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Believer Posted 18 years ago
Grammar

Would and could; in past or not?

1i00 Hi,02i02br
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00Can the words 'could' and 'would' be used to express ' possibiliry' and 'conditional intention' respectively in both present and past settings? I think it can.02br
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00CalifJim wrote this in one of his responses in the tread named 'would, would have/ could , could have?': 02br
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01i00couldn't02i00 can mean several things. 01i00couldn't02i00 can mean 01i00it was not possible02i00, but it can also mean 01i00it would not be possible.02i00 In the first case it has the sense of the past; in the second case it has the sense of a hypothetical present tense, that is, it places the whole idea into the world of conjecture, saying, in effect, it is not possible in any possible world, under any possible circumstances.02br
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01i00I tried to reach the top shelf, but I couldn't.02i00 (past sense: 01i00I was not able / It was not possible02i00)02br
01i00I'm sorry, but I couldn't do that for you; it's dishonest.02i00 (hypothetical: 01i00I would not be able / It would not be possible / It is not possible no matter what you say or do02i00)02br
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00Here, for CJ's sentence 'I tried ro reach the top shelf, but I couldn't', I think I could say 'couldn't' here takes 'possibility' part to the past; whereas. the 'couldn't do' in CJ's second sentence 'I'm sorry, but I couldn't do that for you, it's dishonest', can be said to lay out the setting in the present-time frame (I think). This what I think is a similar mode of operation (if I can use this phrase to say I want to say here) in both time contexts is what is confusing me. Sometimes I am not so sure whether the 'would' or 'could' is taking back the setting to the past or playing out the sentence scene in the present-time frame with no taking back.02br
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00When she was ready to be shipped to the U.S., a problem appeared on the other side of the Atlantic, the base on which she would stand was not completed.02br
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00In this sentence, (I think 'she' is referring to the Lady of Liberty) I am not sure whether the 'would' is playing its modal role in the past, the time when she was ready to be shipped, or plainly giving the sense of a 'conditional intention' without the concern of the past. 02br
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00Help0-
  

Top answer

0Let's concentrate on the situation involving the Statue of Liberty. Here 01i 00would02i 00 is not used in the ways I talked about in previous posts. Here 01i 00would02i 00 occupies a position in the following paradigm:02br 01i 00She is going to stand there.

— CalifJim

  • 0Let's concentrate on the situation involving the Statue of Liberty.
  • Here 01i 00would02i 00 is not used in the ways I talked about in previous posts.
  • Here 01i 00would02i 00 occupies a position in the following paradigm:02br 01i 00She is going to stand there.
  • 02i 02br 01i 00She was going to stand there.
  • ~ She would stand there.
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3 Answers
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0Let's concentrate on the situation involving the Statue of Liberty. Here 01i00would02i00 is not used in the ways I talked about in previous posts. Here 01i00would02i00 occupies a position in the following paradigm:02br
01i00She is going to stand there. ~ She will stand there.02i02br
01i00She was goi
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0
1blockquote
01cite10Believer12cite10When she was ready to be shipped to the U.S., a problem appeared on the other side of the Atlantic, 11i11b10the base12b12i10 on which she would stand 11i11b10was not completed.12b12i12blockquote
10Hi,02br
00you underst
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0
0 01blockquote
01cite10Kooyeen12cite10Without context, ... most modal verbs (if not all) are potentially ambiguous.12blockquote
10 True, and sometimes even 01u00with02u00context, they are ambiguous. 05002br
00CJ 010id1
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