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Does it make sense to follow an adjective phrase such as "however difficult" with the modal auxiliaries "may/might"? Isn't it a bit pleonastic, since "however" already contains the idea of either uncertainty, or irrelevance?

"However wealthy he was / However wealthy he might have been, she would not have married him if she had not been in love with him."

Does "he was" imply that his wealth was certain but irrelevant, and "he might have been", that it is/was a matter for conjecture and irrelevant, anyway?

user58319
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    Yes, it makes sense, and yes to your last question, which gives a good account of the sense it makes. – Greg Lee Mar 01 '15 at 18:52
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    To me, however clever you are more strongly implies that you're definitely "clever", even though it's contextually irrelevant exactly how clever you are. Whereas however clever you might be** admits of the possibility that you might not actually be at all clever (not that it matters! :) – FumbleFingers Mar 01 '15 at 19:20

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