What can he have done that

Question

Would anyone help me to understand the sentense below?I came across,"What can he have done that he should be spoken of so badly?"I cannot get it. Does this stense make a sense?ThanksKn

Mister Micawber · Accepted Answer

Yes, it makes sense. It means 'What did he do? People say bad things about him.'

Clive · Answer

Hi,

Would anyone help me to understand the sentense below?

I came across,

"What can he have done that he should be spoken of so badly?"

I cannot get it. Does this stense make a sense? (Does this sentence make sense?)

Consider this simpler example.

Person A: Tom's head is bleeding. What can he have done?

Person B: Perhaps he fell down the stairs.

Person A's question here means "What possible action canTom have peformed to give this result?'

Now consider this expanded example.

Person A: Tom's head is bleeding badly. What can he have done that his head should be bleeding so badly?

Person B: Perhaps he fell down the stairs.

Person A's question here means "What possible action can Tom have performed to give the result that his head is bleeding?'

Now let's go back to your original sentence.

"What can he have done that he should be spoken of so badly?"

This question means "What possible action can he have performed to give the result that people speak of him badly?'

Clive

Anonymous · Answer

means: "I wonder what he did to make people say such bad things about him" - it suggests that the speaker is discussing the issue with a friend. ... should be spoken of ... isn't normal usage - it sounds very formal, probably from a novel.

Anonymous · Answer

Thanks a lot, Clive

Englishmaven · Answer

There is a mistake in the sentence, but a person might say it or write it. It would be better to have could rather than can.

It means this:

I wonder what it is that he did that is making people say such bad things about him.

What can he have done that

Top answer

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬

Related Questions