Subj : Can't/Couldn't...  1B.
To   : Paul Quinn
From : Ardith Hinton
Date : Fri Mar 02 2018 18:00:57

Hi again, Paul!  This is a continuation of my previous message to you:

ak>  But in this case "can't" can be OK?

PQ>  I may need Ardith's assistance with this.  Ardith?  Help!


         What bothered me at first was the lack of consistency in the choice of 
verb tenses.  You & I feel more comfortable if the man says "It *was* the third 
[xxx] I *couldn't* carry", using both verbs in the past tense.  Alexander seems 
to be more comfortable with "can't" than with "couldn't", so he tries to remedy 
the problem by suggesting an alternative, "It's the third [xxx] I can't carry."

         Okay.  Now the verb tenses agree.  But my English-speaking brain still 
isn't quite happy... and neither is yours.  I can tell because when you suggest 
another alternative you revert to the past tense, i.e. "I wasn't able".  To our 
Russian friends "couldn't" may sound rather tentative or conditional, as indeed 
it is in sentences like "You could try xxx" or "If I won a gazillion dollars in 
the Lotto 6/49 I could visit Paul & Alexander in person".  Alexander is writing 
or translating a joke, meaning the delivery can be adapted to his comfort level 
as well as that of his audience.  Rewording the sentence a bit more:

      No matter what I do, I can't get a pane of glass home in one piece.
      #@%$!!  So much for my third attempt to.... [etc.].
      Once again I have tried & failed to... [etc.].
      I tried three times to... [etc.], but still couldn't manage it.


         Or, considering your own awareness of body language & expanding on the 
possible implications of the "comedy of errors" here:

      So this gal thinks I'm a friendly drunk who wants to give her a big hug?? 
A nice polite Canadian would be wearing a t-shirt saying "In your dreams, Lover 
Boy!" or greet me with an icy stare or suddenly find urgent business elsewhere. 
If she doesn't wear glasses in public because she believes they spoil her looks
.... maybe she didn't see the position of my hands.  If she has experienced some 
difficulty in past relationships with other guys & she's confusing me with them
.... or if she's taken a few lessons in self-defense for females & she's anxious 
to test her skill... how am I supposed to know what's doing on in the life of a 
complete stranger???  I must consult another woman, or an ex-cop... [wry grin].




--- timEd/386 1.10.y2k+
 * Origin: Wits' End, Vancouver CANADA (1:153/716)

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