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Anonymous Posted 16 years ago
Grammar

Using of Modal Verbs

Hello my name is Dimosthenis

I have a question about modal verbs.

We use in past actions the form of modal perfect infinitive like :

You could have written that letter, yesterday. ( so -> could + have + pp )

but we also can say this :

You could write that letter, yesterday ( I think it's ability )

Which is the main difference between the use of modal in past like ( could, would ... ) and the modal perfect infinitive (could have + pp, may have + pp ... )

I'm looking forward to seeing the answe

Thanks in advance for your help.
  

Top answer

"You could write that letter yesterday" shows an ability in the past. So, there's a big chance that the person already wrote that letter yesterday. "You could have written that letter yesterday" tell us that the person was supposed to have the opportunity to write the letter yesterday, but he didn't have it, so he didn't write the letter.

— Andrewaffidon

  • "You could write that letter yesterday" shows an ability in the past.
  • So, there's a big chance that the person already wrote that letter yesterday.
  • "You could have written that letter yesterday" tell us that the person was supposed to have the opportunity to write the letter yesterday, but he didn't have it, so he didn't write the letter.
  • We can use them in sentences like the following : 1.
  • You bought a new pen, so you could write that letter yesterday.
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1 Answers
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"You could write that letter yesterday" shows an ability in the past. So, there's a big chance that the person already wrote that letter yesterday.

"You could have written that letter yesterday" tell us that the person was supposed to have the opportunity to write the letter yesterday, but he didn't have it, so he didn't write the letter.

We can use them in sentences like the
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