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Hans51 Posted 14 years ago
Grammar
The past perfect tense with 'could' 'would'?
Hello, I have a question about 'the past perfect tense'. I know that 'the past perfect tense' happens before 'the past tense'. For example,
"He had left before I came here."
And if I want to put "would, could, etc" to the past perfect tense, can I say "would /could have p.p"
However, we already know "would /could have p.p" are used for the past tense of "would / could be" and for the dependent clauses in conditionals.
Then, if it is possible to put would /could to the past perfect tense, do we consider three possible meanings with those shapes by contexts?
Cf. He could have left before I came here.
Thank you so much for your help and time.
"He had left before I came here."
And if I want to put "would, could, etc" to the past perfect tense, can I say "would /could have p.p"
However, we already know "would /could have p.p" are used for the past tense of "would / could be" and for the dependent clauses in conditionals.
Then, if it is possible to put would /could to the past perfect tense, do we consider three possible meanings with those shapes by contexts?
Cf. He could have left before I came here.
Thank you so much for your help and time.
Top answer
The past perf. describes completed action in the past. ", denotes an action - him leaving - that occurred in past time: he left before I came (came is past tense) here.
- The past perf.
- describes completed action in the past.
- ", denotes an action - him leaving - that occurred in past time: he left before I came (came is past tense) here.
- Auxiliary verbs like could, would, should, may, etc.
- are conditionals, and as such, inject an element of doubt, uncertainty, probability, tentativeness, etc.
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3 Answers
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The past perf. describes completed action in the past. So, "He had left before I came here.", denotes an action - him leaving - that occurred in past time: he left before I came (came is past tense) here.
Auxiliary verbs like could, would, should, may, etc. are conditionals, and as such, inject an element of doubt, uncertainty, probability, tentativeness, etc. into a sentence. So addi
Auxiliary verbs like could, would, should, may, etc. are conditionals, and as such, inject an element of doubt, uncertainty, probability, tentativeness, etc. into a sentence. So addi
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The sentence, "He could have left before I came here.", is correct. The meaning is similar to the original sentence, "He had left before I came here." However, in the original sentence, the event completed in the past - his leaving - is definite and surely happened, whereas, in the sentence with "could," the event completed in the past - his leaving - is no longer definite, and may not have happ
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