what does could mean grammatically? thank you in advance.
R ridskf New member Joined Mar 9, 2011 Member Type Student or Learner Native Language Chinese Home Country China Current Location China Mar 9, 2011 #1 what does could mean grammatically? thank you in advance.
M marmoset Junior Member Joined Mar 2, 2011 Member Type English Teacher Native Language English Home Country United States Current Location United States Mar 10, 2011 #2 *just an assistant ESL teacher "'Could' is used to talk about theoretical possibility and is similar in meaning to 'might'. It could rain later. Take an umbrella. He could be there by now. Could he be any happier? It could be Sarah's. " from: English Grammar Lessons So, he has everything a guy might want. It is hard to buy this guy a good present.
*just an assistant ESL teacher "'Could' is used to talk about theoretical possibility and is similar in meaning to 'might'. It could rain later. Take an umbrella. He could be there by now. Could he be any happier? It could be Sarah's. " from: English Grammar Lessons So, he has everything a guy might want. It is hard to buy this guy a good present.
probus Moderator Staff member Joined Jan 7, 2011 Member Type Retired English Teacher Native Language English Home Country Canada Current Location Canada Mar 10, 2011 #3 Without changing the meaning you could say "He has everything a guy could possibly want." In other words, it is impossible to want more than he has. He couldn't want more. Last edited: Mar 11, 2011
Without changing the meaning you could say "He has everything a guy could possibly want." In other words, it is impossible to want more than he has. He couldn't want more.