Timeline for "May (might,can) could have" and "Must should have/should must have" impossible?
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
6 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| Jun 16, 2017 at 12:09 | comment | added | hmakholm left over Monica | It's not that a chain of modal auxiliaries would not make sense -- they are merely not grammatical in (standard) English. Several other Germanic languages (whose modal auxiliaries do have infinitive forms) allow such chains without trouble, e.g. Danish "Man skal kunne læse" or German "Man muss lesen können" for "one must be-able-to read". | |
| Jun 16, 2017 at 11:40 | comment | added | StoneyB on hiatus | @MartinBonner Maybe there is quite common in US speech. It loses any informality in other positions: Maybe I could meet him or I could meet him, maybe. | |
| Jun 16, 2017 at 11:39 | history | edited | SteveES | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
added 3 characters in body
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| Jun 16, 2017 at 11:39 | comment | added | SteveES | @MartinBonner You're right, it is probably the least common option, I'll change it. | |
| Jun 16, 2017 at 11:32 | comment | added | Martin Bonner supports Monica | Your last sentence feels rather unidiomatic to me. I (BrE speaker, 50's) would say "I could perhaps meet him" (rather formal) or "I could possibly meet him" or "Perhaps/Maybe I could meet him" (rather more positive). | |
| Jun 16, 2017 at 10:42 | history | answered | SteveES | CC BY-SA 3.0 |