Timeline for Is "can't" or "couldn't" apt in "I told him I couldn't do it anymore because I'm old now"?
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
4 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| Jul 26, 2017 at 22:09 | comment | added | MikeJRamsey56 | See this ELL Q&A which supports the answer. | |
| Jul 26, 2017 at 17:30 | comment | added | Difference | @Yosef Baskin Well it refers to what I said event if it applies to the present too, I prefer to stick with could past / can future/present. , Like '' I said I would do it'', ( I haven't done it yet but I'm just saying what I said, the original sentence is ''I will do it'' even if when I said it I was talking about the future(the present we are in now .) | |
| Jul 26, 2017 at 17:24 | comment | added | Yosef Baskin | Although you said it yesterday, the second couldn't does not refer to the past, but to the present, both to yesterday and from that moment on. Since you said yesterday that you can no longer do it, can works as well as couldn't. | |
| Jul 26, 2017 at 17:18 | history | answered | PephenKinD | CC BY-SA 3.0 |