We will meet on Thursday and we could have finished this work by then.

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tufguy

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We will meet on Thursday and we could have finished this work by then.

Is this sentence correct? Can "could have done" be replaced by "may have done" here?
 
teechar

teechar

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tufguy said:
We will meet on Thursday and we [STRIKE]could[/STRIKE] should have finished this work by then.
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In the above, "should" indicates confident expectation.
 
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GoesStation

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"Could have" doesn't work there. "May have" would mean "it's possible we will have finished the work by then.
 
emsr2d2

emsr2d2

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GoesStation said:
"Could have" doesn't work there. "May have" would mean "it's possible we will have finished the work by then.
Click to expand...

I'd use "might have" there.

More naturally, I would say "Let's meet on Thursday. Hopefully we'll have finished this/the work by then."
 
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