grammar question

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andiharper
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grammar question

Post by andiharper »

Hello. could you please help me out with this question ? if there was a party yesterday and my friends attended it but i didn't , and the next day when i meet them they tell me all about how fun it was and i say: HOW COULD I MISS IT or HOW COULD I HAVE MISSED IT which one is correct and why? much obliged
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Tukanja
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Re: grammar question

Post by Tukanja »

I see it as below

1) I wasn't present at the party.
I regret for it so I say,
"How could I miss it!"

2) I was present at the party
My friend criticises me for being present so I say,
"How could I have missed it!"
andiharper
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Re: grammar question

Post by andiharper »

Hi, Tukanja. Thanks for replying. i just didn't get what you meant in the second explanation , you say you were present at the party and at the same time say How could i have missed it?
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Tukanja
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Re: grammar question

Post by Tukanja »

Again, my friend criticised me for being at the party.
I agreed with my interlocutor I shouldn't be there but couldn''t avoid going to the party.

"How could I have missed it!"
It means,
"There was no way for me to avoid the party."

So I was present at the party.

I have used the present perfect conditional for a hypothetical event in the past.
That's what I mean; of course this can be a wrong use.

What is interesting, if my friend praised my being at the party, I would use the same form
"How could I have missed it!"

May be, the NES wouldn't use it this way; let's wait what the others say.
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