How do you say this in French, please?: "she could have had"

CherylC1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

How do you say this in French, please?: "she could have had"

could; should; would ! .. these compound constructions are a little difficult. What are the rules, if any, please?

Asked 5 years ago

GemmaB1Kwiziq community memberCorrect answer

I think it's "elle aurait pu avoir", this is the conditional past. It's tricky to form this tense when you're using pouvoir, devoir etc.

Here are some of my own examples, seeing these might help you understand the pattern:

J'aurais du(circumflex on the u) manger = I should have eaten
Il aurait pu voir = He could have seen
Ils auront vu = They would have seen

(sorry if this isn't correct)

Like15 years ago

CherylC1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

Thanks Gemma.

Like05 years ago

JimC1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

In the second example "They would have seen" I would write "Ils auraient vu" If we write "Ils auront vu" we are expressing "They will have seen" I agree with Gemma that the grammar is indeed tricky.

Like15 years ago

EtienneA2Kwiziq community member

elle peut a eu

Like05 years ago

Jeanne B2Kwiziq community member

Elle aurait pu avoir

Like15 years ago

Cheryl asked:View original

How do you say this in French, please?: "she could have had"

could; should; would ! .. these compound constructions are a little difficult. What are the rules, if any, please?

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