Timeline for Is "This story can be true." grammatically incorrect?
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
5 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| May 13, 2021 at 17:18 | comment | added | James K | (from wikipedia) I can speak English means "I am able to speak English" or "I know how to speak English." You can smoke here means "you may (are permitted to) smoke here" ..... There can be strong rivalry between siblings means that such rivalry is possible...... | |
| May 13, 2021 at 15:01 | comment | added | Aya | Does "can" express greater confidence than "might"? I first heard such an explanation. Also, I learned "could" expresses less great confidence than "might". You mean "can" and "could" express almost the same meaning as "must"? For example, does the next sentence have almost the same meaning even if must is replaced with can / could? "He must be clever since he solved the difficult problem." | |
| May 12, 2021 at 20:29 | comment | added | Brian | IMO, the "can" In "I realized that his story can be true!" sounds a bit awkward. "Could" sounds a bit more natural. | |
| May 11, 2021 at 11:31 | comment | added | FumbleFingers | In your "teacher" example, can essentially modifies choose (or equivalent) even if that verb isn't explicitly specified. If the teacher had started by saying We're going to study a short story written by X, it wouldn't normally be possible to continue with This story can be true, even if the teacher doesn't know whether it's true or not. He could certainly say It could / might / may be true to reflect uncertainty in that situation - but not can, which reflects ability to change / make a choice (meaningless where "objective truth" inherently applies). | |
| May 9, 2021 at 21:22 | history | answered | James K | CC BY-SA 4.0 |