Difference between may, would, might, could

[Smart]

hello every body

Could someone explain the difference in the follwing sentences with one exapmles (if patience permitting)
he may come
he may have come
he would come
he would have come
he might come
he could come
he could have come

[Alan]

Hi Smart,

He may come suggests there is a possibilty that he will come.

as in: We have invited him to the party but it's not definite that he will come but he may come.

He may have come suggests that in the past it was possible that he came as in:

I'm not sure whether he came to the house while we were out but he may have come and then gone home.

He would come is part of a conditional as in:

He would come if he had the time but I think he's too busy at the moment.

He would have come is a perfect conditional as in:

He would have come to the party if he had found the time but he worked very late and so it wasn't possible.

He might come suggests there is a possibility that he will come but it's less likely than 'may' as in:

Don't give up hope of him coming. You never know he might come in the end.

He could come is another conditional in the sense of he would be able to as in:

He could come if he wanted to but I don't honestly think he's interested.

He could have come is the perfect conditional form of 'can' as in:

He could have come if he had wanted to but as I said I don't really think he was all that interested.

Alan
_________________
English as a Second Language
You can read my ESL story Present Simple

[Smart]

thank you so much Mr:Alan

it was very clear and simple explainiation.

[Ksharma]

Thank you so much

Your explanation is very clear and easily understandable

Kailash Sharma

SATWAS M.P

[Arockia.anbarasan]

Hi Alan,

Very clean explanation:)

[Pytilovsky]

Hello Alan,

I would like to go on with the topic and ask some questions. I would be very thankful if you could clarify the issues for me. The thing is I am really confused about could+present infinitive vs could+ perfect indinitive.

I usually use perefect infinitive, when I speak about a completed action in the past.

For example: He knew the situation could have changed.

When saying this I mean: "He knew that perhaps the situation was already different."

I say: "He knew the situation could change", if I mean that there still was a chance for the situation to change, so the action was not completed.

Similary: I knew that the password could have been changed (I knew that perhaps the password was already different)
I knew that the password could be changed (I knew that there was an option to change the password)

However, I've been told that I was to use perfect indinitive, not present, in all the cases. That was really frustrating, for it meant I'd gotten it all wrong.

Please, advise about the usage of perfect infinitive with could.

[Alan]

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Hi,

The main point is that 'could' has two meanings. It can mean 'was able to' as in: When I was younger, I could swim for miles but now I can only manage one. It can also mean 'would be abler to' as in: I could come tonight if I have enough time. When 'could' is used in this second sense (would be able to), it can be followed by the present or the perfect infinitive depending on whether the action has taken place or is about to take place. When I say 'I could come', the possibility of my coming is still open. When I say 'I could have come', the time has now passed because now it isn't possible.

Alan
_________________
English as a Foreign Language
You can read my EFL story Progressive Forms

[Pytilovsky]

Thank you so much, Alan! It was very helpful!

However, I still have some doubts as for could, if I speak about the past.

Let it be a narration. Something like this:

It was a wonderful day. John was walking along the street, she sun was shining, and the birds were singing. John felt like it was an unusual day and anything could happen. (or anything could have happend?)

Or like this:
I was thrilled watching the protagonist getting away, as he could be caught any minute. (Or could have been caught?)
Here I would like to live the possibility open. Perhaps in the next sentense it would be: "So it happened: they caught him; and I had no clue how could he avoid the punisment." (Or could have avoided?)

To cut the long story short, I wonder if I should use could+present infinitive in a narration with past tenses, if I want to leave the possibility open, that is without giving my reader a hint about the outcome).

[Tangyss1217]

"Could someone explain the difference in the follwing sentences with one exapmles (if patience permitting)
he may come
he may have come
he would come
he would have come
he might come
he could come
he could have come"-----------

First of all my Dear Friend, Why do you use "Could" instead of "Can"??
Your Question Should start from Can...Because "can" can be used for indicating future request, instead of could, as, could is used for indicating something that has happened in past.Don't You Think So? Do Reply. I will like your feedback. Even if you want, check my grammar.