"Can't have been..."

[Nawee]

Hello,

Is the following sentence correct?

He can't have been hungry. He had had a big breakfast before left the house this morning.

Can I also use "couldn't have been" in this sentence?

Thank you.

N

 

[Thomas Tompion]

Hello Nawee,

Yes, to both questions.

 

[Nawee]

Would it be wrong to say "He had a big breakfast..." here?

 

[Thomas Tompion]

Would it be wrong to say "He had a big breakfast..." here?

No, but the stress would be altered, of course.

 

[Nawee]

Altered how?

 

[Thomas Tompion]

Altered how?

The past perfect is different from the simple past, so in all the usual ways.

The past perfect stresses anteriority - the idea that one thing happened before something else, in the past.

 

[RM1(SS)]

To me can't be sounds better with had, and couldn't have been with had had.