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What is the difference between these two sentences :

It was not possible.

It could not have been possible.

What is the difference in both the sentences?

It was not possible that day.

It could not have been possible that day.

I am getting confused in the time frame of these sentences. Is it possible that sometimes they can be used interchangeably?

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  • There is no difference in the time frame. To me, it could not have been possible means something like I can't imagine any circumstances in which it would have been possible.
    – Kate Bunting
    Commented Sep 17, 2020 at 8:00
  • Sudhir Sharma, It was not possible means “it was not possible at all”. It could not have been possible. (It could not have been possible to complete the task if you hadn’t left the job)
    – Jay Ho
    Commented Sep 17, 2020 at 8:40

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Rather than a difference in timeframe, I would expect that "could not have been" is referring to a reason (whether left unsaid, tacked onto the end of the sentence or in a previous sentence), whereas the first sentence is a simple statement of fact.

  • It was not snowing last Friday.

  • It's one of the hottest Septembers on record. It could not have been snowing last Friday.

  • I wanted to buy a new coat in Oxford Street on 25th December. It was not possible that day.

  • It could not have been possible that day. Department stores are never open in England on Christmas Day.

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I think both of the sentences with "could not" are redundant as to impossibility. I don't know what they might mean. Have you ever seen them in use?

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  • @ Jack O'Flaherty...No, I have not seen this usage. But I want to know why these sentences are wrong. To me they seem like conveying a similar message.
    – Sudhir Sharma
    Commented Sep 17, 2020 at 8:23
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    Sudhir Sharma, he doesn’t mean to say it is wrong. Some writers prefer using a little redundancy.
    – Jay Ho
    Commented Sep 17, 2020 at 8:45
  • @SudhirSharma Actually, I did mean to say it was wrong. It makes no sense to me.
    – Jack O'Flaherty
    Commented Sep 17, 2020 at 15:55
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They convey different meanings.

“It was not possible that day” (What you were doing, was impossible that day even if someone would have helped you)

“It could not have been possible.”

It’s incomplete you need to complete it:

“It could not have been possible that day without you. You helped me, and it became possible.”

What you were doing, became finished that day.

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  • ...what if I dont want to tell the condition? Could have, would have + past participle are also known as modals of lost opportunity. So, Is the second structure good for showing regret? Your answer doesn't seem like a reasonable answer to my question.
    – Sudhir Sharma
    Commented Sep 17, 2020 at 9:39
  • Sudhir Sharama, can you feel the difference between “How could it be possible?” and “How is it possible?”. If you can feel it, you have got wisdom to understand my answer!
    – Jay Ho
    Commented Sep 17, 2020 at 10:37
  • I disagree with your answer. For the described situation, it would be idiomatic to say "It would not have been possible that day without you." That is a statement about conditionality, not possibility. "could not have been possible" doesn't make sense. It would describe a double impossibility.
    – Jack O'Flaherty
    Commented Sep 17, 2020 at 15:55
  • Jack O'Flaherty, “Plundering Jewish assets could not have been possible without an efficient civil service.” -The New York Times. nytimes.com/2010/12/27/world/europe/27iht-berlin27.html
    – Jay Ho
    Commented Sep 17, 2020 at 17:11
  • @JayHo That's a bad word choice. It should have been "would not have been possible".
    – Jack O'Flaherty
    Commented Sep 18, 2020 at 14:48

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