Help me

[aicha]

Hi,to all
I want a help in this question:
Justify the use of could+perfect infinitive in the following sentences:
1- I [could have lent] you the brolly.Why didn't you ask?
2- He [could have sent] the letter.
*******.fr

[trungkienb]

Hi,to all
I want a help in this question:
Justify the use of could+perfect infinitive in the following sentences:
1- I [could have lent] you the brolly.Why didn't you ask?
2- He [could have sent] the letter.
*******.fr

you can use it to talk about an untrue action in the past.
for example, you say : I could have lent you the brolly. It means your friend didn't ask you to borrow you the brolly.
it's a kind of IF-Clause structures.
you can say
If you had asked me [past perfect], I could have lent you the brolly.