1

"His dance was unbelievable! I don't know if even (I could do it/could have done it)"

Just something that I want to say about a friend's dance performance last night.I think it should be "could have done it" but "could do it" does not sound wrong to me too.

Improve this question
1
  • As it stands, there is nothing wrong with either version—and there is no reason why it should be one over the other, aside from personal preference and context. If you think think it should be one over the other, you need to say why you think it's that, so that point can be discussed.
    – Jason Bassford
    Commented Aug 22, 2019 at 1:00

3 Answers 3

Reset to default
1

It should be "could have done it." "Could do it" would also be correct, with a slightly different meaning— "could have done" (at least to me) means you're reflecting on the past dance and can't imagine yourself doing it, whereas "could do" implies you're picturing yourself attempting it in the future.

Source: native speaker of US English.

Improve this answer
2
  • Since you are native speaker,what about "would have" ? : "If you have a good reputation, publishers will take a chance on projects they would turn down from an unknown"(instead of would have turned down).Is there any subtle change in meaning ?
    – Prof-Wiz
    Commented Aug 21, 2019 at 22:38
  • 1
    No, it shouldn't be either version. Unless you know something that hasn't been explained in the question. They are both grammatical. And since no intended meaning has been expressed, the statement about them having different meanings is mostly irrelevant,.
    – Jason Bassford
    Commented Aug 22, 2019 at 1:04
0

"His dance was unbelievable! I don't know if even (I could do it/could have done it)"

I feel that both of these are grammatically correct, however, as a native English speaker, something sounds odd and I can't quite place my finger on what it is. Maybe I would rephrase and use know in the past tense:

  • His dance was unbelievable! I knew/know I could never have done it.
  • His dance was unbelievable! I knew/know I could never do it.
  • His dance was unbelievable! I knew/know I would never have been able to do it.

or change the word order of the sentence you have written:

  • His dance was unbelievable! I don't even know if I could have done it.
Improve this answer
0

As has already been answered, the difference between the two statements is the tense - one is looking back to the past, one looking forward to the future.

Saying "I don't know if I could have done it", after seeing someone else's performance, is a sort of comparison - you are saying that you doubt you could have done what they did.

Saying "I don't know if I could do it" instead ultimately expresses the same self-doubt, but instead of putting yourself in their place and imagining you doing it in place of them, you are asking if you could also do it.

For clarification, when I say that these express "self-doubt", neither are really self-deprecating comments in this context, but meant to express admiration for the other person's ability.

Improve this answer

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .