Could have/might have

[thehammer]

What do these sentences mean?

1- It could have rained yesterday. (Does it mean it did not rain yesterday? Or does it mean whether it rained or not is not known.)

2- It might have rained yesterday. (Does it mean it did not rain yesterday? Or does it mean whether it rained or not is not known.)

Here are other examples :

3- John: Peter didn't answer my call. Merry: he might have been/could have been busy.

4- John: Merry, The door was open. The man outside might have stormed into the house. (Does it express doubt whether the man entered or not is unknown or does it mean it was possible for the man to enter the room but he didn't)

Can I say the following instead?

5- John: Merry, The door was open. The man outside could have stormed into the house.



6- It's 9:30. They might/could have missed the flight.

7- He might have kicked the cat/could have kicked the cat but I did not wanted to.



Now as stand alone sentences what does they mean?

8-- You might have died.
9- You could have died.
10- India might have lost the match. (Does it mean india did not lose the match or it mean whether India won or lost is not known.)
11- India could have lost the match.

These are maybe a lot of examples. I understand the difference between 'might' and 'could' but when it comes to 'might have' and 'could have' problem arises. It is easy to differentiate them when these phrases are in 'if clause' but it's hard for a non native speaker to understand when they are in stand-alone sentences. It's ambiguous. Some of the examples are taken from the internet and some are mine. Thanks in advance.

 

[Tarheel]

@thehammer You asked too many questions! Plus the format is messed up. As for the rain, it definitely rained yesterday. (It's always raining somewhere.)

Lots of things could have happened yesterday but didn't. Also, if something did happen yesterday we don't say it could have happened.

Say: "What do these sentences mean?"

If they are your sentences then you surely know what you mean to say.

 

[Tarheel]

John: Peter didn't answer my call.
Mary: Maybe he was busy.

 

[Tarheel]

John: Mary, the door was open. The man outside might have entered the house.
Mary: Are you saying there was a prowler outside, and you don't know if he got in or not?
John: Yes, that's what I'm saying.

 

[SoothingDave]

1- It could have rained yesterday. (Does it mean it did not rain yesterday? Or does it mean whether it rained or not is not known.)

Context matters. Always.

This could be describing a counterfactual. I forgot to take my umbrella, and it could have rained yesterday. Thankfully, the storms missed us.

This could be an unknown. Jim said he was going to cut his grass, but it could have rained. We don't know if it rained or not.

 

[jutfrank]

What do these sentences mean?

It depends what kind of meaning you're asking about.

It could have rained yesterday.

The sentence meaning of this is 'I believe it is possible that it rained yesterday' and nothing more. However, what the speaker really means (speaker meaning) can only be interpreted in its discursive context.

It's very useful to distinguish between these two different kinds of meaning.

 

[Tarheel]

They could have missed the flight.

To make sense out of that I have to conclude that they wanted to miss the flight but failed to do so. However, that doesn't really make sense, does it?

 

[Tarheel]

@thehammer Are you paying attention to the responses?

 

[thehammer]

They could have missed the flight.

To make sense out of that I have to conclude that they wanted to miss the flight but failed to do so. However, that doesn't really make sense, does it?

No.