Viceidol  +  483186 Fri, 29 Feb 08 01:46 PM A: "Where has your sister gone?" B: "She could have gone swimming with some friends."       "She may have gone swimming with some friends."       "She might have gone swimming with some friends." May I ask if those three sentence are all correct?   Thank you for taking your time helping me with my question. Viceidol Joined on Wed, Jul 11 2007 Taiwan Regular Member 540

	Yankee  +  483212 Fri, 29 Feb 08 02:42 PM Hi Viceidol I would prefer may or might in your sentence.  In this context, I don't think could would would be my first choice unless more than one possibility were suggested, or unless the answer were preceded by something such as "I'm not sure": A: "Where has your sister gone?" B: "I'm not sure.  She could have gone swimming with some friends." Yankee Joined on Sat, Apr 15 2006 Connecticut, USA Veteran Member 6,491 Amy "You can't depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus." - Mark Twain

	Marius Hancu  +  483400 Sat, 01 Mar 08 12:02 AM When you assess the probability of various events in which others are involved, you should use may/might. Could should be used when assessing what others were (would have been) able to do, capable of doing.  Marius Hancu Joined on Wed, Apr 26 2006 Veteran Member 11,673