PERFECT MODALS

Meza Soto Victoria Fernanda 405

PERFECT MODALS

USAGE

EXAMPLES

• “I think Paolo must have killed his wife.” (I am certain this happened) • “We sent everybody an email, so Paul must have known that the meeting had been cancelled.” • He must have seen the Statue of Liberty. He came to New York by ship. • She must have left the house by now; it’s nearly 11 o'clock. • They must have practiced a lot because they’re very good musicians.

This form expresses our certainty that something was true.

MUST HAVE

•Paolo might have stolen the money. (It’s possible) • Paul has visited the company several times, so he might have met the sales manager already. • She might have gone to the shops. • I think it may have worked, but we gave up too soon. • We may have passed the math exam, but it was in Spanish.

We use this forms to talk about past possibilities.

MAY/MIGHT HAVE

• You can’t have seen Paolo in the office yesterday; he’s in Brazil on holiday (so it is not possible) • She can’t have forgotten about the meeting; I sent her an email about it yesterday • He’s only 20 so he can’t have finished university yet • She can’t have left the house yet because her car is still outside. • They had a lot of work to do and little time. They can’t have finished everything.

We use this form to explain that (in our opinion) something isn’t/wasn’t possible.

CAN'T HAVE

USAGE

EXAMPLES

• I could have stayed up late, but I decided to go to bed early. • They could have won the race, but they didn't try hard enough. • Julie could have bought the book, but she borrowed it from the library instead. • He could have studied harder, but he was too lazy and that's why he failed the exam. • I could have applied for a work visa when I was living in Japan but I decided to return home instead.

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.

COULD HAVE

• I couldn't have arrived any earlier. There was a terrible traffic jam.• He couldn't have passed the exam, even if he had studied harder. It's a really, really difficult exam. • I thought I saw Adnan this morning but it couldn't have been him, he's in Greece this week. • They had a lot of work to do and little time. They couldn’t have finished everything. • Frank failed the exam. He couldn’t have been paying attention in class.

Means that something wasn't possible in the past, even if you had wanted to do it.

COULDN'T HAVE

• He should have bought the VW, not the Fiat. • He failed his exams last week. He should have studied harder. • Jack ought to have gone to the doctor sooner. Now they say it will be a month before he is fully recovered. • He shouldn’t have resigned from his job before he found a new one.” • Paul shouldn’t have shouted at the manager. Now he’s going to get sacked.

This form is used to talk about an action which somebody DID NOT do, but which we think was the correct action, or a good idea. In the negative, these references indicate that something happened, but it would have been better if it were not like that.

SHOULD(NOT)/OUGHT TO HAVE