I thought I saw Adnan this morning but it couldn't have been him – he's in Greece this week.ĭo this exercise to test your grammar again. We use can't have and couldn't have + past participle when we think it's not possible that something happened. Could have is also possible in this context but less common. It requires the usage of the so-called perfect infinitive, which is the construction of the modal verb + have + past participle. Police think the suspect may have left the country using a fake passport. Level: C1 Article navigation: MODAL VERBS IN THE PAST MODAL VERBS IN THE PAST Although the majority of modal verbs have no past form, it is possible to use them to refer to the past. I think I might have left the air conditioning on. We can use might have or may have + past participle when we think it's possible that something happened. The door was locked and nothing was broken. Who told the newspapers about the prime minister's plans? It must have been someone close to him. We use must have + past participle when we feel sure about what happened. This page focuses on making deductions about the past. The modal verb we choose shows how certain we are about the possibility. We can use modal verbs for deduction – guessing if something is true using the available information.
Modals – deduction (past): Grammar test 1 How did she fail that exam? She can't have studied very much. We don't know for sure that Alex broke the coffee table. I wouldn’t have gone out if I’d known it was raining.Look at these examples to see how must, might, may, could, can't and couldn't are used in the past.Īn earthquake? That must have been terrifying! Tim would have helped you if he’d been here. – You use would/wouldn’t have + past participle in third conditional sentences. He couldn’t/wasn’t able to swim till he was ten. I could/was able to read when I was four. – You use could/couldn’t and was/wasn’t able to to talk about ability in the past. (It’s possible it was Jane who sent them.) I think that might have been the postman. – You use might/could have + past participle to say that something was a possibility in the past. (It was a bad thing to do but he did it.) (It was the right thing to do but you didn’t go.) – You use should/shouldn’t have + past participle to say that something was the right or wrong thing to do in the past. (It wasn’t necessary but I’m very grateful.)
– You use needn’t have + past participle to say that something wasn’t necessary in the past but that it happened anyway. I didn’t have to wear a uniform at school. – You use had to and didn’t have to to talk about things that were or weren’t necessary in the past. You usually believe it was impossible because of something you know. – You use can’t/couldn’t have + past participle to say that you believe that something was impossible in the past. It must have taken you ages to write that report. You usually believe it was true because of something you know. – You use must have + past participle to say that you believe that something was true in the past.
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