What is the difference between:
1, It CAN'T have been a successful meeting
2, It COULDN'T have been a succesful meeting.
Thank you! :-)
2006-11-29 06:59:00 · 7 answers · asked by . 2 in Society & Culture ➔ Languages
First of all, BOTH are correct uses, though #2 is a much more common one. The difference between them is often (but not always) subtle eough that they can be interchanged. The difference is NOT about whether the meeting was in the past or is still going on, etc., although "can't be" is much more common/likely when speaking of somthing in the RECENT past.
A nice summary of the uses of each expression can be found at
http://www.longman.com/ae/azar/grammar_ex/message_board/archive/articles/00108.htm
What follows is an edited version of the answer on that page -- just the uses given (follow the link to see the various examples offered). But note the part marked ** as that is the possible uses in the sentences you have listed. (In the second case there is more than one possibility; it depends on the precise context of the statement, which you have not listed.)
"Can't have seems to be used a great deal in present contexts where the events being talked about are recent in time. It expresses a judgment about a recent action or situation, a context in which the issues are still fresh and relevant to the present.
"One use is in present real conditionals.
** "Other uses of can't have express simple belief in the impossibility of a (recent) past event or situation. The underlying message is "It isn't possible (in the present) that..." It often expresses strong disbelief, or even refusal to believe something.
** "Or the speaker may have objective evidence to support the idea of impossibility. In cases like this the speaker has a warrant for the assertion being made.
"And in every one of these cases the topic under consideration is a recent situation or event rather than a remote past situation or series of events.
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"Couldn't have expresses past impossibility of an idea being true. It has a less complex range of meanings than can't have.
** "In addition to its use in full past hypothetical conditionals. . . it is found in incomplete conditionals, utterances in which the if- clause is merely implied. (These ideas have no present tense counterpart with can't have.)
** "Non-conditional uses of couldn't have abound. It occurs to express impossibility in past time narratives or commentary.
"With actions that take some ability or skill, it means didn't have the ability or skill to."
2006-11-30 16:33:25 · answer #1 · answered by bruhaha 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I believe the correct version is "It couldn't have been a successful meeting". You would have to use "couldn't" if you are using "have been", because the meeting has already happened.
It CAN'T be a successful meeting.
It COULDN'T have been a successful meeting.
2006-11-29 07:04:17 · answer #2 · answered by raebelk 2 · 1⤊ 1⤋
This main difference is that sentence 1 is not correct (although sentence 2 does not spell successful successfully(with 2 s'es))
grammatically.
2006-11-29 07:03:58 · answer #3 · answered by scammellgj 1 · 0⤊ 1⤋
They are both correct, the second one just sounds better.
It CAN'T have been a successful meeting means that we think the meeting is still going.
It COULDN'T have been a successful meeting. means that we think the meeting has stopped.
2006-11-29 07:03:12 · answer #4 · answered by thecoolmacdude 2 · 0⤊ 2⤋
Two is correct, assuming the meeting has already occurred.
2006-11-29 07:09:39 · answer #5 · answered by ? 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Couldn't have been is proper grammar...
2006-11-30 09:58:05 · answer #6 · answered by hunterman 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
r u makin' fun of it?
2006-11-29 07:04:39 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋