0 0260href http://www.EnglishForward.com/search/could+can.htm
00 See some of the previous threads on could/can: 02 br
02 br
05 0 0260href http://www.EnglishForward.com/search/could+can.htm
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0 See the post by Mister Micawber quoted in 02 br
05 0 040pid 483779
05 0 040pid 483779
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