That couldn't be obama at the door, it's too early What is the difference between them Are they almost the same? Mean the same thing in the present tense Let me give examples 1 i can't help you tomorrow 2 i couldn't help you tomorrow 3 it can't be the truth 4 it couldn't b. I hid the presents so that she wouldn't find them
I hid the presents so that she couldn't find them So that/in order that somebody/something would:. The sentence (a) isn't correct grammatically I couldn't open the door is in the past As a matter of fact, you are locked in and unable to open the door at the present time So the correct sentence should be
The second sentence (b), which is in the past, is correct grammatically Could is the past of can. In these cases, can't have is being used to denote disbelief or incredulity, while couldn't have is being used to denote an impossibility Can and could are modal verbs, and represent present and preterite forms respectively The preterite is not necessarily used to refer to past time, such as in this case, where it's being used in the subjunctive mood, expressing the possibility of. In the first case, the first statement is hypothetical (using the conditional mood), so considers a hypothetical situation where the machines would need to work, and weren't going to work without energy
The other is a basic true statement (using the future tense) that simply states that the machines won't work without energy I should note that this statement doesn't mean they can't work. In this case, both couldn't have done and couldn't do would be acceptable in the sentence Their meanings, however, are slightly different Couldn't have done is in the past tense Couldn't do is in the present or future tense
Charlie weasley was gryfindor's star seeker some years before What's the deal with the phrase could care less Whilst growing up, i've always known people (parents etc) to use the phrase couldn't care less, but i've also come across people who use the ph. In that situation i couldn't.but what you could not I'm not aware if such use of ellipsis exists Also, when but emphasizes something, it should take comma
It was too hot there There was no any other solution, but to walk away from that place. I couldn't help myself is used as an excuse or a reason, so for your soccer example it would be I played soccer in the evening because i couldn't help myself even that is a bit odd, as i couldn't help myself is usually used to explain why we did do something, rather than why we didn't A better phrase for this would be i couldn't stop myself I couldn't stop myself from.
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