Tense - Climb / Climbed

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hatim hussain

#10593 Sun, 12 Oct 03 02:23 PM

Hi, everyone,
this is my first entry into English Forums.

"He could have climbed the tree".

Does the above sentence suggest he did not climb the tree?
or it implies another meaning. Please explain with examples.

Regards

hatim hussain

hatim hussain

Joined on Sun, Oct 12 2003

New Member (02)

Regards, Tenses

ryan smith

#10627 Mon, 13 Oct 03 05:16 AM

Hi hatim,

It can mean one of two things:

1. The speaker is making a guess.
e.g. "How did he get onto the roof?"
"I don't know. He could have climbed the tree."

2. He actually did not climb the tree, however, if circumstances were different he would have.
e.g. "He could have climbed the tree. The only thing stopping him was his injury."

Hope that helps.

ryan smith

Joined on Tue, Sep 9 2003

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