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I'd like to know if the following sentences are correct. The intended message is that he cannot be a good student. What are the constraints on "It is impossible that . . ." and "It is not possible that . . ."?

a. It is impossible that John is a good student.

b. It is impossible that John should be a good student.

c. It is not possible that John is a good student.

d. It is not possible that John should be a good student.

While some of the above don't work, the following seem okay (though with different meanings):

e. It is not impossible that John is a good student.

f. It is possible that John is a good student.

g. It is impossible that a fishlike mammal will actually revert to being a true fish.

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  • Those all seem fine to me. The ones with "should" aren't common in american english but brits might stick it in there without changing the meaning... there are subtleties with the word should that I won't get into, but I get the sense that you are aware of them.
    – Justin Stafford
    Nov 20, 2020 at 5:08
  • I consider that "It is impossible for John to be a good student" would be more idiomatic.
    – Kate Bunting
    Nov 20, 2020 at 9:25
  • What do you think of "It is impossible that a fishlike mammal will actually revert to being a true fish"?
    – Apollyon
    Nov 21, 2020 at 1:33

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