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Does anyone know what's wrong with 'couldn't' in the following?

  1. I think there couldn’t be any trains today due to the strike, so I’m going by bus.

What's interesting is that,

  1. There couldn't be any trains today due to the strike.

is ok.

Does anyone know why the addition of 'I think' in #1 makes it odd?

F.E.
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Apollyon
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    To want to use "won't" instead. – Dan Bron Jan 23 '15 at 13:18
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    The tenses should be consistent - either "I think* there can't be any trains today", or "I thought there couldn't be any trains yesterday"*. – FumbleFingers Jan 23 '15 at 14:01
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    @FumbleFingers Hmm, not sure about that: It is clear that there couldn't be a train strike today. – Araucaria - Him Jan 23 '15 at 14:28
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    @Araucaria: I only said should, not must. There are contexts where the tenses can quite reasonably be mixed (either way round). So strictly speaking the question is based on a false premise, since there's nothing actually "wrong". But I can't see anything else that would justify calling OP's example "odd". – FumbleFingers Jan 23 '15 at 15:04
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    'There couldn't be any trains today' doesn't sound as idiomatic as 'There could be some trains today'. I'd switch to 'There may not be any trains today' or 'No trains were able to run today, ...', whichever is meant. – Edwin Ashworth Jan 23 '15 at 16:59
  • I see nothing wrong with "would" in the example, with or without preceding "I think". – Greg Lee Jan 23 '15 at 18:42
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    @FumbleFingers The reason it's odd is because of the fact that we prefer subordinate negation implication with the verb think. So the sentence I don't think there could be any trains today, due to the strike comes out ok :) – Araucaria - Him Jan 23 '15 at 18:47
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    @Araucaria: Ah. You're quite right. I'd still prefer "I don't* think there can be any trains today"*, but the "less common" negation is probably the biggest cause of "oddness" (such as it is, which isn't much). – FumbleFingers Jan 23 '15 at 19:18

2 Answers2

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In English, we prefer to negate the verb think rather than to use a negative in the content clause which represents the actual thought involved. This is also true with verbs like want and believe. So we prefer:

  • I don't think she's here

to

  • I think she isn't here.

And we prefer:

  • I don't want to eat it

to

  • I want to not eat it.

I think that the problem with the sentence:

  • I think there couldn't be any trains running today due to the strike

doesn't really have anything to do with the verb could - although it is tempting, and indeed not unreasonable to think so. The real problem is that we would far rather negate the verb think than the verb phrase in the subordinate clause - which in this instance is headed by the auxiliary verb could:

  • I don't think there could be any trains running today because of the strike.

The sentence above seems fine in spite of the verb could.

If you're interested in subordinate negation implication, you can read more about it here

Hope this is helpful!

Community
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Araucaria - Him
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  • +1. Also, this topic is discussed in the 2002 CGEL in its section "Increased specificity of negation (I don't want to hear abut it)". – F.E. Jan 23 '15 at 19:41
  • BBC says the following: http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/english/course/lower-intermediate/unit-16/tab/grammar

    WRONG: I think there couldn’t be any trains today, so I’m going by bus. CORRECT: I think there mightn’t be any trains today, so I’m going by bus.

     – Apollyon Jan 24 '15 at 02:37
  • @Apollyon Yes, that's because like can't, couldn't has wide scope negation. So couldn't and can't rule out any possibility. They can't be used to mean it's possible that not, they mean it's not possible. That lesson's about talking about possibility. So if you want to say it's possible the trains aren't running you need to say "I think there mightn’t be any trains". If you say couldn't or can't it means there definitely are no trains running ... – Araucaria - Him Jan 24 '15 at 10:30
  • @Apollyon ... also subordinate negation implication won't work in negative sentences which have any items with modal meanings indicating possibility (for example might may maybe perhaps etc) So I don't think perhaps she'll go doesn't mean I think perhaps she won't go. But in normal sentences it's fine: I don't think she'll go does usually mean I think she won't go. Interesting, ins't it? :) – Araucaria - Him Jan 24 '15 at 10:35
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It is an issue of saying, thinking and saying what is being thought! When you think, you think 'there couldn't be trains today because of the strike'. When you say (what you think), you would say, '(I think) there wouldn't be trains today because of the strike'.

Raghuraman R
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