It could not happened vs It could not have happened

The correct phrase is "It could not have happened." The word "have" is necessary to form the past perfect tense in this context. The phrase "It could not happened" is wrong.

Explained by Camille
Editor at TextRanch

Last updated: November 01, 2024 • 12289 views

It could not happened

This phrase is incorrect in English. The absence of "have" makes it grammatically wrong.

The correct phrase should be "it could not have happened." The addition of "have" is necessary to form the past perfect tense in this context.

Show examples from the web [+]
Last updated: November 15, 2024

Jun 17, 2015 ... Can a veteran 100% P&T since may 97 be sent to a C&P exam i was thinking that it could not happened my cousin is 100% since 97.
It could not happened any other way. To have slowed down would have been to cast doubts and hesitations in their minds. Logged. Offline chameau. Moderator ...
Apr 13, 2012 ... Before finding these examples I was thinking that there are no reason it could not happened. If a gene is highly duplicated and at least one ...
Jul 15, 2019 ... no offense but wouldn't you know if this happened ? I do not recall. I have two kids, so I neither can state it could not happened at all while ...
May 23, 2018 ... ... it could not happened with my search in google. any suggestions? 1 Like. surajshetty May 24, 2018, 5:49am 2. @Ali. The problem might be due to ...
Nov 8, 2017 ... Never and less it could not happened without the support of all my lovely #Fans you guys made it happen ❤️❤️✌️ Be Ready for ...
I will agree, it could not happened to a nicer guy! David Keyes is one of the greatest people I have meet I my entire life!
Mar 16, 2013 ... We have tried to export, but it could not happened. We have copy pasted into excel and separated all the responses question wise. Which is ...
Nov 9, 2013 ... so i need an official response. is it normal or a bug? WenMing Yang 2013.11.09 03:35 #3. by the way on MT4 platform it could not happened.
Feb 2, 2018 ... The alliance system ensured that it could not happened. Russia and France had a mutual alliance, so war against Russia would mean war against ...

Alternatives:

it could not have occurred
it could not have taken place
it could not have transpired
it could not have happened that way
it could not have happened at all

It could not have happened

This phrase is correct in English. The addition of "have" is necessary to form the past perfect tense in this context.

This phrase is used to express that something was not possible to occur in the past. It is a correct and commonly used construction in English.

Examples:

It could not have happened without your help.
I'm sure it could not have happened that way.
It could not have happened at a better time.
She believed it could not have happened to her.
It could not have happened without a reason.

Show examples from the web [+]
Last updated: November 15, 2024

Nov 17, 2022 ... And without paper, it could not have happened. Unless, you had a camera.
Whatever happened in your relationship with the psychopath, and no matter how awful the final discard was, it could not have happened any other way. The D&D ...
May 19, 2021 ... AND if your Apple ID had a strong password most of it could not have happened. In order for what you describe to happen BOTH the phone's ...
Apr 21, 2020 ... It could not have happened without a jury. For without a jury, any trial is simply a process by which the state reassures itself that it has ...
Jun 7, 2023 ... It could not have happened in a better scenario, my photo is now featured in an exhibit titled “Living in a Wildlife Corridor” hosted at ...
Aug 23, 2023 ... Hmmmmm. I never thought of a burn but that makes a lot of sense as well! If that's the case and it is a burn, it could not have happened at the ...
Feb 8, 2012 ... I have the same problem and it could not have happened at a worse time for me since I am leaving town tomorrow and did not plan on spending ...
Aug 3, 2022 ... "This could not have happened without our dedicated postal service employees, it could not have happened without [the Directorate of Public ...
Mar 5, 2018 ... I saved my documents in Microsoft Cloud and the very same documents show zero KB. It could not have happened by chance.
Nov 5, 2024 ... It could not have happened without the Black American people. The black population, often thrown together by force without a say of their ...

Alternatives:

it could not have occurred
it could not have taken place
it could not have transpired
it could not have happened that way
it could not have happened at all

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It could not happened vs It could not have happened

It could not happened

It could not have happened

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