He probably did/He may well have don

Status
Not open for further replies.

AlexAD

Senior Member
Joined
Feb 7, 2011
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Russian
Home Country
Belarus
Current Location
United States
Hello.

I am working on my spoken English and as I was listening to the audio lesson I heard this,
'Did he eat candy? Yes, he probably ate candy.' and I then the construction of 'may well' meaning 'probably' came to my mind and I applied it in this context. So I got,
'Did he eat candy? Yes, he may well have eaten candy.'

Is that correct? Does that sound natural?
Is that standard English or is that BrE?
Being non-native speaker, should I avoid this construction or use it?

Thanks, Alex.
 
Last edited:

5jj

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Oct 14, 2010
Member Type
English Teacher
Native Language
British English
Home Country
Czech Republic
Current Location
Czech Republic
'Did he eat candy? Yes, he may [STRIKE]as[/STRIKE] well have eaten candy.'

'May' well' and 'may as well' mean different things. You want 'may well' here.
 

AlexAD

Senior Member
Joined
Feb 7, 2011
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Russian
Home Country
Belarus
Current Location
United States
'Did he eat candy? Yes, he may [STRIKE]as[/STRIKE] well have eaten candy.'
'May' well' and 'may as well' mean different things. You want 'may well' here.
Sorry, corrected.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top