“I had three cars in total”

[Hiden]

Can “I had three cars in total” imply that the speaker MAY have one or two now?

 

[Rover_KE]

We can't tell without more context.

(See Motor Vehicles for Dummies by Iona Ford and Hiram Azerati.)

 

[Hiden]

My question was if "I had three cars", on its own, can imply depending on contexst that the speakers may own more than 3, less than 3, or 3 cars.

 

[Rover_KE]

'I had three cars' has no meaning as a standalone sentence, and gives me no indication at all of how many you currently possess.

 

[se16teddy]

My question was if "I had three cars", on its own, can imply depending on contexst that the speakers may own more than 3, less than 3, or 3 cars.

Then it is the context that implies it, not your sentence.

 

[Hiden]

Then it is the context that implies it, not your sentence.

If you fix the context, then the asnwers lose thier scope. So I intentinaly left out the context so that I could garner all possible meanings/interpretations (i,.e. scope). I believe this would only be possible in the absence of context as then there could be probably only one meaning.

 

[Andygc]

Your context-free sentence implies nothing. It is pointless to try to discuss the meaning of an isolated sentence with no context. All that it means is that, in the past, you were the owner of three cars. It says absolutely nothing about the present, distant past, or future.

 

[Hiden]

Your context-free sentence implies nothing. It is pointless to try to discuss the meaning of an isolated sentence with no context. All that it means is that, in the past, you were the owner of three cars. It says absolutely nothing about the present, distant past, or future.

Thank you for your asnwer. Then, it means that it implies that the speaker MAY have more then three or less then three.

 

[Andygc]

No. It implies absolutely nothing. It is a statement about the past. Nothing more, nothing less.

 

[Hiden]

No. It implies absolutely nothing. It is a statement about the past. Nothing more, nothing less.

Thanks. I will think some more.

 

[Hiden]

Could you let me ask just one more question? How about "I HAVE HAD three cars before"? Can it imply that the speaker may have more than three or less then three?