Could have + V3

[MyFriendIsAGoat]

Hello everybody! :D
It's my first post here.
I have a question about the "could have + v3" construction. As I know, it means that somebody could do something, but he didn't do it:

[Torsten]

Hi MyFriend,

You would probably say "I could participate in the upcoming marathon but I don't want to".

TOEIC listening, photographs: Meat packing

[MyFriendIsAGoat]

Thank you, Torsten!
To make things clear: my variant is grammatically incorrect and can't be used or it's just not recommended?

[Torsten]

Hi MyFriend,

Your sentence would contain a contradiction: 'could have participated' clearly refers to an event in the past while 'upcoming marathon' is an event in the future so yes, I would classify such a construction as incorrect.

TOEIC listening, photographs: Tiling

[Yankee]

Hi Torsten
How would you classify the meaning and usage in this sentence:
"The name of the movie could have gone crazy."

Is that a commonly used expression in your neck of the woods? :roll: :wink:
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"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power." ~ Abraham Lincoln

[Alan]

Hi,

Sorry, the connection is lost on me!

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

[Yankee]

.
Then there must be quite a bit lost on you some times, Alan. :wink:

To be honest, though, the fact that you posted something here, then deleted it, and then posted again after you posted in the head vs brain thread leads me to believe that you know exactly why I asked that question. :wink:
.
_________________
"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power." ~ Abraham Lincoln

[Torsten]

Amy, what do your questions and comments have to do with the initial question of this thread?

TOEIC listening, photographs: The bookshop

[Yankee]

Hi Torsten

I'm trying to find out whether you think a fixed expression ('go crazy') sounds natural to you with the verb structures mentioned here.

Do you think that people might say 'The name of the movie could have gone crazy' to talk about the chances of the movie's title going crazy in the past?

Do you think that people might say 'The name of the movie could go crazy' to talk about the possibility of the movie's title going crazy in the future?

If not, why not?
.
_________________
"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power." ~ Abraham Lincoln

[MyFriendIsAGoat]

Thanks everybody!

[Torsten]

Hi Amy,

I'm pretty sure that I'm not the only one who can distinguish between the two phrases "I'm out of my head" and "it's gone out of my head". And if somebody does want to know the difference between both expressions they will find the answer on our forum thanks to Ms Google. After all, we have discussed this at length in the it's gone out of my head thread so why bring it up again and confuse our new user? What does this have to do with the conditionals?

TOEIC listening, photographs: The shoe shop

[Yankee]

[Nessie]

For MFIAG's original sentence:

I could have participated in the upcoming marathon but I didn't want to.

=> I think it is quite possible because the marathon may not take place yet, but the deadline for registering to take part in it has been over, and so, we can still say "could have participated..." However I just wonder what the difference is between the 2 usages "I could have participated in the upcoming marathon but I didn't want to" and "I could participate in the upcoming marathon but I didn't want to"

Please clarify for me
Many thanks
Nessie
_________________
:(... something we never have again, I know... I guess I really really know.. :(

Sorry seems to be the hardest word...

[Alan]

Hi Nessie,

Thanks for bringing the original topic back.

I could have participated in the upcoming marathon but I didn't want to I think this is now agreed as meaning: It would have been possible for me to participate but I had no wish to. 'Participate' in that case probably suggests filling up forms/registering etc. the second one: I could participate in the upcoming marathon but I didn't want to suggests: 'It would be possible for me to participate' and then 'I didn't want to' is left on its own because of the past tense, which seems to clash both with the idea of 'would be possible' and 'future marathon'. In that case I believe it would be useful to explain more fully the past idea 'didn't want to' by mentioning 'didn't want to fill up the forms/register etc'.

Hope that helps.

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

[Nessie]

Many thanks for your help, Alan. However I think I still feel equivocal...
_________________
:(... something we never have again, I know... I guess I really really know.. :(

Sorry seems to be the hardest word...