PAST MODALS

Presentation

GRAMMAR

Past Modals How to use past modals? Speculation, deduction and regrets.

Could have, should have, would have These past modal verbs are all used hypothetically, to talk about things that didn't really happen in the past. Could have + past participle means that something was possible in the past, or you had the ability to do something in the past, but that you didn't do it. • I could have stayed up late, but I decided to go to bed early. • Julie could have bought the book, but she borrowed it from the library instead. Couldn't have + past participle means that something wasn't possible in the past, even if you had wanted to do it. • I couldn't have arrived any earlier. There was a terrible traffic jam (= it was impossible for me to have arrived any earlier). • He couldn't have passed the exam, even if he had studied harder. It's a really, really difficult exam.

PAST MODALS

Could have, should have, would have We use could have + past participle when we want to make a guess about something that happened in the past. (See also modals of probability.) In this case, we don't know if what we're saying is true or not true. We're just talking about our opinion of what maybe happened. Why is John late? • He could have got stuck in traffic. • He could have forgotten that we were meeting today. We can also choose to use might have + past participleto mean the same thing: • He might have got stuck in traffic. • He might have forgotten that we were meeting today.

PAST MODALS

Could have, should have, would have Should have + past participle Should have + past participle can mean something that would have been a good idea, but that you didn't do it. It's like giving advice about the past when you say it to someone else, or regretting what you did or didn't do when you're talking about yourself. Shouldn't have + past participle means that something wasn't a good idea, but you did it anyway. • I should have studied harder! (= I didn't study very hard and so I failed the exam. I'm sorry about this now.) • I should have gone to bed early (= I didn't go to bed early and now I'm tired). • You should have called me when you arrived (= you didn't call me and I was worried. I wish that you had called me).

PAST MODALS

Could have, should have, would have We can also use should have + past participle to talk about something that, if everything is normal and okay, we think has already happened. But we're not certain that everything is fine, so we use 'should have' and not the present perfect or past simple. It's often used with 'by now'. • His plane should have arrived by now (= if everything is fine, the plane has arrived). • John should have finished work by now (= if everything is normal, John has finished work). We can also use this to talk about something that would have happened if everything was fine, but hasn't happened. • Lucy should have arrived by now, but she hasn't.

PAST MODALS

Could have, should have, would have Would have + past participle Part of the third conditional. • If I had had enough money, I would have bought a car (but I didn't have enough money, so I didn't buy a car). we can also use would have + past participle to talk about something you wanted to do but didn't. This is very similar to the third conditional, but we don't need an 'if clause'. • I would have gone to the party, but I was really busy. If I hadn't been so busy, I would have gone to the party. • I would have called you, but I didn't know your number. • A: Nobody volunteered to help us with the fair B: I would have helped you. I didn't know you needed help. (= If I had known that you needed help, I would have helped you.

PAST MODALS

PAST MODALS OF SPECULATION & DEDUCTION

PRACTICE!

Lorem ipsum dolor