could/might/may have done

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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.

  
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Anonymous  #483208  Fri, 29 Feb 08 02:35 PM

They are all correct.

  
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."

  
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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. 
  
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Teo  #483758  Sat, 01 Mar 08 06:31 PM
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Thank you very much for your reply.
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