Difference between may, would, might, could

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Wed Aug 16, 2006 11:51 am Difference between may, would, might, could

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

smart
I'm new here and I like it ;-)

Joined: 06 Aug 2006
Posts: 18

Wed Aug 16, 2006 17:22 pm Modals

Hi Smart,

You asked:

Quote:

Could someone explain the difference in the follwing sentences with one examples (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

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
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Sat Aug 19, 2006 8:28 am Difference between may, would, might, could

thank you so much Mr:Alan it was very clear and simple explainiation.

smart
I'm new here and I like it ;-)

Joined: 06 Aug 2006
Posts: 18

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