They could have been.

Thou couldest have been

He could have been

Other auxiliaries, should, would, might.

The Past Participle had is never used out of combination with

* The Present Tense in English of the General Notion is, strictly speaking, not a Present, but an Aorist or undefined time-word. Thus, 'one man sows, another reaps.' Hence, in Latin and Greek translation, this so-called Present is often the right translation for the Latin and Greek Aorist, which is called a Past Tense.

* Was is never Imperfect unless joined with a Present Participle. In every other case was is a Perfect.

* Had is never Pluperfect unless joined with a Past Participle. In every other case bad is a Perfect.

+ Were is never Imperfect unless joined with a Present Participle. In every other case were is a Perfect.

C